Squeeky Clean: Cleansers

I love doing skincare posts for you guys because, quite frankly, I'm obsessed with what skincare can do not only to keep your skin where it should be, but how you can use it to prep for whatever makeup look you're going for!

Let's say you want something more long lasting and matte for the evening...choose your skincare based around that look (maybe using a mattifying hydrator as your moisturizer, or an oil control primer).  Glow like J-Lo more up your alley?  Grab some radiance serums and a lightweight face oil to press into your skin.

I spend the most amount of time on skin when I'm doing looks not only for myself, but for clients as well.  If this is something you're not used to or have any questions about, let me know and I can lead you in the right direction :)

Now, I'm sure you know by now that if you're wearing makeup all day, please, PLEASE, I BEG YOU...take it off at the end of the night.  I will say here: I don't love wipes as a primary method of removal (try taking a cotton round with some cleanser over your face after you use a wipe...you'll see what I mean...) but if it's late and you simply can't make it to the sink, it will work in a pinch.

I'm a huge fan of the double cleanse, myself.  I find that it is quick, effective, and keeps my skin in tip-top shape.  But Ashleigh, what's a double cleanse???  Quite simply, cleansing twice!  My routine goes something like this:

                                        

*  Use either a cleansing water (also known as a micellar water in some circles) or a cleansing oil to really break up and remove the bulk of the makeup (oils are fun because it's like finger painting as your mascara and liner starts melting...I never said I wasn't a fan of the panda look, as long as I can get it off quickly!  Haha!)

     Shown Above:  Boscia Makeup BreakUp Cleansing Oil

*  Then I'll grab either a creamy or a foamy cleanser that has a makeup removing property and my Clarisonic Aria and get to exfoliating and really cleansing the grime and makeup off.  I like doing this second because I don't get the bulk of the makeup on the Clarisonic bush and have to deep clean it all the time.

     Shown Above:  First Aid Beauty Face Cleanser, Sephora Collection Radiance Cleansing Foam

*   A couple times a week I will forgo cleansing with my Clarisonic and manually wash with the second cleanser so that I can do some kind of a manual exfoliation or a peel.  I like the Peter Thomas Roth Pumpkin Enzyme peel in the photo because I can use it both as an exfoliator and a mask.  It has since been repackaged so don't be surprised if you don't find it in a tube!

*  The odd man out is my Jack Black Post Shave Cooling Gel.  I don't mention this a ton, but I do have hirsutism that stems from a PCOS diagnosis and I have facial hair I need to get rid of every day.  Sucks, but what can you do, right?  So I use this to keep my skin from freaking out and turning red on me...LOVE IT.

                                                

So then this is the result of some epic cleansing (and then layered off with skincare that is appropriate to my dry skin type)

What's your favorite cleanser?  Skincare Item?  Tell me!!!

Disclosure:

In addition to the products I purchase, I receive a lot of product as GRATIS through my job.  I know I say this all the time, but it cannot be repeated enough in a social media dominated world -- It is up to me (and me alone) to feature what I feel are good products that I can stand behind 100%.  I always take the utmost care as I write my posts to give you, the reader, the best information that I can about my experiences.  If I love a product, I'll say so.  If I hate the product, I'll tell you why.  It's equal opportunity on my blog in all aspects.  I am in NO WAY a spokesperson for my job when writing on this blog.  No company, including the one I work for, has any influence on what I say or what I feature on the blog.

Failures, Faces, and Favorites

So I suppose the first thing to address is the failures, right?  Haha!  Well the first would be keeping up with this blog.  You would think that because I'm failing at being a normal and functioning person because I've been consistently ill for almost 2.5 solid months I could have updated this thing...but nooooooo...(I had a DVT in my leg, I also just had the worst asthma flare up I've had since I was diagnosed with it when I was 12...UGH!)

Really, that's all the failures...and I don't see them as failures but rather...this thing we call life.  Basically, shit happens and you deal with it. Right? Right.

So then that would lead me to the faces portion - aka just makeup pictures...because, well, it's a beauty blog after all and I do remember what most of the products on these photos are!  That's a plus!

Complexion:

Algenist Pore Correcting Primer

Sephora Collection 10H Wear Foundation #20 (Cream)

Make Up For Ever Artist Shadow #M548 (Pink Gray) - contour

Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush (Fearless)

Eyes:

Smashbox Double Exposure palette

Sephora Collection Dramatic Line Pen Liner

Lancome Grandiose Mascara

Lips:

Mint Rosebud Salve

Complexion:

Lancome Teint Visionnaire Foundation #210 Buff N

Make Up For Ever Artist Shadow #M548 (Pink Gray) - contour

Kat Von D Everlasting Face Shaper Blush (Belissima)

Eyes:

Anastasia Dipbrow (Dark Brown)

Urban Decay Electric Palette

MAC Eyeshadow (Chrome Yellow)

Tarte Aqualilies Cream Liner (LE/DC)

Lips:

Sephora Collection discontinued color (sticker missing)

Complexion:

Tarte Amazonian Clay Full Coverage Liquid Foundation (Light/Medium)

Sephora+Pantone Universe Blush Palette (Marsala)

Becca Shimmering Skin Perfecter Pressed (Opal)

Eyes:

Still Stay All Day Pen Liner (Pink)

Smashbox Full Exposure Palette

Lancome Grandiose Mascara

Lips:

I *think* it was a Bite Beauty lip? This was a while ago so I don't remember...

