My Beauty Routine & Hydroxatone Giveaway!

I get a lot of questions about my beauty routine and the products I use, so I thought I’d put together a little post on my everyday beauty routine, complete with a giveaway from Hydroxatone! (One of my favorite beauty lines, duh). Behold: the terrifying blank canvas!

 

Step one: I always start with a Primer! They smooth out your skin and fill in a the little lines and wrinkles so you have a smooth, clean blank canvas to work with when applying the rest of your makeup. I’ve been known to switch around, but my go-to right now is Arbonne primer.

Step 2: My beauty routine has changed recently. It used to be: Primer, then a thick coat of foundation to cover up everything else on my face. That’s before I was introduced to Hydroxatone! Now I use their BB cream, and a thin layer of it, to cover up all of my imperfections. I pump a little bit onto the top of my hand, use my finger to dab it onto various spots on my face, then use a flat brush to blend.

Step 3: Powder foundation. Since this BB cream is so amazing, I only swipe on a very small amount of Arbonne’s powder foundation to smooth out any areas that were overlooked before. I generally apply to my forehead, nose, and chin, since I’ll be applying bronzer, blush, and highlighter to my cheeks later and I don’t want to cake on too much product. (I’ll also add a little bit of concealer under my eyes or around my nose if necessary!)

Step 4: Bronzer! I am a huge fan of Arbonne’s bronzer. It only comes in one shade but seems to morph itself to match whatever shade my skin is at the time… ha. I swipe this on with an angled brush UNDER my cheek bones. I also apply a light dusting along my hairline and jawline, but not as much as my cheeks.

Step 5: Blush. I usually apply blush to the apples of my cheeks with a sliiiiiight swipe upwards. Typically I switch between a few shades between NARS and Smashbox, depending on my look for the day.

Step 6: Highlighter. I use Laura Mercier’s powder highlighter. I’ve had it since the summer and it shows no sign of running out any time soon, it’s amazing! I apply this above my cheekbones, along the bridge of my nose, and in the center of my forehead.

Step 7: BLEND, BLEND, BLEND!!! This is the most important step you could possibly do while applying your makeup. Without blending, you may walk around looking like a drag queen. I use the same big brush I apply my powder foundation with and blend from my cheeks upwards towards my hairline in big circular motions.

Step 8: Eyeliner. I either use a liquid eyeliner or a pencil depending on the rest of my look for the day. When I’m going for something more casual, without any eyeshadow, I’ll usually apply liquid liner. I generally use Arbonne’s liquid liner as it’s amazing for sensitive eyes, which mine 100% are! However, when that runs out and I wait for my new liner to arrive, I’ll use this liner pen from NYC. It’s about $2 and super easy to apply.

Step 9: Eyebrows. If there is one thing you take away from my post today it is this: GROOM YOUR DAMN EYEBROWS! That doesn’t just mean plucking or getting waxed, it means groom them, mold them, shape them! Your waxing or plucking means nothing if they’re crazy and all over the place. Use a clear eyebrow gel, it basically looks like clear mascara.

Step 10: Mascara. I pull my look together with mascara. I’m prone to using drugstore brands, actually. I think you generally get the same results as if you splurged on a super expensive brand. Normally I’ll buy Maybelline’s Falsies mascara. I’m addicted to it. Mascara tends to dry out so quickly, so I’m not fond of spending an arm and a leg on it. However, I’ve been gifted Benefit’s ‘They’re Real’ mascara about three times in a row, so that’s what I’ve been using lately, ha.

And voila! This is the completed look of my casual, everyday beauty routine.

For a little extra ‘flare’ I’ll add a pop of color to my lips. Depending on my mood I’ll either throw on a sheer pink gloss or a lipstick. Here I’m wearing LAQA & CO’s fat lip pencil in Lambchop. It’s like a more subtle version of NARS Schiap (which I love).

AND NOW FOR MY GIVEAWAY!

As I said earlier, I was anti BB creams. Every single one I ever tried did absolutely nothing, and I have tried them all! BB creams are basically supposed to be a foundation, concealer, primer, whatever else, all in one. I’ve always found that I had to apply a thick, thick coat to get the coverage I desired from this kind of product. So I gave up on them all together. Until one day, about a month or two ago, during Beauty Chat on Twitter, I was introduced to Hydroxatone. Someone asked about BB creams & I voiced my opinion on how they’re useless when they tweeted to me & asked if I had ever tried theirs, which I had not. They were kind enough to send me a sample and all I can say is, it’s life changing! THIS is the BB cream I have been looking for! It covers so well, I only need to apply the smallest amount, which means I don’t waste a ton of product, which then means it will last me much longer, yay!

NOW you can win your very own bottle of Hydroxatone’s  Anti-Aging BB Cream AND their anti-acne CC cream! All you have to do is follow the very easy steps below!

1. Follow me on Twitter here.

2. Follow Hydroxatone on Twitter here.

3. Follow me on Instagram here.

4. Follow Hydroxatone on Instagram here.

5. ‘LIKE’ Hydroxatone’s Facebook page here.

Once you have completed these 5 easy steps, feel free to leave a comment below! The more steps you take the more entries you get, so follow, follow, follow! This giveaway will end on Tuesday the 8th and I will announce the winner on Wednesday the 9th. Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor! ;]

*Hydroxatone’s products can be found at Ulta & Khols, in stores or online.