Monthly Favorites: March 2015

This has been the winter of me trying to combat the lack of moisture in my skin. It has been absolutely terrible this winter and I felt like there was nothing that I could do to help it. Luckily, I had made some purchases and received some gifts that have really helped out a lot. This has also been a month of me remembering how much I love Drake and discovering new hobbies!

BEAUTY FAVORITES

My Moisture Restore Combo: The Body Shop Vitamin E Starter Kit & Vaseline Lip Therapy Cocoa Butter

This duo has helped my skin so much this winter. The Vitamin E Starter Kit comes with a gentle facial cleanser, toner, and moisturizer. I use all three daily and it has helped add so much moisture to my skin.  Now, unfortunately the Vitamin E Starter Kit that I had purchased in store is not available online; fortunately for everyone, myself included when I go to repurchase, the Vitamin E Starter Kit that I did find comes with an additional item that I had not received, which is a night cream.

When I finish, I add my Vaseline to my lips either prior to applying my makeup or just because. It is the only product aside from Carmex that actually keeps my lips hydrated. I am so grateful to my dear, dear friend for buying that for me after witnessing my struggle of having chapped lips this season. I love to prep my lips before applying a bold lip color by exfoliating then applying my Vaseline. It really helps for the color to pop and not stick to dry patches.

The Body Shop Camomile Silky Cleansing Oil

This has been the best product that I have found for removing my makeup, even waterproof liquid liner and heavy duty mascara. It is amazing how fast and efficiently it can remove my makeup without a trace. The only thing that I don’t like about it is that it leaves my skin feeling a little too oily, but that is easily fixed with my Vitamin E gentle facial cleanser that I use immediately after the oil. Also, I do not like how whenever I type "camomile," spell check thinks that I have no idea what I am talking about.

NON-BEAUTY FAVORITES

“If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late” by Drake

Do I really need to explain? Drake is bae and I cannot stop playing this record. I listen to it all day every day. "Jungle" is by far my favorite track on the album, but I love every single track. I’m attending a Drake themed birthday party this weekend and I am hoping that this is played on repeat the entire time. Pictures with Drake balloons will be taken.

Blogging

I have loved blogging the past few months since starting AWT with my friends and TITK as a solo venture. I know that I only post once a week on this blog and once a week on my other blog, but I love the feedback that I get from friends, family, and readers. I like being able to talk openily about my interests and share my love for so many things. I was so nervous to blog because I thought that I would not be taken seriously or people would think that I was wasting my time, but the support has been great and I am so grateful. It’s really nice and I cannot wait to see how the blogs grow over the next year and so on.

I do not have a lot of favorites this month simply because everything that I have been using this month are things that I always use and have been using for years. I am trying to branch out and try new products that will hopefully become new favorites to rave about. I'm excited to see how my favorites change next month!

Minimalist Everyday Makeup

I’m a minimalist for everything in my life, especially when it comes to my makeup. That was one of the main reasons that I wanted to start blogging. I found it hard to find POC bloggers who did not put so much effort into extreme highlighting and contouring and focused more on a simple, wearable, every day face. Sometimes a simple base and eye look is just what you need to really make your face glow. I thought that I could help out other POC who are not too into very extravagant makeup looks and opted more for a minimalist look.

My every day makeup look is bare bones neutral everything. I may do a pop of color with the lip, but my base and eyes stay the same most days, unless it is a special occasion or I feel like trying something new.

BASE

I typically stick to my bareMinerals bareSkin Pure Brightening Serum Foundation in Bare Espresso and bareMinerals Stroke of Light Eye Brightener  in Luminous 4 for concealer. I have been using bareMinerals SPF 15 Mineral Foundation in Medium Dark (or Golden Dark in summer) since 2009. I have never used another foundation since because I felt like if it wasn’t broke, why fix it? I opted to switch to the liquid foundation because I trusted the company but wanted to try something new. I recently purchased their Complexion Rescue and am excited to try that for a while and give a review. I set my face with bareMinerals Tinted Mineral Veil. That is my go to setting powder that I have never strayed from.

I do not to any highlighting or contouring, simply because I have yet to find a bronzer for my skin tone that will add warmth to my face. Also, I’m afraid that if I do a highlight it will be too shiny. Any tips or suggestions would be great. I am still in the market for a good minimal contour, bronzer, highlight routine.

