Weekend Facials Galore

Hermanas!!!

I bet you all partied like it was going out of style last weekend. Fess'up. You know you did. And then your cara and skin pays the price: eyes look bloody, swell, pores go crazy, etc. You know the drill. And in these times of (here comes the "B" word) budgeting wisely; few of us can afford to buy expensive face masks. Do not panic; there is a lot you can find in your pantry that will make you look fresher and feel less guilty for sins of parties past!

For quick one ingredient masks, you can use any of these. Spread on your luvly visage, let stay for say 20 minutes, wash with lukewarm water and feel like the diva you are.

Yogurt: talk about fresh hermanas! Make it plain of course.

Honey: just make sure your pores are open (splash of warm water beforehand so pores are open) and suck up all the honey goodness.

Banana: mash mash mash, apply and enjoy the free-spa smell.

Aguacate: [avocado] again, mash mash mash apply. For better spreading, add a bit of olive oil. A bit, don't overdo it, since the avocado has enough oils to make your face happy.

With both the avocado and banana; end with a warm then cold water rinse; so your pores open+absorb+close.


Coffee grounds: BEST exfoliator ever. But for the love of the Gods, make sure the grounds are cool , don't want any of you burning your caras, mmmm'kay? Also great for making your eyes un-puff after a noche loca.

If you have more time and want to get creative; or if you have specific issues to deal with; try these quick combos:

Yogurt/banana+sugar. Leave this one on for about 10 minutes. I must say, this is one of my all time faves. I always use raw or brown sugar.

Tatziki. Well, not quite. Tatziki is made out of yogurt, lime juice and slices of cucumber. This is quite the mask for those hermanas who overdid the partying and need some wake me up!!

I do not recommend making your own Oatmeal mask for one reason: oatmeal can be too rough on your facial skin, and if you do not know (and I, for one, don't) how to really make it soft, you might just end up looking like a shrimp.

Do you have any secret family recetas you care to share with us here? Any secret weapons for a pick me up on Sunday morning??? Do tell and share the belleza!!!


Siempre, Bella.

Exfoliating: where, how, and how often?

Hermanas!!!!

If we took basic anatomy, biology and chemistry in high school; we are pretty aware that our skin, like that of snakes (insert snarky smile here) sheds. Yup. the skin you have today is not the same skin you had 2 weeks ago. The body has its way of getting rid of dead skin cells; and we most certainly should help it out.

Here's where exfoliation comes in. When I exfoliate, I focus on several parts of my body: face, hands, body, lips. If you can afford it, by all means go crazy and indulge in buying brand scrubs. I do use a different concoction for each part.

FACE

For my cara, I personally favor LUSH's Angels on Bare Skin; being all natural and lovely. The appearance of this one for sure has put more than one sistah off; but get over yourselves and try it!!!


I also like some of the Clean and Clear collection . Their website helps you find the best match for your needs. I just go with the Detoxifying or the Morning Burst Scrub.

I exfoliate my face about every other day. Always with love and never like I was sanding down a piece of wood. Hyper-exfoliation is not good for your skin -- and makes you more exposed to the sun, and we all know that is a bad, bad thing.

BODY

For my body, I actually cheat. A lot. If I happen to have some LUSH's Rub Rub Rub or Ocean Salt scrub, I will of course use it. But my trick here is not to spend tons of money on body scrubs, and instead use soaps that have granules that exfoliate.

OR, use my fave body wash with a net bath sponge. OR make good use of LUSH soaps like I Should Coco, Porridge and some of my all time super faves Pre de Provence herbal treatment soaps: since they also have exfoliating beads and smell heavenly!

LIPS

When it comes to exfoliating and hydrating my lips, I simply L.O.V.E. Tarte's fRxtion. Goodness in a case. Not only does it come in the cutest packaging you will ever see; but it has athe dual purpose of exfoliation and moisturizing.

TARTE is well known for their green-beauty approach. The fRxtion goes for $11.00 and I do believe it is worth it.

AT HOME $$$ SAVERS

Now now... we are all on a budget, I know. Dinero is important, a broke hermana is not a happy hermana. My serious take is that you do not need to cash out half your paycheck in beauty products. And in your pantry I am sure you have the basic ingredients for coming up with your very own and personalized scrub and exfoliator.

Magic ingredients: brown sugar, honey, olive oil. Voila. Some hermanas use oatmeal at home, but I find it too raspy and irritating. But if you mix sugar with oil, or honey with sugar and rub rub rub; you are exfoliating AND giving your skin much needed moisture.

