Essential oils for your face?

Hey y'all! 

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week! I thought my first post back would be something that I have been really into lately, and that is: ESSENTIAL OILS! As some of you may know, I try my best to be healthy and go the natural route when it comes to my skincare. Last term was incredible stressful and because of that, my skin broke out horribly (It is still currently breaking out, so I will do a blog post on what actually works to get rid of my acne when I finally do get rid of it!).  I also have extremely dry, very sensitive skin. Generally when my skin is behaving, I will only use my Clarisonic with Mario Badescu enzyme cleansing gel, and then moisturize with Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream.  If you go to www.goodguide.com you can see that both the Cetaphil and the Enzyme cleansing gel did not get very good health ratings (both got a 4/10 for a health rating). This, along with my current skin predicament, made me decide to start looking for new and healthier products to put on my face. 

I have been using frankincense oil for almost a year to treat eczema on my arms, as well as some scars on my stomach from a surgery I had when I was 17. The frankincense  has  completely healed the eczema, and my scars are almost completely unnoticeable now. I had read that frankincense also has multiple healing and antibacterial properties, so I decided to try putting it on my face. I am not going to lie, the second or third day after putting it on my face, I broke out horribly, but then two days later my face was about a thousand times better. What the frankincense does, is it pulls all of the toxins out of your skin, so don't freak out if you do experience breakouts initially because they should clear up within a couple of days. Frankincense also almost completely cleared up the acne scaring left on my chin and jaw line from having bad acne in high school. I use frankincense with the carrier oil Grapeseed oil.  The grape seed oil is incredibly inexpensive (I get the 4$ kind from whole foods), and the combination of the two leaves my face feeling incredibly soft and supple, and unlike Coconut Oil, it doesn't dry out my skin. I think the grape seed oil it is actually helping my breakouts as well.  I also use the grape seed oil to cleanse my skin and take my makeup off, as the oil breaks up the makeup. I then follow with Mario Badescu Seaweed Cleansing lotion (don't let the name fool you, its a toner- not a cleanser) on a cotton pad, and then gently rub that over my entire face until there is no longer any makeup residue coming up on the cotton pad.

Another fantastic oil that I have been using on my face for years is Argan Oil. This has never broken me out, and it sinks into my skin quickly, and it is incredibly moisturizing.

These are the oils that are currently working for me, and everything listed in the second half of the post (frankincense, seaweed classing lotion, grape seed oil, and argan oil) all have a goodguide rating of 10/10 for health. 

* I just want to point out that I am not a dermatologist or a doctor, and these are the things that are working for me, however they may not work for you. 

I would also HIGHLY recommend that you do a patch test on your wrist or the crease of your elbow for all of these products to make sure that you do not have any allergic reactions to them. The other thing to be really careful of, is that you need to make sure that all of your oils are 100% pure, and they are all therapeutic grade. The only frankincense oils I recommend are by the brands Young Living or Doterra. 

Please comment below if any of these products have worked for you (or if they haven't worked for you!) as well as any questions or other recommendations! 

xo,  

Kaitlyn

Cle de Peau Beaute Concealer- Is it worth the hype???

I hope that everyone is having  wonderful saturday night :)
I have been eyeing the Cle de Peau concealer for a little over a year now, but I wasn't sure about spending 70$ (!) to get it... So, for my birthday, I decided to splurge and buy it! I had seen multiple people on youtube use it, and it had gotten rave reviews on the internet, so I thought that it was about time that I try it for myself.
Let me start off by saying this concealer is insanely overpriced. I definitely think that it should be more towards the 40$ price-range, however I do understand that you are paying for the brand name as well as the ingredients. The concealer is extremely creamy, however it dries to sort of a powdery finish. I originally bought the concealer in hopes that it would replace my YSL touche eclat, however for under eyes, I definitely prefer the YSL. The Cle de Peau ended up turning sort of grainy and "flaky" right by the inner corner of my eye, and it looked as if I had piled on the under eye concealer. I do have to say that it does have amazing staying power and I do like it for blemishes and redness on the face, however I would not recommend as an under eye concealer for anyone who has dry skin... I will try to attach a picture to show what it does after it is applied compared to the YSL because I know I am doing a terrible job explaining what it looks like! Overall, I am pleased with my purchase, just because I have been dying to try it for ages, however I would not repurchase it!
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend :) If you have any questions for me or any suggestions please let me know in a comment below! I would love to hear from you! have a wonderful night :)
XO Kaitlyn

