One of my favorite beauty Gurus swears by Cover FX’s Gripping Primer ($44). This product is so popular, it is usually sold out at Sephora and there are no testers in the store. After months of searching, I finally got a sample of it.

My Guru promised a “glass like finish” to my skin. While the beauty Guru looked amazing in the video, I am certain in person it did not look good. I had to put it to the test! I applied it all over and found it really heavy and greasy. I felt like if I left it on my skin, I would surely breakout. For my readers, I kept it on and applied foundation. I found the foundation applied very patchy and chalky. I immediately took it off.

If you want a “glass like finish,” do not use this primer. Instead, apply a good moisturizer under your primer, a pore minimizing primer and a luminous primer. By creating a smooth foundation, you can achieve a “glass like” finish!.

My hair is long, straight, shiny, and feels like silk. The style lasts for days, even in extreme humidity. The secret: using hair serum when your hair is wet before you blow-dry, after you blowdry and before you straighten, and after you straighten. Sometimes after a few days, if I want to change it up I will curl the ends.

As I stated in previous posts, I use Babyliss Pro Nano 2 inch Hair Straightener, Tresemme Keratin Infusing Smoothing Serum, and L’Oreal Sleek It Iron Straight Heatspray.

Directions:

1. Apply 3-7 pumps of serum on your ends while hair is wet. It may seem like a lot, but it is much needed.

2. Blowdry hair- rough blow dry- takes approximately 10 minutes. Apply the heat protectant to each section (should be 10-20 sprays) and blowdry to ensure there is no damage when you go to straighter.

3. Apply more serum (again, 3-7 pumps) to your ends. Your hair may feel greasy- do not worry! It will feel like silk once you straighten it! I promise!

4. Straighten- I put it on 35-40 (the hottest is 50). Put your hair up, take small 1-2 inch section of hair and slowly straighten it. Go very slowly- you will only need one or two passes to get your hair straight. I like to curl the ends a bit so it isn’t so straight. Sometimes I use a round brush to set the heat in a curl at the end so its not too straight. Repeat until you do all your hair.

5. Apply more serum. I also like moroccan oil, but the serum works.

I bought the 7 piece Tarte kit for $63 online during the one day sale. I counted the days until I received my custom kit, only to find the only product I liked was the mascara. Granted, I could buy a comparable mascara at the drugstore for $7.99.

To start, the Shape Tape Foundation was too heavy and cakey, even when applied sparingly. I even tried diluting the foundation with primer- it was still too heavy. The contour palette looked good when I first applied it, but crumbled off after a few hours. The lipstick was too dark. The Maneater Palette was the worst- after two hours, my eyes were black from the eyeliner. The eyeshadows do not stay in place!

After trying out the kit, I would not recommend Tarte cosmetics. While I hear great things about the Shape Tape Concealer, for $8 my Joah concealer works wonders. Truthfully, I think Tarte is all packaging and marketing. The products look amazing but once put to the test are poor quality. I would recommend drugstore over Tarte any day!

I have found mosts sunscreens designed for my face breakout my skin. Therefore, I have no choice but to find two-in-one products with sunscreen. If you want sunscreen in a moisturizer, I love Garnier Clearly Brighter Moisturizer ($17) with SPF 30. For drugstore primers with SPF, I like the Maybelline Master Prime Blur + Defend ($10) with SPF 30 and for high end, I like NARS Radiant Primer ($35) in SPF 34.

l recently had dinner with my Aunt and her skin glows, thanks to Chanel CC Cream ($55) with SPF 50. Ordinarily, I do not review expensive products. However, my Aunt says the product lasts for 6 months. The CC Cream imparts a luminous finish and lasts all day, even without a setting powder.

For my skin, I love Physician’s Formula Mineral Wear Cushion Foundation ($17) which also has SPF 50. The cushion foundation has a convenient, quick applicator sponge. Although the coverage is light, it is still buildable. I find the finish of the product to be very luminous. Even though the product only comes in a few colors, I think the shades are designed to be very versatile. In order to make it long wearing, you have to use a setting powder and setting spray, or else it only lasts a few hours.

I will continue to update this post as I find more products I like with SPF throughout this summer so check back in a few months!

I went through my makeup collection and found the Paris City Glow Bronzer duo by Physician’s Formula. Inspired, I tried the bronzed goddess look to excellent results! If you do not have this, a light bronzer such as the Physician’s Formula Butter Bronzer in the light and dark shades will work. This look is perfect for faking a summer tan and adding a nice, healthy glow!

After applying moisturizer, primer, foundation, concealer, and blush, apply the light shade of the bronzer all over with a fluffy brush. Be sure to apply the bronzer to your neck and decolletage so the tan is even and natural. Contour using the darker shade. Apply Physician’s Formula Mineral Glow Pearls highlighter to your cheekbones, down the bridge of your nose, and in the inner corners. For a cohesive look, apply the light shade of the bronzer to the lid and the dark shade to the crease. Then, apply mascara. To finish the look, apply a shimmery lip gloss. I like Rimmel Stay Glossy in Captivate Me!

Once you are done, you are sure to be a bronzed Goddess! Comment below if you have tried it!

I got inspired to create this blog after watching hundreds of Instagram tutorials and Youtube videos, wanting to tell my readers the truth: the glamorous makeup in the videos looks too heavy in real life. I think if you saw any Beauty Influencer on the street, you would think its too much.

Today, I followed an Instagram tutorial to disastrous results:

I started with the eyebrows. I used my eyebrow pencil to draw in an even thicker eyebrow. I used concealer to accentuate the arch. Even if it looks good in pictures, the look is too severe for real life.

For foundation, I started with the Farsali primer you see in all the videos. Its basically a shimmery face oil- I need something thicker and more tacky. In terms of foundation, I have noticed in a lot of videos Beauty Influencers use a shade darker than her actual skin. I refuse to do this. I also refuse to cake it on with heavy powder.

I then went to do under eye concealer. Like in the video, I used a shade brighter than my skin. While it does brighten my face, it also looks unnatural. I baked the powder. If anything, the powder settled into my previously nonexistent lines.

For eyes, I tried the black smokey eye that looked amazing in the video. I winded up looking like a raccoon. I took it off and tried again many times (for an hour and a half) only to go back to my usual look.

While the Beauty Influencers of Youtube and Instagram have taught me techniques and introduced me to some of my favorite products, it is important to keep in mind the glam look is great on camera, but too much in person. Over time, with experimenting new products and techniques, you will find what works for you. Hopefully my blog inspires you to try new looks and products!

One of my favorite beauty influencers made a viral video about the ELF Pores Putty Primer ($8.00) being better than the expensive Tatcha primer ($50+). Of course, I immediately went to Target only to find its sold exclusively online. My sister just bought it for me online for my birthday.

I tried it out last night before I went out with high expectations only to be disappointed. I thought the primer would minimize pores and imperfections.- my imperfections were only magnified. This is just another example of a beauty influencer lacking integrity- he endorsed the Poreless Putty Primer not because it was a good product, but because he made a lot of money from the endorsement.

If you want a good pore minimizing primer, NYX Pore Filler primer delivers fabulous results. Do not buy the Poreless Putty Primer- you will only be disappointed.

As you all know, I am obsessed with the Covergirl TruNaked Nudes eye palette. For years, I have followed the tutorials for the dark smokey eye and failed miserably- its usually too severe, too heavy, sometimes too trashy, or just too much. I totally gave up until I saw the Covergirl TruNaked Smokey eye palette from Walgreens for $12.99. This looked promising: I had a lot of success with the other TruNaked palettes.

After spending hours watching Youtube tutorials, I decided I want to try an evening, glamorous, sultry smokey eye. I went out last night for my birthday and I wore the smokey look with a lot of success: not only did I receive compliments on my makeup, the look photographed well! It looked so good, my friend wants me to do the look on her the next time we go out!

The keys to a successful smokey eye are the right brushes and cleaning it up with makeup remover wipe and a Q tip. The following items are needed for a smokey eye:

1. Covergirl TruNaked Palette
2. Q Tips
3. Smudge Brush
4. Crease Brush
5. Fluffy Brush
6. Small Crease Brush
7. Eyeliner Brush
8. Undereye concealer
9. Makeup remover wipes

Foolproof Steps:

1. Apply light transition shade (the lightest shade on the palette) on a fluffy brush all over the eye.
2. Apply the medium blue shade to the lid only with the same brush. Only apply the eyeshadow to the lid- do not go above the crease.
3. Apply the dark navy shade with the crease brush to the crease and outer corner. Blend with your finger. The look needs to be soft, not severe. Do not worry about it being messy- you will clean it up later.
4. Be brave: take the smudge brush into the navy color and apply to the upper and lower lash lines. Do not worry about it being messy- you will clean it up later.
5. Apply the black shade on the eyeliner brush and line the upper lid.
6. Clean up the bottom and top eyeliner with a Q Tip until it looks clean. This is a smokey look so its okay if its smudged, just make sure its not messy.
7. Take a makeup remover wipe and clean up around the eye so the look is crisp.
8. Apply under eye concealer to brighten the face.

Please comment below if you have any tricks for a smokey eye!

I went to a pool party and felt very pale in my bikini. I am unable to tan- my skin burns and sometimes freckles. I decided immediately I would do an at home tanner. I do not live near any spray tanning locations and decided it would be easier to just do it myself.

As usual, I did extensive research on products. I read mousses result in a more even glow and I bought L’Oreal Sublime Bronze Self Tanning Water Mousse in Medium at Walgreens for about $15.00. I did not realize the mousse forms a water very quickly and gets messy. There is no question I followed the directions properly and did a good job applying the product.

As per the directions, I waited for the product to dry. This took a lot longer than I expected. If you ever decide you want an at home spray tan, be sure to look for a quick drying formula. Even though my skin felt dry, the tanner stained my clothes. The tanner takes a much longer time to develop than advertised- in 4-8 hours I was only slightly tanner.

It was not until the next morning I woke up to a disaster: I was orange and streaky! Despite my even application, there were patches of paleness against an orange tan.

If the tan turned out well, it would have been great that it lasted so long. After six days of an awful tan, I could not live with it anymore. I did extensive research with my Mom on how to remove a fake tan. I ended up trying out the baby oil/baking soda exfoliant strategy. First, I sat in the baby oil for 20 minutes while watching a Youtube beauty tutorial, praying the oil would break down the chemicals in the fake tan. This sort of worked- I could see the chemicals breaking down in some places. Second, I applied a mixture of baking soda and water as an exfoliant to scrub off the color. The baking soda exfoliant was a disaster- it became a mess in my shower.

As I am writing this, I still have leftover patches of orange on my skin. If I have learned anything from this experience, it is to steer clear of self tanners. If I ever one day want a tan, I will have to spend a lot of money not just on the spray tan and tip, but the Uber getting there.

After I went through all of this, my friend told me she uses Jergen’s Natural Glow Daily Moisturizer for her skin and it looks amazing. When I began this self-tan journey, I did my research and decided against Jergens; I decided to do a self tanner because I wanted results after one application. After I get over my fear of an fake tanners, I may try out the Jergens and review it for you.

Comment below if you have any good self tanning solutions!

As you may know from my previous posts, I have been on a mission for the perfect hair style. I tried the GHD Platinum Styler and did not like it. I found the Revlon One Step damaged my hair over time and the Beachwaver only looks amazing for 12 hours after styling. I find round brush blowdrying my hair exhausting and results in frizzy hair.

My current T3 is the worst: my ends are fried, its too straight at the ends and my hair still frizzes. Like most of you, my goal for a straighter is to a have an effortless silky smooth, shiny hair style with some volume that lasts for days.

As I discussed in an earlier post, I spent weeks researching the perfect iron. I found the perfect iron when I was at my hair salon. My new hair stylist showed me how to use it and the benefits. I immediately bought the 2 inch Babyliss Pro Nano Titanium Ultra Thin Straightener for about $110 online (I used a 20% off coupon at Ultra with free shipping).

As a benefit, this straighter works much faster than my T3 iron. I prep my hair with L’oreal Sleek It Iron Straight Heatspray. It truly lives up to its three day sleek + 450 degree protection promise. In about a minute, the iron heats up and in less than twenty, my hair style is complete. I do not have to repeatedly go over sections of my hair. If you are concerned about your hair being too straight or looking lifeless, that will not be an issue with this iron- my hair still has some volume.

The Babyliss Pro Nano Titanium Ultra Thin Straighter is perfection: I have silky smooth, shiny hair that looks better over time-I can get the style to last for a week with dry shampoo. I give this product the highest recommendation: 10/10!