October Glam Bag

I can't believe it is already OCTOBER. Where does the time go? Once again, I found myself ripping open my brand spankin' new October Glam Bag FILLED with beauty goodies! When I say goodies, I mean they are GOODies which I was pleasantly surprised with what I had received. I just couldn't wait to share with you! Do you remember that little post I did back in September about a beauty program that doesn't break the bank? In case you missed out, here is a little re-cap!

ispy is a company that offers a mini cosmetic bag filled with five full or trial sized  items for a small fee of $10.00 a month! Their cosmetic bags are called "Glam Bags" and are tailored to your specific beauty preferences! First, you fill out  a little information about your beauty interests and ispy's personal stylists get your bag in tip top shape to send you. Each month your Glam Bag is filled with different products and brands giving you the chance to try a wide spectrum of goods! I also mentioned in my September post that you can skip months or cancel your subscription! But how can you skip when you pay a flat rate of $10.00 and shipping is free and here's the kicker, the product-filled bags are ALWAYS worth more than the ten bucks you throw at it. So amazing.

After falling in love with my first Glam Bag I was stoked, to say the least, to rip open my new hot pink package. This months Glam Bag contained a full sized Bella Terra Shimmer in Emotion. It is an 8 in 1 product that works as a creamy OR matte eye shadow, eye liner, lip color, nail polish color, mascara, body glitter and hair color.  Talk about a win. I was pleasantly surprised that it only cost a whopping $14.99 and could function as 8 other products. It's also a good all mineral product making it healthy for wear on skin!   Second product I whipped out was a full sized Coastal Scents Medium Shadow Brush that goes for $2.49. It is made with 100% natural pony hair bristles and they are silky smooth. It's safe to say it's a great basic for anyone's makeup bag. Personally I do like a natural haired brush over a synthetic brush when it comes to applying powdered products solely based on better application. With this product being so inexpensive I'm curious how well it holds up. Only time will tell and I'll be sure to keep you updated. Up next I pulled out a trial sized  Nourish Organic Deeply Nourishing Coconut & Argan Body Lotion. Talk about a mouth full. I'll be honest, I'm not the biggest fan just on the sole fact that it smells uber funky, almost like a medical/dental office-y smell. It's pretty light weight and I could name a few brands that are similar in price and size that I'd rather use. Also, I received a full sized Zoya nail polish in Neve valued at $8.00 and it is GORG. I plan on whipping it on for next week's Mani Monday and giving it a full blown review. So keep on the look out for next week's Mani Monday! Last but not least is a Big Sexy Hair trial size hairspray. I left it out of the photo just because I am no hair care professional. Maybe in another life I'll give cosmetology school a whirl but it's not in the current plan! However, if you're curious, I do like the hairspray! All five items made up this month's glam bag and I'm in product heaven. Next month can't come soon enough!

Thank you ispy for offering awesome brands and goodies for an awesome price! If you're interested in treating yourself to a bag of pretty check out ispy. You'll be glad you did!

PS. With every Glam Bag you get a set of awesome Promo Codes from brands featured that month. That way if you fall in love with a product and gotta have more of it, you can for a friendlier price.

P.S.S. If anyone in the Idaho Falls area wants the makeup bag (pictured above) you can have it! First person to get a hold of me gets it! My stock pile of makeup bags is a little out of control and I'd be happy to give it to someone that'll enjoy it.

DRY SKIN DO'S

Like the previous post, here's another question just waiting to be answered!

"It is getting cold and my skin is feeling much drier and itchy. What is the best product to use for an all over body moisturizer?"

There are a few steps in order to achieve the best hydration for your skin. First, you need to make sure you're exfoliating off any dead/dry skin off to get it out of the way. This ensures full product absorption where applied. No need to waste product on already dead skin cells that are just hangin' on! You can either use an exfoliant glove that was discussed in Lose the Loofah or a sugar scrub. Sugar scrubs are nice because many contain oils making them a perfect match to hydrate and exfoliate dry skin. Secondly, apply some sort of hydrating lotion. Ingredients to look for in a good body moisturizer is:

• Hyaluronic Acid: Aids in sealing/binding moisture to your skin.
• Ceramides: Fatty materials that are naturally found in your skin that helps to support and maintain healthy, hydrated skin.
• Vitamin E: Aids in hydrating and healing the skin.
• Sweet Almond Oil: Rich in Vitamin E to aid in hydration. Also helps to calm and soothe the skin.
• Coconut Oil: It shares a similar molecular structure to your skin making it a perfect fit for deep product penetration resulting in hydrated skin.
• Glycerin: A popular water binding ingredient that helps to make sure moisture "sticks" to the skin. 
• Propylene Glycol: An extremely popular humectant similar to glycerin. 
• Butylene Glycol: Extremely similar to Propylene Glycol just better suited for sensitive skin types. 
• Sorbitol: Helps to attract moisture to the skin.
• Cholesterol: A ceramide that is a fatty material that is naturally found in your skin's "glue" which helps to keep our skin hydrated and cushioned. 
• Dimethicone: A lightweight silicone that helps protect the skin from loosing moisture. Helps in keeping the skin balanced for a long period of time. 