And then of course, there are always favorites, right?  So in no particular oder here are things I'm loving!

First thing up is my new obsession website - I'm on it all the damn time -- and for the sake of disclosure before anyone thinks anything, I am not an affiliate with them so feel free to click away :)

If you're a book lover (like I am!) check out www.bookoutlet.com -- I always tell people you need to want to have to dig around on the site but the deals cannot be beat!  I have ordered from them three or four times already and have loved everything I ordered and their service is pretty fab too!

I don't know if I ever mentioned that I'm a huge Star Trek fan...so next up on the list are a couple Trek related things -- my complete series of Voyager (which I am going through in order...I'm pretty sure I've already seen 75% of the series, but I want to see 100%! hehe!)

And then on the heels of Voyager, it's only appropriate to mention my favorite book (so far!) of 2015 -- Kate Mulgrew's memoir, Born With Teeth (seriously, just read it...even if you don't like Star Trek...which is featured only briefly in case you're wondering)

featured with my prized Captain Janeway teddy bear that I got out of Quark's Bazaar many many years ago in the Star Trek Magazine....

 And then there was makeup...

First up is the Smashbox Double Exposure palette.  So many choices and so many good colors!  I love the texture of the shadows (not too powdery and not too creamy....they're just right!) and you can use them all wet or dry so it's like having 28 shadows in a 14 pan kit!  My personal favorite colors are the muted silvery blue (top L), the shimmery golden tone (top 3rd in from R), and the reddish brown (bottom 2nd in from R).

Then there is a shoutout to my NARS books.  I got a new bookshelf recently and was reorganizing and so of course I sat and flipped through them...so many great images for inspiration!  If you haven't yet checked these books out, I highly recommend you do.  There are photos of the model's naked face on the left side, and then a clear overlay saying what products were used and where that lies on top of a photo of the finished face.  GREAT for learners or seasoned pro's alike! 

So that's what has been up...hopefully I can get some great content put together for you guys soon because I do miss doing this a lot!

Xo

-A-

Disclosure:

In addition to the products I purchase, I receive a lot of product as GRATIS through my job.  I know I say this all the time, but it cannot be repeated enough in a social media dominated world -- It is up to me (and me alone) to feature what I feel are good products that I can stand behind 100%.  I always take the utmost care as I write my posts to give you, the reader, the best information that I can about my experiences.  If I love a product, I'll say so.  If I hate the product, I'll tell you why.  It's equal opportunity on my blog in all aspects.  I am in NO WAY a spokesperson for my job when writing on this blog.  No company, including the one I work for, has any influence on what I say or what I feature on the blog.

Summer Skin Edit: What I Love

Oh hello, Golden Gate Bridge!

HELLO HELLO!  I figured I'd try to not let a long time go before I wrote another blog.  I'm awful at making time for myself much less anything else that isn't either work or theater.  However, you can see in the photo above that when I travel FOR work, I will make some time to take in the sights!  

I was fortunate enough this past week to be in San Francisco for work and since my best friend Heather lives just about a half hour outside the city proper, she generally plays tour guide for me when I'm there. (Bonus!  work fun AND bff time!)

Anyways, that's not really the point of the post, so let's just get right into the skincare, shall we? 

I begin by saying (as always) that I have an extremely dry skin type.  In the summer I tend to lean a little more normal but by no means do I have enough oil to be considered combination.  So I tend to stay with my creamy formulas, but they tend to be either oil-free or still hyper-hydrating.

In the photo above (my very messy bag o' skincare) you'll not see a cleanser because it's in the bathroom...but it's the Sephora Collection Supreme Cleansing Oil (which is sadly, out of stock right now!)  It gets my skin super clean (especially when used in tandem with my Clarisonic Aria!) and I absolutely love using oil cleansers!  I'll have to do a specific post on them soon!

Then you'll see the Josie Maran Argan Milk - this is one of those hyper-hydrating products that I absolutely love especially in the summer months.  It gives me all the hydration of argan oil, but without the heavy feeling -- I'm actually not a lover for the pure argan oil on my face...I much prefer the texture of Argan Light if I use Josie's...but then again, I'm a total Fresh Seaberry convert (see my post here!)

I mix a few drops of that Seaberry oil (or any oil really...in my bag is a trial version of the Kate Somerville Dilo oil...more on that later once I've made up my mind about it) into the Ole Henriksen Sheer Transformation moisturizer.  This is a must-have product for me.  I love the lightweight whipped texture, and it has licorice and pea extract for brightening!  This container is probably the third full size jar I've gone through in the past three or four years so I'm always trying new things, but eventually I get back to this one.

I also am trying out a trial of the Kate Somerville Age Arrest eye cream.  I like the dense texture that immediately sinks into the eye area...and it leaves my skin very velvety feeling which I adore!

There are a few other things you're seeing in the bag and they're more like my ancillary products...not necessary but nice to have every once in a while...Peter Thomas Roth Lashes to Die for serum (LOVE!), Amore Pacific enzyme peel scrub, GlamGlow Supermud trial, Murad Acne Spot Fast Fix, Clinique healing gel, and the Peter Thomas Roth 40% peel.

If you have any questions or would like anything more in-depth, leave a comment!

Some products shown in this blog post were received as gratis from my job.  This does not influence my thoughts or opinions on any of the products I choose to show on my blog.  I am not sponsored by any of the companies featured in this blog post - I do not make any commission by including links, nor am I blogging on behalf of my employer.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.