How I clean my Makeup Brushes

Hello! One of my good friends asked me today to remind her how I clean my makeup brushes which reminded me that I had been meaning to post how I do so on my blog. So, here we are - this is just how I prefer to deep clean my makeup brushes. I clean them daily with a brush cleaning spray from Sephora, but about on a weekly basis I clean them in the following way. I have adapted how I clean them from some of my favorite youtube gurus like,  Michelle Phan,  Kandee Johnson & SunkissAlba. I have super oily, acne prone skin, therefore I avoided the olive oil and dish soap as used in some of their videos and opted for an antibacterial soap and jojoba oil instead, which is suppose to be ok for acne prone skin. Below are my steps. Enjoy! :)

Step 1: grab antibacterial hand soap, jojoba oil and a white plate (so u can see the makeup color as it fades) 

Step 2: squirt some soap & 1 drop or 2 of oil on the plate; wet only the hair section of the brush (avoiding the handle) and rub the brush in a circular motion against the plate, rinse.

*Repeat this step until no color is coming of the brush and it rinses clear.  

(note - using the raised edge if your plate to rub against get out the stubborn makeup, if you have an even more textured plate - even better, to create a washboard effect)

 

Step 3: wipe the brushes dry with a paper towel and hang with brush side down to dry. 

I choose to do this using self-adhesive velcro sticking a little piece on each brush and I keep the other halves in the inside of my medicine cabinet so they are hidden & I never have to remove. I usually do end up removing the velcro from the brushes after they are dry if they get in the way, but you get so much velcro in the package it's to big deal to stick a new piece every time.   

*Thanks 4 reading, please feel free to comment :)

New Vanity Setup on a Budget

Hi!... It's been a long time, but I just finally am getting around to posting on my new vanity set-up I created for myself about a month ago. I am loving it! Hopefully I'll be moving into my own place soon, so I wanted something I could keep and that could easily fit into a small space if needed. My makeup collection is not very large, my many of my youtuber standards, but its just right for me since I tend to stick to the same thing day-today anyway. I also just wanted somewhere I could sit and apply makeup (since I was previously just standing in my bathroom) and somewhere I could see all my makeup with easy access to it all. I got this table, which is actually a computer desk, ( Carson Anywhere Desk at Target ) for $99. Luckily the drawer which was made to hold a keyboard, actually locks up in place so it can also be used as a regular functioning drawer. For lighting I also found these spotlight looking lamps for $11.97 each (  Portfolio Bronze Accent Lamp at Lowes ). I added soft light flood light bulbs per the associates recommendation and they are pretty bright, but work well for me. They can also be mounted to the wall if I preferred. My mirror was only $14 at TJ-maxx and I may replace it with something a bit fancier when I move, but it works perfectly for now. The drawers sitting on top of the desk were $23.95 from Muji ( Muji 5 Drawer Acrylic Case )... They are hard to find in stock though (just keep checking the website if interested to catch them in), but I love them!... They are made of a really nice heavy acrylic rather than plastic. The ones I got only have 1 inch deep draws though, so some of the thick items, like foundations and such won't fit. I keep those other items in the actual desk drawer as shown below. I simply got 2 plastic drawer organizers, also from Target as well for about $6 each (located in the storage/container aisles - sorry no link, not showing on their website). My remaining go-to items on the table top are: a Kleenex tissue box, a glass candle holder with Yankee candle, and my face brushes stored using the bead technique (I'm sure you all know of.)..oh, also - instead of having an additional standup magnified mirror for close up makeup application I opted for a smaller silver compact-like mirror with Swarovski crystals on it I found at Ross, but it works well in the small working space & it still stands open and has a 10x magnification,  and I can take for travel too! ... oh, lastly - I got this cheap plastic placemat that I could pull out anytime & use to do my makeup on top of in case there are any spills it doesn't ruin my wood desktop, and it wipes off easily, but I store it in the drawer when I'm not applying makeup... I'd love the get a piece of glass cut for the top, but I don't know if the cost would be worth it since the desk was only $99! ... this was my alternative to the Ikea Malm dressing table, which I originally wanted in black. Well, I hope you enjoyed this post and it helps!... I am so glad I finally have a place for everything... let me know if you have any questions. Thanks for reading! :)

Review of Inglot eye makeup & Experience

While browsing in one of my local malls, Town Square here in Las Vegas I stumbled across a new store filled with bright colors and crazy lashes, Inglot! I resisted the temptation to explore that day since I was in a bit of a rush, plus even though I was certain I had heard the name before I wanted to dive into reviews more 1^st. So I checked them out, reviews and their official website and felt privileged to see that we had one of only a handful of store in the US as most of their locations are overseas and where they are based, in Poland. One review I came across <Linked here>, seemed to be positive and recommended the shimmery finishes, I also noted that this video raised an issue with de-potting the shadows so I was sure to ask an Inglot Associate when I made my 1^st Inglot purchase. Myself and a friend browsed the store and were both most interested in shadows. We found what we both thought to be the best deal – 5 Inglot round shadows, including the palette for $25! I thought that was GREAT! We were given a little magnetic pad that we could easily select our eye shadows and pop them on to; it was really easy! At 1^st I thought, hey what if I take a shadow my friend also wants?, but I thought it was cool that they had duplicates right next to each other (2 rounds and one square) in case someone else has already picked up a shadow you may have been interested in, you can easily tell that it is missing (as compared to mac where I often wonder if I seeing all the possibly available colors or go back & forth across the store to view the duplicate shadow displays to ensure I am not missing anything).

