Happy Skin

What makes your skin happy?

As much as I like to go on and on about how important it is to maintain some sort of beauty regimen, including but not limited to putting your face on in the morning before you leave the house, at the end of the day, the happiest face, is a clean healthy face. Wearing make-up all the time can clog up the pores and dry out the skin, that's why it's so important to make sure that you remove your make-up and clean your face before you go to bed at night. This will allow the skin to relax, and breathe during the night while you chase your dreams.

What kind of cleanser are you looking for?

You need to make sure that if you are skipping the make-up remover, that you are using a cleanser that can remove all the make-up successfully as well as unclog the pores and exfoliate the skin to get rid of dead skin cells. I personally think exfoliating is one of the best things you can do for your face. After you've exfoliated, your skin is softer, smoother, it glows, and it has a healthy bright colour to it. Skin that is exfoliated regularly is also easier to apply make-up to. The make-up will also look like it has a better finish. 

What kind of cleanser should you avoid?

L'oreal's Happyderm Cleansing Wash

Look I wear more make-up than Dolly Parton. It may work for me throughout most the day, but by the time I get home from work, my face feels like the surface of Venus - volatile. It's oily, tired, dry, dull, and it's in need of some TLC. Now I'm not one of those people who wants to wash their face 3 times before they can leave the bathroom. This product makes you feel like you need to do just that. If you clean your face with a soft fluffy mouse that smells like a basket full of roses, you expect to radiate all of that when you're done, but all this cleanser really seems to do is remove the make-up. Every time I use this, I still feel like my skin isn't clean; when I run my fingers along my face, it feels like I'm trying to rub up a lizard. It doesn't feel pretty. I end up using the mouse again, but I still don't get the feeling I'm looking for. It's only once I've found an exfoliating face wash to scrub my skin, that I finally feel like I can leave the bathroom. 

What cleanser do I recommend?

L'oreal's Dermo Expertise Vitalift Self Heating Wash

This is what you use when you want your skin to feel amazing. It doesn't foam, it doesn't smell like roses, it doesn't look like whipped cream, but it does the job you need it to. With products like this one on the market I cannot understand how the Happyderm Cleansing Wash was even approved. I think the kind of people who'd by the Happyderm Cleansing Wash over any other cleanser, are the same kind of people who'd by a laptop based on the fact that it's pink rather than for it's performance... okay, I might be that person, but you're missing the point, which is, this product LOOKS like it's a cool product, but really, it's performance is non-comparable with it's competitors.  

Tip

If you're not using an exfoliating wash, try and use a scrub at least 3 times a week. If you don't you'll start to notice dry skin, and no matter how much moisturiser you use, the problem will not go away.  The dry skin you're seeing is the dead skin cells hanging onto the live skin cells, trying to moisturise them would be like trying to use a defibrillator on a zombie. Also, the moisturise won't be able to penetrate the the skin properly because of wall of "zombies" blocking your pores. Exfoliating removes the dead skin cells, giving the moisturiser the chance to work it's magic on the new skin cells underneath, so that you can wear the rosy look, rather than just smell it. 

Beauty - in the eye of the beholder?

Who's scared of eyeshadow?

Don't be. Eyeshadow can either make or break your look - literally! When you're not wearing eyeshadow, it's much like flaunting the "unfinished look" where celebs apparently go without concealer (and yet somehow still look like goddesses). Well the point I'm trying to make is... the look will be incomplete. Even if you want it to look like you are not wearing any makeup, you need to be applying a nude eyeshadow to your lids. Why? Because you aren't naturally beautiful, but you want all the other boys and girls to think you are :-P 

Applying nudes to your eyelids will still look natural, but will allow you to use tone to emphasise your eye colour or shape, which ever it is that defines your look, in a subtle way that says; "Yes, I am naturally this hot goddess, now bow before me you puny human".

L'oreal Color Appeal Trio Pro

I think this is a fantastic eyeshadow, especially for newbies. You don't have to worry about  

buying colours that look like they might go, or worry that your shades are too far off or almost the same. In one simple compact, you have everything you need, the right applicators too. This eyeshadow comes in loads of different colours, so you can go anything from Nicole Kidman to Kim Kardashian, what ever pops your toast, and it's so easy, you couldn't go wrong if you were Forest Gump's daughter!

Spice it up

Don't be afraid to play with some colour too. This is the modern age, it's okay to put colour on your eyes, in fact, it's okay to put more than one colour on your eyes. 

Yes ladies, that's right, blue can be worn on the eyes without the red lipstick, leopard print skin tight dress, pink fluffy heels, long red nails and curlers in the hair. Look at how fantastic these eyes look; splashes of blue with other colours, and it works especially well with grey and black. 

Just please people, please, what ever you do, DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT, walk out the house looking like Mimi from the Drew Carey Show!!

Your husband will leave you for your mother, your children will not acknowledge your existence till they've moved out the house and they're sure they haven't suffered any permanent mental scarring, and your dog will run away! Please always ask a child how you look before you leave they house - their honesty knows no bounds. 

Okay ladies (and queer gents) I think you can do this, now get out there and try some eyeshadow. 

Tip

Feel free to take a pic and email it to me at sammybsa@gmail.com, if you don't have a child in the house to tell you when you've f***** it up, I'm always available :-)

Have a fab evening, and get that beauty sleep

Before and after

Hello loyal readers. Today's post is more of an update on my previous posts. I am going to post before and after photos of myself to demonstrate how well the products I've raved about work. I must admit, doing this is rather like getting over some or other fear - for the first time, I'm am showing people what I look like without make-up on, and I'm posting it on the internet for EVERYONE to see (dom dom dom...).

First photo: Washed face, straight out of the bath

So I took this pic after I got out the bath. The only thing I'd done to my face was wash it with a L'oreal face scrub. Oh, and I blow-dried my hair too, I'm already showing you what I look like "naked", I'm not going to look like a wet dog too!

Second photo: toner and moisturiser have been applied

You can see I'm looking a little shinier, but I've just created the perfect base for my make-up. It will go on smoothly, without blotching or drying up on one spot. In doing this, I have also ensured that my skin is better protected when I'm out and about in the sun today. 

Third photo: BB cream has been applied 

Can you see the instant difference once the BB cream has been applied? My skin is looking neutral, mat and healthy. Again, the long term effects of this product is why you're actually using it. After a while, you should start naturally seeing a healthier glow with a nice neutral tone. No blotches or redness.

Fourth photo: Concealer and press powder has been applied

See now why I said BB cream or a tinted moisturiser will not be enough if you're looking for full coverage? Even my puffy eye looks better. This is now the perfect canvas for make-up.

Fifth photo: Eye make-up and lipstick have been applied

Now look at that previous photo again - isn't this mascara just the product of the decade? I've also applied gel eyeliner. Together with the mascara, it creates the illusion of larger eyes with longer lashes. I've also used an eyebrow pen on my eyebrows. Even if you don't have light eyebrows like me, using an eyebrow pen or even some eye shadow on the eyebrows will always give your eyes a more structured look. 

And that's it boys and girls. Now go out there and get cracking, I want to see pretty faces out on the street tomorrow, you don't just owe it to the public, you owe it to yourself, because you're worth it ;-)

Night night