Tuesday, February 14, 2012

TREND ALERT! Spring 2012

mmmm SO MINTY!

MINT green is the new BLACK!

I am loooovvvviiinnnggg this color right now. It's an obsession. I want everything in this color!

I want a dress



I want a blazer
I want pants
I want blouses

I want sunglasses 
I even want a umbrella! 
If that isn't cute I don't know what is!!!! So chic! 




Hope this inspires you to do some spring shopping! 
Don't be afraid to try a little color! 


Oooo, and if you're looking for a mint green nail polish, Revlon makes a great one called "minted" Read my post about the Revlon nail polishes... they are uh-maze-ing
http://jillandlo.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-09-15T09:37:00-07:00&max-results=7


Minty things aren't just for your breath! They can freshen up your wardrobe as well ;)




God Bless,
xo - Lo

February Birchbox 2012

Birchbox, it's like Christmas once a month!

My Birchbox this month contained the following:

Eye Rock Instant Eyeliner Tapes  I am super excited to try these! I hope they work! How great would it be to have perfect, easy, fade/water-proof eyeliner every day!!???
Step 1,2 and 3! Looks easy enough. We shall see...!

 Kiehl's Dark Spot Solution. In my opinion, a person can never have too many products that are designed to perfect the skin tone. This is the perfect trial size as well. I started using it last night. I tried it on my sun spots and little acne scars. It says it penetrates deep and works from the inside out! I can't wait to see if it's going to work or not.

 Juice Beauty Blemish Clearing Serum. I love anything that is organic! Makes me less eerie about putting it on my skin. I am really into all natural skin cleansers and I am trying to gradually make my makeup collection all natural as well. I haven't tried this yet, but it is supposed to fight acne without overdrying, which is one of my main concerns. I notice with my skin when it gets too dry is when it tends to become problematic.
 This came just in time for Valentines Day ;) well, it would've if I had a date.. lol. Supersmile powdered mouthwash. Just add water :) Annnnnddd it whitens teeth - chello!!!!!
If you're into the beauty world at all you've probably heard Shu Uemura mentioned here and there. I know I have heard it raved about a lot. I have heard great things about their lashes and their lash curlers. I personally haven't ever tried a Shu Uemura product, but I am ready to give this one a whirl. It's hair oil, which is one thing I am loving this winter!

Well, that is what all came in my Birchbox this month! I was very excited when I opened it! There are a lot of great products in this month's box!

What is Birchbox? http://jillandlo.blogspot.com/2011/08/birchbox.html
(Birchboxes are personalized depending on your skin concerns. This is based on the questionnaire you fill out when you create an account at Birchbox.com)

Interested in becoming a Birchbox member? Want to receive 4-5 deluxe beauty samples each month? Follow this link: http://www.birchbox.com/?raf=1ol3n


Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Night-time routine.

Hello!!!

I wanted to post a night-time routine. This is how I remove my makeup at night and what I use.
This is my holy grail combination that has been keeping my face clear, moisturized and looking the best it's looked in a while.

A few months ago I heard about a new product, well it wasn't new, but new to me. It was the Boscia makeup-breakup cool cleansing oil.


Lorraine off of the currentcustom on youtube had some good things to say about it. I had watched her channel for a while and we seem to have the same skin type. She said this worked really well for her and did not break her out. 

This is true, this is a good product, it removes most of my makeup; it removes everything except my waterproof mascara - L'Oreal Voluminous - Hydrofudge (waterproof) and it doesn't break me out.


My favorite thing about the makeup-breakup oil by Boscia: Non-comedogenical. 

At first the thought of putting oil on my oily skin made my toes curl. It simply sounded like I was sending out a personal invitation to all the blemishes in the world to come have a party of my face. 
Then when I found out that Lorraine used it and it didn't break her out, and when I did my own research and discovered that was non-comedogenical I decided to give it a try. 

My thoughts about this product:
  • smells nice - minty
  • works well at getting face makeup off
  • doesn't take off waterproof mascara
  • slightly burns when it gets in your eyes - not bad
  • doesn't leave your skin feeling greasy or oily


Before my holy grail regimen (which I will share with you in just a second) I would've given the Boscia oil cleanser a 9 out of 10, the only reason it wouldn't have gotten a perfect score is because it didn't take off my waterproof mascara. 

