Blemish Treatment That Works!

I must say I don't have acne prone skin and thankfully I never have. But once a month I'll always get a few pimples and always in the most visible spots...of course. As a teenager I've learned that piling on makeup just makes it worst.  On my quest to treat these little invaders, I've gone through countless "blemish" products, that either kind of work or just don't. Well, this pink little bottle of goodness does it's job and does it well! Indie Lee's Blemish Lotion is just perfect!

Why I love it: 

- With 8 ingredients it's 100% natural which is one of the most important things for me when it comes to skin care. (All the ingredients are basically natural antiseptics, some with drying properties and others have nourishing and repairing properties)

- It's an over night treatment that only take seconds to apply

- It reduces redness and inflammation

Disclaimer: This product does not get rid of pimples overnight...I don't believe any product does. But it DOES help the healing process and reduces the amount of days of having to deal with a visible and painful intruder. 

How to use it:

Make sure to let the bottle sit in an area that is doesn't get moved too much because the alcohol and pink paste are meant to separate. If it does end up mixing just wait for the product to settle. After it's separated dip a cotton swab into the sediment and apply on to affected areas. I like to do it overnight and let it do it's job, or you can let it sit for a few hours if your at home and then wash it off. 

"Where do I get it?!"

You can get it online at www.indielee.com OR I got mine at The Detox Market in Toronto which is where I discovered this wonderful skin care company!

Missing Your Summer Glow? No Problem!

Just wanted to shed some light on one of my daily essentials! I'm all about the glow, ESPECIALLY in the winter when our skin tends to loose it's lustre.

A little goes a long way with this Argan Oil base product. Squirt a droplet & distribute over to your three fingers, then tap away on your cheeckbones as a highlighter. Gold is usually best of olive/tan skin, but because this product is so sheer it perfectly blends into all skin colours. Not to mention, it also keeps your cheeks hydrated throughout the day! Josie Maran's Argan Illuminizer is perfect for easing into spring without feeling pale.

Winter. One Easy Step to Protect Your Skin.

Everyone's skin takes a bit of a beating in the area of hydration in the winter. Keeping your skin from flaking and getting dry has proved to be a bit of a challenge and taking a bit more time and effort with your skin care routine. Even when inside, the dry heat can be damaging.

Like an answer to my prayers, I came across some advice to use primer in the winter to protect your face. In the winter, I would normally set aside my primer because I don't quite need it because my skin isn't as oily, so my makeup stays in place all day without it. 

As my Torontonian readers know, the past couple of weeks have gone down to -20C, so it was the perfect time to test this theory. Before trying out this theory I would find my skin being more red, irritated and dry than normal because of the cold.

After testing this theory for a few weeks, to my pleasant observation, my skin isn't as dry as before & redness and irritation has drastically decreased. Yet temperatures are still in the minuses!

Everyone has heard of primers, but what are they actually for? 

Primers are used as a base to created a layer between your skin and your makeup for a smoother application, to increase your makeup's longevity and some primers absorb your skin's oils, have SPF protection and some contain antioxidants such as A, C & E or grape seed or green tea extract. 

Most primers are silicone or water based. Some are tinted for colour correction and others can leave you with a pearlized finish. 

It usually takes a bit of time to find a primer that works for you and your skin. I've had a lot of difficulty because more primers cause me to break out, because come can really clog your pores. But I've finally found one that works for me and I've never broken out from and it's Arbonne's Makeup Primer.

 

So there you are my Nomadic Beauty readers, a little titbit for Beauty Monday! 

Nomadic Beauty

Beauty Monday: December Favourites

During December I've had some products really stood out! Here they are!

1.  My number ONE is Benefit's High Brow highlighting pencil. Great for highlighting right under your brow for some height as well as in the inner corner of your eyes to brighten up!

My number TWO is Urban Decay's Eye Primer is perfect for your holiday shimmers! Keeps your shadows in place all day & all night! If you feel like going a little bit more natural for a day, this is perfect to apply alone, along with some mascara.

My number THREE is Makeup Forever's Limited Edition Studio Kit, this is a fun one! I love this for the holidays! And you can totally rock these colours for January & February. It comes with some nice natural ones and some really nice fun ones! It even comes with a booklet of which colours to combine for makeup newbies!

These are my top 3 favourites for December! If you'd like to find out about my whole list of December Favourites check out my video here:

 

Beauty Monday: Skin Care, Winter Time, Changing It Up

So the cold and dry air are finally here! Yay!

