Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat Color Correctors

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I'm a big fan of color correcting skin products (learn how to color correct in this post), and for years I've used a thick cream concealer for correcting from FACE Stockholm. However, since I've somehow managed to use those same pots of product for... about 4 or 5 years now, they're probably a little gross. And using such a thick product underneath my eyes has started to result in caking and it is making me look older than I am. I am only 38. Come on! No creepies when they aren't there yet!

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Redness Be Gone! NYX Color Correcting Powder Review

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Yes, that is a green face powder. And really, it doesn't look crazy on me!

It's magical. Magical green face powder, probably made by unicorns.

It's actually a redness correction powder (learn more about how to color correct redness with makeup), and I've been using it for the last few weeks to help troubleshoot red spots that are still visible after the rest of my makeup is done.

My rosacea is mostly under control, and my redness is much improved. Except for those days after the baby decides to wake up frequently and need mama. Neeeeeed me. So, I don't get much sleep. On those days I use a little extra redness corrector under my concealer, foundation or BB Cream. And it looks great. Except there's almost always a tiny extra area of redness that shows through everything. And I do not want to pile on a thick redness corrector over everything else. It cakes and looks horrible.

Enter the NYX Color Correcting Powder. This loose powder is light green and very finely milled. It doesn't offer any coverage, and it can act as a setting powder, though I've been using it over my regular powder. I just grab a regular powder brush and dab a little of the green powder over any residual redness. Like magic it disappears!

You can buy the powder at NYX, ULTA or Amazon.

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My Current Makeup Routine

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I get asked quite often what my current beauty routine is in the morning, and the truth is that I don't really have a "go to" beauty routine that I use every day. My routine varies quite a bit depending upon the day. I work about 8-10 days a month (yes, that's considered full time at my job!), and I'm home the rest of time with my 3 month old (the 4 year old usually goes to her preschool/day care, though once a week she stays home with me too). So, I have days where I'm professional, days that I'm home with just my 3 month old, and I have days with both girls. I even get days that I'm home completely alone, though that's not very often.

I thought I'd share what I'm currently doing on days that I work, so it is the most complete look. I fully admit that I'll skip steps depending on how much time my girls let mommy have to put on her makeup! This entire look takes me about 10 minutes, start to finish.

1. Prep
I'm currently using BB cream or Tinted Moisturizer each morning simply to save time. I usually do my eyes before my face, but if I waited until after my eyes were done to apply, I'd be super dry! So, right after washing my face, I apply whichever product I'm using that day, then let it absorb while I'm working on my eyes.

I'm currently using Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer (from Nordstrom) in Blush, which is a perfect match for my skin. I do wish that it had a little bit more coverage, but it is easy to just smear all over my face and requires very little blending.

I also like to apply a basic lip balm at this time so it can start to do its magic! I typically just use whatever I have on the vanity, my favorite is Kiehl's #1 Lip Balm (from Nordstrom).


2. Eyes
While my tinted moisturizer is absorbing, I do my eyes. When I'm crunched for time, I've been doing this eye look, which is neutral but a little bit glowy and it is hard to mess up!

I start with an eye primer, usually the NYX Eye Shadow Base in Nude (from ULTA or Drugstore.com). I can apply it super fast with just my fingers and it is a great match for my skin with coverage, so it hides all of those visible blood vessels.

Next I grab Stila's Eyes Are the Window Shadow Palette in Soul (from Sephora). It has a lot of great neutral shimmery shades, which is what I love. I use Kitten and Vitality, using a big fluffy brush I pick up a little of both and apply in a light wash over my entire lid, up and over the crease. Next I grab a smaller crease brush and apply Thought to my crease and a little to the outer V of my lid.

Next I line my eyes with brown liner, Elizabeth Arden Beautiful Color Precision Glide Eyeliner in Java (from Macy's or Elizabeth Arden). I like this eye liner because it is hard enough to get between my lashes but still soft enough that the color applies easily and smudges perfectly. I just do a very rough lining, pushing the pencil into my lash line and moving it around a little to really get the liner down in there. My line is usually a bit thicker at the outer corner than it is at the inner corner. I only line the top of my eye, since I'm up so much in the middle of the night with the baby I figure adding any potential for shadow under my eyes is a bad idea! Once my eyes are lined I grab a smudge brush (usually NARS Smudge Brush #45) and I smudge the liner just a bit.

Finally I finish up with mascara. I curl and then apply one that will add nice volume and grab all of my little lashes. I'm currently using either Too Faced Better than Sex Mascara (at Sephora) or Charlotte Tilbury Full Fat Lashes 5 Star Mascara (from Nordstrom).


