Makeup Mondays | My Summer Must Haves!

I think it's safe to say that Summer is officially here on the East Coast! As a Louisiana girl this is right up my alley! As much as I love Summer the warmer months change up my entire makeup routine. When it's hot out I like to keep my makeup routine as light as possible. As an oily skinned girl this means a powder only routine. Here are some of my favorite products:

• Rimmel Stay Matte Primer - This little gem has been God sent for my skin! It really helps to mattify my skin and can be worn under makeup or alone! Be careful to blend this out thoroughly if you are wearing it alone because if you don't it will leave a white cast. You can find it at your local Walgreens for $6.99.
• Sephora 8 Hour Mattifying Powder - This is a bit of a high end purchase as it retails for about $22. However this powder is long lasting and gets the job done.
• E.L.F Shine Eraser Oil Blotting Sheets - Let's face it. No matter how many mattifying products I use I still get a bit oily in my T-zone. Especially on my nose. These sheets help to take the shine away immediately and at $1 (at Target) per pack they're wonderful! 
• Fergie Centerstage Collection Shimmer Palette - Some of y'all have commented on some of my blog posts about the 'glow' that I have going on on my cheeks. Well the secret's out. I have a few of these shimmer palettes, but my favorite is 'Carnival In Rio'. It just screams sunkissed skin and is super Brown Girl friendly! Best part is these palettes retail for $5.99 at Walgreens, BUT Walgreens has frequent sales on Wet N Wild Products. I got my shimmer palette for a mere $3!    

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MakeUp Mondays | How To Apply Blush

Finally Growing has a new feature that I'm super excited to share with you guys! For those of you who may not know I'm almost as obsessed with Makeup/Beauty products as I am with healthy hair care! While I enjoy high end products I revel in finding drug equivalents at a fraction of the cost. My plans for this feature are to discuss different products, beauty methods, and of course answer any questions that y'all may have. I am not a MUA (Makeup Artist) by any stretch, but I am a girl who seriously enjoys amping up my look from time to time! In addition I hope to provide product reviews for some products that I have a hard time finding reviews for myself!

So now that I've gotten the introduction out of the way I thought I'd spend today talking about blush application. A few years back I never wore blush because I always felt like I looked like a clown, which honestly I did because I had no idea how to apply it it my cheek bones. Now every body has a different cheek bone structer. My daddy blessed me with nice ample round cheek bones, which scream put a bit of blush on me please! I believe that two things are key to proper blush application:

• Blush brush
• Complimentary Blush color
• Technique

Easy peasy right? Let me explain. When I first began wearing blush I was using an E.L.F blush brush and while I love E.L.F cosmetics and even some of their brushes this brush was not for me...well not for blush application, but I'll save that for another post! Eventually I decided to invest in a Sonia Kashuk Blush Brush. This brush totally changed my application game!

My favorite blush colors especially for spring and summer are beautiful coral and peach toned blushes. They compliment my skin tone beautifully.

To apply blush I start at the apples of my cheeks and work my way toward my hairline. I start with minimal product on my brush because it's much easier to build up your blush color than to tone it down. Now please remember that there are countless ways to apply blush. This is the method that I've found works best for me and my bone structure. Until next Monday stay beautiful :)


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My Spring Beauty Must Haves!

I'm an April baby so I'm all about the warmer months! I love everything about spring (and summer) from the gorgeous sunny days to the bright bold colors. I recently went shopping to pick up a few beauty items in honor of Spring and thought that I would share.

• Nail Polish- While Winter is all about darker colors Spring is the time to whip out your brightest nail polish shades. I opted for bold blues, purples, pinks, and reds. 
• Stay Matte Primer- My skin has always been super oily and it really shows up in the warmer months. This primer really helps to keep my oil at bay and the best part is it can be worn alone or under a tined moisturizer or foundation. 
• Anastasia Dip Brow Pomade- I've been working on perfecting my brows for about a year now and until this product came into my life my brows were rather lack luster. The great thing about this brow pomade is that it's water proof and smudge proof making it perfect for warm weather and oily skin. 
• Moisturizing conditioners-For me the changing of seasons can either go really well or not so great for my hair. To keep any issues at bay I opted to try two salon end conditioners that my stylist uses on my hair regularly
• Blush- Again, going with the theme of bright bold colors for spring I love blushes with beautiful coral and pink tones. It compliments my skin beautifully and screams Spring! 
• BB Cream- I recently realized that I'm not too big on foundations, but I love BB creams. It gives me a light coverage and provides SPF for my skin. These babies are perfect for hot weather where you still want a bit of something on your face that's not too heavy. 
• Blending Sponge- I've heard that the miracle complexion sponge provides a flawless makeup look so in honor of spring I just had to try it! 

What are your Spring Beauty must haves? 

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My Recent Sally's Purchases

Well this weekend I decided to run a few errands which included a stop at my favorite beauty supply store! Honestly the main reason I stopped by was because I had two gift cards that I wanted to spend (I was tired of carrying it around in my wallet!).

I decided to try a few new products. Here's what I bought. Stay tuned for my next wash day post to find out how I liked everything!

My Summer Beauty Wishlist!

So as usual I've got my eye on a couple of things that I'm patiently (not so much!) waiting to purchase at some point this summer and/or maybe fall!

White Lightening Pens - I was initially introduced to this product by Nitraab (one of my favorite makeup gurus on YouTube). These pens contain a special teeth whitening formula that whitens your teeth while you sleep without causing sensitivity!

Baby Foot - This product is basically a deep skin exfoliant that removes dead skin, callouses, etc.

PMD Personal Microderm - This product enables you to get professional microdermabrasion treatments at home that minimize wringkles, fine lines, enlarged pores, and acne blemishes. Being an acne sufferer who's finally getting it under control I do have some scarring on my face that I would love to make goa away! This product gives me hope :) I initally heard about this product from EbonyCPrincess as well as Traycee from Kiss. You can check out their reviews here and here.

Tressemme Naturals Conditioner- I've had my eye on this conditioner for about a year now, but somehow other hair purchases got in the way! I think this will make a great cowashing conditioner.The thing that excites me the most about this conditioner is that it is silicone free and promises to not only moisturize, but make the hair 10X stronger with just one use! And at only about $6 for 25 fl oz how could I resist!

MAC lipglasses- Lately I've been dabbling in lipsticks, however my first true love in the world of lippies is lipgloss! I've only purchased one MAC lipglass before, but that one lipglass gave me shine like no other! In particular I have my eye on the Nicki Minaj Viva Glam 2 lipglass and maybe a nice coral color of some sort. At this point I've determined that it is necessary for me to add a couple to my stash!

Julie G nail polishes- Julie G is a youtuber who has her own nail polish brand that is sold at rite aid. I tried her nail polish line out after seeing a few pictures of some of the color options. I love that she has a wide variety of colors that are long lasting and the best part is...they're only $3.99! Her brand reminds me of Essie, but at a much cheaper price! They can be found at your local riteaid!

Revlon Lipsticks- I love Revlon lipsticks because they are so moisturizing and pair great with a simple lipgloss! The four lippies that I have my eye on right now are Blushing Nude, Just Enough Buff, Candy Pink, and Pink sugar. I'll wait until walgreens or CVS has a sale on stock up!

I'm thinking each month I will purchase 1 or 2 items off of my wishlist not to exceed $25. For more expensive items such as my PMD I will probably hold off on for a while

Wash Day = Pamper Day!

As most of you know I wash my hair twice a week normally on Tuesday/Wednesday and Friday/Saturday. Because I believe in being efficient with my time as of lately I've also started making my wash day all about pampering myself too! Here's what I do in no particular order.

• I gently exfoliate my body using the Bodycology Exfoliating Sugar Scrub in the Exotic Cherry Blossom scent. This stuff smells amazing and leaves my skin feeling so so soft, however please be warned if you are sensitive to strong scents this is NOT the scrub for you! Although the scent is very perfumey it only leaves a suddle scent on the skin. The best part about this product is that it's only about $7.00 for a huge jar and since a little bit of this product goes a long way it will last a while! Also I love that this sugar scrub is infused with avocado oil and shea butter (who said those ingredients were only great for your hair!).

• I also exfoliate my lips to keep them nice and soft. I'd been looking for a good lip exfoliator and finally found one at Sephora that I absolutely LOVE! It is the Fresh Sugar Lip Polish. This item is on the pricier side and retails at $22.50, but is worth every penny to me. I actually ended up trying this product after receiving the lip balm as a birthday gift. I was so impressed with the product that I decided to give the lip polish a try. After using it several times I always get the same results. soft and smooth lips. This will be a great product for Winter time!

• In addition to using my exfoliating products I also use a facial mask. Currently I'm alternating between the Proactive Refining Mask and the Pores Be Pure. These masks are great for acne prone skin as well as those with larger pores that tend to 'clog' easily. No matter which mask I use I leave it on for 7-10 minutes and then rinse with warm water and follow up with my normal facial wash routine.  Both masks leave my skin feeling squeaky clean.

These are the simple things that I enjoy doing during my wash/pamper day!


Clarasonic Unboxing!

So I finally got a clarasonic!!! I'm so excited about this product because I've been lusting after it for at least 6 months. Check out my clarasonic unboxing video. It's chocked full of information about the clarasonic and what to expect from this product. Of course I  plan to do a full review on this product once I've used it for a while! Stay tuned...