Fall/Winter Skincare Routine

Within the past few months I've completely changed around my skincare routine. It's not as aggressive as it used to be, but my skin is much more clearer than it used to be. I pretty much just wash my face in the morning, put on a BB cream (finally invested in one!!!), put some makeup on and at the end of the day, I just use makeup wipes to remove my makeup and go to bed. I haven't been moisturizing my skin at night, but that my change now that winter is coming up.

I've also changed most of the products I've been using. With so many new skincare products on the market, I figured it was time for a change. Here they are below!

That's it! These three products are all I have been using for the past one to two months and my skin has never been better! I'm not sure if it's because of the green tea scrub, if it's the fact that I don't use dirty makeup brushes anymore (thanks to my finger-application BB cream), or if I stopped using a comedogenic product...? I'm really not certain, but whatever it is about this routine, I'm going to be sticking to it for a while! The best part is that it's so quick and easy in the morning and takes me under five minutes to do.

Now that winter is coming up, I may add a few more moisturizing products to my regime. My skin is normally pretty okay in terms of hydration, but in the winter it just completely goes out of whack and cracks because of the cold weather. Here are some of the moisturizing products in my routine for extra hydration and supple skin:

Fall Nailpolish Picks

Zoya PixieDust in Sunshine

Revlon Nailpolish in Iconic

Revlon Nailpolish in Saucy

Essie Shearling Darling

Essie Bahama Mama

OPI Every Month is Oktoberfest

Revlon Nailpolish in Autumn Spice

Holiday Cravings

Current Fall Beauty Favorites

It's been a while since I've updated this blog! Two months to be exact. Things have been really hectic recently and I've been so busy with rotations. I was on an especially difficult rotation the last two months since it was a mix of medicine + pediatrics, so the final exam was absolutely brutal. Really had high hopes for getting a High Pass, but don't think that's going to the likely since I totally bombed the practical portion of the exam. Anyway, don't want to dwell too hard on the past. 

This past week has been Geriatrics week, which was pretty much a highly-needed relaxation week. We had classes from 8-5 most days but it was nice to be able to come home, relax, and not have to study. Especially since I have very important and demanding rotations from November all the way through April. 

Of course I used this week to SHOP! I haven't been able to go shopping for anything more than groceries since I've had no time. Haven't event kept up with my favorite beauty blogs and Youtube channels. Pretty much just been a study robot, hah. So this week was great! I got caught up on blogs, Youtube channels, new beauty products, all the holiday stuff coming out, etc. Of course I popped in to my favorite stores like Ulta, Target, Walmart and stocked up on beauty stuff and splurged on some unnecessary stuffs (haul posts coming soon!). I've also been focusing on making some lifestyle changes this week, but more on that later since the true test of these lifestyle changes I'm making will be in the upcoming weeks when life gets hectic again. 

Anyway, even though I've been working my ass off, I have been trying my best to make time for beauty in the morning. I've been horrendous when it comes to fashion, but when it comes to neck-up beauty, I've been doing pretty damn well! Here are the makeup products I've been using recently. Quite a bunch of new products!

L'Oreal True Match Lumi Healthy Luminous Makeup

Too Faced Natural Eyes Palette

Milani Baked Blush in Berry Smoothie

NARS Blush in Deep Throat 

Clinique Chubby Lip Balm in Fuller Fig

NYX Butter Gloss in Tiramisu

Essie Nail Polish in Shearling Darling

L'Oreal Nail Polish in Sweet Nothings

Revlon Parfumerie Nail Polish in Autumn Spice

Lip Product Addict Tag!

It's no secret that I love lip products. Sooo as I was reorganizing my makeup drawer, especially my favorite lippie containers, I got inspired to do this tag! 

1. What is your favorite balm or treatment?
I'd divide this question into regular lip balms and tinted lip balms. As far as regular lip balms,  my favorite one would have to be Nivea A Kiss of Milk & Honey. I discovered these last year and have been using them like crazy during the winter. They're super affordable, smell yummy, and are small enough to be stowed away in a book bag or purse.
As far as tinted lip balms go, I'm loving the CoverGirl Smoochies. I love how they are sheer, but you can build on the product for more a more opaque color. Also, these smell like cherries and are very, very affordable!  