Organic/ Natural Skincare

Hey y'all!
Im back!! I am so sorry I took such a long break. Unfortunately we still don't have internet up at the beach, and things have just been crazy since spring break (excuses, excuses..), however I am back now! I have lots of things to update y'all on, however I thought I would start off with a little rant.
So, I generally eat relatively healthy, and I try to make sure that I am putting natural/ organic things into my body. I have recently been on the search for some natural skincare that actually works, because I am trying to cut as much harmful chemicals out of my life as possible (I know, some of you will not agree with this, but each to their own!), so I decided to research some skincare companies/ products.
I have raved about mario badescu for a while, and don't get me wrong, I love the company for the most part! I use their aloe toner which is all natural, and it contains only aloe, water, and (????) something I cant remember right now (sorry!). However, I decided to research some of their moisturizers and I stumbled upon a sight that tells you all of the ingredients in a product, as well as the health risks associated with those ingredients. Turns out, "natural" isn't always better...The Mario Badescu night cream that I had been using actually contains ingredients that have been banned in Europe, as well as multiple ingredients that cause "organ toxicity". When I researched my 7$ cetaphil cream however, I found that it contains only two or three ingredients that had health concerns related to them. I would highly encourage anyone who is a health nut like me to actually do some research on the products that you use! I have linked the site I used below and I think that it is a great tool. I also wanted to not though, that it is important to look at other resources and actually google the ingredients that may be considered harmful! Some of these ingredients are also used in food, or other things that we ingest, and so they are not harmful if used in skincare, but you may want to avoid them when it comes to your food!
I hope everyone has had an amazing week and I am so happy for it to finally be the weekend :)
Have a wonderful evening :)\
xo Kaitlyn


heres a link to the site I used:
http://www.goodguide.com/

Favorite Mascaras of All Time

Mascara is one thing that I buy a TON of... I am constantly looking for the next best thing and I feel like I have tried almost every mascara out there. When sephora has a mini mascara as their 100 pt perk, it is always what I chose, and because of that, I rarely have to actually buy mascara. So today, I thought that I would share a few of my favorite mascaras with you!
#1. Make Up For Ever  (MUFE) Smokey Lash
I love this mascara and it is the one that I am constantly going back to. It is incredibly lengthening and volumizing, however it can come off a bit clumpy if you are not careful. The waterproof version is equally as amazing however you CAN NOT GET IT OFF! It is extremely waterproof! I personally think that Makeup Forever has the best waterproof products, and they are definitely my go-to brand in the summer time. I would highly recommend this mascara if you are looking for super thick, dramatic lashes.
 #2. Laura Mercier Long Lash Mascara
As the name implies, this is a fantastic lengthening mascara. I personally like to layer it under my YSL mascara, however I think that this is a fantastic mascara on its own for those looking for a more natural look. It is extremely lengthening, and it does not clump no matter how much you put on. If you find that it is too "watery" in the beginning, wait about 2-3 weeks and it should dry up a little bit.

#3. Diorshow Mascara
I love this mascara, and I think it does a fantastic job of volumizing and lengthening. The only thing that I find with this mascara is that it can be a little flakey when it starts to dry out. That being said, I still love it enough to have repurchased it about 10 times, and I will continue to do so...

#4. DJV Fiberwig Mascara
I cannot explain how much I love this mascara... I have probably repurchased it at least 15 times because I love it that much! This is an amazing laying mascara that will literally make your lashes look fake. I never use this mascara on its own, however it would look gorgeous if you were going for a more natural look. I personally love to layer this mascara over other volumizing mascaras such as the smokey lash and the diorshow. The mascara itself is made up of little fibers that stick to your lashes and add length, and no matter how much you put on, it will never look clumpy! I have also never had a problem with it flaking, or making little black marks where my lashes touch my cheeks or brow bone.

