About My Skin

Before I could read, I used to mix my mom's colored Mary Kay face products together with things like soap, water, and shampoo to make (really expensive) "potions."

I'm sorry Mom!

But, that interest in skin care faded away... 

As a teenager I had pretty much perfect skin. It was normal, not dry or oily. My pores were small and tight, and I never had acne.

It sounds like a dream, but it was actually a curse. I never learned how to take care of my skin!  I only washed my face every other day, regardless of whether or not I wore makeup. This poor skin care has really stretched out my pores, and I think has a hand in the sensitivity I experience. 

Note to everyone: never go to bed with makeup on!!!!

Now that I'm older, my skin is extremely dry and mildly sensitive, and I'm finally doing all I can to keep it as youthful as I can.

Some quick facts about my skin:

• Extremely dry nose, cheeks, and chin. Normal on the forehead.

• Large pores on my cheeks

• With a lot of effort I can get a slight tan, but it's a reddish-colored tan, and it's still much lighter than your average Joe.

• Cool undertones.

• Quite fair. I'm usually the second lightest shade of foundation (generally the very lightest shade is either a neutral or a warm undertone, so I get the pink/cool toned one).  In MAC I'm a perfect NW20.

• Redness/pigmentation on my cheeks and on my nose.

• Freckles

• Sensitive eyelids that tend to get dry and flaky for at least a couple of months each year.

• Allergic to red/pink/purple dyes (I think). This mostly shows up after wearing certain colors of eyeshadow, but I've had some pretty bad reactions to lip products as well.

If you have any of the same problems that I do, then welcome to my blog!  I hope we can help each other with the knowledge we've learned on our unique beauty journeys.

Makeup Geekery

I have all this geekery towards makeup built up inside me.  I hesitate to share it on my main blog, because that blog's purpose is to keep friends and family updated on our daily life. This blog will be where I geek out about beauty products, and share the (limited) knowledge and experience I have with them.

If you're interested, keep on reading! If not, don't.  Easy as pie.  No feelings hurt.


My most recent makeup purchase was yesterday. I am SUUUUUPER excited about what I purchased.


I was in the market for a new foundation. And I am on a quest to find my Holy Grail foundation.

Did I run out of my old foundation? No.

Why am I buying a new one? Because it's spring and summer is coming! My skin is darker, and my old foundation I noticed was grabbing on to my dry patches.  (I'll write a separate post about my skin issues.)


My new foundation is NARS Sheer Glow.  It's been out for a while, and there are many, many, many online reviews you can find and read about if if you're interested.

After viewing several reviews on YouTube and reading a few reviews on beauty blogs, the main selling points for me were:

• Medium/Full coverage
• Satin/Matte finish
• Can't see the foundation
• Looks natural

I ordered it online from Sephora yesterday.

Quick tip!  Are you afraid to purchase foundation online for fear of it not matching your skin?  OR, do you hate buying drugstore foundations because you can't try them before you buy them!  Have no fear!  I use the Foundation Matrix at Temptalia.  I have NEVER had a bad match.  You can start from scratch, or you can input your existing foundation and it will tell you what shade you are in other brands.

Check it out on Temptalia's site HERE.

I used the Foundation Matrix and my shade is Mont Blanc.  It's for Fair/Light skin tones with Pink undertones.

I wish I had known about the foundation matrix earlier, because I have purchased foundation online before and I did NOT get the right shade.  That foundation was Laura Geller Take Cover.  I LOVED that foundation, but I can only wear it when I'm at my darkest, and even then, I have to blend it onto my neck quite a bit.

In this recent makeup purchase, I also purchased one other item: SmashBox Primer Water.

The selling points for this were that it hydrates and energizes skin. It contains caffeine.  I think my skin could use a little pizzazz.

I have been using primer for three years now, and I will never go without primer again. The foundation applies so much smoother with it!  Especially with my particular skin issues.  I'm excited to try this new one, because I've mostly stuck with the same one for the past three years. We'll see if this can beat it!

Smashbox Primer Water can be used before, during, and after makeup application.  The Florida heat and humidity have helped me become addicted to setting sprays, so I'm excited to see how this holds up for that purpose as well.

What are your recent makeup purchases?  What are you excited about?