lindsay's skincare routine

so for people who didn't know me pre-college (and kind of pre-high school), i had really bad oily skin and frequent breakouts, to the point where i started going to a dermatologist. fast forward to now: as of Katrina, i no longer go to the dermatologist and rarely to occasionally try new over the counter acne/beauty products because everything is under control, given i try a new product and have a "bad" reaction...anyway, shortly after ending dermatologist visits, my mom had me on proactiv. now it could be that i was a lazy bum, but i didn't feel like the proactiv system worked for me. it helped with the oiliness, but not so much for my breakouts. it was kind of expensive and it was subscription-based..i guess it works different if you pick it up at the mall nowadays?? anyway so i was not really for all that. at a later point in time, mom's coworker worked at a dillard's clinique on the side and introduced me to their acne care line. and for a long while, everything was amazing..until clinique decided to discontinue some products in the past several years....... >.> regardless, i still go half and half with them and various other products that work for me - which i will get to later. and now, over the christmas holidays, i bought myself a clarisonic. yes it's only been a month, but i haven't had any skin problems since introducing it, which is totally awesome. anyway; i realize this is an overwhelming number of products i put on my face almost daily, but this is what works for me. also, this is what i do year-round. i probably should use a stronger moisturizer in winter, but again..i'm lazy. =P ~L-c ^.~

alright so to the current routine. pending on the time of day (morning or evening) and when i take a shower, my routine changes.
pre-clarisonic:

1. shower (either time): clinique 7-day scrub or st. ives apricot scrub: medicated. i prefer to use any type of face scrubs in the shower so that any particles caught in my hair are easily rinsed out.
   → not taking a shower (opposite time): wash face with a foaming cleanser. right now, i'm trying to finish off a free bottle of ole henricksen's african red tea foaming cleanser, but i generally use clean and clear foaming acne wash
2. both times: clinique clarifying lotion 3 (toner, for oily skin), followed by clinique dramatically different moisturizing gel.
   → clarifying lotion is not actually a lotion, it is a liquid toner. pour it onto a cotton ball and apply to your whole face, do this with one or more cotton balls if they appear dark after applying. do not saturate the cotton ball. a year ago, i purchased a pump bottle which is more commonly used in medical practices..to dispense my clarifying lotion. you just pour the liquid into the bottle and place a cotton ball on the dispenser part and push down a few times.
   • sidenote: i previously used sea breeze which gives your face a burning/alcohol-ish feeling, clarifying lotion does not.
   → i personally prefer the dramatically different gel over the dd lotion..so if you ever buy them, read the label carefully as the products are the same color and packaged the same. i don't like the smell of the lotion and i generally buy the squeeze bottles, even though they cost slightly more per ounce, because the pump bottles are super annoying when you're close to the bottom.
3. night time: if there are no acne spots or acne forming or anything, do nothing.
   → if there is something there: (mini review of the following items)
   • an open wound: apply clinique spot healing gel
   • acne spot forming: apply clinique emergency gel lotion; this is actually a thick lotion in consistency..not gel at all....
4. morning/going out and about:
   → apply sunscreen. i like using clinique's super city block spf 40, they also make spf 25, because it is not like a white, body sunscreen, it's tinted to go on sheer. i do not use this all the time; i generally only wear it spring to fall...even though i probably should wear it year-round..the sun and uv rays don't go away!
   • whenever i get a job with an income, i might eliminate sunscreen and moisturizer with this new product, but we'll see.
   → apply face primer. as you guys probably saw, i really like too faced's primed and poreless primer for daily use. now, i do use this all over my face because that's what works for me, but you don't need to. (mini review)
   → apply makeup. 

post-clarisonic, only step 1 changed. i bought murad time release acne cleanser to try a while ago, but it is too drying for daily use, so i use this every other day with the clarisonic to use it up. on the opposite days, i've been using clarins one step exfoliating cleanser--also to use it up--with my hands. once i finish both of these, i'm thinking of buying the giant sized (this size is cheapest, per ounce) philosophy purity made simple sometime in the future and using that with the clarisonic daily.

what i'm loving: makeup, skincare, and a recipe!

new theme and a couple new songs for you guys. i believe the wallpaper is from a japanese magazine article (i removed the text from the left side) advertising Guilty Crown (link contains spoilers). "My Dearest" is the intro theme for Guilty Crown, and i love Miyavi, so i had to throw that on there; he's playing guitar and kreva is rapping. click for my other miyavi favorites! i also thought that this was funny and decided to include it here.