Once again I apologize! I will not be making any more promises between now and the end of the term because things are just currently crazy! I am currently looking for an apartment for next year and getting ready for finals. Plus my birthday is in 2 weeks! Next term is looking like it is going to be much easier and less hectic, so hopefully I can actually stick to my schedule then!
I hope everyone is doing well, and having a wonderful Wednesday Night! :)
XO Kaitlyn

Oscars Beauty 2013

Hey y'all,
Unfortunately there will not be a Mani Monday today due to some technical difficulty with my camera... However, I promise that I will put that post up later in the week!
How many of you watched the oscars last night?! My favorite part about award shows is always watching the red carpet and looking at peoples makeup looks! Everyone looked phenomenal last night, although I have to say, I honestly don't think Adele can ever look bad... Every time I see her, her makeup always looks flawless! Can her makeup artist come and just do my makeup every morning please?
Reese Witherspoon also looked stunning! I am absolutely IN LOVE with the way she wore her hair last night! I will hopefully be doing a tutorial on the look later in the week, and I think that would be a gorgeous look for those of you with prom coming up, or just want a glamourous hairstyle for a night out. I also loved Jennifer Lawrence's up-do, and I just love her in general... If I can figure out how to recreate her hair I will attempt to do a tutorial on that as well, however that is a big if! I also will be doing a few prom makeup tutorials so keep a lookout for those! 
I'm sorry this was sort of a blah post, but I am hoping to get back on track soon! I have spring break coming up in a couple of weeks so I will be blogging a lot more once the term is over....
As always, please leave your comments below with any suggestions or questions! I hope everyone is having a wonderful Monday and had a lovely weekend!

Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Volupté

The YSL Rouge Volupté lipsticks are probably my favorite lipsticks of all time. Their only downside is the price. At $34, they are definitely some of the pricier lipsticks that I  own, however I think that they are well worth it. The majority of nude lipsticks that I have tried wear off everywhere except right where your upper and lower lip meet, leaving a really gross white-ish line. YSL Rouge Volupte  in 2- Sensual Silk is the only nude colored lipstick that does not do this. This is a beautiful peachy nude color that is great for those of us who are extremely  pale. If you have a more tan-medium skin I would recommend 1-Nude Beige, which is more of a light dusty rose, or 3-Ultimate Beige which is a brighter peachier pink (but still in the nude category). All of their bright colors wear amazingly as well. Some of my favorites are 11-Rose Culte which is just a VERY bright hot pink, as well as 7- Lingerie Pink which is just a really pretty baby pink color.
  Because this lipstick is so creamy, it doesn't seem to cling to every dry patch on your lips or dry them out further, which is a major plus. They go on super creamy and then within about 30 min to an hour, they dry to a more satin finish. Because of this they are super long lasting and wear great throughout the day. As I discussed earlier, when they do wear off they wear off more evenly, not leaving funky patches or lines on your lips. I would highly recommend this product, however because of the price point, I would recommend going into the store first and trying it on to make sure that you like the color as well as the feel on the lips. Sephora recently started selling YSL, and I know that you can get them at Nordstrom as well. 

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend! If you have any suggestions or questions for me please let me know! I would love to hear from you :)
XO Kaitlyn 

Favorite Mac Neutrals

MAC NEUTRAL PALETTES

Neutral Browns:

Neutral Pink/Purples:

                                                                                                      

                                                                                                        Favorite Highlights:

