September 2015 – The Hustlin’ Homemaker

How to Clean Your Beauty Blender

Does your Beauty Blender/Real Techniques Sponge look like this?

Well, fear no more – cause I am here to show you how to clean it! I have a quick, easy, and CHEAP way to do it.

You don’t need an expensive cleanser – this works just as good, and will work on any type of sponge.

Now I already have a post on brush cleaning here, so check that out if you need to know how to clean those.

Let’s get started!

All you’ll need is a bar of Dove soap and some tap water.

Get your sponge all wet and also get the bar of soap wet.

I hold the soap in my left hand and the sponge in my right hand and just rub it on the soap while squeezing it.

Don’t be afraid to really scrub this sponge. They are pretty sturdy. Just squeeze the life out of it.

Rinse it

Squeeze out the excess water.

TA-DA! Good as new.

I recommend doing this every couple of days, and I usually replace my sponge every month.

How do you clean your beauty sponges?

Thanks for reading!

Maybelline Master Conceal

Maybelline makes some of the best concealers, they’ve got the Fit Me, the Age Rewind, the Dream Lumi Touch, and now the Master Conceal. This concealer is supposed to be full coverage, and great to use underneath your eyes.

I picked this up at my local H.E.B Grocery for about $8. Whenever I see a new concealer, I just have to try it – I’m always looking for the best.

This concealer comes in 5 shades, and I chose the lightest one, Fair, because yeah, pale girl over here. I like to always get a concealer a few shades lighter than my skintone for highlighting and under-eye correcting.

I have heard from reviews that this concealer is a dupe for the MAC ProLongwear concealer, which is super full coverage and amazing (except for that pump).

The first time I used this, I was expecting it to be a thick cream, like Hard Candy Glamoflauge or Tarte Creaseless Concealer. Usually the concealers in squeeze tubes like this are thick. This one has a more liquid consistency, similar to concealers with doe-foot applicators.

It has a very smooth and silky feel to it, and you don’t need a lot. I dotted some underneath my eyes and used a beauty blender to blend it underneath my eyes. I was amazed at the coverage it gave. It really covered my dark circles good. Not ProLongwear coverage but almost.

I’ve been using this concealer for a few weeks now, and I really love it. As with any concealers underneath your eyes, you’ll want to set this with a powder to avoid creasing and increase wear. I haven’t tried this concealer anywhere else on my face, since I prefer Fit Me for any redness or spots.

Have you tried this out?

Liquid Lips

One of the best things about the fall and winter seasons is changing up your lip color! The easiest trend to get you fall-ready is to try out a darker lip.

Liquid lipsticks and stains are all the rage right now, and rightfully so! All of these that I have picked out are so easy and blendable to apply, and will last super long on your lips.

A tip that I would give when applying liquid lipstick is to first, exfoliate your lips really well. Since these are more of a liquid consistency, they will show cracks and dry patches in your lips. Second, I always like using a balm before applying these for added moisture – matte lippies can often be pretty drying.

Ok, let’s get into it!

Sephora really knows how to do a lip stain. I have tried two different types from their Sephora Collection. The first is their Rouge Infusion Lip Stain. These almost have a water-like consistency and are so smooth and blendable. They can be applied sheer or built up for more coverage. After applied, they aren’t sticky and they don’t dry out your lips. Shown here is the color Coral Extract.

The other kind that I like from the Sephora Collection are the Cream Lip Stains. Unlike the Rouge Infusion Stains, these are creamy and give very high coverage (the others are more sheer). The color shown is Always Red, which is a matte red.

Next is from Anastasia Beverly Hills and it is the Liquid Lipstick in Veronica. These are full-coverage, matte, liquid creams. This color is a beautiful browny-pink. I have a full review on this one here.

The next one is a cult-favorite, so much so that I couldn’t get my hands on it until just recently. This is Kat Von D’s Everlasting Lipstick in Lolita. This is very similar to the Anastasia Liquid Lipstick in Veronica, except lighter, and more pink. (It’s hard to tell from the swatches). The consistency is the same, but I feel like this one is a bit more drying. Make sure to use a balm first!

