Top 5 Reasons To Clean Your Makeup Brushes & Sponges

Some of us have a large amount of makeup brushes, and some have a small amount of makeup brushes. No matter the amount of makeup brushes you have, the important thing about having them is keeping them clean.

Makeup Buildup

Makeup brushes get used for all different types of makeup; from eyeshadow to liquid foundations. Overtime, that makeup builds up and collects and cakes up in the bristles, making it difficult to work with blending in makeup the next time you use them.

Bacteria

Gross, bacteria! Yes, bacteria thrives in your makeup brushes after each use of them! Leading to acne, uneven makeup and possible skin infections. Just imagine that on your skin!

Sponges Hoard Bacteria

Beauty Blenders and makeup beauty sponges all hoard lots of bacteria. They are a sponge, so they soak up whatever liquid you put on them, and they collect whatever bacteria that's on your face and give it the opportunity to thrive and grow. Be sure to wash them thoroughly at least once a week.

Bristle Health

Keeping your makeup brushes ensures the health of the bristles of your makeup brushes. Makeup build up collecting in the bristles over time can damaged the bristles, especially with liquid foundation, bronzers, blushes, contouring, etc.

Proper Cleaning

A lot of people who use makeup brushes and sponges are unaware of which cleanser to use. They're are so many on the market these days! I have one cleanser that I love and trust with cleaning my makeup brushes and it is inexpensive!



Real Techniques Makeup Brush Cleansing Gel ($9.99)

I've used this cleansing get for YEARS on my brushes. It's lightly scented which doesn't bother my face or eyes, it's a gel formula, so it doesn't run all over the place, easy to work with, gets the job done, it's expensive, and it's sold at many stores such as: Target, Walmart, Ulta, CVS, and Walgreens.

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Blogging Essentials

We all use different essentials to improve, keep create content, and maintain any type of blog, whether it be about food or mine of course, beauty! I have a few set essentials I like to use when it comes to creating content, keeping track of new and current blog post ideas, improving and maintaining my blog here. 

I use an assortment of programs, websites and equipment all for doing just that!

Canon EOS Rebel T3i Digital SLR Camera (EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens)

This model is no longer manufacture by Canon, but it's somewhat available through Amazon and Ebay, if you're able to find this specific model. It was my first Digital SLS camera and still being used to take photos of products I share here in my blog post and in my videos over on my YouTube channel. Canon makes great quality cameras, some with multiple features and some that are basic point and shoots to get the job done. You don't need to have the most expensive camera on the market, but if I'd recommend a camera, start looking at Canon cameras while you're out looking. Looking for one that gives you macro function (as well as other photo taking specifications, interchangeable lens, rechargeable battery (or non-rechargeable batteries), SD card availability are just some of the features that you should for when on the hunt for a camera for blogging.

OttLite Creative Curves LED Desk Lamp

Unless you have a white box or photo box that you use, an OttLite is a great suggestion to have when taking photos of products for a beauty blog. It brightens up the area around the product, making editing adjustments of white balance easier if needed.

Lexar Platinum II 16GB and 64GB SD Card

I'm not saying you have to go out a buy the biggest SD card out there. Some are in high capacity for professionals who take hundreds of photos a day, but for blogging, 16GB to 32GB is more than enough space for photos. I use the 16GB mostly for photos I'm taking on my Canon and my 64GB for videos I'm filming for my YouTube channel.

Evernote

I use Evernote for more than just my blogging. I've been using their system for over 5 years now for personal things, managing different lists, inventory for my die cutting shop, Couture Paper Designs, to creating lists of new ideas of blog posts. Evernote is completely free, letting you use it on two different devices (Computer, Tablet/iPad, or Phone), but if you need to use on more than 2 devices, you have to upgrade to one of their premium plans. I have a student plan, since I'm currently attending college and also use it for school purposes as well. 

Photoshop

Photoshop is apart of Adobe and is through their Creative Cloud system. I use Photoshop mainly for making the banners I use for my YouTube channel, Twitter, Facebook, and on my blog sometimes. I also use for adjusting white balance in photos I take. It is a paid subscription to use. If you are a student, you also get a discount through them as well to use if you're a student of the arts!

Fotor

Fotor is completely free! And I use it to adjust white balance in photos, crop photos and make collages of my photos for my blog posts.

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Review! Pacifica Rosemary Purify Invigorating Shampoo & Conditioner!

