Weekly Beauty Tip #75: DIY Full coverage foundation

Can't find a good full coverage foundation? Or just need one in a pinch? Try mixing a full coverage concealer with some moisturizer then apply like foundation.

Weekly Beauty Tip #74: Invest in a good foundation

It is important to invest in a good foundation, rather than to buy what might be the cheapest (even though there are some great low priced foundations out there). Using a good foundation (remember to get one in the right shade and formula for your skin type) should keep your skin from breakouts and irritation while also making your skin (plus the overall makeup look) look better.

Review: Olay Fresh Effects Bead Me up Exfoliating Cleanser

A while back I reviewed the rest of the Olay Fresh Effects line. I have finally been able to use Bead Me Up enough to give it an informed review. Bead Me Up is an exfoliating cleanser.  As exfoliating cleansers go (at least the ones that I have tried) this one is pretty unique. 

This cleanser foams like Shine Shine Go Away to help clean all of the dirt out of your pores.  Because it foams, you do not need to use a lot of product.  It also has a ton of tiny little microbeads to exfoliate.  The microbeads are very, very small. When I use it on my already damp face, I can barely feel any exfoliation going on. But when I use it on dry skin, it exfoliates a lot better.  I would recommend trying it either way based on your preference, but I feel this cleanser exfoliates better on dry skin than on wet skin.

Cleansing wise, this cleans really well! My skin definitely feels clean and fresh.  It is not drying like Shine Shine Go Away. 

This isn’t the best face scrub I have tried; I have tried many that exfoliate much better. But as cleanser, this is great and it does have the added benefit of light exfoliation. 

The packaging is the same as Shine Shine Go Away, a squeeze tube. Which I like, it makes it easy to dispense the product. 

I should mention that this year, Olay is expanding the Fresh Effects line. The new products include:

-Swirled Deep  Pore Clean Plus Exfoliating  Scrubs in three scents:  Green Apple and Jasmine Tea, White Grapefruit and Green Tea and Honeysuckle and White Tea

- Dew Over Hydrating Gel Moisturizer

- Soak up the Sun Protection  Moisturizing Sunscreen SPF 15

- As Fresh As New Exfoliating Wet Cloths

- Bright on Schedule Eye Awakening Cream

These new products seem great and I am excited to try quite a few of them. 

Weekly Beauty Tip #73: Moisturize before applying perfume

Before applying perfume, moisturize your body with lotion (unscented or in a matching scent). Perfume stays longer on moisturized, hydrated skin.

Elf liquid foundation review

Happy new year lovelies! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. I apologize for the lack of posts lately, between the seasonal job I was working and the holidays I was super busy. I won't be posting a review of the December Glambag. Most of the products I haven't been able to try and I don't want to post something without full effort put into it. That being said, here is a review I've been meaning to post for a while.


Although I use a variety of foundations, liquid is my  favorite  and the type I use the most. So of course I tried Elf's.

The foundation comes in a pump bottle (please ignore the mess of my bottle), which I love. It's so much better than having to pour out the foundation and  hoping it doesn't spill everywhere. It is also more sanitary. The cap of this actually stays on, too (take some notes, elf face primer). The bottle is also pretty sturdy. The pump I have noticed can get stuck a little sometimes but it isn't really a problem, it does go back to normal.

There is a pretty good shade range but the colors are off and too dark. My go to foundation is Revlon Colorstay in Ivory, it is my perfect shade. For the Elf liquid foundation, I use their shade in porcelain (the lightest shade available), which isn't really porcelain at all. It is dark on me. It is also yellow undertoned which isn't ideal for a person with cool pink undertones like me. I don't use this foundation often, but I will use this from time to time, in the summer so that I look less pale. If I wear this in the winter, you can really tell that it is too dark. If your skin is more medium shaded, you will probably have an easier time with these foundations. But if you are as light skinned as me, you should probably skip this.

Here is a dot of the Elf foundation on my skin, unblended:

Here it is blended:

It is important to note that this foundation is oil free and it does contain SPF 15. SPF is very important and I really do like foundations that contain it, it saves me that extra step of applying sunscreen before my foundation.

It has a smooth consistency and has pretty good medium coverage. It isn't matte, it has a dewy finish. With primer it does last all day, but when I don't wear primer I will notice it beginning to wear off after a while.


Overall this is a good foundation especially for the price ($6) but it isn't my favorite nor the best. The formula is good, but the color choices not so much. I am not the only person that has complained of this, I hope someday Elf realizes this problem and makes some better shades.