With so many ingredients available on the market today I feel that these are the more popular out of the bunch. My favorite two products that contain most of these listed ingredients are the CeraVe Moisturizing Cream and the Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream. Both are extremely thick substances that help to deeply moisturize the skin and act as a seal to keep in any moisture that may try to escape. They last all day long and are perfect for any skin type. Both products are able to keep winter's dry spell at bay! You can find both products at your local retailer and be sure to like both brands on Facebook for special offers and coupons! Also, check out both websites for other amazing coupons!

NOTE TO SELF: Try to avoid soap containing body washes due to soap's drying effect it has on the skin. Also, avoid any artificial fragrances or colors as they may irritate dry skin more.

Under Eye 101

Alright ladies and gents, you asked and I answered! There were only a few questions asked last week so I thought I'd get around to answering them all in two separate blog posts! With that said, "What would you say is the best way to get rid of dark circles? Products, routines, etc?" Well my friend, I love to talk about how to treat and hide those pesky pesks we all hate with all of our being! There is the ever popular saying that goes a little like this; you'll have dark circles under your eyes if you don't get plenty of sleep. Yes and no. For some this problem does contribute to having dark bags but in other cases there are other reasons such as:

• Allergies
• Hereditary Factors
• Lifestyle Factors (Smoking, stress, etc.)
• Excessive eye irritation
• Sun Exposure
• Thinning skin (Commonly due to aging)
• Facial Features/Structure
• Eczema
• Sickness (Usually brought on by sinus congestion)

While I agree that living a healthy lifestyle helps the skin tremendously in all aspects I know of a few tips that can help treat this condition as well as conceal it. Here's a quick list of what you can do to help alleviate any darkness:

1. As silly as it sounds, change your sleep position. It's best to sleep on your back to keep pressure off of your face and especially the thin skin around your eyes.
2. Look for caffeinated eye products. Caffeine helps to get circulation going which helps to move around any fluid that may be sitting behind your skin. In some cases, blood pools behind the skin giving that dark appearance and with the help of caffeine it could help flush away your troubles. 
3. Break bad habits like going to bed without washing makeup off which can irritate your skin. Another habit could be excessive alcohol consumption which causes dehydration, etc.
4. If your darkness is due to hyper pigmentation, retinol based products are for you! Retinol helps to chemically exfoliate the skin by helping to sluff off dark pigmentation which allows your skin to regenerate new, brighter and fresher skin. Also, retinol is great for managing the appearance of fine lines and crows feet! You could also search for products containing Lactic Acid which helps to exfoliate and brighten the skin.
5. In some other cases darkness can be caused by irritated and puffy skin which then shadows your under eye area creating that dark appearance. NOTE TO SELF: Avoid harsh chemicals and artificial fragrances and colors around the eyes. Instead, look for calming products that contain:

• Chamomille (I know what your thinking and yes, steeped chamomille tea bags can help!) 
• Red and brown algae
• Oat Extract
• Vitamin E
• Cucumber 

         My personal favorite product that helps to calm the under eye area is the Ultrasmoothing Eye Serum              by Dermalogica. It's a light-weight gel that is applied. I'ts perfect for layering due to it's gel-like                      substance meaning you can give your little eye treatment a boost with another cream based product              over top! It's like a double whammy! 

Ready for another list? No? Okay, fine. Instead I'll share how to cover and hide darkness from a previous post, Bye Bye Under Eye. Literally, this trick is a lifesaver and all you have to know is what colors conceal what. You're going to want to look for an eye concealer that contains PINK or PEACH tones to cancel out purple, blue, black or gray colored skin. A pink toned concealer is also great for any apparent bruising skin may suffer from. Some of my all time favorite concealers come from Jane Iredale such as her Active Light no. 4. It's pink, light-weight and pairs perfect with dark under eyes. Oh, it also helps to soothe and calm the eye! Talk about a win-win! Needing more coverage? Go for Jane's Circle/Delete #2. It's meant to hydrate the eye area giving it a little more weight and coverage! I also enjoy having the second color (beige) in Circle/Delete #2 for all over concealing when needed.

