Beauty Q&A (Edition One)

Who's excited?! It's time for.....

So lets just get right down to it, shall we? You have questions. I, have answers! Yes, I am actually qualified to give advice, and I am thrilled that you all have been filling my inbox with TONS of beauty questions!

This week, I thought we'd start with Four Questions I got the most of! I feel like these ones will get us started, and then the next weeks I will delve DEEPER into more!

Ok..I haven't really gotten right down to it, have I? :)

For real now....here we go!
(AND YES, THERE IS A LOT OF INFORMATION, BUT I PROMISE IT IS WORTH IT :)

Unfortunately, if you want the real truth, you CAN'T just get rid of your large pores...but you CAN shrink the size of them significantly, with a little C.E.T.!

C is for CLEANSE--Wash your face, people! With an oil-free cleanser. Preferably with one that has salicylic or glycolic acid. Clean skin = healthy skin = smaller pores.
My Faves: Bobbi Brown Lathering Tube Soap & Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser

E is for EXFOLIATE--I cannot stress this enough! If you don't exfoliate at least ONCE a week, you should start. It will remove all of the dead skin cells, making your face look much more healthy! Your pores will thank you! **If you want to delve deeper into more extreme "pore-reducing", I love micro-dermabrasion facials. Those will slough the top layer of your skin off, and really really make help to make your pores look smaller! 

My Fave: Exfolikate by Kate Somerville 

T is for TONE--Use a clarifying toner to remove any muck (technical term :) left from your exfoliator or cleanser. The toner will purify your pores, making them look smaller AND reduce redness in your skin.
My Faves: Neutrogena Pore Refining Toner & Mario Badescu Seaweed Cleansing Lotion

You also want to MOISTURIZE it up, girlies! Your skin will look healthier, plumper and overall glow-y! Make sure you know what TYPE of skin you have (oily, acne-prone, dry, etc..). I would suggest that if you DON'T know, you go to someone who is qualified and let them test your skin out for you. I have a few tricks you can do at home, but I'll save that for next week (I could spend a week talking about skincare)!
My Faves: (NOTE-My skin is super dry/sensitive/acne-prone) Bobbi Brown Extra Moisturizing Balm SPF 25 and Eucerin Q-10 Anti-Wrinkle Creme

Number 1: KNOW your skin type. Like I said before, this is KEY! So many times, women would say to me, "Oh I have really oily skin, so don't use a moisturizing foundation on me." Then when I would test their skin, they would be super dry. Just make sure you KNOW before your buy.

Number 2: THAT is why I cannot stress enough (again this is just my opinion) to GO TO A DEPARTMENT STORE and get skin tested/foundation matched. It is SO WORTH IT!!!!!! You can TEST it before you BUY it! And unless you buy from somewhere that has a very liberal return policy (like RiteAid), you end up wasting more money on all the un-used bottles that don't match your skin. 

Number 3: If you're......
OILY: Words like "oil-free" or "mattifying" are your friends!
DRY: Words like "moisturizing" and "moisture-rich" are key.
COMBINATION (Dry/Oily..like dry everywhere BUT your T-Zone): I've found that cream-to-powder foundations work best. Or mineral foundations (good for Acne prone/sensitive skin too).

• Number 4: If you make the choice to go to a dept. store and get matched (GO YOU!) here are my tips:
• Try and go during the week (you will get more undivided attention).
• Look for YELLOW-based foundations (those match the best to any skin color). 
• Contrary to popular belief, your wrist/hand IS NOT IS NOT IS NOT the same color as your neck/face. Make sure you are getting matched for color on your cheek and/or neck to ensure the BEST MATCH possible. 
• Try to walk to natural light to make sure it looks good there too. Department stores (or drugstores for that matter) do not have the most real-looking lights. 
• You can mostly always return your foundation if you say, get home, try it, and end up not loving it. Which is SUCH A PLUS!

Foundation is KEY to making your skin look flawless (and who doesn't want that?).
**If you want me to make a specific foundation recommendation for your skin, send me an email and I will try to tell you the best foundations I have found for your type (it might be a little hard over email, but I'll do my best)! :) 


My Favorite Foundation Brands: Laura Mercier, Bobbi Brown, Bare Minerals (you will either love it or hate it :), and Revlon.

Lipstick is supposed to be FUN! I get GIDDY like a little school girl when I find a fun new shade of lipstick! There is no "right way" to find a shade of lipstick. A lot of it is trial and error, people.

However, the most flattering color will be a shade that is ONE to TWO TIMES darker than your natural lip color. ALWAYS. ALWAYS. ALWAYS. (example: if you have brown lips, don't try to wear nude pink -- it just doesn't work!)

If you want to get a bit more "technical" about what color looks best on you:


FAIR SKIN--Nudes, Light Corals (my fave), or Blush Pinks.
MEDIUM SKIN TONE--Berry, Rose, and Deep Mauve.
DARK SKIN TONE--Red, Chocolates and Plums (so pretty!)

Just a few more lip tricks: 

• Lip Liner -- If you want your lip liner to look more natural (ie so no one can see a huge LINE around your lips), apply it AFTER you put on your lipstick/gloss. You can also FILL IN your lips before you apply lipstick--helping your lipstick to stay on LONGER!
• If you are at the drugstore, the best way to test a lipstick color is to hold it up next to your lips and see if the shade is one to two times darker in tone. If you get it home, and don't like it as much, you can always just mix "not so perfect" lipstick colors together to GET the right shade!

My Favorite Lipstick Brands: Nars (Glosses), Chanel (The Perfect Lipstick), Bobbi Brown, Revlon (LipButter, baby!) & Loreal.

I think I might have an unhealthy obsession with trying/finding new hair products. I feel like my hair can never be healthy enough, shiny enough, or big enough (ha).

Although the list is ever-changing, here are my current favorites:

Shampoo: Lush BIG Shampoo (the smell! & the volume)
Conditioner: Bumble & Bumble Super Rich 
Leave-In-Cond: Living Proof Leave-In-Conditioner 
Hairspray: Kenra Classic Spray & Aussie Aussome Volume
Root Lifter: Aveda Pure Abundance Hair Potion
Dry Shampoo: Suave Dry Shampoo (I'm obsessed!)
Shine/Frizz Serum: John Frieda Glossing Mist
Hair Vitamins: Phyto Hair & Nails (these will change your hair for life. No joke)




Ok people, that is the end of Edition One! I hope you learned something (right?)! If you have more questions, email them to me (jennathewife@gmail.com) or leave them in the comments below!

Have a Beauty-ful day (I couldn't resist)!
Jenna, The Wife

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