Get Glowing Skin for Spring

I like my skin to look poreless, radiant, and lively! I mean, smooth as a baby's bottom, glowing from within goddess, slept for 10+ hours, and took her women's daily vitamin type skin! Unfortunately, despite my skin staying relatively clear, it can look dull, with a few dry patches now and then because of the cold, yet super oily throughout my T-zone, and a bit of discoloration. I'm not perfect but I can fake it until I make it!

So I have some skin tips to prep your skin for makeup and makeup tips to have you looking bright, awake, refreshed and blooming like the beautiful tulips we all are!

SKIN TIPS:

1) WATER

Drink your 8 glasses a day. Sip on that H2O daily! Keep your skin hydrated and supple!

2) REMOVE

Take off your makeup every night! Don't you even think about sleeping if your makeup isn't removed. It's real easy nowadays with the wipes, cleansers, micellar water. I personally use micellar water or Pond's cold cream! Then I wash my face with a gentle face cleanser like the Cetaphil so it's all really gone but not being too harsh on my skin with too many chemicals!

3) COLD WATER

Splash a little after you wash your face to tighten your pores. I do this in the morning when I first wake up. Or if you prefer a toner, I use the Fresh Rose Deep Hydration Facial Toner at night. It gets any last bit of grime from my face and it leaves me feeling soft.

4) MOISTURIZE

I used to think because my face was oily that I could skip a moisturizer any time I want but my skin when overboard in producing oils because I had skipped on giving it proper moisture. Get your face AND your neck. Your 60 year old self will thank you for giving your neck a little lovin! There's drugstore and high end options, with or without spf. Mario Bedescu and Aveeno & Olay both have some bangers!

5) EXFOLIATE

I exfoliate twice a week to get the dead skin off my face, clear out the black heads, and get my skin looking smooth and reducing my dry patch build up. I liked my skin to feel polished and always notice a difference in the texture in my skin when I exfoliate.

Now, for the glowy make up routine:

1) PREP & PRIME:

Start off with a clean fresh base when applying your makeup means the canvas is clean and you are ready to start creating your look. So start with a freshly washed face and then apply your choice of primer for your skin needs. Depending on what state my skin is in or the weather, I reach for my Smashbox Photo Finish to blur my pores of if I'm oily and I need all day hold I go for the Becca Ever Matte Poreless primer. I apply by pressing into my skin gently with clean hands or use a flat foundation brush to but a thin layer on, and then I wait a few minutes for it sink in.

2) COLOR CORRECT

I'm a dark skinned girl so I use orange or red to color correct. I use the Anastasia Beverly Hills cream highlight and contour palette and get into the orange shade and apply under my eyes, above my lips, and anywhere else thats look dull or dark. I pat it out with my beauty blender to fade it and set those spots with Laura Mercier deep translucent powder.

3) FOUNDATION & CONCEALER

The foundation I reach for when I'm trying to long wearing and luminous is the Hourglass Vanish Seamless Foundation Stick! I apply this and blend it out with a brush. I then apply concealer in a triangle under my eyes, down the bridge of my nose, and chin, and above my lip, and the middle of my forehead, and blend it out with my damp beauty blender. I dip in small amount of any of my loose powders and bake my laugh lines, under my eyes, and nose but only for a minute! If you overbake or use too much you look dry and cakey and you loose that healthy skin look. I bake enough to set those areas because my laugh lines try to crack on me and my nose likes to get shiny.

4) SET GENTLY & HIGHLIGHTER

I set any other areas with my Black Opal powder ( avoiding the very tops of my cheeks) and I warm my skin with a Mac blush like you would a bronzer that way I look dimensional and not flat. I contour my nose a little and under my cheeks with a cooler dark brown powder foundation because ya girl got round baby cheeks! Now I apply liquid highlighter on my cheeks and chin. Then I spray my brush my setting spray and dip into my Natasha Denona Body Glow and put it on my cheeks, the tip of my nose, the high points of my brow, Cupid's bow. I am GLOWING like the sun by now and if my shoulders are out, I hit my collar bone and shoulder real quick too!

5) BLUSH

Some are under the impression that highlighter finishes a look but a blush ties the whole thing together. Blush gives you color and deep pink gives me a full bodied look. I dont think I look right if my cheeks aren't a tad rosy. I also think it's best to wait till the end to apply blush because then you know which shade to throw on. There is nothing like having an overpowering blush or a mismatched colored blush that throws your overall aesthetic off. So dap dap, and tap tap off any excess ( but dont be that girl that daps into her blush hard and then thunder clap/taps the excess off and is wasting ALLL the product!

Last but not least, ways to get extra glow:

-Finish with a pearlescent/ metallic lipgloss so the light hits you and you are just shining like as star!

-Mixing liquid highlighter into liquid foundation or buy a luminous foundation

- Start with a luminous primer or strobe cream

- Layering different highlighters, be sure to spray your brush each time

-Using a shimmering blush alongside highlighter

-Tap a little glitter on the middle of eyelids so everywhere can shine