All About the Smokey Eye: A Dark-Skinned Girl’s Guide

✨I’m gonna share with you my nighttime treatment my skin really appreciates, and how I wake up with much cleaner and radiant skin. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ✨ For a very long time , I would always wake up with dull skin and uneven texture. There won’t be any radiance or glow , and its sort of demotivating to start the day like that. Acne wasn’t a big problem but it did occur few times a month and would always leave scars or blemishes. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ✨ A while ago I came across a Acne Treatment oil called ‘Meltdown’ by @blume 💕 ✨ What is it? It’s an oil for Acne Prone Skin which you can use to prevent acne, clear acne and blemishes. It’s a blend of all natural ingredients. ✨ Key Ingredients Rosehip, Blue Tansy, Tamanu, Lavender, Black Cumin Seed ✨ My thoughts At nighttime, I usually cleanse my with @blume milk based face wash ‘Daydreamer’ . I really like it because its so creamy and gentle. It doesn’t irritate my eyes or skin. To use ‘Meltdown’ , I mix a few drops of this essential oil based serum with @milkmakeup moisturizer. It calms down any inflammation I have and its a perfect nighttime treatment to heal my skin. Now I wake up with much clearer skin which I can feel confident about and start my day. It really heals the skin overnight and any acne I have goes away in a week or so. Its been amazing to clean up the blemishes, and there are only a few areas left. Also, for the people who weren’t able to use @milkmakeup vegan moisturizer because its too rich, I think it would be a great idea to mix it with an oil/serum so it suits your skin. - - What’re your favourite nighttime treatments? Let me know what you think ☺️ BLUME - Daydreamer Face Wash BLUME - Meltdown Milk MAKEUP - Vegan Milk Moisturizer

ESTĒE LAUDER - Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Recovery Complex II VS MISSHA - Time Revolution Night Repair Borabit Ampoule HONEST FEMME FINDS: Estée Lauder’s night serum was the first thing I ever took from my mom’s vanity (apparently similar to how others discovered it) and immediately grew a liking to the formula. The amber bottle never told me what was so great about it but I knew it was something special. After eagerly using up the 30ml in a month, I was excited to repurchase but horrified to find that a 1.7ml bottle would cost $100+. I came to terms with the fact that I just did not have the means to use it daily. At airports, I was that person who waded through the duty free section to use a sample of this serum, leaving my face supple for a red eye flight. I also noticed the patented ingredient, bífida ferment lysate. When I saw recent videos of the many dupes that have come out since Estée Lauder patented the formulation in 2008, I immediately felt compelled to try it. Here are my first impressions. MISSHA - Time Revolution Night Repair Borabit Ampoule IMPRESSIONS: Wow, it’s way larger of a bottle than I expected, looks super luxurious too! The color looks the same (peachy), consistency upon eye-balling looks identical, and even the smell reminds me of the OG. Wow. On the face, it feels slightly oilier/tackier than I remembered Estée Lauder’s to be but overall it feels similar. Softened my skin immediately. The next morning, after using it as my last step, my skin still felt soft and definitely looks brighter in the mirror. I can’t say for long term effects but so far so good! INGREDIENTS: Second ingredient is bífida ferment lysate (a probiotic that has anti-UV damage properties, helps w/ skin barrier), but also in addition Niacinamide, fermented and fruit extracts with anti-aging properties that the original doesn’t have. PRICE: $29 on Amazon prime vs $103 for the original. Imma stop there. REFLECTIONS: When I was wowed by Estée Lauder’s vintage gem, it was years ago, before I truly started my skincare journey. My skin has improved drastically since I incorporated Vit C, HA, AHA and retinol (even SPF!) into my life and I’m wondering if I’ll feel as in awe by bífida ferment lysate as I once did. I guess I will find out if I really NEED this ingredient in my routine. Updates to come! Cheers to ingredients sounding like congenital conditions🥂