2. What is your favorite eye catching red?
I don't have very many red lip products, since I'm quite shy about wearing bold, bright lip colors. However, when I go to a fancy or formal event, my go to red shade is Tarte LipSurgence Matte Lip Tint in Fiery. It's a bright, cherry red so it's definitely eye catching! I know it's not a classic red lipstick, but I love this product because it lasts an incredibly long time even through eating and drinking and feels super light on the lips. And plus for some reason, I think matte reds are more attractive than shiny, red lips. If I want something darker, I'll reach for my Revlon Lip Butter in Red Velvet or my Revlon Colorburst Lip Gloss in Boudreaux

3. The best luxury and drugstore product?
Most of my lip products are from the drugstore because I feel like you can very easily find good quality glosses and lipsticks at the drugstore. Plus, they're always coming out with new collections so it's very easy to hoard up on them! For luxury lip products, I would say Chanel lipsticks because they look soooo regal and beautiful, but it would be unfair because I don't actually own any (about to change that this winter though!). Therefore, my favorite luxury lip brand as of now would have to be the Benefit Ultra Plush Glosses. Now, for being a higher-end product, they're still quite affordable at $16 a pop, but the reason I'm putting them here is because they're a little pricey for how sheer they are. I buy them because I'm in LOVE with the ease of application, taste/smell, shine, and hydration these glosses provide that is unparalleled in my opinion. These are by the far the smoothest and most pleasant smelling lip glosses I have ever used (they smell like peaches!!) and will continue to buy these because of that. Again, they're very very sheer and not very buildable, but that's just another reason I love them since I tend to wear more sheer lip products and love wearing these on casual days. 
For drugstore, I'd have to divide this question up into favorite gloss and lipstick line from the drugstore. For glosses, 
For drugstore lipstick, I would have to say my favorite are the Revlon Colorburst Lip Butters. Holy moly, I absolutely HATED lipsticks before I used this product, but these changed my life forever. First off, they're a hybrid of true lipsticks and tinted lip balms, so they're very very moisturizing and creamy but still have amazing color payoff. By far the best part about these lipsticks is that you can build up the color as much as you want.  I like to wear mine sheer, so I only apply a few coats, but you can slather it on if you want a more intense look. Plus, I LOVE the color selection and own 6-7 of these babies, by far the product I own the most colors in! My favorite MLBB of all time is Pink Truffle from this line, which is been my favorite, holy-grail, most loved lip product of all time!!!!

4. Best MAC lipstick?
Again, I shamefully don't own any! I'm about to change that this fall and get my very first MAC lipstick.....Cosmo!!! After a ton of research I think I finally found a good MLBB shade and so decided to make this one my very first lippie from Mac. I hear amazing things, so I'm quite excited to try this formula finally!

5. Most disappointing lip product?
I'd have to say the Clinique Chubby Sticks have been by far the most disappointing products ever. It's sad because I really really love the color selection, but the product itself isn't very hydrating. It applies nicely but it dries off to a rough finish, leaving my lips feeling kinda yucky. Plus, it smells like play-dough and weird. Really sad because the color Fuller Fig was my very first MLBB purchase and I loved it, but the product itself had a terrible formula.

6. Lip Liner: Yes or No?
Nope, makes me look weird! :)

7. Favorite gloss?
This is an incredibly hard question because I love love love glosses and have quite a few favorite lines. It's a very close tie between the NYX Butter Glosses and bareMinerals Marvelous Moxie glosses, but I would have to go with the NYX Butter Glosses because they're cheaper (only $5 each!), but still amazing glosses. My favorite shades in this line are Apple Strudel and Angel Food Cake. They're also sheer, but definitely more pigmented than the Benefit glosses I mentioned above. One of the good things about this gloss is that you can pile on the product for more coverage without looking like a goopy mess. They leave my lips feeling very smooth and shiny, and feel super super super light on my lips, JUST like butter! Plus, they smell like vanilla cupcakes....nom! 
Honorable mention goes out to the bareMinerals Marvelous Moxie Lip Glosses for having an amazing long-wearing formula without being overly sticky, smelling yummy, having a great color selection, and being super shiny and smooth! 