Pictured below is a wonderous BEFORE and AFTER when it comes to concealing my own dark circles. Please note that I have zero makeup on except for the AFTER picture where I am wearing Circle/Delete #2 because I really wanted you to see the power and effect one product can have on the skin. Also note that both photos are completely untouched. Enjoy!

And that my dears is how you can treat and disguise those dark under eyes! Did I miss anything in particular? Feel free to shout out questions or comments! I'd love to make sure all of your skin related questions are taken care of.

Mani Monday

Earlier today I was rummaging through my collection of nail polishes and just couldn't make up my mind. That was up until I thought of a scrumptious recipe for whipped cranberry butter that I recently found! That was it! Cranberry. Done and done. But it didn't stop there. I was feelin' some glitz and glam so I whipped out a pretty shade of gold too.

Today's colors are Casino Royale (cranberry) and Honey Ryder (gold) by OPI. Are you feeling the James Bond vibe here?

Once again, OPI nail polish was used and it's all for a good reason. This polish stays on like a dream and the colors OPI comes out with are resistible! Just look at Casino Royale! Is anyone else thinking that it would be beautiful for a fall pedicure? Yeah, I thought so too. Oh,  and Honey Ryder, you make my heart sing. It's a Liquid Sand polish and I thought it would be perfect to mix up a little texture difference to give my mani a better visual. With fall layers slowly rolling out into everyone's wardrobe chalk full of suedes, chunky knits, leather and flannels I found it hard not to mix up textures a little bit! And there you have it my loves, a sassy autumn mani.

PS. Check out this cranberry butter recipe I found! It looks too good to be true and will hopefully be made this weekend!

DIY Eye Makeup Remover

Hey everyone! Today I thought I'd share an awesome post a cute girl recently put out there for the world to benefit from! It's a super easy peasy DIY that is  inexpensive and has to deal with skin care! 

But first, meet Molly. She is a uber creative girl over at the Keep Calm and Create blog where she finds ways to make things happen with a steal of a deal and who doesn't like deals?! Also, she shares her thrift finds, home ideas, budgeting and organizing tips. Molly is seriously so so sweet and she is the girl you need to go to for social media advice, where on her blog, she keeps all of her readers up to speed on the latest and greatest in social media! Oh, and she may have given me some amazing pointers for the first time blogger that I am.

Anyways, back to business! I couldn't keep this good of a post to myself. I feel it is so important to remove any makeup before bedtime so skin has the chance to freely exchange with oxygen to maintain healthy happy skin. Molly's recipe is an extremely basic concoction of skin-safe ingredients making it perfect for those with sensitive eyes or skin. Trying this option it helps promote skin health and it saves you some dough on makeup remover so hop on over to Keep Calm and Create to find out how to make a non-irritating eye makeup remover and the official price breakdown! And make sure you like Keep Calm and Create on Facebook for more of Molly's addicting shares!

Q&A

Ahem, I have an announcement I'd like to make.

I, Jordan Mackenzie Heinze, will be answering one of YOUR questions every week! All you have to do is blurt your skin questions at me via Facebook, Instagram or Email and I will choose at least one answer out of the bunch! Each question will be answered in a blog post and also announced via Facebook and possibly Instagram! So please, if you have ANY sort of skin related question, fire away!

I look forward to helping you guys one answered question at a time.

XOXO,

J

Mani Monday

SO, I hate to make excuses but I really I haven't shown much love to my blog in a long while due to the most terrible love HATE relationship my laptop has had these past few weeks. Just so you all know, the relationship was filled with more hate than love. It has been very unfortunate if you were to imagine, BUT lo and behold I am here and currently my internet is up and running! It makes my Monday extra happy and of course so does a fresh paint job.

And today's lucky color is (drum roll please) Live and Let Die by OPI.

Now that fall is clearly in the air I can't help but apply autumn loving hues. This particular shade is a dark dark green with a slight shimmer. Far away it appears black or similar to an extremely dark shade of navy blue. It's so ridiculously pretty on and matches everything in my fall wardrobe. Talk about swoon. And because it's from OPI we all know it's a keeper. All OPI polishes I've applied do not chip easily and this particular shade only required one coat to fully cover my nails. OPI you've done it again. You've made a slice of pretty and it's oh so perfect.

Happy Monday everyone!