See? No need to break the bank. Exfoliating also leaves you feeling immediately refreshed. Just remember to treat your skin with love chicas, no need to get nasty and scrub so much that you bleed or break capillaries, ok?????

Which are your fave scrubs? Any homemade ideas you care to share with us? Do tell!!! I want to know.

Siempre, Bella.

Maybelline Expert Eyes Eyeshadows

Hermanas!!!

While cleaning last Sunday, I discovered I am running out of certain MAC faves; and began reconsidering what my favorite base eyeshadows are - in this time of crisis and all.

Maybelline Expert Eyes Eye Shadows. Say no more. For a loooong time now I have been using their Champagne Frizz and their Earthy Taupe as the all-over base for my eyeshadow canvas. Both are matte tones, and I mean matte. But for those of you who are all about the shimmer, they also have what they call a "high pearl" touch (I have not used those, so I can't really say much).

Expert Eyes is one of the creamiest -if not THE creamiest- and easy to apply e/s ever. It glides beautifully hermanas. Love that feeling of silkynessssss. It does not pulverize all over my eyes, stays put (even before I went on to wear e/s primer) and it helps me neutralize any mishaps.

Another good point is that it lasts forever. And mind you, I use this every day. Some hermanas have told me it takes several strokes of the brush to get more pigment on; though I am quite happy with it. And it all depends on using the right brush, remember?

Last but not least, the gamma of colors is one of my faves. All of them on the neutral side of things; with no surprises when applied. Do note: if you are going for dramatic eyes, Expert Eyes is not the way to go. But if you are looking for a base or something subtle, this is it. I buy only singles, but they also have trios, duos, and palettes.

Right now you can get the singles for $2.70 at Buy Me Beauty; or for $3.50 at ULTA. The price is quite reasonable; and you will not regret it. At all.

Siempre, Bella.

Cleanliness is next to Fabulousness

Hermanas!!!

So yesterday, after ranting about the need for brushes; one of my fave hermanas asked me "well, how the blip do I clean them?" and it got me thinking about a post on cleaning brushes. Then, it elevated into cleaning makeup toold; then transformed into a cleaning makeup area. So here it goes.

Think of your makeup area as our Beautique Sanctuary. It is your space, even if it is one drawer next to your partner's sock drawer. When I walk into my bathroom in the morning, I hate hate hate seeing the remnants of yesterday's beauty routine. You know what that looks like: Brushes all over, cotton balls and cotton rounds here and there, jojoba oil bottle open, baby wipes with makeup residue.... Yucks. Make up is a messy enterprise indeed.

So how to go about converting the chaos zone into a Beautique Sanctuary? Good, good question. Some hermanas like my mother in law are clean by nature. I am not kidding -- this woman cleans as an Olympic sport and has the loveliest house ever. Other hermanas are, well, like me. I am messy. Muy messy. But somehow I have achieved nirvana when it comes to my Sanctuary. The rest of my house, well... we will ask Rojo once he emerges from the clutter.

Here's what I do. Quite easy, really.

Morning.

I use 4+ brushes every day. After finishing with each one, I dab the excess makeup on a baby wipe (baby wipes are your friends, check this post), then rub a bit on a hand towel (this hand towel I turn over to use all sides, and I wash with the laundry about twice a week) and put back on the cup where I have the brushes.

Since I use MAX FACTOR pancake; the Foundation brush needs a bit more attention. I keep the tap open and damp it; then get rid of excess in the hand towel and reshape.

Once my makeup is done and I look like a goddess; I grab all the cotton balls, baby wipes, etc; curl them up and toss them away. I also clean the sink and counter with another baby wipe; and clean the mirror (keep window cleaner + paper towels at hand).


Evening.

This one is hard to keep. When I am good and take my makeup off (I know, I am terrible); I again collect all the cotton rounds and toss them away.

I brush my hair and dab coconut oil or the jojoba oil through it to always wake to a shiny mane. This is when I get rid of the hair that falls -- again, toss. Then I empty the little garbage basket and voila, ready it goes.


Weekly.

Once a week -usually on Sundays- I deep clean the whole area. This is when I wash all my brushes; and I use MAC's brush cleaner. This thing is amazing; and it does the trick flawlessly.
I fill in half a tiny cup with it and let my brushes rest in it while I clean other things. Then I take them out one by one, rub them into my palm until they maker tiny bubbles and no color comes out. After that, just reshape them with your hands and set them to dry flat.



