BBG's Tips: Taking Care of Dry Skin

Taking care of dry skin is so hard and there isn't exactly much talk of taking care of dry skin, much less anyone in the beauty community with dry skin, so now I set out on the task.

The Routine

First I wash. I wash my face with a cream cleanser after removing my makeup separately with a wipe or coconut oil. The cream cleanser that I currently use is from Aldi's skincare brand, called Lacura (Buy this here). The one I used to use was by Aveeno in the Ultra-Calming Line, for sensitive skin (Buy it here). Then I use a toner. Usually just witch hazel, but I'm thinking of switching to something that takes less moisture out of my skin, possibly an essence (I've been looking through ones from Etude House) and a serum. after I use my toner, I use a cream. I use Nivea Creme (German formulation) at night and Cetaphil Moistuizing Cream (Here) in the morning, sealed with either Coconut or Olive Oil in the winter. In the mornings, I do not cleanse my face, but just use a toner to remove the excess oil that is possibly dirty from the night before. My skin is pretty good about not breaking out, but a surefire way to get one is to leave on my moisturizer without ever cleansing in between. I only do this when I do not have a toner and then I must be extra dilligent about cleansing every night. 

My routine does change with the seasons and the time of day  because of how much time my skin has to absorb moisturizer and is my skin does not become as dry during the day. However my skin rarely becomes oily, even in the summers. 

Other General Tips

• Drink Water. Keep yourself hydrated. It will only be good for you. There was a point where I was drinking a liter of water a day. I looked radiant and had less dry spots and less blemishes.
• Don't touch your face. Keep you hands away. Your hands are dirty. I don't care what you washed.
• Also don't pick at your skin either. Dry skin girls sometimes suffer from peeling skin, but don't peel it or it won't heal. It will just come back tomorrow and possible get infected.
• Do your routine quickly. If you moisturize quickly after you have done the other parts of your routine, you can avoid the problem of putting moisture on dry patches which then peel. Go quickly because then you can seal in the water as moisture. 
• Always wear moisturizer. This one isn't just for dry skin girls, but is especially important for us. 
• Sunscreen is a must for EVERYONE. Melanin is not sunsceen. 

Blushing Black Beauty: FitMe Dewy and Smooth

THIS FOUNDATION IS AWESOME SAUCE. I love it.

It's not what I consider dewy, but I do have very, very dry skin, so hardly anything is because my skin sucks up the oil before I can leave the house... It's more of a radiant finish on my skin. Very calm looking and pretty. It doesn't accentuate dry patches or hair on my face, but just looks really pretty.

IT IS SUPER SMOOTH THOUGH! SMOOTH LIKE BUTTER. It's looks so smooth on my face. It looks like I don't have skin or any blemishes for that matter. People think I look so flawless when I wear it so of course, it is my favorite foundation at the moment. So smooth. I have used it both with and without a primer (Baby Skin) and I love it more with, but without is very pretty as well. My skin looks so soft when I wear this foundation.

It matches my skin very well. It looks very unified and natural. The foundations matches my face so perfectly and no matter how many times I check it in the mirror, it still looks as it did when I first put it on.

Granted, I do have dry skin with minimal blemishes, so coverage and staying power are not my points of expertise, but texture and sensitivity I can do just fine.

This foundation did not break me out and once again, looks smooth as hell on my skin.

Blushing Black Beauty: UNDERTONE MADNESS

Finding my undertone is one of the hardest things. Who ever thought knowing what color your skin is would be so complicated? I certainly didn't. I'm having the hardest time trying to figure out what my undertone is and I'm just gonna go ahead and admit that the fact that I didn't know my undertone was a big part of the reason I was afraid to buy a foundation.

I'm still not completely sure whether my skin tone is warm or cool. I just know that my undertone is yellow and that man drugstore foundations have red and pink undertones and those make me look a little ghastly or just completely strange... I have found many orange/peach undertoned foundations and those work beautifully... when they come in my shade. I just want a foundation that matches my skintone. I have maybe one that fits me perfectly. (FitMe!!!!!!!)

