Appear to be Makeup Free

Don't get me wrong when you see the title of this post, I'm not the type that never leaves the house without makeup on. Once in a while it's nice to let your skin just breath and take a break. Especially when on most days I wear full foundation, thick mascara, etc. I love makeup a lot, I think it's a lot of fun to experiment with and figure out how you like to look, but I also think people should be okay looking natural once in a while, whether that be completely bare-faced, or with a few light products.

On those days when I'm just running errands and don't want to apply a full face of makeup, there are a few products I like to use to appear to be wearing no makeup at all, but just enhance everything a little bit.

The first thing I put on for a day like this is BB Cream. I just received this sample in my last Birchbox and fell in love. I've never worn a BB Cream before, until I discovered this one I would just wear plain SPF moisturizer. But this stuff is amazing. It simply evens out your skin tone without giving you an unnatural finish like foundation does. It's very, very light, so it does just enough while still feeling like you're only wearing moisturizer. Plus it has SPF 30, so it's perfect, I'll definitely be buying the full size when this one runs out.

Next I apply a dab of concealer under my eyes. Most people could probably get away without it, but under my eyes are super dark, so with out it I tend to look sick or really tired. I still only use a tiny bit though, to keep it looking pretty natural still. This concealer to too light for me to use on an every day basis, so it's perfect for these days.

After concealer I put the tiniest drop on Posietint on my cheeks. This color looks really natural on me, and a tiny bit is all you need for a natural flushed look. Because it's liquid instead of powder, it looks like skin once rubbed in, plus it's very sheer, so it doesn't look like you have any makeup on your face at all.

Something pretty important for me is to curl my eyelashes. Mine are pretty long, but also stick straight out, and curling them makes a big difference. I skip eye makeup completely when doing this look, but curling your lashes really opens up your eyes without looking fake.

And the final thing I'll do is put on a tinted lip balm. I really like this one from Burt's Bees. The color pretty much looks the same as my natural lip color, but just adds a bit of shine and makes them look healthier. After this, I appear to not have any makeup on at all, I'm just tricking people into thinking I have even skin and naturally blushed cheeks :)

All of this takes less than five minutes to apply, and doing just this much, even though it makes such a small difference, really helps you feel more confident when you go out with "no makeup on." Then you won't feel completely naked like I do sometimes!

pardon the poor lighting, it's the best I could do ;)

Black & White Film

A while back, on my 21 Before 22 post, I mentioned I wanted to try to shoot a roll of film every month, well, I just got around to developing my very first roll, oops! But after seeing the way this one came out, I'm definitely going to continue shooting film. There's just something so special about it; experimenting with settings, not knowing how something will turn out, and if it doesn't come out perfectly, it just adds character and uniqueness to the photo.

Here are a few of my favorite shots from my first roll.

If you're looking for a good black and white film, this is the one I used. ISO 400, high contrast (as you can see) and uses C41 process, so even a place like Walgreens can develop it :)

Dreaming of Autumn

One of my favorite photos of Joe and I, October 2012

I know it's incredibly cliché of me, but I usually spend most of August dreaming of Autumn. Like most, it's my absolute favorite season, and I'm fortunate enough to live in a place with the most amazing Autumn. Perfect orange leaves, crisp cool weather, pumpkin patches and festivals, I just enjoy it all so much. Around this time of year, I always look back at photos I took during the fall and I practically get butterflies just anticipating the months to come. I think of leaving our windows open to let in the cool air, lighting my absolute favorite Sweater Weather candle, and crunching on the piles upon piles of leaves that have fallen onto our driveway. I'm sure by early November I'll already be thinking about Christmas and Winter, as I tend to get overly exited and ahead of myself, but for now, I'm completely stoked for our Autumn here in Prescott.

What about Autumn are you looking forward to most?

7 Shades of Gray

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7

Gray has always been one of my favorite neutrals. It's actually a go-to color of mine, for clothes and home decor, it's not too harsh and works for every season! What's your go-to color?

More lovely hues here.

Bad Hikes, Pottery, Ikea and Birthdays

This passed week was a pretty busy one for us. But it was busy with fun things, like birthdays, trips to Ikea, painting pottery and hiking. Okay, the hiking wasn't that fun. I enjoy hiking a lot if it's leisurely and slow, but that's not the way my sister or husband do it, they prefer sprinting up the steeper side of the mountain, and they insisted I do that with them. I realized very quickly that I could not keep up with them and I definitely wouldn't make it to the top. I've been to the top of that mountain many times taking the easy, less steep trail, but this side wasn't happening. The two of them just kept "encouraging" me to keep going and telling me that I would feel so good once I reached the top, but I kept insisting I would either pass out or be sick. Well, I got sick. About three quarters of the way up I literally stopped in my tracks and puked. Three times. And then immediately looked at both of them and said, "I f*cking told you!" So we headed back down. It didn't take long to laugh about the whole thing, and I'm now sharing it on the internet, so it's all good now. We all agreed that next time we hiked together we'd take it much slower, thank goodness!

So after that interesting hike, we went and got lunch, and did something much more my speed; painted pottery at this little kiddie place at the mall. I actually had a lot of fun, even though we were the only people in there over nine, we each painted a mug! We haven't been back to pick them up yet, but it'll be interesting to see how they turned out. The next day the three of us did a turn-around to Ikea in Tempe to buy all sorts of super necessary things. Ikea is kind of like Target, you go in needing one thing and somehow leave with a cart full, oops! Good thing we were in my small car and wouldn't have room for anything big!

The next few days consisted of our friend Zack's twenty-first birthday, which we had at a Irish restaurant with a few friends. I realized I'm not big on Irish food, the guys all enjoyed the beer though! Then Monday was my dad's birthday. All of my sisters and their families went to his house to celebrate with him. We had all of his favorite food and his favorite carrot cake, and did "snorkels," Joe's idea! It was fun though, I always enjoy hanging out with my family, making food and goofing off together.

So that's what's been going on in my life lately, it's now Wednesday night and Joe just fixed our bathroom sink all by himself when I thought we should call a plumber, such a man, hehe ;)

So what's been going on in your life lately? I hope you're having a fab week!

Newlywed Home

Hello, all! I thought it would be fun to show you a few photos from around our home. Joe and I have been married for two months and five days, and we're getting the hang of living together and sharing a home. It's been so fun and crazy sharing all this space and working together to make it our own. 

 Right now, we're all about filling the house with tons of wedding photos (as you'll see) and lovey-dovey things. Obviously neither of us have ever had a whole home to decorate before, so we're learning together what we like and what we think looks good, and we have tons and tons of ideas for things we want to do and change. For example, a friend of ours is building us a coffee table right now and we plan on painting the hutch we got on Craigslist for a super steal, along with other bigger things that probably won't happen for a while. But in the mean time we're really enjoying having this place and making it our home by adding small touches. Our home is always changing, so I'll have to keep up with updating posts!

Here are some bits and pieces of our very first home together:

(I decided to only post close-up details rather than bedrooms and things like that, maybe some day I will without feeling weird ;))