Controlling Oily Skin

Hey all! Happy Spring! The weather is getting warmer (in most places) and the sun is showing its face a little more. If you're like me, the changing of the seasons has an impact on your body. One of my personal struggles with spring and summer is oily skin! I have oily skin year-round; however, warmer months prove to be even more of a challenge. Below, I'll share a few tips that can be used to help combat oily skin, any time that you experience it!

1. Moisturize you skin! Yes, I did say moisturize. You may think that using a moisturizer will make your oily skin worse; however, the opposite is true. If you don't moisturize properly, EVERY time after washing your face, you will dry out your skin. This may cause premature aging OR cause your skin to produce even more oil. I learned this lesson the hard way. It's also important to choose a moisturizer with SPF for daytime wear. Usually, oily skin is also acne prone. This will help prevent any hyperpigmentation/acne scarring from worsening.

2. Use products that specifically cater to oily skin and are oil-free. Every product you use, from your facial wash to your foundation should be tailored to suit the needs of your skin. Key terms to look for are "mattifying", "oil-free", "non-greasy", "oil-absorbing", etc.

3. Use mattifying powder! When you powder your face, you may want to use a fluffy powder puff to really press the powder onto your skin, as opposed to a powder brush that will just do a light dusting and may not be as effective.

4. Get oil absorbing sheets! They're absolutely amazing and provide an easy way to pull the oil right out of your pores and off of your skin without disturbing your makeup much (if you're wearing makeup). Practically any brand will do, but I do not recommend the white, ELF brand ones. The blue oil blotting sheets work best, in my opinion.

There are some people who recommend using Milk of Magnesia as a primer, but I prefer not to recommend it directly. What I will say is do some research on it if you would like to try it out. I used it as a primer for a period of time, but I discontinued usage after my skin 'outsmarted' the product. It only worked for me for a few weeks before my skin found a way around it. If you want to try it, please do research before doing so. I've heard lots of things, some good and some bad, so I would recommend proceeding with caution if you decide to try it out. That's all folks! Hope this helped in some way. If you have any budget beauty products that you would like for me to review (makeup, skin care, hair care, and related items), please send your request to me at lindsi.green@gmail.com. Looking forward to hearing from you! ;)

Beauty Product Fails! (For me at least...)

Hey y'all! I'm back with another post. Have you ever been really excited to try a beauty product and been disappointed in its performance once you finally got it? Chances are you have. It may not be that the product is a fail overall, but you just know that is isn't for you. In this post I'll talk about four beauty products that I was really excited about initially but less than pleased with once I finally bought and was able to use them. Every product isn't for everybody. Thank goodness we have such a vast variety of beauty products to choose from ;). This isn't a review, just my general feelings on these four products. As a disclaimer (though it's probably not needed), every product I review has been purchased with my own money, not sponsored.

1. Neutrogena Oil-Free Moisturizer (with SPF 15) - This is the greasiest feeling moisturizer I've ever used. Even underneath the best mattifying primer, this stuff makes my skin so oily and slides my foundation and concealer all over the place. This type of formula may work well with dry skin or combination skin, but it's horrible with my super oily skin. I will not buy this product again unless they change the formula.

2. Wet n Wild Megalength Mascara - The only thing this mascara lengthened was the time it took for me to put on my mascara. It separates lashes very well and doesn't clump, but it doesn't lengthen my lashes at all.

3. Black Radiance Complexion Perfection Under Eye Concealer - The color is perfect, but this concealer creases like nobody's business, regardless of what I set it with or how well I blend it. I have fine lines underneath my eyes, and the concealer settles in and then disappears a few hours later. I've tried setting this concealer every way I know how, but to no avail.

4. Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream - All I can say about this product is "ugh". I initially tried it out over a year ago and gave it a decent review, but the more time passed the less I liked it. If you have oily skin, I do not recommend this BB cream. I've set it with every mattifying powder that I own and also have used mattifying primer before putting it on, but it still turns into an oily, oxidized mess. For those who aren't familiar with the term, oxidation is when your makeup changes to a reddish, orange, or yellow (for fairer skinned women) color on your skin due to chemical reactions from being on your skin.



