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Beauty

    Beauty

    Winter Skin Essentials

    Today I’m sharing my favorite winter skin essentials with you. Although I love winter time, I definitely don’t love the negative effects that it has on my skin. When the weather is harsh, my skin tends to get very dry and, in the past, I’ve had to deal with very bad acne because of it. While I’m no skin or beauty expert, over the years I’ve developed a routine that keeps my skin healthy and looking its best when the weather is rough. Here are the products that have been keeping my skin looking great this winter:
    Garnier Moisture Rescue Refreshing Gel-Cream-Until recently, I only used regular lotion to moisturize my face, which wasn’t enough to keep my skin from peeling or getting dry during winter time. I purchased this moisturizer on a whim a couple of months ago because my skin was in a very bad state, and was surprised at how incredibly soft my skin was after only one day of using it. I also love that this moisturize can be used for day and night because it helps me keep my skin care routine simple, just the way I like it.
    Yes to Cucumbers Daily Calming Moisturizer-One of the most important parts of my skin care routine, regardless of what time of year it is, is wearing sunscreen. I want to make sure that I’m doing as much as possible to protect my skin from UV rays in order to avoid sun spots and other types of skin damage. Although the name of this product suggests that it’s a moisturizer, I find that it works best when used just as a sunblock. I like it because I have sensitive skin and, unlike other sunblocks that I’ve used, this particular brand doesn’t look too shiny or feel heavy on my face. It’s also not sticky, which makes it easy for me to apply foundation over it.
    Neutrogena Healthy Skin Eye CreamNow that I’m a bit older, I’ve started to notice that the skin around my eye area gets dry much more easily, especially when the weather is cold and rough. Although I’m ready to embrace most things about growing older, I’d like to keep wrinkles at bay for as long as possible, which is why it’s necessary to keep that area moisturized. This is another product that I’ve started using recently, and I really like it because it’s very light and doesn’t irritate my eyes like other eye creams do. And, I also like that a little bit of product goes a long way; I’ve had this tube for about 4 months and still haven’t used it all up.
    Boots Extracts Vanilla Body Butter-During this time of year, I make the switch from using regular body lotion to using body butter. If you haven’t used it before, it’s basically just a very thick and intensive moisturizer, but it absorbs really easily and isn’t too heavy on the skin. My skin used to get very dry and red, especially my hands and elbows, but I haven’t really experienced that ever since I started using this regularly.
    Trader Joe’s Vitamin E Oil-This time of year, I usually get these rough patches that just don’t go away no matter what I do. I’m talking about rough patches on my elbows and dry skin around my nose and lips. I’ve found that the best way treat these areas is to apply Vitamin E Oil on them before I go to bed. I only use Vitamin E Oil in case of emergencies, when my dry skin is not healing at all, because I’ve found that it can clog my pores if I use it too often. I also only use it at night because it’s very greasy, and I want to make sure that I can wash it off in the morning so that my skin doesn’t look and feel oily.
    EOS Lip Balm (Not Pictured)-In order to avoid dry lips as a result of dry weather, I make sure to always carry around some sort of lip balm. EOS lip balm has become a favorite of mine because not only is it organic, the container is also impossible to lose. I can’t even tell you how many sticks of lip balm I’ve misplaced over the years. For me, lip balm works best when I exfoliate my lips, which I do by simply rubbing my fingers over them in a circular motion when I wash my face or when I’m in the shower.
    xoxo,
    Helen
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    Beauty

    What’s In My Makeup Bag

    What's in My Makeup Bag

     

    What’s in My Makeup Bag by sweet-helen-grace featuring a cream blush

    Today I’m sharing with you some of the products in my makeup bag! Even though I don’t consider myself to be a beauty expert by any means, I do enjoy wearing makeup on a day-to-day basis. Over the years, I have developed an easy and quick makeup routine that complements my every day style. I like to keep things simple enough so that it only takes me a couple of minutes to get ready in the morning, especially on days when I’m in a rush to get to work. If you’re interested to learn how I achieve my every day look, keep on reading to see what’s in my bag:
    Face: For my face, I use Loreal’s True Match Foundation in W3 and Loreal’s True Match Concealer in Light/Medium Warm. I’ve tried several foundations over the years, and this is the only shade that doesn’t look too pink or gray/brown on my face. And since I don’t like spending more than 10-15 minutes doing my makeup, I also like that I can easily blend both products unto my face by just using my fingers. To top it all off, I use NYX Cosmetics Cream Blush in Tea Rose, which is equally easy to apply.
    Eyes: I use Almay Liquid Eyeliner to create the perfect cat eye. The soft and pointed tip on the brush makes it really easy to apply and get the perfect shape. I also use Covergirl All-in-One Curved Brush Mascara in Very Black, and I love that the curved brush gives my lashes a lift and eliminates the need to use an eyelash curler.
    Lips: I recently purchased MAC Lipstick in Twig, and it has quickly become my favorite shade to use every day. This shade is a subtle brownish rose color, and is a great alternative to a nude lip.
    If you don’t feel like you’ve already seen enough pictures of my face, this is what my makeup pretty much looks like every day. I really hope that this post was helpful to you, especially if you’re not one for wearing makeup, and would like some sort of guidance on where to get started. As I said before, I wouldn’t say that I know too much about makeup other than what I do every day, so I would love to hear about what are some of your favorite products.
    Have a great rest of the week!
    xoxo,
    Helen Grace
    Beauty, Food & DIY

    French Braided Side-Chignon

    Photos By Sarah Veyna
    I’m super excited to present you with my first ever hair tutorial! I must admit that I’m no expert when it comes to hair and beauty, but I really do enjoy learning and trying out different hairstyles. I’ve actually only recently started experimenting with putting up my hair, because I’ve found that it’s the easiest remedy for a bad hair day when you’re in a rush. This french braided side-chignon is one of my go-to hairstyles, because it only takes about 5 minutes to do and it looks really elegant. Keep on reading, if you want to learn how to achieve this look.
    Start off by creating a side part on your hair.
    Next, you’re going to section off a piece of hair on the side of your head opposite of your part. You want to make sure that you section off a piece on the side opposite of your part, so that your hairstyle doesn’t look too pulled back on your face.

     

    Using this section of hair, start braiding your hair in a diagonal french braid across your head. This is just like a regular french braid, except that you’ll be weaving in strands from the top and bottom of your head, instead of from the sides. Once you’ve braided in all of your hair, use a hair tie to secure it into a low ponytail.

     

    Take the hair hanging from your low ponytail, and wrap it around your hair tie to create a chignon, and secure it with a couple of bobby pins. Finally, pull out a couple of strands in the front, in order to frame your face.
    You can also add fresh flowers or a fascinator to your hair if you want, in order to liven or dress up your hairstyle.
    Putting together this blog post was so much fun, and I hope that you all found it very helpful. I had actually never thought of putting together any beauty posts until a friend asked me if I had any hair tutorials on my blog. If you see any hairstyles or makeup on my blog that you want me to do a tutorial for, please let me know! I’d love to put together more of these types of posts.
    xoxo,
    Helen Grace