8. ..Something else?!
Some other products I love that I didn't mention:

• Maybelline Baby Lips
• Maybelline Color Elixirs
• NYX Mega Shine Lip Glosses
• Revlon Super Lustrous Lip Glosses

$100 Fall Makeup Challenge

So this is a little challenge I created for myself to make sure I don't overbuy anything. And with my previous post regarding my credit card overuse, I figured this would be a good time to finalize my fall makeup purchases and make sure I won't go over board.

As you can tell, I love planning out what I buy rather than just blindly going out to stores. I find online shopping quite fun and its something I can do in my pajamas on my lazy days. For me, online shopping and even window shopping is how I destress. Plus, if you plan out your purchases, you definitely tend to spend less.

MAC
Cosmo Lipstick -- $16

SEPHORA
Too Faced Natural Eyes Palette -- $36

ULTA
Essie Nail Polish in Fishnet Stockings -- $8.50
L'Oreal Glossy Balm in Lovely Mocha -- $7.99
NYX Butter Gloss in Tiramisu -- $4.99
Revlon Parfumerie Nail Polish in Autumn Spice -- $6.49

DRUGSTORE
ELF Long Lustrous Eyeshadow in Toast -- $3.04
L'Oreal Le Gloss in Red Ravishing -- $2.98 (sale!)
L'Oreal Nail Polish in Sweet Nothings -- $2.48 (sale!)

COUPONS
Ulta weekly coupon      -$3.50

TOTAL
= $84.97!
(woooo under my limit!!)

My 2-Minute Makeup Look

Good news: I'm done with Ob/Gyn!!!! Thank God! It was a very rough month. I had to fake interest like crazy and it was incredibly hard dealing with bitchy residents and getting on their good side. Didn't even get to deliver a baby or the placenta. Got to do some cool stuff with C-sections and watch babies come out though. But still, I feel like it was really hard to be proactive, like they're always wanting us to do. Ugh whatever though, it's over. I'm kind of scared about my evaluations, but hopefully I can still maybe muster a High Pass? *Fingers crossed*. Should have my expectations as low as possible though, just in case my evals and grades were lower than I had thought. Argh, I hate the guessing game of clerkship grades. The good thing is that no matter how bummed I am about my Ob/Gyn performance, it won't matter too much because I'm not planning on going into the field and now I have a better idea on how to boost my performance in clerkships. It's a little easier to be proactive in medicine rather than surgery, so looking forward to beasting my medicine-based rotations. In fact, I'm planning on studying medicine during my research month in August so I can be prepared to wow them with my clinical knowledge :)

But anyway. Just as I had expected, I barely have had any time this past month to get ready in the morning. Usually, it's a successful morning if I remember to pack a sandwich for lunch. However, since I had been on outpatient medicine last week, I figured it would be unprofessional if I went in looking like I just woke up. For the surgical part of Ob/Gyn, I was able to throw on a eyeshadow on most days and sometimes even do a full-face makeup. But for some reason during my last week in outpatient medicine, I slept right up until 30-45 minutes before I had to leave, so it was a challenge to put on makeup with only a few minutes. 

So instead of attempting to do a full-face makeup everyday, I chose to focus only on the parts that take twenty seconds to put on, but make a big impact. For me that means mascara and a blush. As much as I love eyeshadows, I knew I wouldn't have time to put any on since that requires longer (gotta put under eye concealer, primer, eyeshadow, blend, blah blah...TIME CONSUMING!). I know I look a lot more zombie-ish without concealer under my eyes, but it takes me quite a while to put it on properly...much more time than I have in the morning. So, I think it's better to have dark circles under my eyes rather than have patchy concealer put on or put too much concealer on and look like a cakey mess. To each their own though. 

The part of the look that makes the biggest difference is the blush. I bought this one back in March and have been in love since. I love it's packaging (obviously), but I've been especially loving it recently since it's such a multi-tasking product. It's a blush, but because it's so shimmery it doubles as a highlighter. It is quite shimmery, but not so shimmery that you're going to look like a disco ball and can't wear it to work. Plus, it's not super opaque, so if you put on a little bit extra, it's not going to be a mess and can easily be blended out to be as sheer as you want. Shimmery blushes are the best for when you're in a rush or can't pack too many face products because they have this multi-task perfectly as a blush + highlighter and make you look incredibly awake and fresh faced.  