My go-to every day blusher is theBalm Instain blusher in Swiss Dot. It is so super pigmented, so a little bit goes a long way. I just love the flush of color that it gives to my cheeks. I recommend that to anyone who loves a nice peachy glow on your cheeks!

EYES/BROWS

For brows, I use my Anastasia Brow Wiz in Ebony and set that with Benefit Gimme Brow in Medium/Deep. I recently purchased L’Oreal Brow Stylist Plumper Gel Mascara in the shade Medium to Deep as a dupe for Gimme Brow, so I hope that goes well!

My eyeshadow, I keep very bare bones and basic. I use the shades Naked on my lid and Buck in my crease from my Urban Decay Naked Palette and my Tarte Gifted Amazonian Clay Smart Mascara for my lashes.

LIPS

For lips, I normally just use Vaseline to give my lips some moisture and then touch them up throughout the day with whatever lip balm I have thrown in my bag. I only do color on special occasions and for that I love a vampy dark lip.

I'm excited to try these new purchases. I will have a full review on how I feel about them as soon as I try them!

How My Lashes Became Smart and Gifted

Back in November, I purchased the Tarte Gifted Amazonian Clay Smart Mascara. Whew, what a mouthful! I am in love with this mascara. Let me just tell you how this changed my entire life. This formula is amazing and it gives my lashes just the perfect amount of feathery goodness that is perfect for an everyday look or a night out look. This mascara gives such definition and volume that I constantly get compliments on my eyelashes, and immediately after I say my thank yous, I rave about the product and tell people to buy it. The packaging is absolutely beautiful. It comes in a bamboo barrel and the brush is so simple and thin, but does the job perfectly. I just love it and I wear it every time that I wear makeup. I would recommend it to anyone really.

Why is this mascara so smart and gifted? According to Tarte's website, the mascara is said to work with your lashes to give you extreme length and volume, while also promoting healthier lashes in the long run. The eco-friendly formula uses no harsh chemicals and helps to build strong lashes over time with continued use.

The only downside to this mascara is that it does hurt the wallet a bit. The retail value of this mascara is $20.00, but it is so worth it, in my opinion. However, if you want to just sample it, Ulta sells a mini travel size Gifted mascara for $10.00! How lovely is that? It really is great and it has transformed my makeup look over the past few months. I have also noticed a difference in my lashes! I can’t wait to try more from this brand because it is beginning to become a favorite of mine.

So, Who Is The Key

Hello! My name is Keyerra, also known as Key, and this is my blog for expressing my love of all things makeup, beauty, style, and anything else that I feel I should discuss.

Me on my birthday two weeks ago. I was so excited to have a sombrero!

Let me state a little disclaimer: I am nowhere near eligible to be a makeup artist, beauty guru, or style icon; I just love beauty and style as a hobby. I can spend hours watching beauty and style videos on YouTube, just getting completely lost in how amazing each look is and how everyone has their own take on different products. It’s absolutely amazing to me.

I was worried that being 24 was too old to start blogging; that this was something that you started in your teens and became a staple by your early twenties. However, my friends gave me the confidence to start this blog as a new hobby and I am very excited to start this new venture. I love talking about beauty and style, so much so that I wanted to start writing it.

On my 22nd birthday, attempting to lock down the sexy pout. Did I do it right?
P.S. Kylie Jenner got her overdrawn lip inspiration from me.

I got into makeup and beauty around four years ago, after I went through a rough breakup. Before that, I had never cared much about how I looked. I played sports in high school and found myself living in sweatpants and workout clothes. Not that there is anything wrong with sweatpants and workout clothes, but it seems to become a problem when you have two drawers full of sweatpants in your room. Dressing up for me was wearing a plaid button down, jeans, and flip flops. What was the meaning of a dress? I had no idea until I got to college. After my breakup, I decided that I wanted to try to learn how to use makeup, do my hair, and started experimenting with developing a sense of style. My style is always changing and I am always developing new loves or every day staples, so I figured that sharing this with others with the same passion would be a great outlet for me.

When I am not running this blog, I also run another blog with two best friends of mine called A Witty Threesome. That blog contains rather personal posts from the three of us and is a great outlet for me to talk about posts that are more opinionated and deeper than your typical beauty post, so I started this blog because I felt these posts would be out of place on AWT.

I am so excited to share this experience with everyone. I hope that you find as much enjoyment reading about my views on different products as I enjoy talking about it every Monday at noon EST!

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