Christmas Nails + 2017 Plans

With Christmas just two days away, I wanted to talk about this beautiful nail polish set I've been pleasantly surprised by. And because just showing off my holiday manicure just didn't seem like a meaty enough post for me, I'm throwing in where I see this space going in the new year. The end of the year is really a time for reflection, and I've been thinking a lot about how I can improve and keep my blog evolving as I do.

First, the nails: I recently was sent the Vixen Nail Polish Set* from rms beauty, and oh my am I in love. I've only tried two of their highlighters before (I compared them here), and I hadn't heard much about the polishes. They're just stunning - opaque in one coat with no streaking. The set comes with Infamous, a beautiful classic red, Vicious, a perfect berry shade, and Luminizer X, a frosty silver shade meant to be like the famous Living Luminizer but for your nails. I don't know when the last time I wore red nail polish was - for some reason I had it in my head that it looked weird on me, so I think I stopped wearing it when I was around twelve years old. But the shade Infamous is just beautiful, and it's made me get over my fear of red nail polish. It's not too bright, so it's not "out there," and it's perfectly neutral - not too orange and not too blue. I used it on all of my nails and then topped my ring finger with the Luminizer X shade. I think it makes it look super festive, and I like that the red peeks through the silver ever-so-slightly. I used my typical base/top coats (Orly Bonder Rubberized Base Coat and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Top Coat), and this manicure is still going strong, even after four days of meticulously cleaning my lab bench at work this week. Once I take these shades off, I'm definitely going to try the Vicious shade.

As for where I see this blog going in the new year, I have a general vision of the overall style I'm going for, so I'm going to put a lot of effort into really developing that vision and making it a reality. I haven't changed my blog design once since I moved to Squarespace around a year and a half ago, so I think that's definitely overdue. Since the next year or two are going to be full of changes for me (including buying a house and getting married), I want to try to document more of that on the blog. I've been toying with the idea of including some wedding planning content, so let me know if you'd be interested in that.

Also, since those two big changes are also big investments, I'm going to be doing a lot less haul posts (and hopefully "hauling" in general) in the new year, and I'm thinking of doing away with my Monthly Favorites posts. Instead, I might do a sort of Monthly Edit/review, where I recap my month and talk about all sorts of favorites and non-favorites, not just beauty. Another goal of mine is to get over my fear of being on camera and start a YouTube channel already. I already have ideas of what I would want my videos to look like, so I'll have to wrap my head around my camera and figure out how to edit. I'm hoping to start that by mid-year next year, so keep an eye out!

I hope you have a very happy holiday and spend it surrounded by people you love. I'll be back on Tuesday, and next week you can expect my 2016 favorites as well as a low-key New Years Eve look (since I never got around to that low-key Christmas look I was planning).

---

How To: The Perfect Natural Makeup

I love the idea of a "How To" post, but I rarely feel like enough of an expert on anything to pull one together. However, given my penchant for the barely-there look, I thought I'd wrack my brains for a few of my favorite tips when it comes to going for my signature natural makeup look.

Light Base, Pinpoint Concealing

One of the most important things in a natural look, in my opinion, is ensuring your skin looks like real skin and your base product of choice looks undetectable. Of course, we all have imperfections that a lightweight base may not cover. My favorite way to keep my skin looking fresh and bare is using a lightweight, glowy base, like the Glossier Perfecting Skin Tint or bareMinerals Complexion Rescue, and then going in with a high coverage concealer with a tiny brush (like a MAC 210) to pinpoint conceal any spots. For my dry-ish skin, the Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer is perfect for this - it's thick and creamy, and it stays put all day without getting cakey. If you're on the more oily side, I'd recommend the Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage Concealer for this. Using heavier coverage only where needed allows more of your skin to show through, creating the illusion that you only used the lighter coverage base. To further this illusion, sometimes I like to also leave a few minor spots here and there uncovered.

Illuminating Undereye Concealer

For some reason I very often seem to forget undereye concealer, but I just count that as my "leaving imperfections" tip I just mentioned. When I do remember, I like using something lightweight and illuminating to subtly bring light to the area. Some of my favorites are the Onomie Bright Concealing Elixir* and the L'Oreal Magic Lumi Concealer. I love the Glossier Stretch Concealer too but forgot to photograph it! It's more dewy than illuminating, so it's perfect if your undereyes tend to get dry like mine.

Fluffy Brows & Lashes

When I'm going for the natural look I step away from the brow pencils and pomades and stick only to a tinted gel. My favorite, as you probably guessed, is the Glossier Boy Brow. It's more of a wax than a gel, so it remains lightweight and not crispy. It really just looks like you have naturally fluffier brows. Brows are the one thing I can't leave the house without doing, so I always have a few Boy Brow backups on hand. I also like to keep my lashes looking fluttery and fluffy, avoiding dramatically volumizing mascaras. I really love the Covergirl Clump Crusher Mascara - it really defines and fans out the lashes without adding too much volume, and the Milk Makeup Ubame Mascara is a great option as well. The shape of the wand really creates the perfect fluttery look.

