1. Redken All Soft shampoo and conditioner

2. Redken Satinwear 02 Ultimate Blow Dry Lotion

3. Organix Moroccan Argan Oil Weightless Healing Dry Oil spray

4. ELF Studio Cream Eyeliner in Coffee

5. ELF Mineral Eyeshadow in Celebrity and Sweet (the pictured brown is actually Sassy from the site, but MUCH closer to Celebrity in person)

6. Cover Girl Lash Blast Waterproof mascara in Black

7. Pink & Pepper Racer boot in Taupe

8. Tree Hut Shea Sugar Scrub

This week is a short one for me, since it’s Thanksgiving in the US on Thursday.

It’s actually hard to determine my “essentials,” since I switch stuff up quite a bit, but this is what I’m using and loving right now.

1. L’Oreal Go360 Clean for sensitive skin – I actually only bought this for the scrublet, since my mini Sephora doesn’t carry theirs–it was on sale at Ulta, anyway, so I thought I’d give it a shot. I LOVE it (and I’ll do a review later). Doesn’t irritate my sensitive, reactive skin, gets it clean without feeling dry. I use this in the morning and at night.

2. Clinique Clarifying Lotion in 1 – I use this after I wash my face for more exfoliation. Doesn’t dry out or irritate my skin.

3. Clinique Redness Solutions Daily Relief Cream – HG day moisturizer. Feels amazing, moisturizes, reduces redness within minutes, and doesn’t take very much to get it done.

4. Organix Coconut Milk Cucumber anti-puff eye cream – Goes on smoothly, depuffs, and isn’t in a pot. I couldn’t really ask for more (unless it was a magic cream that got rid of my circles, too).

5. Garnier Nutritioniste Ultra-Lift Pro Deep Wrinkle night cream – My new HG night cream. I was using straight vitamin E oil, but it gets all over. I actually use this as a moisturizer and a night eye cream. It moisturizes, works on the fine lines around my eyes, and doesn’t irritate my skin (that’s a theme, folks).

6. ELF Zit Zapper – I reviewed this stuff a while ago, and I’m still on the same tube. Awesome for spot treatments.

I never used to be a makeup junkie; I still deny it, since I cull my collection pretty frequently when I realize that I’m not using things. This is probably the most makeup I’ve ever owned at one time.

I don’t use all of this at the same time (obviously).

1. Clinique Redness Solutions foundation SPF 15 – I LOVE this stuff. I have never, ever been a liquid foundation girl, but figuring out the best way to apply this and a better skin care routine means better application. This definitely evens out my skin tone/reduces redness, and I can definitely tell that it’s improving my skin.

2. E.L.F. Studio blush in Pink Passion – This color is not nearly as scary on as it is in the pan–it actually gives me a gorgeous, natural flush and brightens up my face quite a bit.

3. CoverGirl Lash Blast Volume Blasting waterproof mascara in Very Black – This stuff gets mixed reviews, but I’m on my third tube and have never had problems. I love the silicone brush, and it looks amazing on. It never flakes or smudges, is totally waterproof, and comes off easily with Clinique eye makeup remover.

4. Sephora Nano Eyeliner pencil in 06 Glitter Brown – This color has sadly been discontinued, but it’s a MAC Teddy dupe (although I might go for UD 24/7 in Bourbon). Gorgeous dark brown with copper shimmer (not glitter), perfect for blue eyes.

5. Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Zero – I use this to line my waterline, and it has great staying power.

6. ELF cream liner in black – For my typical fancy winged liner look.

7. Carmex strawberry tube – I use this year-round (it gives a nice shine and smells AMAZING), but this is my savior in the winter.

8. ELF plumping lip glaze in Babydoll – My “my lips but better” shade. It looks really light in the picture, but it’s a bit darker/peachy pink in real life. Gives me a subtle plump and a nice shimmer/shine.

9. Sephora Collection rouge cream lipstick in Valentine 09 – When I want to go a little crazy (because I’m a lip balm girl), I slap some of this on. I wish I had the courage to wear this all the time!

10. ELF mineral shadows in Elegant and Celebrity – The swatches on the ELF site are off, so I had to snag the more color-accurate ones. Elegant is a light, shimmery gold, and Celebrity is the darker, shimmery beige. I’m not much of an eye makeup girl (I normally just go for a bit of liner and mascara), but these colors are pretty and perfect for blue eyes.

11. ELF mineral booster powder in sheer – For days when I don’t want to wear foundation, I brush this on over my sunscreen. It has a slightly pinkish cast and gives me a light, even finish.