If you haven't changed up your skin care routine from the summer time you might notice your products might not be working so well for you.

That's because winter is a bit more harsh on our skin. Even if you have an "oily complexion" your skin might be needing a bit more hydration than you think.

Things you might want to consider:

1. You might want to stop yourself from washing your face in the morning. As long as you've cleansed your skin the night before from your makeup, oils, outdoor dirt & pollution that your face has accumulated from the day before, you really don't need wash your face in the morning since all you did was sleep. Therefore instead for grabbing for your face wash in the morning, just splash your face with lukewarm water to wash off the residue of you night cream, so that you aren't striping your skin of your oils. And then proceed with your toner & day cream.

2. Example: If your skin care products are for "oily complexions" you might want to switch to "combination" if your using "combination" you might want to switch for "dry" skin. Really just upping your level of hydration.



3. Once a week do a hydration mask.

4. If you're finding your skin is a bit more flaky when putting on makeup, switch out your foundation for a tinted moisturizer or BB cream. And set with a powder foundation if you want a bit more coverage, if your happy with the coverage of the cream then just set it with you favourite setting powder.

Beauty Monday: November Favourites!!!

November is coming to an end, so what better way to end it then to talk about some of my favourites from the month of November. So excited to share with you all!

My number ONE : Formula X Nail Polish, awesome for the on-the-go girl! No chip for at least 5 days. Why do I prefer this nail polish over Shellac or Gel? Because even after you take it off your nails are in perfectly good shape! No wear & tear which is my fav thing about it. It is a 4-step process, but don't worry, it dries super fast! It comes with a Nail Cleanser, Base Coat, Colour & Top Coat.

My number TWO: I did feature this mascara on my blog last week, but I couldn't help myself but post about it again! I absolutely L-O-V-E "It's A Long Story Mascara"! It help grow my lashes, my lashes are healthier than they've ever been & it coats my lashes beautifully! If you would like the full article on the mascara please click on this link: http://nomadicbeauty.blogspot.ca/2014/11/beauty-monday-batting-my-lashes-with.html
                                 


My number THREE: Arbonne's Tinted Moisturizer, as the seasons change my combination skin does become dryer. So before I apply my "Got You Covered Powder Foundation" by Arbonne, I dab a bit of this tinted moisturizer to help with the dryness.

My number FOUR: Totally in love with Josie Maran's Argan Infinity Lip and Cheek Creamy Oil. This past month my lips have really taken a beating from the dry weather. And by that I've been trying to stay away from lipsticks that sometimes tend to dry out my lips. So that mean no to colour:( 

But with this Lip and Cheek Creamy Oil I could have a sheer colour while still moisturizing my lips!!! 

P.S I've become obsessed with berry!

My number FIVE: Ok, I CANNOT rave ENOUGH about Benefit's High Brow in Champagne! LOVE LOVE LOVE! Perfect to highlight right underneath the brow and when I need a quick fix in the morning or just have a day of running errands I apply this pencil in my tear duct area to give my eyes a bit more luminosity and finish it off with so mascara EST VOILA! Perfect makeup in 5 minutes. I think this fat pencil has become a staple in my personal makeup. 

That's all for my November Fav's! I'm curious to see what products I'll discover for December! Stay tuned!

Nomadic Beauty

Beauty Monday: Batting My Lashes With It's A Long Story Mascara

When clients & models used to ask me about what the best type of mascara I would just give them names of my favourite Drugstore brands like L'Oreal's Volume mascara or Mabelline's Great Lash mascara which I had very good experiences with and used both in my kit and personal makeup. Because I never believed you should spend 40 bucks on a mascara, those were my go to's, although I once got a sample of Dior's mascara and really liked it...I didn't like it enough to spend more than $12 on a mascara.

BUT, after a month of using Arbonne's "It's A Long Story Mascara" for health reasons, I fell in LOVE! My lashes have grown & strengthened, I wasn't promised this so when I noticed I was pleasantly surprised! I'm a two coat girl cause I like the volume and it coats the lashes beautifully!
Without mascara my lashes feel healthy & hydrated, long & voluminous I absolutely LOVE it!

Arbonne's products are botanically based, vegan & cruelty free, which is my reason for switching over and paying a bit more for my mascara. It's basically the dirtiest thing you put on your eyes so you want to be safe as possible. "It's A Long Story Mascara" not only looks great but smells great too!

Nomadic Beauty

Beauty Monday: "You can OVER exfoliate?!" Wait...what does stripping mean?

We are always hearing about exfoliating, but rarely does anyone ever explain what it does for the skin.

Exfoliating is meant for the removal of dead/dull skin, to unclog pores & speed up cell renewal. 

Caution: Before you go all scrub crazy, if your under the age of 30 I suggest exfoliating once a week. If you are over 30 you can go 3 times a week, as skin renewal does start to slow by that time. Over exfoliating can lead to stripping the skin causing breakouts and irritation. Of course,everybody's bodies are different so it might take a bit of trial & error to figure out what works for you. 

There are two ways to exfoliate, mechanically & chemically.

Mechanically:

Electronics -  One of the more popular ones at the moment that beauty bloggers and magazines have been raving about is the Clarisonic brush. And yes, I love it too. It's beautiful. Leaves the skin feeling so good and clean. It has one brush but the inside of it and onside of it revolve in opposite motions, creating 300 movements per second. It even has a timer of 30 sec. per facial part (forehead, nose & chin and each cheek side) get 30 seconds. It's great and because it is "gentle" I was using it every morning (bad idea). My skin became stripped (when your have taken off more natural oils of your skin than needed), I knew because I was breaking out more than usual & my skin became more sensitive. I gave my skin 1 month to recover, now, I use it once a week.

Scrubs: like a cleanser, come in either gel or cream form with abrasive materials in it such as sugar or salt crystals, micro-beads, crushed almonds sheds, ect. Likewise, use this once a week, I love Arbonne's Exfoliating New Cell Renewal scrub because you can also use it as a mask. Which is what I do with it once a week. But remember when using a scrub don't rub rigorously as it will irritate the skin because you are already using abrasive products on your skin already.

Chemically: These are scrubs that contain salicylic acid, aglicolic acid, fruit enzymes, citric acid or malice acid. Strong concentrations are used by medical professionals and in lower-concetrations sold over the counter. 

Hope this gives you a bit of insight on exfoliating and understand how it works and how much of it you should be doing. 

        Nomadic Beauty

Benefits of eye cream, the difference between eye cream & face cream.

Regardless of how old you are, skin care is extremely important. Cleansing (especially at night), exfoliating (ONCE a week if you're under the age of 30), and of course moisturizing.

We all know about face creams and more or less why we should use them. But what about eye creams? What's the difference? Until I started using an eye cream I struggled with dark circles under my eyes. Now, along with proper sleep and hydration, I don't need to use concealer anymore!

The skin around our eyes is much thinner than the rest of our skin, which makes it more delicate and prone to show signs of ageing. When the area underneath the eyes gets dark circles or puffy, it is a sign from our body that tells us we are dehydrated or not getting enough sleep. As a result, this area begins to age more quickly. Since it's the only place on the skin that doesn't contain oil glands, they need extra hydration, not only from drinking water, but topically as well. This is where the eye creams come in.

Eye creams contain more emollient than regular face cream (emollients help hydrate the skin and help keep moisture in). They also contain collagen, and antioxidants such as Vitamin C & peptides that aid in retaining collagen. You may also want to use an eye cream instead of your face cream under your eyes because some facial creams can contain ingredients that are too powerful for the delicate eye area. 

Tip: Apply your eye cream a few minutes before your makeup so that it can properly absorb into the skin .

I always recommend that you do research on your skin care products and make sure that they are safe for you. But here are two of my favourite products that I switch between:

I love the RE Corrective Eye Cream! Even though it's anti-aging it's still ok to use it under 30

It's a bit thicker & super moisturizing which I LOVE for the dryer/colder seasons.

I like this one for the warmer/humid months. It's not as thick but still packed with all the good stuff

& meant for the younger generations. 

Nomadic Beauty

Arbonne's Garden Palette Review

Arbonne's Garden Palette perfect for transitioning from summer to fall looks. Blush/bronzer combo has the perfect amount of shine and shimmer to highlight those cheek bones! Comes with an awesome 3 in 1 lipstick, lip gloss and lip balm, which I love to use on a daily basis!
BEAUTY TIP: Loving the green eyeshadow, wet you brush with water and use it as a liner. Great for blue eyed babes!
HAPPY MONDAY!!!