Second, I put on a few coats of mascara, which perks up my eyes. I'm absolutely in LOVE with the new Maybelline Pumped Up Colossal mascara, and have been using it like crazy. Again, the packaging is adorbs but I love the fact that it doesn't clump at all, even when I rack on three or four coats. That's the biggest complaint I have from most mascaras I've used, but this one hasn't clumped on me even once yet (knock on wood!). Maybe because it's waterproof? Plus, it makes my lashes look so much fuller without over-lengthening them. No flaking either! Since it's so low maintenance but has amazing results, it's been my go-to mascara this month and I cannot leave the house without putting on a coat of it. 

So that's it, that's my 2-minute makeup look! It's basically just my usual foundation routine + blush + mascara. Choosing the correct blush and mascara is important because you want a multi-tasking, shimmery blush paired with a fuss-free mascara so you can dab them on and head out the door in a jiffy. Of course, it's not as glamorous as a full face makeup look would be (especially with the uncovered dark circles), but when you're pressed for time and can only put on a few products, I think these few will make you look much more awake, refreshed, confident, and ready for a full day of work while taking only a few minutes. 

Products

St. Ives Even & Bright Pink Lemon and Mandarin Orange Scrub

Aveeno Smart Essentials Daily Moisturizer SPF 30

Organix Coconut Milk Anti-Breakage Serum (best used on damp hair; really makes my dry hair alive, smooth, and frizz-free. went for a week without using this product and my hair was a giant mess.)

bareMinerals Matte Foundation in Golden Tan

Milani Secret Cover Concealer Stick in Medium

bareMinerals Mineral Veil

CoverGirl Volum' Express Pumped Up Colossal Mascara

Physician's Formula Happy Booster Blush in Natural 

New Milani Goodies! ♥

Milani Secret Cover Concealer in Medium

Photo credit = www.storenvy.com

Milani Baked Blush in Rose D'Oro

Photo credit = www.sarahassansblog.com

Milani Baked Blush in Red Vino

Photo credit = www.musingsofamuse.com

Milani Baked Eyeshadow in The Intermix

Photo credit = www.vsmakeupsecrets.blogspot.com

June Favorites ♥

Lots of beauty products I've been loving this month! I've had a lot of time this month to experiment with new stuff and have hauled up a lotttt of goodies that I've fallen absolutely in love with. Here they all are. It was really hard to narrow them out, but here are the main products I've been loving. I wanted to mention a lot of products I mentioned in my Summer/Spring favorites, but I left them out so I wasn't talking about the same products again and again. But, I still loveee those products and have been using them a lot still, but here are some of the newer products I've loved and discovered this month.

PINK Sweet & Flirty Body Mist

Photo credit = www.iamlinderella.blogspot.com

Smells like summer in a bottle! Super light, breezy, and fruity. I've been wearing this in the morning as a light fragrance and it makes me smell amazing! Doesn't last a long time, but that's just the way I like it for an everyday scent. 

BBW Candle in Lilac Blossom

Photo credit = www.todayiadore.com

I usually don't like floral candles, but this one is an exception. Very light floral, lilac smell and the mason jar version is strong enough to fragrance my entire bedroom! 

Real Techniques Expert Face Brush

Photo credit = www.makeupyamind.wordpress.com

I normally don't mention makeup tools in a favorites post, but this foundation brush is soooo nice! It's nice and dense and it applies my foundation like a dream in less than 3 minutes without any fallout or streaking. 

Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Dust (Naked 3 Palette)

Photo credit = www.beautyjunkiesunite.com

I mentioned the Naked 3 Palette in one of my spring favorites, but I've been using this shade in particular the entire month! It's such a pretty frosted pinky-rose color and I love this shade in particular because it doesn't look too light or too pink on me. It almost looks like a light mauve on me. It's the most natural looking pink in this palette (for my skin color) and I've been loving it on days where I want a non-brown, but still natural eyeshadow. It makes me look refreshed and awake without looking like I applied a ton of pink eyeshadow.

