A Few New Favorites

Let's talk for a minute about something totally unrelated to my crunchy lifestyle. This post won't cover green smoothies, cloth diapers, or breastfeeding. It won't even cover anything related to Christianity, parenthood, or marriage.

This will be a completely materialistic, indulgent post. Kind of like the one I wrote a while back on my hair. But hey, there are lots of different aspects of this gal. Yeah, I'm a "crunchy, country mama," but I'm also a woman. A woman who likes to wear makeup, fix her hair, and wear pretty clothes.

Yes, I know those things are not necessary, but I'm blessed enough to be able to indulge just a bit in this area, and I enjoy it. I don't wear designer clothes. I don't carry designer hand bags (my purse is the Skirt Purse from Thirty-One). I don't shop at Sephora or even the Belk makeup counter. I don't get my hair colored, or even cut very often. I'm pretty low-maintenance.

But I wear makeup pretty much every day (not on Saturdays, if I stay home all day). I've said before that I'm a Mary Kay Consultant. I've been selling this brand of cosmetics for almost 6 years now (wow). And I'm pretty loyal to the brand. I have super sensitive skin, and Mary Kay products do not bother me at all. In fact, Mary Kay eye shadows are the only ones I've ever tried that don't make my eyelids itch!

Mary Kay revamped their eye shadows line several years ago, and changed everything to mineral eye shadows. I loved the old formula, but have been happy with the mineral stuff as well. Its a little looser than I'd like (meaning when you apply it, some of it inevitably ends up on your cheeks - but it easily wipes off), but they all give good coverage and last all day on me. (My favorites are granite, chocolate kiss, and moonstone.)

A few months ago, I decided to try out one of the MK cream eye shadows. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about having to put it on with my finger (you can use a brush, but I like to have as little as possible in my little makeup basket on the counter), but I found that it didn't bother me at all. The coverage is great, I love the color I got (Metallic Taupe), and its easy to apply lightly or more heavily for a smokey eye look. The cream shadow plays well with my regular mineral eye shadows, too.

Last week when I placed another MK order, I got myself another cream eye shadow (Iced Cocoa), and I love it! Its a pretty, coppery, sparkly color. Some may say that at 30, I'm too old for sparkly eye shadows. I disagree. Most of the colors I gravitate towards have a hint of shimmer in them. I think they make my eyes pop. (Mary Kay does make plenty of matte eye shadow shades, FYI!)

Metallic Taupe, left; Iced Cocoa, right

This week, I've been experimenting with different looks using my cream eye shadows and the regular mineral ones. I don't take pictures of my eyes like that, so you'll just have to take my word for it. But I'm having fun applying my makeup lately! I don't go too adventurous with my eye colors (I mainly stick to grays or browns), but there are so many different looks you can achieve with those colors.

What's even greater about these little cream eye colors, they will last a LONG time. I've been using the Metallic Taupe color for a few months now, and I've barely made a dent in the pot. Now I want to collect some more of the cream eye colors....!

Another make up product that I've been loving lately is actually not from Mary Kay (gasp!). I've been 100% loyal to Mary Kay for almost 6 years. I haven't even looked at another brand for makeup or skin care (until I switched to washing my face in coconut oil and using an all-natural, local made moisturizer earlier this year). But I decided recently to look for a new concealer. MK's concealer is okay, but lately I've realized I need a little something more. I have dark spots on my upper lip. Its from years of birth control use, and pregnancy probably contributed a little more to it. The spots have faded some over the years, but they still bother me and I always use concealer and foundation to cover them up. (Yes, I've tried professional microdermabrasion and lightening cream. Nothing has helped.) But I've never been completely satisfied with how the MK concealer covered those spots. It kind of caked up after a while.

So I headed to Walgreen's (cause you know this girl ain't gonna spend a fortune!) and browsed the cosmetics aisle - something I haven't done in 6 years! I bypassed Cover Girl, cause in the past their products really irritated my skin. Maybe they're different now, but I don't want to find out. Neutrogena and Almay were the brands I used before I switched to Mary Kay. Almay had a new CC cream that kept calling to me. (If you've never heard of CC creams, don't worry - they're new to me, too. BB creams came out not too long ago, and I didn't hop on that bandwagon. When CC creams were introduced, I thought it was ridiculous. Then I did some research. See what one of my favorite bloggers Kate had to say about BB and CC creams.)

This one is the Almay smart shade CC cream, with SPF 35. Let me tell you, it has been life-changing. Okay, maybe not quite so drastic, but seriously, this is some good stuff! I don't even use plain old concealer anymore. This stuff covers up my dark spots and some other areas of discoloration on my face. I could probably stand to have a little more coverage under my eyes, but I rarely worry about that area (cause I'm constantly wiping at my eyes, so makeup doesn't stay long under them).

CC stands for complexion corrector. I was skeptical about the "corrector" part. But you know what? I can tell a difference in my dark spots! I could tell a difference after just a few days, actually. I don't know what they'll fade away completely, but I'm loving that they're already lighter. Last Saturday, I didn't even apply anything to my face, and I left the house - that's saying a lot for me.

This little tube was around $10, but that wasn't too bad for me. And it was been totally worth it. I use my Mary Kay Mineral Powder Foundation on top of the CC cream, and now I have a very nice, even face color. The Mineral Powder Foundation has always stayed pretty well on my skin anyway, but now I don't even need a touch up if I go somewhere after work. Its flawless all day! Gotta love that.

I feel a little bad for "betraying" Mary Kay, but no one ever said I had to use only one brand, right? ( :  And you better believe if MK ever comes out with a CC cream I'll be trying it!

Okay, that's enough vainness for one day. ( ; I'm really not vain, but when I find a product that works so well, I feel like I have to share it with the world! Back to crunchiness tomorrow. ( :