3. Brows
Brows is one of the first steps that I'll skip when I'm pressed for time, but really it should be one of the last steps. Filling in my brows a little with my favorite pencil, the It Cosmetics Your Brows But Better Brow Power Skinny Pencil (from ULTA), only takes about a minute and really does make me look much more pulled together. Sometimes I'll add a little Too Faced Instant Attitude Brow Lift (from Too Faced) right under my brow.


4. Face
Once my eyes are done, it's time to fix the rest of my face! I've found that by spending more time on my eyes, I actually end up using a lot less product on my face, and I end up looking better. I already have a little bit of coverage from my tinted moisturizer, so now I go after any problem areas.

I start by using my FACE Stockholm red and blue correctors (get them from Dermstore). Here's how to color correct your makeup. I only very lightly pat it just on the areas that need correction.

Next I apply concealer in a triangle under my eyes, around my nostrils and over any other imperfections. You can learn more about the triangle application in my concealer tips and tricks post. I have a couple of concealers that I like a lot (Amazing Cosmetics Amazing Concealer, It Cosmetics Bye Bye Undereye, LA Girl Pro Concealer HD and Too Faced Absolutely Flawless Concealer.

Blending is usually necessary with concealer, mostly because I like those very pigmented concealers! I love my BeautyBlender (at Sephora). I just pounce it up and down over the area very quickly, the blending is fast and looks a lot better than when I use a brush.

Next I apply blush to the apples of my cheeks. Lately I've been in love with the It Cosmetics CC+ Radiance Palette (at ULTA). Another great option is the Urban Decay Naked Flushed in Native (at Sephora), a very pretty pink. Both of these palettes have blush, highlighter/illuminator and bronzer. I usually use the blush on my cheeks first then tap into the illuminator/highlighter, a tiny bit of the blush, and I go all over my face. You can't really see shimmer or color from this quick sweep on my forehead, nose and chin, but it really brightens my look!

Once my blush is on, I apply a little powder to my t-zone. Usually MAC Blot Powder (from Nordstrom). This tones down the blush quite a bit, so I sometimes add a little more over the powder. I've found that layering my blush under and over the powder adds a lot of time to the wear.

Finally, I add a little highlighter! This finishing step isn't something that shows up in pics, but in person makes me look much more awake. I've been using the RMS Beauty Living Luminizer (from J Crew) in my inner eye corner, on my cheek bones and down the center of my nose.


5. Lips
By this point, I've usually run out of time. Since I've already applied some basic balm, my lips are already moisturized. Then I'll run around all day with a tinted lippie or balm in my pocket and just apply as needed. My current absolute favorite is the Yves Saint Laurent Volupté Tint-In-Oil (from Sephora) in I Rose for You. It feels very hydrating and goes on looking basically clear. Over a few minutes it gets a bit darker. I think it's really easy to just swipe on whenever I need some.


I have this routine down so that it really does take roughly 10 minutes start to finish! What's your go-to makeup look when you don't have a lot of time?


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Red, Red, Go Away? L'Oreal BB Magic Anti-Redness Review

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Yes, that really is a green BB cream. And I tried it. And kind of liked it.

The whole idea behind this product is color correction. Yes, using green (and yellow, though that doesn't work as well as green) on your face will "cancel" any redness. (Read more about color correction makeup.)

I do have some redness, I have rosacea and I have good days and bad days. I'm hesitant to seek anything "more" for my rosacea since I'm about 30 weeks pregnant, and when I'm not pregnant I'm under great control. Instead, I'm going to suck it up and see what happens after I deliver. So, I'm all about color correction!

The great thing about color correcting is that it cancels out your problem color, and in return you get to use a lot less traditional coverage product, whether that is concealer, foundation or regular BB Cream. It's great! However, you really should only color correct in the problem areas. It's pretty easy to turn your whole face green!



The interesting thing about this color corrector is that the light lotion comes out of the tube green, but as you rub it in, it turns into a more skin tone color (yes, it is much too dark to be a good color match for me). However, it still color corrects! It is magic.

So, I put a small pump of this green lotion on the back of my hand, then lightly dot it where I have redness. I rub it around and it becomes more skin toned, and my redness goes away. Because it is a bit darker than my skin, I cover it up with something else (usually foundation or concealer, but whatever I'm using that day works). My redness is gone for the rest of the day. It's pretty good for larger areas that need to be corrected, I would stick with a thicker correcting concealer for smaller problem areas.

L'Oreal
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Clinique Superprimer Face Primers: Does a Little Tint Cure All Ills?