this section, reposted from a previous post:

i've decided to make a series of "what i'm loving" posts...except, i think i'll make them sporadically rather than on a particular day of the week, every week--sorry guys. so i guess it'll be a 'what i'm loving now'..? lol. i'll create a new tag for these types of posts, and put links and photos on them. i will warn you guys, as i've decided to become an out-of-the-closet makeup junkie, most items will probably be makeup or skincare related. ^^; unfortunately, my camera isn't up to par with newer ones (it's 4+ years old), so for now, most pictures will be from my phone, which has an app with image stabilization for shaky photographers like myself. >.< ~Lindsay-chan ^.~

*note: not all "what i'm loving" posts will be as massive as this one. i spent over two weeks compiling this post.

favorite vloggers: CookingWithDog, TiffanyD, and xSparkage.
favorite bloggers: TiffanyD, xSparkage, and Cosmetics Aficionado.
favorite stores: Sephora & Ulta, Lush

**most of the following items can be found at either sephora, ulta, or others that carry those items. lush only carries lush products and has it's own section below.


Urban Decay cosmetics (UD):

Naked and Naked2 eyeshadow palettes; see swatches here and here. i think that i like the 2 more than the 1 since it's more tawny and has lighter shades and i'm not so much for super dark or crazy-bright colored makeup..on myself. =P
Naked comes with mini Eyeshadow Primer Potion in "Original" (see below) and a brush (older palettes came with a dual ended pencil). Naked2 comes with mini Lip Junkie lip gloss in "Naked" and a dual ended brush.

swatches: perversion, revolver, stila spectrum; primer potion in original, greed, [eden not pictured--seen here], sin

All Nighter makeup setting spray -- travel size & regular. i'd suggest getting a larger bottle for the money. i got the travel size from the urban bride set (now on clearance, link may not work soon after today).
24/7 Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner: in "Perversion" and "Revolver". i still haven't gotten the hang of using liquid liners, but as far as the colors: they're amazing. perversion is the darkest black i've purchased (as well as the perversion pencil) and revolver is a pretty metallic silver with some shimmer.
Eyeshadow Primer Potion: in "Original" & "Greed" (travel size) and "Eden" (XL). i have yet to try Sin. if you're looking to get any of these, they are now in regular size, squeeze tubes. original comes in a professional size, should you choose to buy it. of these three, i think i'm liking greed the most, it's got a nice golden shimmer to it and could probably be used alone as your "eye color". original is very sheer and you can barely see it on my arm and eden's a bit of a champagne color..but kind of close to my skin color.

*note: urban decay recently released full sized perversion eye pencils; previously, you could only buy them in certain eye pencil sets. in ordering some, i also ordered the XL sin potion (only $15 right now btw--that's how i got eden). thus, at some later time, i will make another "what i'm loving" post and talk about them.

Stila: Sparkle waterproof liquid eyeliner in "Spectrum" from Sephora. it's a nice dark black with mutlicolored glitter. >w< i really like the applicator for this, it's not a thin bristle--like the UD ones, it's more like..well i'm not sure how to describe it..a stiff, pointed qtip-like [felt] tip that flexes a little, and has a lot less give than thin bristle brushes.
Maybelline: Volum' Express: the Falsies Flared mascara in Blackest Black -- i love how i don't have to curl my lashes with this, the only downside is that i need to be careful of any eyelashes that decide to clump together
Tarina Tarantino: Pearl Glow Primer in Pearl - deluxe sample size (3rd photo, left). this really makes your skin have a pinky-purple pearlized look, very nice.
Too Faced:
→ Primed and Poreless face primer -- i like using toothpaste squeezers (can also be found at walmart on a hanging display in a random place, mom found them on the baking aisle once) for these kinds of things, this stuff is way too expensive to waste! i love how it mattifies my skin and looks great alone or under powder.
→ Pink Leopard bronzer -- it's funny how i've had the deluxe sample size of this stuff for over a year and have only recently discovered how amazing it is. ^^; instead of using a separate blush and bronzer, you can honestly use just this and you're done! there's also a peach leopard bronzer which is more coral.

***A word from the wise*** DO NOT Order ANY Too Faced pressed powders directly from Too Faced. they have shoddy packaging (i.e. placing padding only the bottom 85+% of the box and your purchase is touching the lid (the white thing is my packing slip)) and they ship through UPS, which is known for it's oh-so delicate package-handling. instead, go to your local sephora or other too faced-distributing store and check the item before buying. too faced also "cannot accept returns on damaged or used merchandise". ...so what the hell am i supposed to do with this?! (compare to pink leopard pictured above)

*update 1/16: i received an email from Too Faced today and they are sending me a replacement Pink Leopard. i also asked them to package it better, so we'll see!



AHEM. moving on...