It's time for another product review! I've been a loooong time fan and user of products by Pacifica Beauty and their brand has never failed on me. Their brand claims to be 100% Vegan & Cruelty-Free and the majority of their products are sulfate-free, formulated without parabens, phthalates, SLS or mineral oil. A plus for those who are vegan, cruelty-free and/or looking for products excluding those typical ingredients found in beauty and hair products.

I recently stumbled across their hair products and found: Rosemary Purify Invigorating Shampoo and Conditioner because for years, due to having Hypothyroidism, I suffer from bothersome scalp; itchy, dry, flaky or as in this products definition: congested. 

I've gone from Head & Shoulders to deep conditioning shampoos and conditioners, and then back to Head Shoulders all to get the same results; itchy, itchy, itchy! Much to my surprise, after using these two combined, I've seen a whole change in not only my scalp, but my hair itself!

Just after one use, I noticed a decrease in flaking and the itching had subsided. It breaks through all the build up from my hair products, general oil in my scalp, flakes and makes it feel clean and refreshed afterwards! The smell is amazing! I'm a lover of the smell of mint. My hair overall feels softer overall as well.

Rosemary Purify Invigorating Shampoo

Likes:

Packaging

Clear to read ingredients, product claims, company claims, and where it was made

Lightweight feeling

Mint scent

Tingling feeling to scalp

Leaves my scalp feeling "airy" clean and refreshed

Dislikes:

It can sometimes to be hard to lather up

Rosemary scent is very faint

Rosemary Purify Invigorating Conditioner

Likes:

Packaging

Clear to read ingredients, product claims, company claims, and where it was made

Lightweight feeling

Mint scent

Dislikes:

Rosemary scent is very faint

All opinions are honest and done by myself. I am not being paid to review this product.

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Top Favorite Skin Care Products

Face & Neck Care

Pacifica Sea Foam Complete Face Wash ($10.00)

I've been a fan of this face wash for a number or years now. In fact, I'm a complete fan of the Pacficia brand themselves. I was using Cliniques Liquid Face Soap Mild until I discovered this your a YouTube channel. It has been a game changer in my facial cleansing routine. It not only cleans my face, it removes excess oil, dirt, and impurities, removes excess makeup my makeup remover didn't get and tones my skin. My skin has never broken out with this product, ever!

Clarisonic Sensitive Brush Head ($14.50 - $24.50)

I've used the normal brush head for years with my Clarisonic Mia 2, until I no longer could find it anywhere in stores or online. I ended up thinking, what's the worst that will happen? NOTHING. Nothing negative happened. In fact, positive things happened! Not only does it clean my face and neck, it makes it feel incredibly smooth and somewhat tightened and my pores are visibly smaller. The brush head itself is weird looking, almost like it has soft plastic pieces on the outside that you would think would hurt your face, but nope! It's so soft to the touch!

Clinique Clarifying Lotion ($14.45)

I can't stress enough to people about toning their face! It's the part where it balances the pH of your skin and without a proper pH balance, who knows what will happen! I've been using this since I was a teenager and it is the key to keeping my skin from breaking out and having severe problems! I can change my facial cleanser all I want, but this is the key right here!

Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel ($28.00)

This is another issue I can't stress enough about! Moisturize your face! Just because you have an oily face doesn't mean it doesn't need to be moisturized. It does! Moisturizing keeps the moisture level balanced and from becoming haywire.

Clinique All About Eyes ($33.00 - $54.50)

When it comes to eye creams, you're allowed to be picky. I know I am! I need an eye cream that handle dark circles and puffiness because let's be honest, not all of us get a full 8 to 9 hours of sleep, haha. This helps with that A LOT. It dramatically reduces them instantly and overtime of using the product, it's a lightweight formula, non-greasy and quick absorbing. Perfect for me to use morning and night!

Clinique Moisture Surge 72-Hour Auto-Replenishing Hydrator ($12.00 - $54.00)

I have combination/oily skin and when I say oily, I mean oil slick! It's absolutely ridiculous how much oil a persons face can accumulate on it. But, there are times when my skin dries out for some odd reason and it needs some oil and moisture put back into it, this does the trick. Or if I've been out in the heat too long, I'll pop this jar in the fridge, let it cool down, and apply it to my face. It's like iced water in a jar!

Lip Care

LUSH Lip Scrub (Bubblegum) ($12.95)

This is a long time favorite of mine. No other lip scrub compares to it, none! It's a little pricey, but you get a lot in this little jar and a little bit goes a long way. I use this once or twice a week to remove any excess dead skin cells on my lips and it makes them feel very smooth and makes lipstick and chapstick applications wonderful!