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Lately, I seem to be a big sucker for primers, and if a primer can also color correct skin imperfections then that is even better!

Recently Clinique sent me their new primers, which are multi-taskers that do both! (I fully admit that I was pretty excited about these and had already featured them the day before they suddenly showed up on my door, they're in my There's a Primer for That post over on Babble.)



There are 6 different shades, well 5 if you don't consider the neutral to be a color. You can read more about how to color correct your skin, but the idea is that you use a corrector that is opposite of the problem color on the color wheel. For redness, you need a green corrector, the deep blues of undereye circles need a peach, sallow skin (usually too yellow, you're washed out) should have a purple corrector. The depth of color should be deeper or more intense if you need to correct a more intense color or have a darker skin tone.

The 5 shades of correction for the Clinique primers above (left to right) are for Redness, Dullness, Discolorations, Discolorations in Deeper Skins and Sallowness ("Universal" is last and it is clear when applied). I've rubbed them in at the bottom of my arm and you can see that they do rub in pretty well, my arm doesn't look like stripes of different colors. Always reassuring that the color corrector isn't going to turn your skin all purple like Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands.

The primers are silicone based and you can feel that in the formulations, they're almost like a dry lotion with slip. They apply easily on the skin and are great under foundation. I've tried all of the colors (yes, even the Discolorations in Deeper Skins) and all of them disappeared into my skin. The one that is most useful to me is the redness corrector with my rosacea, and it did correct some of the redness but I still had to use my FACE Stockholm redness corrector in some areas. I haven't decided if this is because the corrector is yellow instead of the more traditional green or the sheerness of the formulation.

The primers are great under foundation, they definitely help to make any skin imperfections less noticeable and my foundation looks smoother. Clinique recommends using only one formulation of the primers at a time, so you should select the one for your main concern. You can still pair them with other color correctors, like I have, or also use a foundation that helps any secondary concerns. For example, if your skin has both redness and discoluration, use the redness primer with Even Better Makeup, Clinique’s foundation for uneven skin tone.

What do you think? I've been expecting color correction to become very popular soon, so this new line of primers wasn't really a surprise to me. (After all of the contouring we've seen, this makeup artist secret seemed like an obvious next mainstream trend.)

Clinique
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Concealer Series: FACE Stockholm Correctors

It's time to switch things up just a tad and focus on a few of those color correctors that I've been so excited about. I discussed how to use color correctors previously, the FACE Stockholm correctors were pictured but not discussed in that post (see? There they are above).

Quick refresher: just remember to correct a color you want to look directly opposite on the color wheel. So, if your undereye circles are bluish, which is the case for most white women, you'll want a peachy tone to the corrector. If you need red for a blemish, look for a green tone. A darker skin tone or more vivid color you are trying to correct should prompt you to look for a more intensely colored corrector.


Corrective Concealer is one of FACE Stockholm's most popular products. These correctors are not very intense in their coloring, so they're great for light to moderate discoloration. I find myself reaching for both of these correctors pretty much every day. I use the very lightly green tinted corrector (the red corrector) around my nose and a little under my eyes. I then use the blue corrector (which is tinted peach) under my eyes as well. (I'm lucky, I get to have both colors be an issue under there.)

The correctors blend very easily and while they don't provide the same type of coverage as a concealer, the discolorations do seem to disappear quite a bit just with the color correction. I can't comment on wear time (this stuff still gets covered by concealer, I mostly notice when that goes away), but I can tell show you how intense the color is, tell you it seems to have decent coverage and blends well. Love it!


FACE Stockholm Corrective Concealer

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Concealer Review Series: How and Where to Use Concealer and Corrector

Back when I was entering my 3rd trimester, I was thinking about what topics I would be interested in covering shortly after my daughter arrived. I would need something interesting enough to spend a little time on it, rather than simply staring at the baby. (She's super cute as she sleeps! Obviously I must watch this for hours!)

Anyways, I decided that the things I would be most interested in would be speeding up my routine to get ready in a jiffy (hence, spending even more time staring at the baby) and looking for ways to look awake while I do so. I started to work on a concealer review series. A lot of my favorite brands have decided to participate, from Revlon and Cover Girl to Estée Lauder, Elizabeth Arden and even QVC favorite Dalton! The series currently has over 20 concealers, and will go on for quite a while. Watch for a new concealer review every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

In the meantime, I thought I'd share what info I have in my brain about undereye circles and taking care of them to look more awake. I've accumulated a lot of little tips over my years of beauty blogging, but most of them came from being a beauty obsessed medical student and resident. So, this post is ~90% reviewing covering up undereye circles.

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