Fav Beauty Products for Summer!!!

Happy summertime, my sparkly emeralds!!!!




Time to get prepped up for sunny skies and sweaty times. You can still look pretty and clean despite the extreme weather. Here are my personal favorites:

Burt's Bees Honey Lip Balm: $3.15

With all-natural ingredients and a subtle shine, these little tubes of wonder are what I think every female should keep in their pockets. Far better than Chapstick, Burt's Bees Lip Balm protects your lips from dehydration without feeding them any harmful chemicals. No matter how you apply it, this formula is light and smooth and gets the job done. 

E.l.f. Foundation brush:  $0.99

Applying foundation with your fingers is ok, but the "blendability" is greatly minimized and you can't get a very smooth result out of it. Plus, your fingertips are very oily and rubbing your face vigorously with them can contribute to acne. A brush, however, provides a smooth and even application. It even helps you to use less product than if you were to just use your fingers. Most makeup brushes can be quite expensive, but E.l.f. gives an inexpensive alternative that works just as well (if not better) than any other brush. I've had mine for a couple of months now, and I am very satisfied with the results.

Tip: Use a little hand soap or shampoo after every couple uses to get old foundation out of the inside of the bristles to increase the brush's longevity and to prevent gross build-up from occurring.

Neutrogena healthy skin liquid makeup:  $11.99

This makeup is light, blendable, and gives me good, natural-looking coverage without me having to use much product at all! And there is no matte texture given from this; it leaves my skin feeling subtly "dewey", which is ideal for summer weather. I have pretty oily skin that can really get gross when I use facial makeup, especially when it's hot and I get all sweaty, but so far this stuff has not added any extra oiliness no matter what. It doesn't smear, which is a pleasant bonus for glasses-wearers, neither does it "disappear" over time  or when hit with sweat. It's a good deal, lasts long, and I won't use any other foundation except this one.

Tip: Use your ring finger and make small dots of foundation across the areas of your face which you want covered. I usually dot my cheeks, chin, nose, and forehead. Then take a makeup brush and swipe and blend in a diagonal direction downward, away from your face. If you are very white like I am, I would avoid applying makeup around the jawline, because that area can cause makeup to really show up and clash colors with your neck. That's usually not a natural or attractive move. 

L'oreal True Match Super-Blendable Concealer: $7.97

Concealer can be annoying to pick out because it's rare that you are actually going to get what you are promised on the bottle. Most concealers are either too thick, too rich in color, doesn't hide imperfections, doesn't blend, or just looks plain awful on any woman (from all concealers I've tried, Maybelline's Concealer sticks are the worst, in my opinion). It has been a long search, but I've finally found something that works well for me. 

Despite being kind of watery, this formula does exactly what the tube says it does: blends well. It's not heavy at all, and the finish is surprisingly very natural looking. It isn't super opaque, which may not be best for people who have bad acne, but it works beautifully with dark circles under the eyes and with hiding small imperfections. Best of all, it only takes a very thin layer of this stuff to get brighter looking skin, so this concealer will last you a good long while. The applicator to this product is unfortunately pretty pathetic, being just a floppy lip gloss brush, so be sure to get yourself a foundation or concealer brush to use with it. You'll thank me later.

Tip: When applying the concealer anywhere, scrape the brush against the side of the tube then dot or dash the area lightly and blend using a circular motion with a foundation or concealer brush. When applying under your eyes, look straight ahead (don't tilt your head), and blend, blend, blend. 

Maybelline New York LINE Stiletto ULTIMATE PRECISION Liquid Eyeliner : $5.94

The applicator is kind of like a tiny felt-tip marker, which means you can easily draw super thin lines or slap on some ultra dramatic slashes without a problem. With this stuff, you've got complete control, and that's the best part of this product. It dries quickly yet is easy to correct if you make a mistake while applying. The original formula doesn't last very long, but if you buy the water-proof version you should get a nice all-day look. 

Cover Girl's Original LashBlast: $6.99

A lot of Cover Girl's products I've found were generic and not satisfactory, but Lash Blast stands out and is definitely far from the ordinary. It's really no wonder their mascara is one of the best selling beauty products out there; it's smooth, flexible, easy to remove, and lasts for hours. There are so many different types and colors to choose from and they all work beautifully. In my opinion, Last Blast beats Maybelline's Great Lash mascara, and that stuff is pretty good, so that's saying something! It works wonders for people who have thin, blond, or tiny eyelashes by making them thick and lengthy.   

There you have it! Have a beautiful summer!