But now that I have found something that works WAYYY better, I would only give this product a 5 or 6 out of 10... yeah, big drop! 

So you're probably wondering what I am using now? 

Well, it doesn't have a name because I made it... 
Now, I didn't come up with the recipe, I found a link to it on acne.org (i'll share the link below)

I was almost out of my Boscia, and wanted some more but I didn't really want to spend $26 on a 5oz bottle- pretty steep! 

So I googled non-comedogenic cleansing oil. I was hoping I could find a drugstore brand to save some $$, one of the first things that came up on my search was this: 


I read the article and I loved everything that it said. I have recently become more in love with the idea of all natural products - makeup and skincare. 

So I went to our local health food store and picked up everything that I needed. 

All the ingredients were found in the "beauty" part of the store. 

I got a large bottle of 100% castor oil (17oz [i think]), a medium sized bottle of 100% grapeseed oil and a small bottle of 100% jojoba oil.

All together for all three products I spend $17!!!!!!! that is $9 cheaper than the Boscia and I got 5x's the amount of product. 

The link above says to put 6 parts castor oil for oily skin, 2 parts grapeseed oil and 2 parts jojoba oil.


I remove my makeup with the oil mixture.

  1. rub the oil mixture all over my face
  2. gently rub my eyes 
  3. soak a wash cloth in hot water
  4. ring it out
  5. place it on my face and let it set until it is room temperature - the steam + castor oil will draw impurities out of the skin
  6. wipe face
repeat steps 3-6 until all makeup is removed

THEN...
I take a shower, again the steam is getting to my face helping draw out impurities. I do my shower routine, the typical washing and shaving, and then I cleanse my face with the WalMart brand (equate) Cetaphil gentle cleanser. 

This takes everything off my face, but doesn't over-dry it. I believe over-drying is directly linked to acne, this is definitely the case in my situation. 

The jojoba oil is great and according to the article on acne.org linked above, jojoba oil is very close to the sebum that our skin naturally produces. So if this is on our skin hydrating it, our skin doesn't tell our brain that it needs to produce extra oil to re-hydrate the face, which is good, because we all know that over-production of oil/sebum can lead to unwanted breakouts. 

I have been using the oil mixture for about 2.5 weeks now, and I have to say I can see a dramatic difference in my skin. It is hydrated, supple and clear! 

The article goes into more detail about what each oil does for your skin. 

I don't think I will ever go back to buying acne cleansers. Gentle is the way to go!

I am wanting to switch all of my face stuff over to all natural products. I am definitely trying to get away from talc in all my face products; eye products I don't care as much about. 

Talc free products I've discovered:

Josie Maran blush in passion


purMinerals bronzer



I can tell a huge difference in my blush/bronzer areas of my face now that I am using talc-free. no more blemishes or little bumps! 

I hope this helps if you're looking for a new skin regimen.
This works great on oily, acne prone skin! 

Note: You can go to Ulta.com and search "talc-free foundation", talc-free bronzer", talc-free blush" and it will show you all their products in each category that are talc-free. You can also search "non-comedogenical" products. 

God bless,
-LO












Tuesday, November 15, 2011

November Birchbox 2011

Getting fall-ready.




What was in my November Birchbox:

  1. Zoya nail lacquer in Noel
  2. La Rocca Champagne and shimmer sugar polish
  3. Oscar Blandi Jasmine protein mist
  4. Klorane soothing eye makeup remover with cornflower water
  5. Chuao firecracker chocolate bar
Product impressions:

I am loving the Zoya nail polish. I painted my nails Sunday afternoon and they are still looking fab (Tuesday afternoon) ... LOVING THE COLOR! It dried really fast, which I find to be a MAJOR plus! 

La Rocca sugar polish- I took a bath and used this on my chest, hands, knees and elbows. It felt amazing while applying, very moisturizing! The only complaint I have is the scent, its not a bad scent, I would just like for it to smell better!  Other than that I give this product a 9 out of 10 (10 being the best) My skin felt amazing afterwards! I wouldn't ever purchase anything like this, but the sample size will be nice to treat myself with every now and then. It'll b perfect to moisturize during the dry, winter months.

Oscar Blandi hair protein- I have used this once. I am VERY low maintenance when it comes to hair!! I did like this product tho. Its a nice product to use if you're going out after work and want to spray a little something in your hair to smooth it out and prepare it for restyling. - I give this product a 9! 