Tightlining

I've always been a fan of tightlining my upper lashline - I never do any makeup look without it. I like using the Colourpop Creme Gel Liners for this because they're creamy enough to apply easily but once applied they do. not. budge. Tightlining makes your lashes look so much thicker and fuller without even looking obvious.

Cream Cheek Products

My skin is on the dry side, so I always love using cream products on my cheeks no matter what. I find they're perfect for a natural look though, as they blend in so effortlessly with the skin and often have a natural luminous finish. For blush I typically go between the Estee Lauder Genuine Glow Blushing Creme* for a more flushed cheek and the BECCA Beach Tint in Fig for a more neutral shade. Both are super easy to sheer out or build up to desired pigmentation. For bronzer, my top pick is of course the Milk Makeup Matte Bronzer - everything about it is beautiful, and it leaves such a natural warmth on the face. For a natural look I prefer a more dewy, less "metallic" highlight, so I like to pile on the rms beauty Living Luminizer or, my holy grail, the Glossier Haloscope in Quartz.

Tinted Lip Balm

Last is lips - something to give them a wash of color while still nourishing them throughout the day is key to a natural look. Tinted balms are my favorite so I have enough to fill up a whole handbag probably, but the ones I reach for the most are the Dior Addict Lip Glow in Pink (no idea how I haven't run out of this yet), the Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment in Petal, the Glossier Generation G lipsticks (I like Crush for more of a flushed color and Like for something more natural), and the Covergirl Oh Sugar Lip Balm in Candy (seriously an underrated gem and quite similar to the Fresh lip balms).

What are your tips for a natural look? Do you prefer natural or dramatic makeup?

I mentioned a lot of Glossier products here, so if you want 20% off your first order, you can shop through my rep page at glossier.com/reps/kelsey!

---

The Winter Anti-Frizz Routine | AD

I don't talk much about hair care on my little corner of the internet, and that's because I'm pretty clueless when it comes to my hair. It's wavy, poofy, and constantly frizzy, and I don't really have time to figure out how to beat it into submission. Now that winter is coming (did you say that in a Ned Stark voice?), it's just been feeling so brittle and dry, causing more frizz. Lately though, I've come across a routine that really cuts down on the frizz and dryness, and it's been giving me silky smooth hair that's super easy to style.

I've never been super loyal to one shampoo/conditioner brand, but the bits I've been trying from Aussie have really changed my mind there. I like to alternate the shampoos and conditioners I use - I feel like it keeps my hair "on its toes" if you will, and my hair seems to be able to go longer between washes without getting greasy. The Aussie Total Miracle 7N1 Shampoo & Conditioner are great for when my hair's starting to feel a little frazzled and damaged. Just one use and everything feels back to normal. I alternate it with the Aussie Moist Shampoo & Conditioner. This one is going to be perfect once there's even more of a chill in the air - it leaves my hair feeling SO soft, smooth, and hydrated. Sometimes my scalp gets itchy from dryness, and this shampoo/conditioner duo even helps that.

Once a week, to keep my hair hydrated, I like to use a deep conditioning hair mask. The Aussie 3-Minute Miracle Strong Conditioning Treatment is perfect for this. I love that it only takes three minutes so I can get out of the shower and into cozy pajamas as quickly as possible. My hair feels so healthy after using this, and I can really tell it's reducing damage. It claims to make the hair 10x stronger against damage than non-conditioning shampoo, and I really think it's been living up to those claims. I immediately notice a difference as my hair is drying - it feels so much smoother!

I typically let my hair air-dry, and a product that I really think has allowed me to do that without needing much of any styling afterward is the Aussie Instant Freeze Sculpting Hair Gel. When I think of gel, I think of the super crunchy ringlet curls I had to do when I was a Party Girl in the Nutcracker when I was 10 years old, but this is a whole different ballgame. It doesn't leave my hair crunchy at all. It helps to define and bring out my waves in a really flattering way (before I started incorporating the gel into my routine, I had cowlicks and weird kinks in my hair galore and could never wear my hair down). And, my favorite thing, it keeps my freshly-washed hair from getting puffy as it dries. I apply such a small amount, maybe about two pea-sized dollops, when my hair is about 50% dry. If I do blowdry my hair, it really helps cut down on that puffiness as well. To finish my hair, I'll run a pump of a hair oil through the lengths to smooth down any flyaways, but I've noticed I don't always need this after using the Aussie products!

You can find Aussie's 3 Minute Miracle Strong Conditioning Treatment, Instant Freeze Sculpting Hair Gel, Aussie Moist Shampoo & Conditioner, Aussie Total Miracle 7N1 Shampoo & Conditioner, and many more products on Amazon. Having all your hair products shipped right to your door is a huge time-saver - no need to run out to the store when I unexpectedly run out anymore, because having backups is so easy!

What products do you use to keep your hair looking healthy and frizz-free?

This post has been sponsored by Aussie, but all thoughts, opinions, and results are my own.

---