I’ve never been an eyeshadow girl, except for neutrals (hey, I have blue eyes, which pop with browns!). I’ve always been jealous of the pretty, colorful makeup looks that I see in magazines (and on friends), but never brave enough to try them. However, because I’ve worn my makeup basically the exact same way for at least five years now (read: black mascara, shimmery brown liner, blush, lip balm), I (with Josh’s encouragement) finally decided to step outside of my tiny little makeup pouch. It helps that I’ve gotten a lot braver fashion-wise, too.

So, the last time that I placed an order with E.L.F., I picked up some of their mineral eyeshadows in, wait for it:
- Elegant – light, shimmery gold
- Celebrity – beautiful, shimmery neutral beige
- Sassy – warm, shimmery sienna
- Confident – dark, shimmery, bark brown
ALL neutral shades! (To be fair, this was before I decided to try something new.) They are GORGEOUS. Seriously, I was absolutely giddy at how amazingly shimmery these are–they look like metallic car paint. Then they had a 50% off sale, so I HAD to pick up more of these (I mean, come on, they’re only $3 each normally).

My second order came with:
- Sweet – shimmery, pretty coral pink
- Girly – shimmery pinky-lilac
- Flirty – shimmery medium purple
- Dreamy – beautiful, shimmery, bright turquoise blue
- Smoldering – gunmetal
- Enchanting – warm, matte terra cotta
- Seductive – matte black-grey
(and, um, a lip gloss–mineral gloss in Wild), and they, too, are breathtaking. Naturally, I had to immediately play with them and show them off to Josh to get his opinion. We both loved them, so I now have eleven eyeshadows to play around with.

First impressions:
- GAH. Gorgeous.
- AMAZING color payout. I only needed the tiniest bit to get a beautiful wash.
- They feel really nice going on, smooth and even.

After continual use:
- Good staying power, especially when used with the E.L.F. primer.
- New staple, definitely.

I like to order online, since most stores only carry a small E.L.F. selection. These babies are $3 each, unless you can find one of their offer codes (which is easy).

Over at The Demure Muse, Kat posed the question of makeup routines; namely, what is yours and is there anything you’d like to add?

Let me preface this by saying that I was never a makeup junkie. I didn’t start wearing makeup until high school, and even then it was mostly just mascara, so this whole wearing makeup and owning more than two colors of eye shadow is new to me.

The best way to start any makeup routine is with good skincare. I have dry, sensitive skin, so I’m very particular with what I put on my skin. In the morning, I wash my face with Clinique Redness Solutions Soothing Cleanser on a cleansing brush, exfoliate with Clinique Clarifying Lotion 1, and moisturize with Clinique Redness Solutions Daily Relief Cream and DDML. At night, I swap out those moisturizers for vitamin E oil. The only thing I’m missing is a regular eye cream; I do rotate two of them, but neither really makes a visible difference. This has been a near-miracle skincare routine for me, so I do it religiously.

After my skin is properly moisturized, I start with Clinique Redness Solutions foundation, swiping it toward my jaw and hairline with latex-free biodegradable makeup sponges. I have never liked liquid foundation, but the skincare routine plus playing around to find the best way to apply it changed my mind. As much as I loved my mineral foundation, the coverage just isn’t the same. Then it’s ELF eyelid primer in a thin layer on my eyelids while I do my hair.

Depending on how I feel for the day, my eyeliner is either Sephora Nano liner in 06 Glitter Brown (sadly, a discontinued color, but a MAC Teddy dupe) or Ulta Precision Liquid Liner in Carbon Black. I will never, ever give up my CoverGirl LashBlast waterproof (I don’t understand why the reviews suck–I LOVE this stuff). I typically wear some sort of ELF eye shadow, usually one of the cream duos in Mocha Swirl or Sugar Cookie, applied with my fingers (or, for powder shadows, Sephora or ELF brushes).

Currently, I use Almay SmartShade blush in Pink Rose 010, but I’m not in love with it. My former favorite is Sephora Blush Me! Mono in Rose Rebelle, but I’m looking for others (preferably matte).

I have highly pigmented lips, so I don’t have a tendency to wear lip color, and this, therefore, is an area that I would like to work on. I usually stick to Carmex or ELF Therapeutic Conditioning Lip Balm in Strawberry Creme. I love the idea of lip stains, but I can’t get them to work for me. I also love the idea of non-shimmery bright lipsticks. I have a Sephora Rouge Cream lipstick in The Red 04 and Valentine 09, but I don’t play around with them nearly enough. I have started using ELF Plumping Lip Glaze (although I can’t remember off the top of my head what color I have) more lately , which I’ve been very happy with (probably because it’s very sheer, haha).

Looking back at this, it seems like a lot. It really only takes maybe ten minutes to do the makeup part (my hair is an entirely different story), although I’ve never timed myself.