Klorane- I am really liking this eyemakeup remover... just LIKING tho. I am not loving it. I have used it almost every night to take off residue mascara. It doesn't do as good of a job as I would like it to for removing waterproof mascara. It smells kinda funny..  I give this product a 6/10 because its lack to removal all the waterproof mascara.

Chuao firecracker chocolate- This was interesting... I love chocolate, but I am more of a milk chocolate girl. I was really hesitant about trying this cause the package described it as "dark chocolate laced in chipolte with popping candy"... didn't sound good to me, but I tried it, and surprisingly enough it wasn't too bad. The chocolate was very good, I didn't like the spicy-ness of it, but I did like the popping candy. It was like the little pop-rock things you used to get when you were a kid. It was different, but pretty tasty..  its not something I will want a whole bar of.. The bonus size was just enough.


Lots of love. Happy fall :)

God Bless,
LO

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Boo!

Halloween is my second favorite holiday, my favorite holiday is 4th of July and the only reason it beats out Halloween for the top spot is because of the weather. I love warm weather and for me that is the only draw back of Halloween.


To celebrate Halloween my friends and I love to get dressed up and go out! (We actually do this for birthday parties too, we like to have themed parties) this past year mine was a 1920s themed party, it was SOO FUN
 This was halloween 2 years ago. I was a ventriloquist doll! This is one of my favorite costumes!

 This was for one of my friend's Peter Pan themed birthday party. I was Tinkerbell :)
 1920s again with two of my best friends!
 A 1980s sports themed birthday party! This one was so fun! I love the 80s
 1920s again! I love our hats and my gloves! I love gloves!
Peter pan! 2 pirates and tink :)

Seeing all these costumes makes me excited that Halloween is just a couple days away. I am actually dressing up for a friend's Halloween party tomorrow! I am sooo exited! I am going to be a Sugar Skull/El dia de los muertos/Day of the Dead! Ahh and I love my costume + makeup! I can't wait to do it. I already did a practice run on my makeup Monday night, I am loving the way it turned out too. Hopefully it turns out as good or better tomorrow :) 
I recorded a tutorial for this look so watch for it on YouTube. To go to our channel click here
Here are some images I took after the practice run:



yay! Can't wait!

I am also doing makeup for some friends as well, which I am super exited about! These are the makeup looks I am doing:


  • Skull
  • Sally (A Nightmare Before Christmas)
  • Guy from Thundercats
  • Cheeterie from Thundercats
  • Patty Mayonnaise from Doug
It's going to be a lot of fun and I can't wait!
I hope everyone has a wonderful, blessed, SAFE Halloween!

God Bless,
Lo xoxoxo

Friday, September 16, 2011

Still No Chips!



Day 6 and NO CHIPS! 
painted on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday & Friday!




seriously, the Revlon Nail Lacquer is INCREDIBLE!

The only wear my nails have is the inevitable grow off towards the cuticle area, and a tiny bit of wear on the tips. 

To find my nail routine and other details about the Revlon nail lacquer CLICK HERE!


God Bless,
Have a great day!

xo- Lo

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Cheaper Alternatives to Fall fashion 2011

Here are some cheaper alternatives to achieve some of the looks posted in my previous blog.


Fall Trend: Button front skirts
J.Crew Skirt   $85.00

J.Crew Skirt   $148.00


Cheaper Alternative :
Forever21 Skirt   $18.90


Fall Trend: Colored Trousers 




J.Crew Trousers   $118.00


Cheaper Alternative: 

Zara Skinny Trousers  $59.90

Same as above pair.

Zara Trousers   $49.90

Zara Bell Bottom Trousers  $79.90

Zara Tab Trousers   $79.90

Zara Pink Trousers   $69.90

 Fall Trend: Silk blouses/ "secretary" tops

J. Crew Silk Blouse  $198.00

J.Crew Secretary Blouse  $175.00

 
Cheaper Alternative:
Forever21 Blouse $19.80

Forever21 Silk Blouse  $15.90

H&M Blouse $59.95

H&M Blouse  $9.95
Hope this helps your pocketbook when it comes time to stock your closet with the latest Fall 2011 fashions!

xo -Lo