Tip: Smooth Makeup Over Milia

Milia are the tiny bumps under the eyes. They can pop up when we're using very rich eye cream under the eyes. They are the dead cells trapped under the skin. They can be diminished by gentle exfoliating, which I will explain more in depth in another post.

Milia can be annoying when concealing undereye dark circles because the products can get stuck and accentuate the bumps, especially when you set the concealer with a powder.

Here a quick trick using a cotton swap (aka Q-tip). Just smooth over the bumps by swiping the cotton swap over the milia after you've finished putting makeup on the undereye area. The cotton swap will take off the excess product caught on the milia and even out the makeup.

Excuse the mascara mistake on the nose!

I've tried using my fingers, brushes, and sponges and I found cotton swaps are the only one that does the job.

I hope this tip is helpful :)

Worth the Hype? Josie Maran 100% Pure Argan Oil

$14     0.50oz/ 15ml

Ingredient: argan oil

Availability: Sephora, Josie Maran website

Recently there has been hypes around oils, especially argan oils. Josie Maran's line consists of many products infused with argan oil. One of the most popular products is her 100% Pure Argan Oil.

I got the travel size for $14 at Sephora, thinking that I would only use it for under eye dryness. But I actually ended up using it all over my face.

I really like this oil. Argan oil is dry oil, which means it does not linger on the skin as much as other richer oils. Because of that it makes a great face oil. I like to put it on at night to give it some time to be absorbed. I don't use it in the morning because I can't put makeup on right away.

It's great as a night treatment when you have irritated skin. The anti-inflammatory property helps calm down any irritation, including acne. I also noticed that it helps balance the moisture and oil production/ distribution on my face. My face is really dry under my eyes and my forehead and can get oily around my nose and my mouth. This oil has really helped making my skin a little bit more normal. My skin is still combination but a little less extreme. And it's been easier to apply foundation.

Compared to other brands, Josie Maran's argan oil is much thicker and feels like it's absorbed better as other argan oils I've tried can sometimes just sit on top of the skin. Josie Maran's definitely feels a lot nicer and more luxurious on the skin.

I really like this oil. It's very gentle to the skin, but at the same time does many good things to improve the condition of the skin very effectively. It has not broken me out.

I'm running out of my bottle really quickly. A travel size bottle like this only last me about 1 month if I use it every night, 7-8 drops per use.

If you're on the fence on price, there's other argan oils that are basically the same thing with different consistency. As long as it's 100% pure, organic, and cold-pressed, the quality does not vary drastically.
I highly recommend Josie Maran's 100% Pure Argan Oil. This is something I've been repurchasing and something that will be in my stable skincare stash for at least until I stumble upon something better.

Worth the Hype? Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette

$27   6 x 0.05oz/ 1.3g

Ingredients:

Venus/Foxy: Talc, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Zinc Stearate, Sodium Dehydroacetate, Phenoxyethanol, Sorbic Acid, Ethylene/Acrylic Acid Copolymer, PTFE, May Contain: CI 77019 (Mica), CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide), CI 77491/77492/77499 (Iron Oxides), CI 75470 (Carmine), CI 77742 (Manganese Violet), CI 77007 (Ultramarines).

Walk of Shame/Naked 2/Faint: Talc, Ethylene/Acrylic Acid Copolymer, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Zinc Stearate, Sodium Dehydroacetate, Phenoxyethanol, Sorbic Acid, PTFE, May Contain: CI 77019 (Mica), CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide), CI 77491/77492/77499 (Iron Oxides), CI 75470 (Carmine), CI 77742 (Manganese Violet), CI 77007 (Ultramarines).

Crave: Talc, Zinc Stearate, Silica, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Sodium Dehydroacetate, Phenoxyethanol, Sorbic Acid, Boron Nitride, May Contain: CI 77019 (Mica), CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide), CI 77491/77492/77499 (Iron Oxides), CI 75470 (Carmine), CI 77742 (Manganese Violet), CI 77007 (Ultramarines).

Availability: ULTA, Sephora, Beauty.com

This palette is another edition of Urban Decay's Naked series. I didn't think I needed it although almost all the reviews I read were raving about it. The swatches looked either too light or too dark for my everyday look. However, it seemed like a great size for travelling and I love the idea to have all the eyeshadows I need for a look in a compact palette. Ulta was having a sale so I decided to give it a go.

Venus is the only shimmery shade in this palette. Although it's the least pigmented shade among all, it still has okay pigmentation. It's not chalky at all. If you'd like it to be more opaque, just dab it on the lids with a dense eyeshadow brush.

Foxy and W.O.S (Walk Of Shame) can be used for blending or as a base to even out the complexion. On my NC 20 skin they don't show up much. Foxy is yellow tone and W.O.S is pink tone. They can be used for setting under-eye concealers for certain complexions.

Naked 2 is just a bit darker than my complexion. If I want to blend out my crease shadow I would use this. It could be a natural crease shade for very fair skin.

Faint is much darker than Naked 2. It's a neutral brown, which I find much more natural than those red-tone browns. It may have a hint of gray but it's by no means a taupe. I use it for my crease. It's very creamy and easy to blend out so I normally don't need a lighter shade to blend the edges.

Crave is a dark charcoal. Although it's the most chalky of all shades, it's still easy to apply. It can be sheered out to a dark gray for a smokey eye look or packed on as eyeliners.

Of all the shades I use Faint the most. It's perfect for a minimal makeup look on the crease with some mascara. I use Crave mainly as eyeliners. Sometimes I would use Venus on my lids to brighten the eyes. I don't really use Foxy and W.O.S as they don't really show up on my complexion. I only use Naked 2 occasionally for blending out eyeshadows.

Normally there's really not much to talk about the packaging, but I have to say that the mirror in this palette is the perfect size for applying eye makeup. Not too big and not overly magnified.

In terms of the lasting power, they perform pretty well. My mascara normally smudges or transfers before there's any creasing from the eyeshadows.

I've been using this palette 80% of the times for the past 2 months since I got it. Even though I only use 3 out of 6 shades consistently, I definitely still see this as a stable in my makeup stash because of how compact and convenient this is and how creamy the formula is, which makes it really easy to blend. It's also nice to have the other 3 shades in the palette just for those moments that you need something to fix your makeup. I would highly recommend this product if you're looking for a good quality, easy to use, and convenient eyeshadow palette.

Tip: A Better Way to Use Creamy Eyeliner Pencils for Oily Lids

I love a good creamy eyeliner pencil because it's so easy and natural looking. However, I have pretty oil eyelids and these creamy liners can smudge and crease on my very easily.

Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliners have been raved about by lots of people and their mothers. I do think the consistency is lovely, but the staying power on me just sucks.

I've been loving Rimmel Scandaleyes liners and to me, they're the better version of Urban Decay liners in the sense that they have better staying power. Even though they usually last me a good 3-4 hours, I would like it to go a little farther.

I'm not a professional makeup artist but I think the problem with these creamy liners is that since the consistency is designed to be very creamy to make the application easier, it's very easy to apply too much. The excess can be transferred to other places easily especially if you have hooded eyes like mine. To fix that, you could use Q-tips to blot the excess. Or, you could use a liner brush to apply it.

So if you've been having problems with such eyeliners like I have, don't get rid of them just yet. All you need is that creamy pencil eyeliner that's been creasing on you and an eyeliner brush of your choice. Just run your liner brush through the kohl and apply it like how you would for a gel liner. The bristles help keeping the excess during application. Another good thing about this technique is that for those who want to do cat eyes but don't prefer liquid or gel liners, this is a very easy and almost fool-proof way to achieve the look.