As far as colors that look good on me, this really depends. Not all colors I use look suuuuper good on me, but some I just use because I like the color. I like cool toned lipsticks, but I will admit during the summer, my cool toned colors look really bad on me, but during the winter I can wear anything. No idea why...

You've got to admit that's a strange phenomenon though. I'm guessing the real culprit here though is that my skin tone is largely neutral, but tends to change skin depth as I tan and that makes me dislike lighter colors on my skin more often. The paleness in the winter makes me wear more deep colors though because in the summer I feel as if they almost BLEND IN. (GAH!!!!!)

I don't really know my undertone just because I know that there are little resources, but many theories about WOC's skin undertones and that our undertones are different than people with less pigment's undertones and that makes me kinda sad because I wish it were simpler to find it.

Here's what I do know:

• I love to wear peach and coral lipsticks. The ones with POPPING color that draws you to the mouth immediately.  Fruity?
• I also love to wear brownish pink lipsticks. Cooler tones of these look better on me. Ones that lean toward mauve or purple.
• Mauve lipsticks look bright pink on me. I don't know what this means. I just wanna know why a pretty purple color turned hot pink on my lips. WTH?
• I used to prefer pale cool pinks, now I like bright coral colors. This may just be my sense of style changing IDK.

Anyways. It's complete CHAOS. 

BBG's take on: Failure and Success

I have been singing my whole life and I will be singing my whole life. I am in school to sing and I intend to make a career out of it. This is not because of my great success singing because if I'm completely honest, I have had little success singing in the realm that I want to go into. I really haven't and for a while it was really breaking me. There was a time when I was not improving at all because all of my focus was on how to win and how to be looked upon positively by vocal teachers, but then I realized that it really did not matter.

It does not matter what a choral director thinks of my voice. It does not matter what the judges at NATS or any other solo an ensemble event think of my voice. 

It only matters what I think of my own voice. 

It only matters that I can get to the point where I feel good about what I've done and what I am doing. It only matter that I think that my work is good and that I feel that I am progessing as I should. It only matters that I live out to my own full potential, not someone elses. 

I will not pretend this is easy.

It isn't. This is one of the hardest things to realize for many people and not even I feel this way all of the time, but what matters is that I know it. What matters is that I realize that these are words I should live by. You have to start small though. It starts with "I". For this to work, you must realize what is special to you and about you that drives you to do what you may not be the best at. You must remember that no one is the best at anything. The only best you should and can strive for is your best. No other best matters. 

No words other than your own are important enough to determine your worth.

It sounds conceited to say, but to be satisfied with yourself, you have to remember this. Letting others define you will always make you feel less than brilliant and you are brilliant. Letting others define you changes the place where you draw your worth from. It should be from within. 

What I'm trying to say is...

that your success and failure are determined by you. They aren't defined by how many competitions you win and how many "Superiors" you get at solo and ensemble because you can not numerically determine talent. You can not numerically determine even technique. None of those accolades matter when you have yourself to answer to at the end of the day. Only what you think of you matters. 

BBG's take on: Looking for a Job (Diary of a Shut In #1)

I'm looking for a job. I don't really care what that job is, but the point is that I want one. Not only want, but also need one. I need a job. I need some money. I need something on my resume other than the schools I went to and various plays and theatre ensembles I was in. I need some experience, but to get experience I need a job and to get a job I need experience. Do you see my dilemma? I hope you do.

Right now I've applied to many, many jobs, most of which are online and I'm getting desperate. Well, not desperate. I'm still mostly only looking in areas where I feel like I have a strength or where I feel like I don't need skills that are untrainable into these positions. I'm looking mostly into retail and serving because I feel like I could get a job there that they can help me acquire the skills for. I pick up things quickly anyway. I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty, but I mostly have experience performing. That's what I did in high school when everyone else was learning to drive and got a job in retail or at some restaurant. That what I was doing when everyone was having sex and trying things and being with boys. I was practicing. I was performing. I was finding ways to perform and now I really wish I'd try to do some of those things too.

I just want some money and somewhere where I can have fun earning. Damn. I couldn't have gone to camp either though. I'm too broke to go to camp. I need money that I can't earn to go to camp. I'll find some way I guess. I'll figure it out. Hopefully soon, but it may not be for a few more weeks. I may not be able to get a job for a month. I may be broke for another year. I need to find a way to make some money... and soon.