I decided to start out just showing my neutral mac palettes because these are the shades that I use on a daily basis.  As you can see, there are a couple duplicates and quite a few that I have hit pan on. Mac has some amazing quality shadows, and they come in pretty much every color imaginable. The are definitely some of my top favorite shadows.
My all time favorites:
1. All that glitters- (which isn't as pink as it is showing up in this picture) I love this color all over the lid and it is the perfect shimmery peach color.
2. Twinks- I absolutely love this color! It's a perfect neutral plumy/brown color that looks amazing in the crease.
3. Vanilla- This is my favorite highlight color during the winter time because it matches my pale skin perfectly. In the summer months however, I tend to gravitate more toward ricepaper and brule
Shades that I will not be repurchasing: 
1. Honey Lust- I definitely am not a fan of this eyeshadow. It looks gorgeous in the pan, but as soon as you try to put it on your skin, you only get this weird chunky glitter that has horrible fallout. normally I'll have about a third of it on my lid, and the rest of it will have fallen all over my cheeks and the rest of my face- not a hot look. However, a friend of mine swears by this shade so it is possible that I just got a bad one? Either way, I will be giving it to her the next time I see her to see if she likes it.
2. Motif- I have a love/ hate relationship with shade. I really really want to like it... Its just a weird shade. You cant really tell from the picture however it is sort of an orangey gold color with a pink duo chrome. It looks absolutely beautiful in the pan, however I can't make it look good on my eye. It's not a bad shade... I just can't figure out how to use it to make it look good! If any of you have suggestions please let me know!



Soon I will be doing my top 10 Shadows everyone should own, and I will go into greater detail on each shade and show some swatches, however this is all for now! I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend! :)
If you have any suggestions/comments/ questions for me  please let me know! Have a wonderful night.
XO kaitlyn

DIY Lip Scrub and My Favorite Lip Exfoliants

In honor of valentines day, I thought that I would do a post about my favorite lip products to keep your lips looking flawless and kissable!

Exfoliating your lips at least weekly is something that I cannot stress enough! However, there are multiple ways that you can do this. If you want to go with a cheap alternative, (which doesn't work quite as well as the products that I will be recommending, however it is a fantastic alternative, especially when you are looking for ways to save some money) I would recommend putting a petroleum free jelly (basically like vaseline without the petroleum) on your lips for about 15-20 minutes to let it sink in. After that take an old tooth brush and scrub off the balm as well as any dead skin cells. If you have time I would recommend taking some sort of vegetable/argan/olive oil and mixing it with sugar and scrubbing it on your lips, then leave it there for about ten minutes. After that you can scrub it off with a tooth brush again, and then immediately put a lip balm on.

If you are going for a more luxurious lip scrub I would highly recommend Fresh Sugar Lip Scrub. I can't even begin to explain to you how heavenly this stuff smells! This is  my favorite lip exfoliant of all time, however because it is relatively expensive ($22.50) I generally only use it when I  really want to pamper myself.  Another amazing aspect of this product and the whole company in general is that it is all natural. You can use it the exact same way as the DIY lip scrub that I mentioned before, and once again just remember to put a lip balm on after scrubbing it off!

Some other amazing and not as expensive lip scrubs are from the company Lush. This is one of my favorite companies because everything is hand made and all natural. All of the ingredients (I think there are like 5-10 in each one, and all of them something that I can actually pronounce and know what it is) are all natural and listed directly below the product. The only downside to this product is it is not as widely available as the fresh products, however you can find them on their website (which I have linked below),  and they seem to be opening quite a few new stores. They finally opened one near me (yay!). The Lush scrubs are also half the price of the fresh sugar lip scrub at around $10.00. My personal favorite "flavor" is the Mint Julips, however it aslo comes in bubble gum, and sweet lips (which, as the name implies, has sort of a sweet vanilla-y scent). Best part is, you don't have to feel bad when you "accidentally" eat some of it while it's on your lips!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful valentines day! Just remember this day is about celebrating love, whether it be celebrating the love you have for your boyfriend/ significant other, or celebrating love for your family, friends, cat, dog, or even makeup! Today, I am celebrating my love of makeup and my friends (as well as my love for chocolate!) Hope everything is going well for all of you, and if you have any requests or any products that you would like me to review let me know!
Have a wonderful evening/ day :) and happy valentines day!
XO kaitlyn



WHERE TO GET FRESH PRODUCTS: www.sephora.com/fresh, www.fresh.com
WHERE TO GET LUSH PRODUCTS: www.lush.com

Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat

YSL's Touche Eclat has been something that I have been wanting to try for years, but I could never justify spending 40$ on an under eye concealer/brightener. I finally broke down and bought it due to huge dark circles under my eyes that nothing would cover up. This is the only product that will cover my dark circles while still looking natural. This is a fantastic product that I would highly recommend, and I will definitely be repurchasing. It  flawlessly covers up and brightens dark circles under the eye, making you look refreshed and awake (even if you pulled an all nighter the night before writing a paper). The other great thing about this concealer, is that it doesn't settle into fine lines, which makes it great for more mature skin. It also doesn't do that "grainy" thing over time as I discussed in my  Mac Studio Finish Concealer review.  I think that this product is great for all skin types and both my mother and I use this concealer even though we have very different skin types. Another great thing about this product is the shade range, I use the rose (shade 1) shade for my extraordinarily pale skin and it looks fantastic, and they have many other shades as well.  They also have some very dark shades such as shade 4, for darker skintones. My only wish is that they would have some darker more red based shades for very dark skin tones to help counteract ashy-ness (if you go to gossmakeupartist's youtube channel, he has some reviews on amazing products for women of color). I also wish that this was a little less expensive, however it is right around the same price pint as the Dior and Guerlain concealer /correctors. One last thing to point out is that for people with sensitive skin, this concealer is great because it doesn't give me that itchy heavy feeling as it wears as some other concealers do. 

Cost: 40$

Finish: Natural, it blend beautifully into the skin and you can't even tell it is there. 

Coverage: Light to Medium

Best Suited For: all skin types, I would highly recommend for those with more mature skin. 

Comparable to: Guerlain Issima Precious Light Smoothing Illuminator or Dior Skinflash  Concealer

Would You Recommend This Product?: YES!!!

Overall Rating: 4.5/5

P.S Please excuse the scratches all over mine in the picture! It's well used and well loved! :)

Best Lip Balms For Dry, Chapped Lips

I thought that I would just continue on with the whole "kissable lips" theme and talk to you a little bit today about my favorite lip balms and treatments.

My top favorite lip balm of all time is the Fresh Sugar Lip Balms. They come in about every color imaginable and they are great for dry, cracking lips. They also smell amazing! From the name you would think that they smell sort of vanilla/sugary, however they have a very fresh citrusy scent. Like the Fresh Sugar Lip Scrub that I mentioned in an earlier post, it is on the pricier side at $22.50, however I think it is well worth it! Also, if you are a sucker for packaging like me, the packaging is absolutely beautiful! It also has a twist top so if you accidentally forget and send it through the washer/dryer, or if you leave it in a hot car, theres no chance of it melting and leaking out all over your clothes or your car. Fresh also has a treatment balm, which honestly works miracles. I would highly recommend it for those of you with extremely dry lips and its great for people on Accutane.  I purchase mine from sephora, however you can also get it from the fresh website.
My next favorite, and substantially less expensive, lip balm is the Vitamin E Stick by Reviva Labs. I was hesitant about posting this on here because it can be difficult to get ahold of. The only place that I have found it is Whole Foods. If you can get your hands on it though, I would highly recommend it! It has a very different consistency on the lips than the fresh sugar lip balm. As soon as it is on the lips, it is very similar to putting straight olive oil on your lips. It also seems to have that olive oily taste/ smell. I could see how this could be irritating to some people, but I personally dont mind it. If you are going to put this on before your lipstick ( I would highly recommend putting some sort of balm on before any other lip products), I would make sure that it has completely sunk into your lips, and I would recommend wiping off any the excess oils from your lips before you apply your lipstick. If you just leave it on, your lipstick will most likely fade off within about an hour. As I mentioned before, this product is significantly less than the fresh lip balm, and the last time I bought the product I believe it was somewhere between $3.00-$4.00.
I have tried about every lip balm imaginable, and these two are by far the best! If you have any questions for me or anything that you would like to see a review on please let me know!
I hope everyone is having a wonderful day :)
XO Kaitlyn