CO Bigelow My Favorite Night Balm ($7.50)

I recently discovered this while shopping in Bath & Body Works for hand sanitizers and other things I enjoy from their store. An associate recommended it to me and let me tell you; BEST. LIP BALM. EVER. I ended up buying two; one for my purse and another for my bedside table to use before going to sleep. It keeps my lips moisturizes for hours without drying them out. It is a little on the sticky side if you apply too much, so a little goes a long way!

Hand & Body Care

LUSH Dream Cream Body Lotion ($7.95 - $39.95)

I've always suffered from dry, itchy skin on my hands and legs, ALWAYS! I can't remember when I didn't suffer from it. Especially on my hands. After so many different types of lotions and hand creams, I've found the holy grail of them all. This makes me hands so smooth, it even lasts into the next day through washing them and it has significantly changed the texture of my hands as well. They don't seem to have that dry, rough texture to them after using this a few times. It's light scented, not greasy and absorbs rather quickly, which is a plus in my book, since fragrances in products tend to irritate my skin.

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June 2020 Favorites

June is coming to a close real fast, and with all the crazy stuff going on, even faster. I thought I'd share my favorites for the month again with you all.

Pacifica Rosemary Purify Invigorating Shampoo
For almost over a year I've suffered from a itchy shampoo from buildup, dry scalp and mostly from autoimmune disease Hypothyroidism (Hashimoto's Thyroiditis). I've tried A LOT of shampoos and conditioners from moisturizing all the way up to Head & Shoulders. I've used the Pacifica brands face wash and haven't turned back from using it since first using it, so I figured why not? This stuff is amazing! Not only does it clean all the junk out of the top and bottom of my scalp, but the minty and tingle feeling makes my scalp feel clean and fresh. I noticed the mint scent more in the shampoo, which I love!

Pacifica Rosemary Purify Invigorating Conditioner
For almost over a year I've suffered from a itchy shampoo from buildup, dry scalp and mostly from autoimmune disease Hypothyroidism (Hashimoto's Thyroiditis). I've tried A LOT of shampoos and conditioners from moisturizing all the way up to Head & Shoulders. I've used the Pacifica brands face wash and haven't turned back from using it since first using it, so I figured why not? This stuff is amazing! Not only does it clean all the junk out of the top and bottom of my scalp, but the minty and tingle feeling makes my scalp feel clean and fresh. I noticed the rosemary scent more in this conditioner than the shampoo that goes with it, which I love!

Paul Mitchell Flexible Style Hold Me Tight
For the longest time I've been using the Extra Firm Hold hairspray by Tresseme and it was favorite for holding my hair in place, especially my side bangs when I put them back for a pony tail, but I didn't like the sticky and hard feeling in my hard it left, but I dealt with it. My mom actually gave this to me to try, and I love it! It holds well and no sticky or hard feeling in my hair.

Not Your Mother's Clean Freak Dry Shampoo (Original)
I've been trying to go back into nothing by "cruelty-free, vegan and/or no animal testing" products in my life. I really enjoy them more, to be honest.

Urban Decan Naked Cherry Palette

I've actually been using this a lot before June. Probably ever since January when I purchased it, because I've been a fan of the Urban Decay Naked palettes ever since I was introduced to their Naked 2 palette. This palette gives such a smooth cranberry look. Perfectly blends, beautiful colors ranging from neutrals to smoke for any eye look. I've been using it to due neutral, everyday kind of looks.

Tree Hut Charcoal Black Sugar Scrub
This sugar sugar is literally blackish brown colored! It smells almost like licorice to me. But it works very nicely on my legs, thighs, arms, hands, elbows and under my feet. Makes them very soft and the smell is delicious.

Morphe Oval Shadow Brush (M167)

This brush has been a game changer in how I pack on eyeshadow to my eyelid. It packs the pigment on so well, with no fallout at all! The handle is of good size so I have great handling as well.

Morphe Flat Liner Definer Brush (M432)

Where has still brush been all my life! It has also been a game changer in my makeup routine for my eyebrows. For years I was using a flat liner brush by e.l.f cosmetics and it was barely sculpting them properly. But this... WOW. I have complete control of where the brush is going when I'm sculpting my eyebrows and I don't have to use much of the product I was using before.

          

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