You’re new to makeup and there are tens of thousands of products to try. They all claim the same or similar results, yet have incredibly different price tags. You watch reviews on Youtube where they do a “natural, no makeup look” while using 20+ products, which simply is NOT realistic for a real beginner. Sounds like you? Look no further!

In this post, we are going to create a very basic guide to suit your beginner makeup needs. If you STILL have questions after this (which is okay!), feel free to contact me. This is going to be a two-part post, with the second part focusing on makeup application techniques and tools. Disclaimer: These two posts are going to be quite lengthy, but I can guarantee they will answer all of your beginner questions.

The Absolute Basics for A Flawless Face

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Hey, guys! I know, I know…I’ve been away for a while. If I were to explain the series of unfortunate events that has been my life the past few weeks, this would be a novella. To sum it all up, I am currently recovering from a TBI (traumatic brain injury).

So, yea. You can imagine what I’ve been going through. Migraines. Hospital visits. Awful vision. Memory Loss. Lack of appetite. Depression. Lack of coordination. More hospital visits. Luckily, I am finally feeling well enough to write — or simply LOOK at a computer screen again! Woop-Woop!!! *insert happy face and dancing emojis* Now, without further ado, let’s get right into the final Vitamins Series post! To be completely honest, I had forgotten about this post. Hehe. Get it? No? Is it too soon to make jokes about my memory loss? LOL.

You’ve heard of niacinamide, but what does it actually do?

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Welcome back to the Vitamins Series! This post is going to be slightly different. Vitamin K is not as well known as other crucial vitamins, therefore, this is going to be more informative than interactive. It’s not as easy finding products with Vitamin K, as it is Vitamin C or A. Regardless, it’s an important vitamin and let’s get right into understanding why!

What is Vitamin K?

Vitamin K is a fat-soluble vitamin responsible aiding the body in blood clotting.

What Does it Do?

Vitamin K assists in healing wounds, swelling, and bruises. In skin care, vitamin K is useful for dark spots, spider veins, dark under eye circles and puffiness. It promotes blood flow thus helping the skin heal quicker.

Where Can I Find Vitamin K?

Let’s get into the giveaway!

For this giveaway, the rules are quite simple.

Rule 1: Click here to follow my Twitter

Rule 2: Click here to follow my Instagram

What’s the prize?

Good luck everyone!

What is Vitamin A

Vitamin A consists of retinols and retinoic acids.

What Does it Do?

Vitamin A promotes cell turnover, unclogs pores, get’s rid of acne, smoothes fine lines, and treats photoaging.

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What Is Vitamin E?

Vitamin E, also known as tocopherol in skin care, is a lipid soluble antioxidant naturally found in the skin’s dermis and epidermis. It accumulates in our sebaceous glands over time and surfaces on our stratum corneum through sebum production. An increase in sebum results in an increase in this vitamin. Thus, oilier skin types tend to have increased tocopherol content in their skin. It is very unstable when exposed to sunlight, which makes it easy to be lost from the skin.

What Does it Do?

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What is Curology?

First of all, if you would have told me 5 years ago that the skin care industry would evolve to the point of getting virtual skin prescriptions sent to you based on your very specific concerns, I would have told you that was impossible. Guess what? I would have been wrong. Continue reading

What is Vitamin C?

Vitamin C is an antioxidant naturally found in our skin’s dermis and epidermis layer. Higher quantities of it are found in the epidermis. As we age, the percentage of vitamin C found in our skin begins to decrease. This results in dullness, fine lines, and more sun sensitivity. Pollutants can also decrease the percentage of vitamin C in our skin.

What does it do?

It promotes collagen production, prevents photo-aging, neutralizes free radicals, and brightens the skin. Studies show that when vitamin C is used in products at 20% and with a low pH (between 3.0-4.0), it is most effective at brightening.

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I have exciting news guys!!! For the next 5 weeks, I am going to be posting short posts about specific vitamins that are great for your skin and explaining their benefits. Each post is going to contain a mini quiz at the beginning to test your current knowledge about the vitamins, and also a giveaway with a product that contains that vitamin. For example, when I write about vitamin C, I will include a giveaway with a vitamin C product.

In total there will be: 5 vitamin posts, 5 giveaways, and 5 winners. All winners will be selected at the end of this series.

I will be updating this post weekly and link every vitamins post back here. By the end of the 5 weeks, all links will be posted here!

Week 1: Vitamin C

What is a Toner?

In the beauty world, there are certain steps in skin care routines that are almost mandatory, toning is one of them. I would even go as far as saying a routine is incomplete sans toning. But, that varies based on skin type and needs. So, what is a toner? A toner is a product that is designed to completely remove everything your cleanser missed, restore your skin’s pH,  hydrate, and tighten and clear pores. Different toners serve different purposes. There are hydrating toners, pore clearing toners, exfoliating toners, brightening toners, and calming toners. The toner you should use solely depends on your skin type and concerns.

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Science Behind Hyperpigmentation

Let’s start this off with a little science nerd chat! Hyperpigmentation occurs when there is an overproduction of melanin, which is controlled by an enzyme known as tyrosinase. As tyrosinase produces melanin, it stores it into vesicles that are inside the melanocyte, and are known as melanosomes. Then, they are transferred from the melanocyte to the keratinocytes. Keratinocytes travel from the bottom of the epidermis to the stratum corneum (the part that we see) as they age, and they carry with them the melanosomes. This results in a deposit of melanosomes that contain melanin on the epidermis.

So now that we know how hyperpigmentation occurs, how do we stop it dead in its tracks?

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