Make-Up Routine For Oily Skin

I’m sure many of you share the same problem that I have, which is oily skin! Especially when the weather is hot my skin just gets greasy so quickly and it’s really annoying having to touch up or reapply your makeup every 5 minutes just because it slides off your face as soon as you apply anything.

 I have been looking for the products that work not only for oily skin but are long-lasting. This is great if you work all day and don’t have time to keep checking your makeup during the day or if you are on a night out and you want to look flawless without smudged makeup and panda eyes.

So here are the products that I absolutely love, that are long-lasting even with really oily skin, sweat- and water-resistant and even help to control the oil-production of your skin.

How to waterproof your makeup

STEP 1   Primer: MAC Face Protect SPF 50/PA++

I apply this product either directly on my clean face or after using a moisturizer. It works great and even works are a sunscreen, which I love! It has a thick consistency but gets absorbed quite easily by the skin without making it feel greasy or sticky. It smoothes your skin’s surface and gives the makeup something to hold on to.

Best Foundation

STEP 2   Foundation: Revlon Colorstay

This is probably the best drugstore foundation you can find! It is long-lasting and comes in a large range of shades and is also available for oily and dry/normal skin. I have been using this foundation for years and years and it is one of my favourite foundations. It provides medium to full coverage, which I like since I have blemishes and redness on my skin which I want to cover. Although alternatively BB Creams work great as well.

STEP 3    NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer

This concealer has only come out recently and it took me ages to get it because it was sold out everywhere, but I finally got my hands on this one and I love it! As its name suggests it has a creamy consistency and blends really easily while providing maximum coverage. It’s ideal for your under-eye area since it doesn’t dry out, look cakey or crease easily (it does still crease but not as much as regular concealers). 

STEP 4  Urban Decay Primer Potion

If you want your eye makeup to last longer then use the Urban Decay Primer Potion. It not only prolongs your eyeshadows but also intensifies their colours! 

STEP 5   FairyDrops Platinum Macara Waterproof

FairyDrops has probably one of the best waterproof mascaras that you can find. Sometimes even waterproof mascara will smudge a little but I can promise you this mascara last all day and won’t budge at all. You will however need an oil cleanser to remove it because regular eye-makeup remover won’t do it.

Best Setting Spray

STEP 6  Urban Decay All-Nighter Setting Spray

This is the final step to your flawless long-lasting make-up. This super hero product will not only ensure that your makeup will stay as it is but it also controls the oil on your skin and I have noticed that my face tends to be less oily when I use this product. It’s an absolute must for me and I never go out without finishing off my look with this product!

This has become my routine and it works great. I don’t have to worry about my makeup anymore because it will just stay as it is. I do change from time to time and switch from foundations to BB Creams because they are more light-weight and my skin just feels better. On top of that BB Creams will give you extra protection from UV-rays, which is an added bonus. You find BB Creams here.

It definitely took me a while to find the right products and it might be a little pricy but it will save you time and you won’t have to keep reapplying anything.

I hope this was helpful for all of you out there who want their makeup to last longer.

Summer Makeup Essentials

It’s summer time and here are a few products and tips to make sure that when you break out in sweat your make-up won’t melt off your face. 

Primer: It provides a base for your makeup to stick better and therefore last longer. There are many primers out there and it might get a little overwhelmed so here are the Top 3 primers.

Primers will make your 

foundations last longer

1. MAC Prep+Prime Face Protect SPF 50/PA++ (30ml)

This is my all-time favourite primer because not only does it make my foundation last longer but it also protects against UVA/UVB rays, which is something I take very seriously. I’d like to think that in 20 years time all the effort will pay off with radiant youthful looking skin.

The only thing you will have to get used to is the price (£23) but at the same time it means that you don’t need to spend money on sunscreen since it’s a 2-in-1 product.

2. Laura Mercier Foundation Primer Mineral (50ml)

This primer is great if you are looking for a lightweight formula that is especially suitable for oily skin. If you have dry skin I would recommend using a moisturizer before applying this primer. It is however quite pricey at £28.

3. Monistat Chafing Relief Powder Gel (42g)

Wait… what??? Yes indeed, you are reading it right. It’s chafing gel. Don’t ask me who came up with the idea that it would work as primer but someone took that very first step and slapped it on their face. Anyways this is supposed to work just as well as a primer. It goes on really smoothly and minimizes the appearance of pores while making your foundation last longer. Personally it hasn’t worked for me but there are a lot of amazing reviews about this product and to be honest this is a cheap option available for around £13.

Next step is to find the right foundation that is long lasting and waterproof/resistant.

My recommendations here are either to go with foundations or BB Creams. I do prefer BB Creams in the summer because they tend to last longer, provide sun protection and don’t look cakey on the skin.

 Foundation: I would personally stay away from foundation as it can look too heavy on the skin and ideally you just want to lightly even out your skin tone without looking too heavy with makeup. However for those who cannot live without the extra coverage here are 3 Top foundations for the summer.