The last one here is a very special lip color to me. This is the Revlon Colorstay Overtime Lipcolor in the shade Bare Maximum. The reason this is special to me is because this is the lipcolor that I wore on my wedding day 6 years ago! I like these because you can wear them matte, or shiny with the gloss on the other end of the tube. These are creamy and last a really long time. This shade is a nude pinky-brown, and I think I’ve repurchased this shade about 4 times . See? I was already ahead of the game on the liquid lip trend 🙂

From left to right: Coral Extract, Veronica, Always Red, Lolita, Bare Maximum

Do you guys like this lip trend?

Brand Focus : NARS

NARS is known for it’s sleek black packaging and amazing products. I consider NARS to be one of my favorite makeup brands because I haven’t ever tried anything from them that I didn’t completely love.

Let’s start out with face products. Now, I haven’t ever tried foundation from NARS, but I have tried a few other things.

NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer – my FAVORITE concealer of all time. I’m serious. One of the only concealers to completely cover my dark circles without creasing. I use the shades Chantilly and Vanilla.

NARS Light Reflecting Powder in Translucent Crystal – this is a white setting powder that blurs pores and imperfections. It’s not glittery, but does give a glow and brightness to the skin.

Blushes/Bronzers – I own many blushes and bronzers and they are ALL amazing. Even the cream blushes. Pigmented, easy to blend, and last all day. Shown here is the duo in Orgasm/Laguna (a classic) and Enchanted (LE) cream blush. Also, the NARS Multiples are amazing, too. These are cream blush/bronzer in a stick form. Pictured here is the Laguna Multiple.

NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base- this is my favorite eyeshadow base. Creamy, easy to blend, and your eyeshadow WILL NOT COME OFF.

NARS Eyeshadow Duos – amazing. Super pigmented; so pigmented you have to be careful with your brush. The best thing about these eyeshadows is that they always have really unique colors, and colors that I have nothing like in my collection. And I have a lot of eyeshadow. Pictures here are the duos in Cordura and Tzarine.

NARS Larger Than Life Eye Pencil – these are great eyeliners, they are so creamy and last on the waterline. I love how they have a little built in sharpener on the end of the pencil, too. This color is Via Veneto.

NARS Velvet and Satin Lip Pencils- Sephora did good on the birthday gift this year. These pencils are so freakin good. So smooth, like butter on the lips, and pretty long wearing. The colors are perfect, too. Can’t wait to try more of these. Pictured here are Cruella and Rikugien.

NARS Lip Gloss – I have a bunch of these lip glosses and my favorite is this color, Babydoll. These don’t have a scent, they aren’t sticky, and they actually last! The colors are beautiful and of course, the packaging is everything.

Do you like NARS?

Check out my other Brand Focus Posts!

NYX

Maybelline

Thanks for reading! xx

Makeup For Glasses

Wearing glasses is…I’ll admit, something I don’t like doing. I just like wearing my contacts more. I have been wearing my glasses recently, and I have changed up a few things in my makeup routine to accommodate them.

FOUNDATION – So, when I wear glasses, I like to use a full coverage foundation for a flawless finish. I make sure to apply it on my nose where the nose piece rubs, and also set with a powder, so I don’t have to worry about it coming off.

BRIGHTEN – I like to really brighten up my eye area when wearing glasses, especially since the glasses cast a dark shadow underneath my eyes. To combat that, I’ll make sure to use concealer and an undereye brightener.

BOLD BROWS – One thing I like to do is to make my brows extra bold. I need them to show up more than usual since the glasses are the main focus.

SHIMMER SHADOWS – I like to use a lot of shimmer when wearing glasses, I find that it makes them stand out more. I always use a shimmery inner corner and browbone highlight.

For the eye lids, I applied a medium brown shimmer shadow to the outer lids, a lighter bronze shade to the inner half of the lid, and a warm brown shade into the crease. A warm brown gives the look more depth. I also smudged the medium brown shadow underneath the lashline.

LINERS– I thinly line the top of my lashline with black, but I use a brightening liner on the bottom waterline, which helps to make the eyes appear more awake and full.

MASCARA – I always curl my lashes and apply a few coats of mascara. I skip the falsies when wearing glasses, because then my lashes become too long and hit the lenses. Mascara is also important to make your eyes appear fuller.

LIPS AND CHEEKS– I used a coral blush and a pink lip for this look, to keep it looking fresh and pretty.

Makeup Used: