Staying Hydrated with AVEENO's Absolutely Ageless

February 15, 2016

Today's shop has been sponsored by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. As always, all opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that make this blog possible!
#BestLovedBeauty #CollectiveBias

Happy President's Day! I'm so ecstatic to be off today since it is way too cold to commute to work (or partake in NYC).

I'm not a hermit or anything but I try to limit my time outdoors when the air is below 20 degrees. Does anyone else notice how harsh the chilly (and very dry) air sucks all the moisture out of their skin? Well, lucky for everyone I'm obsessed with the skincare (& makeup) aisle at Target came across a few hydrating tools to have on hand.

*It was a little warmer during this shoot :).*

My obsession with skincare started at a young age. I would watch my mom and tías (aunts) prep their skin for the day ahead and regularly indulge with at home facials using all-natural ingredients. I may not have picked up on their DIY facials but when it comes to using products I do try and use products using all natural ingredients.

Like I've mentioned before, most of my things are in storage including all my winter skincare goods. Not good, especially since this mild winter has turned into a deadly beast of chilled air and jaw-dropping single digits temps. And if you haven't read about it before, know that I am the kind of girl that can't leave the house with SPF (and brow gel). So, letting my skin show signs of dryness was not an option. Besides, the earlier you take care of your skin the better your skin will look in the long run.

Target, throughout my many moves, has been the one-stop shop that has everything I could possibly need at an affordable price range. So I went off in search of AVEENO's Absolutely Ageless Line

For reference, AVEENO® Absolutely Ageless was launched late last month. The line uses Active Naturals Blackberry Complex which is sourced from nature and has clinically proven results. What drew me to the Absolutely Ageless line was its promise to deeply nourish my skin (yes!) and strengthen skin's natural moisture barrier (double yes!). My mom and tías would definitely approve of this.

While in Target, I picked up the AVEENO® Absolutely Ageless Nourishing Cleanser and AVEENO® Absolutely Ageless Restoring Night Cream to include into my regimen.

Here's how I'm including these two goodies into my nighttime wind-down sesh:

WIPE IT OFF
Take off the day's grime and caked on makeup for the ultimate cleanse.

CLEANSE
Use AVEENO® Absolutely Ageless Nourishing Cleanser for a double cleanse. Don't worry, this won't overdry your skin and helps preserve the skin's natural moisture barrier.

MOISTURIZE
Slather on AVEENO® Absolutely Ageless Restoring Night Cream on your face and neck. This is so nourishing, your skin is going to drink it up while you sleep. In the AM you'll love how soft and smooth your face feels

EYE CREAM
Don't forget to pay attention to your eyes - your skin is most delicate there so use your ring finger when applying the cream. If you're in the market for an affordable eye cream check out AVEENO Absolutely Ageless Eye Cream ($19.99).

And that's that! Are there any AVEENO products that you're absolutely loving right now? Tell me about it in the comments!

Get Peachy with Essence

February 11, 2016

Oh, Valentines Day, how you throw all of us into a frenzy of what should I wear from face to toe. And yes, that includes me.

Recently I've become sort of a nomad schlepping my things from one place to another and using my office as a storage space - the joys of not owning your own apartment (yet). We'll chat more about that later.

To be honest, most of my things are in storage for fear of losing things during my moves. That includes my cute dresses and pricey cosmetics (perfect timing right?). And ladies, going barefaced or wearing the same dress for the fifth time in a row is not an option for me on Valentine's Day. It's the one day we're given to go all out in the name of love so let's take advantage of the guilt-free primp sessions. (This of course, excludes brides-to-be).

Target, throughout my nomadic experience, has been my ride or die. Anything I need can literally be found there, so I was of course super pumped to see my local Target fully stocked (well it was before I bought everything) with Essence Cosmetics.

For reference, Essence Cosmetics was launched in Germany in the early 2000s but they’re known worldwide for their always on trend colors for lips, nails, and eyes. Back to present-day, Essence is finally stateside and available at over 500 select Target locations nationwide (and online). Also, Target has been killing it lately in their makeup & skincare aisle so highly recommend you spend some time there.

The line is known for its affordable price points (nail polish for $1.99 And bronzer a for $4.99) and makes treating yourself painless. The quality is pretty amazing too: eyeshadows are easy to blend and highly pigmented, the same is true for their blush (when applying know that a little goes a long way), and their “gel” nail polishes have a nice gel-like shine.

And when it comes to lips… well, we all know how much I obsess over lip color. Their selections of nudes (lipstick & gloss combined) create a flawless finish.

The line is pretty big and comes in a variety of colors so anyone will be able to find something they love, and have fun creating a variety of looks.

Top recommendations off the bat: bronzer, brow gel, palettes, and their soo glow! highlighter.

Coming home with brand new makeup inspired me to create an easy look for a night out so follow the steps down below. Make sure you start with a flawless base for the best outcome.

EYES
Starting with the All About Eyes in Bronze Palette I applied about 1-2 layers of the deep brown/gold layered (marked as 1) for a subtle color. After that dusted my inner corners with a lighter gold (marked as 2).

I then drew a thin line with the Eyeliner Pen and winged the end. I find using a pen, rather than a pencil, helps give me a smoother line without any feathered edges.

Once, the pen dried I applied the Make Me Brow Gel Mascara (a must-have) to help frame my face. I found that two coats work great; start towards your inner brows and work your way out. Apply more if you're into bold brows.

*You can you also do your brows after any powder setting - hence le bronzer & blush seen here.*

FACE
Next we bronze. I love using the Sun Club Bronzer to contour my face and this one is made for easy blending. As shown below, use a sculpting or kabuki brush to draw out a line from your ear to the middle of your cheekbone and then blend. After that, I like to dust a 3 (forehead, cheekbone, jawline) onto the left and right side of my face with the bronzer and blend accordingly.

Grab the Blush Up! (I made a boo-boo and grabbed pink instead of coral, so grab the coral for this one!) and smile. Dust the apples of your cheeks for color but apply gently - the color is highly pigmented. Swatch it on your skin (I use my arm) so you get an idea of how much to apply.

EYES (AGAIN)
There's nothing worse than getting bronzer or any other sort of powder stuck to your fresh mascaraed eyes. So once our face and the powder business is done head back to your eyes and apply two coats of I Heart Extreme Mascara. If you have straight lashes like me, you may want to curl them first.

LIPS
Finally, we move onto our the lips. Like I said before I'm obsessed with nudes so nude lip it is. I applied the Long Lasting Lipstick in Nude Love, blotted, and then reapplied another coat. Then I applied a top coat of XXXL Shine Lip Gloss in Brown.

THE FINAL LOOK
In the end I'm left feeling like a peachy queen with an ultra-luxe lippie. And of course, ready to take on the world.

So, next time you head to Target what wishlisted items from Essence Cosmetics are you going to pick up? Also, if you end up creating any makeup looks leave your links down below so I can take a look :).

P.s. Find more makeup inspiration on their Instagram too!

Photos by Briana Balducci.

Eye Brightening Favorites:

January 13, 2016

How's the new year going so far? I'm still wishing we were on holiday break. I spent a good chunk of my time visiting relatives, touching base with friends in town, and probably too much time indulging in Champagne. ‘Tis the season right? The best part about the holiday weekend had to be my social media detox and sleeping in almost every single day.

Now that I’m back and feeling focused it’s time to start making moves. Usually, I mention my resolutions at the start of the year but I’ll share that a little later after thinking it through. I will, however, give you a peep of what’s going to be on there - sleep more.

Last month, I was seriously lacking on the sleep, which comes with the territory of blogging and being a social media manager. And that lack of sleep definitely showed in my dark under-eye circles. Not a good look when out at events or early morning meetings.

To look more fresh-eyed on little sleep, I use a couple of things: VII Code under-eye patches, eye cream, white eyeliner and concealer. It seriously makes a difference even when I slept three hours.

In full disclosure, I did receive the product for free from VII Code, but being the skincare junkie that I am – I actually have scoped this out (& bought) on Amazon. It’s that good you guys. Indulge if you can.

When it comes to under-eye patches, there are quite a few on the market, but right now I love VII Code’s. Compared to other eye patches on the market this is more of an 8-hour overnight eye mask. VII Code recommends leaving the eye mask on for the 8-hours so your skin can help absorb the ecological plant oxygen extracts (which is an all natural herbal formula). Each eye patch comes equipped all the essential vitamins, antioxidants, proteins, peptides and essential fatty acids.

After prepping your skin for the night (see how I prep mine here) apply the patches on with the gel side on your skin. There’s no label but apply the thicker side on the outside of my eyes and the thinner side towards my inner eye/nose, as shown in the photo below.

Upon waking up, I remove the patches and my eyes look revitalized and de-puffed from the get-go. VII Code recommends using them 2-3x a week, but I’ve been using them once 1x a week for that fresh-faced look. During NYFW I may go up to 2-3x a week.

Generally, after using these patches I don’t need much additional help in the eye area but for those incredibly early mornings I dab on eye cream (loving this K-Beauty find right now), apply white eyeliner to the inside of my lower lash line, and gently pat on concealer (highly recommend this one from NARS) with my BeautyBlender.

For those of you looking to expand your eye care, VII Code is offering $5 off a three-box set with code RCS5-3HEX9L-Z9DYAM. The three-box set is a great starting point for those looking into a deep eye treatment.

Are there any new beauty or skincare habits you’ll be getting into this year?

Photos by Victor Cerejo.