Anyway, after swatching & comparing plenty of colors I choose 4 pearl finish colors and one AMC Shine finish color. Unlike most makeup brand Inglot’s shadows go my a number rather than a name description (which is a little weird/harder to remember for me, but some may like?) I ended up with the colors: Pearl 451, Pearl 419, Pearl 423, Pearl 409, & AMC Shine 31, as shown below from left to right. (I wasn’t really going for one solid look of colors to use all together, but more of accent colors to use with other things) It's really cool that the palette is also magnetic, and not just the shadow to palette, but also the palette cover is magnetic & just snaps into place… therefore additional palettes also snap on top of each other, with or without the individual palette covers between them (also a good marketing concept to entice consumers to buy & stack multiple palettes).  So,  during checkout I remembered by question and asked the Associate about the easiest way to de-pott the shadows. I liked her answer – she said to take one of the corners of the palette cover and gently glide it over the shadow you want to de-pot and the magnetic shadow should stick to the palette cover, picking it up. (hope that makes sense, let me know if you’d like demo).. but pretty easy!

I tried the shadows for about a week & a half. I really liked the shadows I selected, but there is a reason why I selected these… I felt like they were the most pigmented finish of the colors I wanted and yet not too bold for my taste (because they did have much brighter/vibrant colors but I tend to like more earth tones). Although I like shimmers, I stay away from shadows on the more glittery side where they have multi-colored glitter in them like a rainbow iridescent effect. So what I choose was perfect for me, I have mostly used the brown, nude color and green as well as the purple once. I really like their pigmentation and they do last my full day. Of course, I continue to use a shadow primer (Urban decay, Shadow Insurance) under the shadows, which I recommend to anyone to keep their shadow in place all day. I have already a couple people mention my eyeshow looked nice. So overall these are defiantly worth trying for yourself! They are a great product at a great price, with awesome packaging!

I realize I can be a bit long in my reviews, but this is literally everything that goes through my head when making my purchases, I guess I can be a bit over analytical when it comes to beauty/fashion products? (lol)… so for those who just want the straight up, quick review I think I will start also doing a rating chart, as below! :)

 

Short Overview Rating, 1 thru 5

Color Selection: 4

Quality/Color Pigmentation: 4.5 (for pearl finishes)

Lasting ability: 5

Experience: 5

Functionality: 5

 Pearl 451, Pearl 419, Pearl 423, Pearl 409, & AMC Shine 31

Mac Pro-Longwear Review

So, I saw a couple reviews on this product on youtube, thanks to a couple of my favs and also read the description on the Mac website etc., and from what I had heard it was pretty good. Previous to this, I was using Revlon Colorstay Foundation, so it's my most recently compared. But the Pro-Longerwear claims to last up to 15 hours, so I had to try it! I also decided to pick up the concealer (NC45 in the foundation & NW35in the concealer).  I have VERY oily and acne-prone skin, so I am always very cautious in trying new skin products. I found that this foundation truly does last my full day and  leaves me with far, far less shine… I always check about mid day (at least) to see if I need a touch up… and I sometimes still blot to prevent and out of sheer habit, but I rarely have to apply my translucent shine control powder. And when I do blot, there is hardly anything on my blotting sheet compared to before. So I LOVE it… it last (I can at least verify up to 10 hours) and even thereafter, even though I try not too… if I must re-apply over existing foundation, it re-touches pretty well. It leaves less shine (without being cakey) than anything else I have tried (although I’d like to put to the test during the Vegas summer months still), and lastly it does not break me out. The concealer is similar, I feel like it last on the blemishes of my skin, but could be more lasting around my eye area (it could be that I apply eye drops so often during the day that it wears it down after about 6 hours). I do like the consistency of the concealer though, very creamy and easy to blend, not cakey at all. I used Mac Studio Sculpt Concealer previously which was a bit more ashy under the eye area compared, but I am curious how layering the 2 would work… hmm? Anyway, here is how I apply the foundation/concealer to get the results that I have: I do use a couple products prior to application, currently the DDF Ultra-Lite Oil-Free Moisturizing Dew, the Clinique Pore Minimizer T-Zone Shine Control, and the L'Oreal Studio Secrets Professional Magic Perfecting Base Primer, then I apply with the Mac 130 brush and apply the concealer thereafter (usually just with my finger) then set with the Product Reviews SEPHORA COLLECTION "Tricks of the Trade" Mineral Matte Setting Powder … Sometimes I throw a little Mac skin finish natural in Dark over that to offset the foundation color that is just a tiny bit yellow for me, which also nicely offsets that matte-ness of my setting powder…. And I am set!