If you have any budget beauty products that you would like for me to review (makeup, skin care, hair care, and related items), please send your request to me at lindsi.green@gmail.com. Looking forward to hearing from you! ;)

NYX Shine Killer Review

Hey all, Happy February! As promised, I'm here with the review for one of the new products I've been testing out. The product I'm posting about is the NYX Shine Killer. I first saw this product in Target when I was picking up some Clean and Clear Oil Absorbing Sheets (on sale!) and I wanted to give it a shot since I was running out of the primers that I usually use. As someone with extremely oily skin, I don't normally have high expectations of primers. Even with the best of primers I still have to carry oil blotting sheets and mattifying face powder with me everywhere. I was pleasantly surprised with this product. It's a little on the pricey side (I'll put the price in the review below), but I think it's worth it if you struggle with trying to keep your skin matte. I will say this though as a word of advice, if you have oily skin, all face products you use, from your cleanser to your moisturizer to your foundation, need to be geared toward the specific needs of your skin. This means that they need to be oil-free and products specifically formulated for and to combat oily skin. This will help with your shine control goals. Ok, I've rambled on enough...sorry. Here is the review, hope it helps!

1. NYX Shine Killer (0.67 fl oz.), $12.99 (Target)

Site Description: "Your ultimate weapon in the war on shine. Smooth it on before your favorite foundation for a fresh, flawless, marvelously matte look that lasts and lasts. Wear it solo, too, for a naturally shine-free look."

Pros: No smell, light weight, controls shine very well, can be applied over makeup as well
Cons: Expensive, not a lot of product for price, still must use oil-blotting sheets after 8-9 hours of wear

Overall: I genuinely like this product. I was displeased with the price initially, because I'm super cheap, but I must say that so far I have been pleased with the product. A little bit goes a long way, you don't need to use tons to get the desired result. I have worn it under makeup, over makeup, and by itself, and each way has worked pretty well in terms of shine control. There's no offensive smell, it's clear and doesn't leave a whitish tint like several other oil-control primers that I've used (maybe due to powder particles in them) and it's light on my skin. It also doesn't settle into my fine lines, which I love. Like most products, it doesn't last all day. After about 8-9 hours a bit of shine starts to seep through and I have to use oil-blotting sheets, but so far it is the longest lasting oil control product I've used. The only thing I still don't like is the price, but it's worth it to have help with oily skin. I rate this product an 8.5 out of 10. 

If you decide to try this product out, please let me know how it works out for you! If you have any budget beauty products that you would like for me to review (makeup, skin care, hair care, and related items), please send your request to me at lindsi.green@gmail.com. Looking forward to hearing from you! ;)

The Wonders of Baby Powder

Ok, so you may be asking, what on earth is the connection between baby powder and beauty? You might be surprised. This post is geared toward those of us with combination skin and mainly those who suffer with oily skin, but there's also a cool tip that everyone can use at the end! Even with all of the mattifying primers, creams, etc. that I use, I still have very oily skin. It's so frustrating sometimes, because it can turn a cute makeup look into a messy oil slick! No one wants to have to constantly powder their nose or go through tons of oil blotting sheets and (which are amazing, btw! I'll address that in another post ^_^), wasting them. Mattifying powders are a great option...but they can be expensive! Urban Decay's De-Slick Mattifying Powder is $32.00, MAC Blot Powder is $25.00, Lancome's Translucence Mattifying Powder is $29.00, and many other brands have costly products of this sort. But what works without having to dish out this kind of cash? Baby powder! That's right, baby powder that you can find in Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, and any local "dollar" store. The largest bottle generally costs less that $6.00, but travel sizes are usually $1 or less! Baby powder absorbs the oil on the skin and works to keep the skin matte from anywhere from 8 hours or more, depending on how oily the skin is.

How to use the Powder:

What You'll Need: 

• 1 container of baby powder (any brand, any size)
• 1 Makeup Sponge (excuse the color of mine, used it today lol)
• 1 Dense, large powder brush

If you won't be wearing makeup, simply place the powder onto the back of your hand or onto a clean, flat surface, fold the sponge, dip in into the powder, and press onto your skin. Let it sit for a few seconds, then brush off of the skin THOROUGHLY, making sure no white marks OR streaks are left behind. If you will, do your normal makeup routine, and then follow the same steps listed above. It's very important to dust ALL of the powder off so you don't end up looking like a ghost. ;)

Bonus tip: You can also do this with lipstick! Simply, easy, and cost efficient. Check it out below!

The steps are the same as how you do it when using the baby powder to mattify your face, the only difference is you blend it by pressing your lips together and dusting the excess off of the colors of your lips. If you use this method, be sure to apply very generous amounts of your lip color before using the powder, since some of the color vibrancy can get lost when using this method to mattify your lip color. I didn't apply enough lip color before doing this lol. Hope you enjoyed the post, and thanks for reading!

* If you have any budget beauty products that you would like for me to review (makeup, skin care, hair care, and related items), please send your request to me at lindsi.green@gmail.com. Looking forward to hearing from you! ;)