BBG's take on: Menstrual Cups (pt.2)

This is an update on my menstrual cup journey.

So far I have one menstrual cup though I'm investing in a new one and I love the one I have. I have the Evacup by Anigan.
I got this one because

• It was the cheapest on the market and when I got it I was just looking .
• It was the easiest to get and available everywhere.
• When I looked at the reviews I saw nothing out of the ordinary.

However, now I'd like to get a new one. I'm looking at the Sckoon Cup mostly, but due to the price I may need to keep looking. I got my first one for $18 and this one costs $35 to $50 on average and I'm not entirely sure how I feel about paying that much for anything right now. Especially since I'm in college and I currently don't have a job. Saving for that just doesn't seem worth it at the moment. 

So now for the real update!

I'd say now that I've used it for so many periods, I can now safely say I know what's what. 

Positives: 

• Periods are so easy!  - No more carrying around tampons or pads! Fuck them honestly. I'm happy I'm no longer a slave to them. Staying constantly stocked and worried about when to change them and how to throw them out. 
• I can stay out of the period worry cycle - You know what I'm talking about. When you've worn your tampon for wayyyyy to long and it hasn't leaked, but you think you're gonna die. OR when you haven't even worn it for that long, but you've ruined another pair of panties. They aren't cheap and I'm not made of money.
• My cramps have decreased SO MUCH. - I don't stay in bed on period days. I can take a pill and be ready to go because life doesn't stop for periods unless your teacher is a woman then if she hasn't gone through menopause it can. 

Negatives:

• The make of menstrual cup that I have! (The rim and the firmness) - There is a rim around the edge of my menstrual cup (not every cup has one, but this one does). This rim can make it slightly painful to remove because of the rim. Also mine is firm which is another problem with this one.
• The attitude - People are freaked out by menstrual cups. The idea freaks them out SO BAD. I didn't know it was that deep honestly, but for many girls it is. Guys are fascinated though. Weird, but they are.
• Changing it - I'm okay with going to the sink from the bathroom stall I'm in to wash out my menstrual cup, but I know this is what really freaks people out. I have heard of using a bottle to clean it out in the stall, but I don't have anything like this. 

Here's a video of this.

My Mascara Collection

Voluminous Miss Manga Mascara 

This mascara is so volumizing. I'm not usually into volumizing mascaras, but this one is great for me. It's a little clumpy as they are, but not as bad as they can be. These types of mascaras though hard to remove do an extremely good job of framing the eyes. 

Full Lash Bloom Mascara

This mascara is lengthening and soft. It looks so natural and I love natural mascaras this is something that I look for often and was happy to find with this mascara. This is a mascara I could forget I'm wearing despite the enhanced look of my lashes. 

Telescopic Mascara

I used to love this mascara and I'm just not sure what happened. Maybe it was that I realized that it was hot crunchy mess. It makes my lashes hella long but they get all crunchy and sorta clumpy and overall gross.

Telescopic Explosion Mascara

HORRIBLE. The Brush is cool I guess, but the fucking formula. HORRIBLE. Nasty. Do not engage. 

E.L.F. Volumizing Mascara

A fucking fluttery god-send. The first mascara to turn me onto soft fluttery mascaras and I was looking for even better ones ever since. It was very cheap and I wasnt expecting much, but it wowed me. 

Professional Super Thick Lash

It's so underwhelming. There is basically nothing at all special about it. I heard it being called a dupe for Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes Mascara, but it's not. It sucks. I guess it's volumizing, but not that volumizing and it's certainly not lengthening. It's not even like it's clumpy because it was trying to volumize... it's just bad. It's not super crunchy if that counts for anything. 

Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes

I LOVE THIS MASCARA. It just does everything and isn't clumpy or overly crunchy. It's fucking beautiful. I look like a goddess princess from venus who catches butterflies and dances in her spare time. It's too good to be true, but not really because it is and I got it as a sample, but I think I might buy it. It costs $20, but I would take the plunge for this type of gorgeous.