Hi my name is Katerina, you may call me Kat and I’m a neutrals girl. I gravitate to anything and everything neutrals. I may have 50 shades of neutral polish in my collection already. But that doesn’t stop me from adding more! I found this pretty shade on amazon during my regular quarantine browse. I never tried the miracle gel line and decided to give it a go. Just so you know I prefer regular polish for myself. I know you may pass judgment but hear me out! I feel like gel and shellac and other long lasting polishes destroy my nails. They become dry, thin, brittle and break easily. I don’t think it’s worth it. So I prefer to experiment with different brands of regular polishes to see which lasts the longest. Also a couple of chips here and there really don’t bother me. This is my 5th time using this product so I feel like I can give an honest review about how I feel about it. The color is called ‘Little Peony #247’🌸It’s a creamy baby pink shade. It almost reminds me of the OLD Essie Fiji color (my favorite shade of all time before they changed it to a darker pink color). It took two coats to get an even distribution of color and dried quickly when topped with Seche Vite top coat. The color started chipping around day five. But before you click away let me tell you that my hands are always in water. I’m a Chef, so I’m always working with my hands. I’m also a clean freak that still gets on her hands and knees to clean the floors from a bucket twice a week. So my hands take a beating on a regular basis and this polish managed to stay intact through the daily torture. If you’re not working this much with your hands I’m pretty sure you can get away with a week of it not chipping. I’m probably going to look into more shade from this collection and see if the Fórmula holds up for all their shades this well. If you’re still a regular polish fan I highly recommend this collection but especially this color because I die over it!

Absolutely do not over-exfoliate! Over-exfoliation can disrupt the skin barrier function by just simply breaking down too many skin cells and disrupting the moisture content on the epidermis. Often times, especially people with oily skin and acne prone believe exfoliating is going to answer all their acne problems, and go on scrubbing 3+ times a week or using an exfoliating mask too often. This is actually counter intuitive for acne as if can actually make you break out more, and it can create sensitivities you dont need. How do you know you’re over exfoliating? If your skin lets you know. Yes, very confusing, but the reality is some people can actually tolerate more acids and scrubs than others, and the best way to figure out how much your skin can take is to incorporate little by little, one product at a time. If your skin is going red for prolonged periods of time, or tingling, even burning, for long or for the entire duration of having the product on (ie. With a mask) you’re probably overdoing it. Another way to prevent over exfoliation is just knowing when to stop. If your skin is happy and glowy and not breaking out, you may not need that new glycolic acid mask, adding an exfoliating mask to your regimen may just tip the scales into skin barrier disruption and dehydration! Be careful with exfoliation!

Knowing your skin type and skin condition is the first step to treating it. I personally have dehydrated yet oily acne prone skin. The right type of products in a routine can make a huge difference. *Disclaimer: I love all the products above except the Clinique toner (Dont use this please). I will explain below why things are good or bad for acne. Step 1: Cleanse Do - Use gel cleanser like the FARMACY - Clean Bee Ultra Gentle Facial Cleanser . The gel formula will deep cleanse the face without stripping. Don’t - Use a cream cleanser like the GEORGETTE KLINGER - Green Tea Cream Cleanser . This is more geared towards dry skin. It will cleanse and hydrate but won’t give you the deep cleanse oily/acne prone skin needs. Step 2: Treat Do - Use a product with salicylic acid like PAULA'S CHOICE - SKIN PERFECTING 2% BHA LIQUID EXFOLIANT . Salicylic acid is oil soluble and will dive deep into your pores breaking up any sebum or debris. Don’t - Use something with detnatured alcohol like the CLINIQUE - Clarifying Lotion 3 For Combination Oily Skin . It may feel good at first but the alcohol is stripping your skin and does more harm than good. In the end your face will over compensate for the stripping effect and produce more oil. Step 3: Moisturize Do - Use a gel moisturizer like the FIRST AID BEAUTY - Ultra Repair BarriAIR Cream . I love this because it is free of a lot of skin irritants like fragrance and dyes. The gel formula won’t feel too heavy on the skin but will give you all the hydration benefits you need. Don’t- Use a heavy, cream moisturizer like the Milk MAKEUP - Vegan Milk Moisturizer . Heavy creams are more geared for dry skin. For oily skin it will just sit on top potentially clogging pores (plus I do believe this has some comedogenic ingredients). These are basic steps I’ve been using for a while to make my skin routine the best is can be for my skin concern. If you have any questions about any steps or products let me know below. 🖤 /*some products gifted