1. Revlon Colorstay Foundation

This is a fantastic foundation that comes in a lot of different shades. I have been using this for the past six years and it is still one of my favourites. You can get it either for dry or for combination/oily skin. It costs around £12.

2. Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation

Again this is a great foundation that last the whole day. It gives you medium to full coverage and looks quite natural. The price is around £9.

Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation

3. Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation

This is quite pricey available at £28 but it does give a glowing finish while lasting all day.

BB Cream: The reason why I prefer BB Creams over regular foundations is that it has sun protection and most of the Best BB Creams come from Korea, which is a country with really hot and humid summers. So they have created products that are sweat and water resistant. My 3 Top BB Creams are:

1. Ginvera Green Tea Nude Cover 

Ginvera Green Tea Nude Cover is great for oily skin

It blends easily into the skin and has an amazing light-weight velvety texture that looks very natural. It provides light to medium coverage. On top of that it has SPF 30/PA++ to prevent premature aging. It’s available for about £16.

2. Missha M Perfect Cover

This BB Cream has more coverage than most BB Creams and gives medium to full coverage.  It’s great for all skin types and gives a wonderful finish and has SPF42/PA+++. The price is around £12

3. Skin79 Hot Pink

This is one of the bestselling BB Creams worldwide! It’s long lasting and is ideal for combination/oily skin. For around £12 it’s a real bargain!

Last but not least. To finish off and set your makeup I use the Urban Decay All-Nighter Setting Spray. It seals your makeup and ensures that your foundation doesn’t slide during the day while providing some sort of oily control meaning that your skin will be less oily.

Before leaving the house I always make sure to put my Oil Blotting Paper into my handbag and VOILÀ that’s it. You are now ready to face the summer heat. 

For more BB Creams click here.

Eyelid Tapes A Non-Invasive Blepharoplasty Alternative

Most Asians are born with monolids

For many Asians if not most having big eyes is desirable. Especially in a country, where most people have monolids or a single eye fold. The craze has gone so far that in Korea it is not uncommon that parents will pay their children’s cosmetic surgery as part of their graduation gift. These eyelid surgeries also called Blepharoplasty, are the most performed surgeries in Korea and have become increasingly popular in the West. The cost for this procedure is around $3000-$6000 depending on where you get it done. But this type of surgery is not exclusive to Asians. There are also people with saggy eyelids that go under the knife to have a more youthful look again. However there is an alternative.

As someone who is half Asian and has monolids I can understand  that wanting your eyes look bigger and more beautiful however I would be too scared to undergo surgery especially because there is no guarantee that your eyelids will turn out the way you want and once the damage is done it will most likely be irreversible. So for me surgery was out of the question and to be honest I almost settled with having monolids forever but a year ago I came across a video and it was about eyelid tapes and how to your these eyelid tapes to create a double eyelid fold. So I happened to go to Korea and got some eyelid tape by Etude House and it was this surgical tape cut into crescent shapes to fit on your eyelids. These where the first ever eyelid tapes I got but it was a little too big for my eyelids and quite noticeable. 

I ended up giving up on those simply because I don’t want to be confronted by people asking me why I’m running around with tape stuck on my eyelids. But then I found out that there is double sided eyelid tape, which is supposed to be a lot better since it is hardly noticeable and because I didn’t want to give up hope and that I could have double sided eyelids I bought the DUP Wonder Eyelid Tape. It comes with an applicator fork, which helps you to put the tape on the right place to create natural looking double eyelids. It is error on trial until you get the hang of it and find the right place to apply the tape but it is fairly easy. Anyways practice makes perfect and sure I was positively surprised to see the results. I finally had my natural looking double eyelid and the tape was hardly visible (unless I look down or close my eyes). I also researched and found out that you can create permanent double eyelid fold by using this eyelid tapes on a daily basis but I have found that the DUP ones for some reason haven’t really done that yet and I have been using this eyelid tape every single day for 5 months now. That’s why I tried to look for an alternative eyelid tape that would give me the benefit of creating a double eyelid fold for the day but give me the result of permanent double eyelids. 

D-UP Eyelid Tapes are double-sided and therefore hardly noticeable

Eventually I found this website where I bought a bunch of different eyelid tapes and the problem is that what works for some doesn’t work for others because everyone has different shapes and sizes. I finally got a double sided eyelid tape that was a little wider than the DUP ones and they seem to be doing the trick. After wearing it for a few hours and taking them off I can see that my eyes will stay in a double fold for the rest of the day whereas with the DUP ones they go right back to being monolids again. It is also a lot cheaper than the DUP ones, which is great. The only downside about this new eyelid tape is that it is not as sticky as the Wonder Eyelid Tape which means it will sort of come off after 4-6 hours. But you would always carry around the tapes and pop into the restroom to apply new ones or you can just wear them while you’re at home.

I haven’t achieved permanent double eyelids yet because I have just recently bought this new double eyelid tape but I will keep you updated.