Bonus post: Share Our Lives

 

Happy bonus post day! I'm linking up with several ladies for this month's edition of Share Our Lives: favorite makeup and hair products. 

Makeup (and the skincare that I'm including) is one of my favorite topics to talk about. My love is deep and goes back to my childhood; growing up in a house of girls who are older than me helped shape my love for all things beauty related. I also vividly remember my mom doing makeup on me for talent shows or pageants. I loved being all dolled up from a young age! I know that I wore more makeup in my teen and early adulthood years than I do now. These days my tastes have changed from a made-up look to a more natural look. I never really pay attention to trends with makeup and ways to apply it, I just do what feels right to me on any given day. I do change up my routine pretty often, and I definitely wear more or less depending on the season. 

All that being said, here are some of my favorite things to use right now!

I started off with the brand of coconut oil that you see in the first picture. I use this every night to wash my face. I have really sensitive skin, and I have to be careful what I use on it each day. Even when I travel, I just put some of this into a smaller container for my toiletry bag. I use a little spoon to scoop out a half dollar sized amount into my clean hands, then I let it melt by rubbing them together, and applying it all over my face. It doesn't harm your eyes, and even if you get some in your mouth, it's safe! The kind I use now is in a giant tub from Costco; I finish this container and bring it downstairs to add more from the big jug. After I wash my face (using a washcloth), I use the Thayer's toner, then I moisturize with my favorite moisturizer of all: Cerave. 

For my "foundation" that really isn't foundation at all, I use one drop of the Elf hydrating primer, and a drop or two of this Cerave tinted moisturizer with SPF. It's gives a dewy enough look that it's fresh looking without feeling or looking greasy, if that makes sense. 

I use this rose colored shadow on the base of my eyelids, then I do the top and corner with the pale pink that you see. I "line" the outer corners of my eyes with the darker shade of purple. I realize this may seem like a strange set of colors to use, but it comes out really pretty and glowy looking. 

The blush, powder, and mascara you see are my favorites! I've used them all for ages now and just reordered some on Saturday. My current favorite brand of lipstick is Maybelline in a neutral shade of pink, on top of lined lips. I use the NYX lipliner pencil. 

Moving onto hair products now...

Since I only wash my hair about once a week, I use this spray all the time. I may only wash it once a week, but I get it wet and condition it every other time I take a shower. On the in-between days, I shower with my hair piled high in a bun. Getting it wet either in the shower or with a spray bottle of water and scrunching after I've sprayed it with this Ouidad product refreshes all of the curls. 

This oil tames the fly-aways that I struggle with some days.

And this cream and mousse are what I use after I've washed it; I leave most of the water in my hair, then I run my fingers through it with the cream, and lastly I apply this mousse all over with praying hands (palm to palm) and then squishing it all over. One thing I've learned is that when scrunching curly hair, you need to hear the water squishing around or it's not wet enough. After I've done all that, I towel dry the access water by scrunching the towel around my wet hair. And then I air dry. Sometimes if it dries weird, I'll add a blast of heat in the morning to make it lay flatter on top.

And here's a typical day of what it all looks like when I'm done dressing for the day! What do you use for makeup, hair, or skin that you love that I should know about? I would love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my bonus post today, friends. Love to all!