EcoTools makeup brushes -- these are the brushes i primarily use. i'm a pretty lazy person and i don't always use concealer--much less, using the concealer brush for concealer, so i use them for eyeshadow. i really love using this brand of brushes--primarily because they don't shed and they're good, inexpensive brushes.
→ Left to right: mineral powder brush & concealer brush (part of a set), eye shading brush & concealer brush (part of a set), foundation brush, bronzer brush.
Sephora: daily brush cleaner & purifying brush shampoo -- the daily cleaner is great for quickly removing makeup, in-between shampooing. brush cleaning tutorial.

*note: at a later time, i'll talk about my new sigma brushes and dry'n shape.

Clarisonic Mia in turquoise (it looks blue here but is really more green) -- i haven't actually tried the sample bottle of cleanser that came with it, but i've been using my regular facial cleansing products with it and it's amazing. i love it and it's waterproof to go in the shower! the charger attaches magnetically. super cool.
Clinique: Acne Solutions
→ Spot Healing Gel -- acne is a kinda gross thing to talk about..but this is really good on open [acne] wounds or ones that are in the process of healing.
→ Emergency Gel Lotion -- if mt. everest decides to develop, put this on at night (whatever time but..) and see how much the swelling goes down by morning.

*note: if you register your clarisonic online, you will get a $25 off of $50 coupon code for clarisonic.com, expires 90 days after receiving.

Flo refillable fragrance atomizer: currently only in pink at sephora, available on amazon in pink, black, and silver. how to video.
Givenchy "Play" perfume: at sephora


Sally Beauty Supply:

• nail polish & art wheel: i love these things! they're perfect when you can't decide what nail color you want OR you can use them as a better guide for matching with an outfit (rather than holding the bottle to it). when i first got these, i assessed how many of each brand of polish i had. then i separated each wheel (pack comes with 10 wheels, 18 nails per wheel) by brand, plus one for miscellaneous nail polishes. then, i sharpied the backs of them with the brand and numbered each nail. after applying nail polish to each nail, i'd write the corresponding polish names onto notecards.
• i generally used 2 coats of nail color, then clear topcoat for each. for shatter nail polish: paint a clear coat (needs polish underneath to shatter), shatter polish, and clear topcoat. i'm also using the miscellaneous wheel for testing ideas, some polishes look better over a soild color, like black. i got a cheap nail polish at walmart (pure ice: heart breaker) and put 2 coats over 2 coats of black and it looked amazing--it made the black polish look like dark green with shimmer. super cool. >w< (not that you can see it, but the nail to the left of the arrow one is heartbreaker, by itself. the arrow one is black onyx with heartbreaker)
• if you're wondering about the two matte polishes in the left of the photo, the black is opi black onyx with sephora by opi matte top coat and the blue is zoya matte polish in phoebe. (the phoebe link is temporarily broken, if you want to see the bottle: go to zoya.com and search "phoebe")
• d.i.y. nail polish christmas ornaments: http://youtu.be/du1n6MkWTP0

Lush cosmetics:

• The Comforter bubble bar (pinkish purple) -- i hear that it's best to cut these into fours and use one piece at a time. this is actually 1.5 bubble bars, i gave away two pieces. it smells nice when it's a solid piece, but when you crumble it into the tub, the scent dwindles a bit. turns bath water pink, white bubbles.
• Sweetie Pie shower jelly -- this is really neat, it looks like weird, purple glittery jello that you rip off small pieces and lather into a sponge.
• You Snap the Whip body butter (black) -- first and foremost: LOL at it's name, the girl at Macy's couldn't keep a straight face saying the name when my aunt asked. this stuff has the strangest instructions but leaves the skin feeling awesome after using it. you're not supposed to get it soaking wet; apply it to wet skin using dry hands and store it in a dry, cool/room-temperature place..so it doesn't melt, or something. it gives an almost melting-chocolate-in-your-hand feel when holding it. after using, your skin feels nice and moisturized, this gives a light exfoliation (vs. harsh). (tin sold separately)
• all three of these have the same--or nearly the same--scent.

Food:

Cornish Game Hens with Garlic and Rosemary: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/cornish-game-hens-with-garlic-and-rosemary/detail.aspx

• paul and i can't finish a whole chicken fast enough, so we like buying cornish hens (can be found with frozen chickens) and we usually split one per meal with two sides.
• prior to finding this recipe, we'd do a salt and pepper rub (or tony's and pepper) and baste with butter. in trying to find a healthier alternative, we came across this recipe and it's amazing. it uses no butter, and the sauce you make from it is almost butter-flavored. the white wine i use is yellow tail pinot grigio and when i get to step 4 on the recipe to make the sauce, i add a little bit more wine to it. yummmm~!