Why Veil Complexion Fix?

For a day to day basis I don't see the necessity of wearing layers of makeup on your skin. My philosophy is to use makeup as a tool to enhance your natural beauty, not to cover it up. So why am I raving about this concealer?

Why? Because it's not JUST a concealer! It's the holy grail! Ok, ok maybe not the holy grail, but it's pretty freaking awesome. 

Benefits: 

- Hydrating

- Soothing 

- Improves under eye circles

- Brightens dull complexion

- Improves uneven skin tone & colour

- Weightless coverage!!!

Veil Complexion Fix uses Lightfast Technology, which means it bounces off light on the area that you apply it on. Which I love because as a lot of the population, I have hereditary indents (not dark circles) underneath my eyes, that can get exaggerated when I'm tired and/or don't drink enough water.   Regardless they are always there, no amount of cover up can help. So this bounces off light on the area so that it's not as noticeable.

"The ultimate brightening, soothing, and hydrating compound. Our proprietary blend of three key actives is found in all our skin care and color products. It targets melanin production, interrupting its development, preventing additional dark spots from appearing, while calming, soothing, and increasing moisture levels not only on the surface but deep down to a cellular level - leaving skin texturally smoother, refined and more even over time."

I find this product perfect for all ages, it's so light & easy to blend. You can use your ring ringer or my favourite is to use the Mini Beautyblender to blend out product. The one thing you do NOT want to do is rub the product in, you want to lightly tap the product until it is nicely blended. 

You can check out my FULL video on how to apply it on my YouTube channel Nomadic Beauty

   

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: 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: "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

“Why do I keep breaking out?! I can't figure out why!"

Listen to your body.

Here is are a series of questions to ask yourself when you notice that you are breaking out more than usual:

1. Is it my time of the month? Or close to it?

If it’s around 2 weeks before your period, chances are that hormonal changes are the main reasons causing you to break out.

2. Have I changed foundations?

If so, the new foundation that you are using may be too heavy for your skin, especially if your previous foundation was of a lighter formulation (silicon vs. water based). Another possibility to consider is that the new foundation contains a certain ingredient that your skin does not respond well to, in which case it’s signalling you to stop using it.
If you haven’t recently changed your foundation, then figure how long you’ve been using it for. If it’s been more than 2 years…THROW IT OUT, IT’S GONE BAD.

Note: Any creamy/liquid products have a shelf life of about 2 years. 

3. Have I changed my skin care brand or regime?

Any change of your skin care products or your regime MAY trigger a breakout. Sometimes when you switch to healthier products, your skin breaks out because it’s cleansing itself of toxins. If you’ve used your new products for a couple of weeks and you're still breaking out, the products might not be right for you and your skin. It’s a trial and error process. 

TIP: If you are trying out new products or switching regimes to improve your skin for a special event (even when getting advice from a professional), remember to do so at least 4 weeks prior to it. Everyone's skin is different, and what might work for one person may not be right for you.

4. Are there any changes to my daily routine, environment, food and/or emotions which can be triggering my body to react in a different way?

For example:
-Travelling (different time zone)
-Not getting enough sleep
-Not eating well (toxins in unhealthy foods cause breakouts)
-Healthy changes in eating habits (switching to a healthier diet plan may trigger you to breakout as a result of a cleansing process)
-Am I exercising more? (Wash your face immediately after sweating...sweat causes breakouts)

In the end, any changes that you go through on an internal or external level affect your body. Listen to what your body is telling you. Your body gives you signs and signals all the time, but your job is to take notice of them and make changes.

That’s all my loves. Please comment and like. I would love to know YOUR opinions.