While the brushes are soaking in the magic solution; I go over the rest of the collection. Clean the containers, check for outdated makeup, and get rid of accumulated stuff. Now, if the MAC solution is a bit steep for those of us on budget (it is a bout $11.00), here's an easy one: use your shampoo, diluted in some water. Works just as fine and it is a fraction of the price. Just remember to rinse properly - you do not want your brushes (or your mane, for that matter) to have yucky build up.

The point is, and I've said it before: MAKEUP IS NOT A CHORE. Remember that and use your daily makeup minutes as a moment to rejoice in womanhood, plan your day, and realize how gorgeous you are. Beauty is an inside job hermanas.

If you have amazing tips for cleaning your makeup area; do tell!!! I want to know!

Siempre, Bella.

Cheap thrill of 2008 - Wet-N-Wild liners

Hermanas!!!

I must say, when it comes to eyeliners and lipliners, I am an absolute cheapskate. The way I see it; I invest in my foundation primer, my foundation, my eyeshadow primer. But I cannot bring myself to indulge in expensive eyeliners. Really, not my thing. So I dedicate this post to my super fave line of liners in the drugstore world: Wet-N-Wild.

Think about it for a second: if you spend good money in what goes beneath, why on earth would you go bankrupt for eyeliners? No, no, no.

Now, these eyeliners do not last all day when applied by themselves; but they do a pretty decent job when applied over eyeshadow. That is one thing I always do: I first make an eyeshadow line and then up goes the liner. Otherwise I find the lines look a bit too drastic.

As with any other eyeliner; keep them sharp. Nothing as icky as a blunt eyeliner. I usually sharpen them as soon as I am done applying -- that way I save 10 seconds in the morning.

Siempre, Bella.

Winter Cleaning

Hermanas!!!

I was able to do this before departing for Mexique; but today; while you are getting all vampy to go out and about, do an overview of your makeup goodies. Seriously. How many years will you keep that lip gloss your aunt Yaya gave you that tastes like bowling alley ashtrays? Or how about that shade you love but never used because it was discontinued?

Remember mujeres, makeup has a shelf life. It is not only creepy to see and use oldmakeup, but it is also unsafe. Even the FDA has an info sheet on how long to keep that stash.

Quick double check list:

• Foundation: 12-18 months depending on texture (oil, pressed, liquid, etc).
  
• Powders (blushes, bronzers, etc): 2 years
• Eye shadow: 2 years
• Crayon Liners: 2 years (I say more like 1 and 3 months)
  
• Liquid eyeliner: tops 6 months
• Mascara: 3 months (I ditch mine within 8 weeks, perhaps because I go for the killer eyelash look daily)
  
• Lipstick + lipliner of the creamy type: 2 years
• Lip gloss: 18-24 months

For more detailed tips on getting over old makeup -and making space for all those nifty things you got for Christmas; check out this fabulous article on UK's iVillage.

Now, go get luvly and hit the town (or the couch, which is what Rojo and I will do as soon as work is over). Enjoy yourselves, don't get stupid (a drunk hermana is NOT sexy or cool or charming; believe me), have 5 minutes of me-time to reflect on what was good in 2008 and smile a New Year in.

See you in 2009 hermanas!


Siempre, Bella.

Baby wipes, anyone?

Hermanas,

I thought I'd share one of my thrifty ideas. A looooong time ago, when I was young and overpaid, I would use really fancy make up removers. One for eye makeup, one for face and neck (because we all know to extend our foundation a bit in the neck, am I right????). Those days are gone. Partly because well, we are in recession; because I am on a budget; and because I have grown wiser with my beauty dinero.

Now. Last week I told you all about the jojoba oil for eye makeup bye-bye. Today is the turn of the really versatile baby-butt wipe. I use that to take off foundation + lipstick. Works like a charm. I buy unscented and alcohol free ones and so far I have had no breakouts, no redness, no nada. Baby products are amazingly versatile.

Rationale? If it is soft and good enough for a baby's bum; it is perfect for our faces hermanas. AND, if you think that a 30 sheet pack of Olay towelettes goes for how much? $7.99? and baby wipes are sometimes as cheap as $1.00.... do the math.

Another use for baby wipes? Mornings, after doing my makeup; I clean the counter and sink with one - to eliminate all the powder that escaped the brushes. Nice, nice, nice.

Siempre, Bella