Make Up For Ever Smoky Extravagant Mascara

Photo credit = www.musingsofamuse.com

bareMinerals READY Blush in The Aphrodisiac

Photo credit = www.loveshelbey.com

A beautiful blush I recently rediscovered. I've owned this blush for a few years and I have a love-forget relationship with this. This summer, I've been loving how beautiful and glowy this shimmery apricot blush makes me look while still appearing natural! The best part? No need for a highlighter since the shimmer specks in this blush do all the work and light me up instantly while giving me a healthy, pretty, sun kissed glow. 

Clinique Cheek Pop in Berry Pop

Photo credit = www.musingsofamuse.com

Another blush favorite this month. I've always been afraid of bright pink, fuchsia blush colors but I gave it a shot when the new Clinique blushes came out, and I'm soooo happy I did! This color looks gorgeous on tan skin and has been my go to blush on most days since it makes me look extremely well rested, fresh, bright, youthful, and like I just worked out...in a good way! I like to wear this color on days when I want my cheeks to pop a little bit more since this isn't as natural appearing as a peachy-apricot blush. But yet, it doesn't look like you slapped on blush. Just enhances your look in a very pretty, doll-like way! Next to a shimmery peachy blush, this is definitely my new favorite summer blush color -- probably will look great in the colder months too! 

CoverGirl Lipslicks Smoochies Sizzle Gloss in Hot Stuff

Photo credit = thebeautybudgetblog.wordpress.com

I was browsing around Ulta a few weeks ago and picked up this gloss because I had heard good things about the Smoochies line. And ohhh my gosh this gloss smells and tastes just like cherries! I really like to wear this on days where I'm wearing minimal makeup, usually on weekends on days off when I can get away with wearing glitzy makeup (this gloss literally has chunks of glitter!). Beautiful sheer peachy, glittery gloss for the summer, especially with the fruity taste and smell! I'm pretty sure I'm halfway done with the tube, thats how much I've been wearing it recently. 

Maybelline Baby Lips in Rose Rush

Photo credit = www.musingsofamuse.com

I'm usually not a big fan of the Baby Lips balms because they're quite opaque and I don't wear tinted lip balms as much anymore. However, they recently came out with a Pink collection and this color looked absolutely beautiful in swatches. On me, it translates to a gorgeous mid-opaque hot pinkish color. This shade in particular is gorgeous because it's sheer, but yet opaque enough to enhance my lip color. Plus, it smells like watermelons mmm! I really like Baby Lips because they're so incredibly hydrating and for only $4 a tube, they do well in terms of pigmentation. I'm glad I finally found a wearable color in this line!

Trader Joe's

Photo credit = www.mediabistro.com

Oh my gosh, I recently discovered TJ and I'm in LOVE. Their frozen section is absolutely amazing! They have cheap food, but the best part is that it's so much healthier than the grocery store frozen foods section in terms of sodium, sugar, and ingredients. Their other sections are good as well, but the frozen foods section is a total winner. Things I've been loving are their potato pancakes (with only 5 ingredients!), pad see-ew, and a pesto pasta TV dinner (with only 390 mg sodium and 300 calories!!!). I'll definitely be going here every single time I need to restock my freezer! 

Sesame Oil! (hahaha)

Photo credit = www.budgetbytes.com

Totally random favorite, but I've started using sesame oil to cook my Asian dishes and ohmygosh it makes SUCH a big difference in terms of taste! I love love love Asian cuisine and I've been experimenting with cooking my own Asian dishes at home. So far, I've used sesame oil to make chow fun noodles and fried rice, and it definitely gives these dishes more flavor than olive oil. Definitely a must ingredient for any Asian dishes...olive oil definitely won't cut it! I'm so surprised I didn't discover it sooner, but never again will my pantry be without this!!

"Keep Calm And Have A Cupcake" Desk Notes

Photo credit = www.scribewritingessentials.com

Last but certainly not least, my new favorite desk accessory. I found this at the clearance section of my university book store, and it is SO fricken beautiful. Love the light pink casing and the cupcake imprinted notes. I love baking and love love love cupcake-baking and decorating in particular, so this message is me in a phrase. I love everything about this...the box, the notes, how big the notes are, the design, the elegance, the font size, the message. Ahh, love love love. So me in every single way. Plus, it's been keeping me organized and top of things this past month so it's a total win win!