Start the new year right this year by going through your make up stash! As most of us realize, make up has an expiration date. Make up can breed bacteria, even if you’re careful and hygienic when applying.

The chances of you catching some life threatening bacteria are slim, but you can avoid acne, skin irritation, and common infections such as pink eye if you take proper care of what you’re putting on your face. If you haven’t hit your collection up in a while, the new year may be the perfect time to toss questionable items.

Here are some expiration dates to be aware of:

• Powders and shadows: 2 years
• Cream shadows: 12 to 18 months
• Foundation: 1 year
• Lipstick & lipliner: 1 year
• Mascara & eyeliners: 3 months
• Nail polish: 1 to 2 years

Don’t forget to clean your brushes and other make up tools:

• Brushes: Clean weekly using a mild detergent, and spot clean more frequently with brush solution spray
• Sponges: Replace weekly, or buy a re-usable washable sponge. I use this one from Sonia Kashuk as it works well, costs less, and is reusable if you wash it well after each use!

To more easily remember when you bought something, you can write the purchase date on the bottom with a permanent marker. Keep in mind that these numbers apply only to make up and has been opened and used at least once.

You can extend the life of your make up by always using hygenic practices such as washing hands with soap and water before application, using sanitized tools to dip into pots, and using indirect application when possible.

When was the last time you cleaned up your make up? Are you going through it now, and do you have any tips to share?

Image source: 1

A lot of things come to mind hearing the word “minimalism,” but the topic of beauty isn’t usually one of the top ten. Lately I’ve been thinking about what it means trying to be a minimalist woman in today’s society.

I think the ultimate extreme of this is not wearing make-up, shaving my hair off, and wearing a cloth robe every day with no shoes. Hence the addition of “today’s society.” How do we take that into modern times?

When I think of minimalistic beauty I think of creating a routine for yourself that is fast, easy, and doesn’t require too many resources. A woman who looks effortless but put together is beautiful, in my opinion. Here’s how I would imagine minimalistic beauty for a woman who may look simple but still looks gorgeous:

• Long hair. I had this internal debate for a while, but I’ve finally made up my mind. Long hair is the easier. I never have to think about it; I don’t even remember the last time I cut it! Shorter hair, while you may think takes less time to take care of, ends up being high maintenance when it comes to both trimming and style.
• Natural make-up. While it would be great to purchase only cruelty-free make-up (it’s not hard ladies, really!) I think every girl needs a make-up routine that they can get done in five minutes. (Ten, tops!) Make-up should be about accentuating your natural look, not dramatizing it. It’s always great to have fun with make-up, but I usually save that for special events.
• Conscious clothing. Be aware of what you’re buying. Whenever I buy clothes I ask myself if it’s a need or a want. Most of the time it’s a need, and if it’s a want I swap something out of my closet that I’m sick of and donate it. This way your clothes are kept at a minimum, but you can still enjoy shopping.
• Quality accessories. I find that I only wear jewelry that has value, otherwise it gets tossed in a pile that I later give to a family member. Have only a few accessories, but make them special.
• Necessary shoes & bags. I’m not a shoe person, but I admit that I have a thing for bags. Either way, I only keep an item that has a purpose. For example, one pair of sneakers, one shopping bag, one pair of brown heels, one tote bag, etc. Having a collection of shoes and bags in every color is just a no-no for simplicity.

What’s your idea of minimalistic beauty?  Do you consider yourself a minimalist or do you indulge when it comes to beautifying yourself every day?

Image source: 1

Make-up is fun. You can change the shape of your eyes with the flick of an eyeliner wand or slim you face with a good bronzer. I have fun sharing tips about brands and routines. Right now I see a lot of bloggers and beauty gurus talking about the best make-up for the summer heat, or what to wear when you’re going to the beach/pool.

My recommendation for make-up this summer — don’t wear anything.

What do these celebs have in common? They’re not wearing any make-up!

When it’s so hot I have to constantly wipe my brow, or I’m going be in water, I don’t wear anything. Make-up is not a necessity. I know it’s hard to go barefaced if you have bad skin. I’ve been there. But you can fix that, too. As you can see from the profile picture on my blog, the one on my Twitter account, or even this picture I’ll stick right here, I’m fine not wearing anything on my face. Sometimes it’s not easy. But remember we all have our bad skin days. I think every girl needs to be okay going barefaced most of the time. After all, isn’t that the real you?

Go natural when the heat gets unbearable!

So if the heat gets unbearable this summer, just skip the make-up. Here are some of the tips I use to still look my best.

My Summer Tips

• Heal your skin. Now’s the time to find those products that work well for you. I completely switched to Origins only two weeks ago and my face is almost completely healed from the mess it used to be. The right products for you will heal dry patches, control oil, heal acne, and make your skin glow. Skincare is really important for the health of your skin! I am willing to invest way more in this than make-up.
• Drink water. A lot. This is something I forget to do. Not only is it good for you since you’ll be sweating more than usual, but it’s good for your skin anyway. I like to squeeze some lemon in my water to make it taste a little better.
• Dab on some sunless tan. If you want a glow but you’re either very pale (like me) or don’t want to keep sweating off your bronzer, use sunless tan products. You can even buy some that will give you a glow, but wash off in the shower that night. It’ll make you look sun-kissed, and you don’t have to worry about it traveling anywhere on your face.
• Hydrate your lips. I recommend a good lip scrub and then applying your favorite lip moisturizer. Healthy looking lips can make you look great even if you’re not wearing make-up.
• Give your eyes TLC. You may suffer from serious dark circles, like I do. Get plenty of sleep and use an eye cream every night to hydrate the area and you’ll look presentable enough. On the bad days, when I still don’t feel like putting on make-up, I grab my biggest sunglasses and glue them to my face for the day.
• Check your hair. If your hair is hydrated and shiny, it really pulls your look together. It doesn’t matter if you’re wearing it straight or going for a boho wavy look! Put some leave-in moisturizer or shine spray on it and it’ll complete your overall natural glow.

Celeb Images Source: Style Bistro

I’ve touched this topic before in regards to YouTube beauty gurus, back when I had just discovered the community. I wanted to voice my latest opinion.

The YouTube beauty community mostly consists of younger women purchasing things like make-up and clothes and then making videos talking about their purchases. It is also heavily focused on things like make-up tutorials, where the girls illustrate how to achieve a certain look using certain products.

YouTube's beauty community -- good or bad?

Unfortunately, there’s a darker side to the community many are either unaware of or choose to turn their eyes from. What started as something girls did for fun somehow grew into a dog and pony show done every few days for an income. Girls are getting sent free products by companies to review. Getting paid by companies to be mentioned in their videos. Getting paid to host giveaways done by companies. The list goes on.

Here are a few examples of girls who have made the most of their popularity:

Michelle Phan is YouTube’s most popular make-up guru. She’s making over $200,000 a year on her main YouTube channel alone. (Source) That doesn’t include the money she makes from Lancome, who saw her on YouTube and hired her to do sponsored videos using their products. It doesn’t include profit she made from IQQU, a skincare line she advertised but recently withdrew from after legal troubles. It doesn’t include any money she has made through her other channels.

There are also girls like sisters Elle and Blair, who have made so much profit they’ve moved from their parent’s home in Tennessee to a high-end suite in L.A. to work on YouTube full-time. They’ve started a blog, forum, online boutique, and are working on a reality show. (Which I don’t think will ever see the light of day.) Some girls have really been able to take it this far.

BubzBeauty, yet another popular beauty guru, has her own line of make-up brushes coming out soon and was able to launch an online clothing boutique.

I’m not blasting these girls. In fact, I think they’re lucky. Who wouldn’t want to be paid a six figure income for casually talking about make-up? My point, however, is exposing a huge flaw in the community — the sincerity is lost. Many videos look like infomercials. When the girls claim they’re so excited to post a video, you have to wonder if they’re just meeting their weekly quota. The popular community topic “Favorite Products of the Month” is just another long advertisement.

YouTube user addicted2toofaced.

The worst part of all, and the reason I’m writing this, is that young girls everywhere are falling for it. As soon as their idol on YouTube tells them to buy a product, they will run out and buy it. Check out Addicted2TooFaced, a 14 year-old girl who has more high-end make-up than I will ever own collectively throughout my life. I can’t help but watch videos like that and feel sad. This girl just hit her teenage years and she’s already wearing too much make-up, clothes that are too mature for her, and has developed an over-spending habit — using her parent’s money, no doubt.

I think the beauty community is just an endless cycle of spending money on things you don’t really need to gain admiration (and sometimes money) from others. I deleted my YouTube account. My subscription page became overwhelming — one huge commercial. I actually wanted to go shopping after watching. That’s not why I started watching these videos.

Realizing this about the beauty community has made me realize one more thing: The Beauty section on my website contributes to this cycle. Don’t get me wrong, I think honestly reviewing brands is a good thing and will likely continue doing it, but I’ve realized that I’d like to post more about natural do-it-yourself beauty tips and fun ideas that don’t focus on product names. I think that would be refreshing.

We live in such a “mediatized” society. It’s crazy when you sit down and look at all the ways we advertise for companies. What are your thoughts?