Importance of Skin Care

Taking care of your skin is important because you're stuck with it forever. The way you treat your skin when you're younger will show up when you're much older. Here are some important tips you should know for a good skin care routine.
First, it is important to know what skin type you have. The three basic skin types are dry, oily, and combination. Once you've established what skin type you have, you now need to base your routine and products off of it.
1. Cleanse
The first step you need to take for healthy skin is cleansing. You should wash your face every morning and every night. This is important because, bacteria lies on your skin everyday. It's important to wash it away so your pores don't clog, which causes breakouts. Your skin goes through a lot throughout the day such as, pollution, the transfer of bacteria from your hands to face when you touch it, and more. Even when you sleep your skin can pick up bacteria. Especially if you don't wash your pillow case often. To avoid this wash your pillow cause every two weeks.

Another tip for healthy skin is to get a good nights sleep. Beauty sleep is necessary because lack of sleep can cause bags and dark circles under your eyes and you can look tired, sad, and possibly mad. While you sleep your skin renews itself. New skin cells grow and replace older cells. It's repairing, restoring, and re-balancing. You should be getting seven to nine hours of sleep for well

rested looking skin. 

Picking the right cleanser for your skin type is key. Also, don't over wash because the skin loses it's natural lubrication. Bar soaps can be harsh and drying to the skin on your face, so you should use something that is specifically made for just the face. If you have dry skin, use something gentle on your skin. For those with oily skin don't use any creamy cleansers because that will cause your skin to become more oily. Use something meant for oily skin. 
2. Moisturize 
The second step is moisturizing, which is a must for dry skin. When buying moisturizers, important ingredients to look for are Glycerin, Hyaluronic acid, and Dimethicone. If you have oily skin you probably won't need to moisturize. If you prefer to, then find a moisture that is  "non-comedogenic", which means it won't clog pores. Also, only moisturize the necessary places. I would recommend not moisturizing your nose or t-zone because those are the most common places to get oily. 
3. Exfoliate 
Exfoliating is important because it washes away the dead skin on your face. Exfoliating is great because it cleans out your pores and helps your skin look healthy and alive. Only exfoliate once a week if you have dry skin, twice for oily. Over exfoliating can lead to break outs. Exfoliating is rough on the skin, which is why you don't want to do it too often. It can cause irritation, breakouts, and even small cuts that looks like scarring.

If you follow these steps I guarantee you will notice a difference in your skin! Taking care of your skin at a young age will show when you are much older. So, when your friends are old and wrinkly you'll still look young and alive :).

Makeup Brush Guide

Makeup brushes can be overwhelming. There are so many brushes for different things and it can be hard to figure out what their purpose is. Here is a guide to the top makeup brushes you need to achieve the flawless look you're looking for.
Foundation:

There are many techniques and brushes for applying your foundation. The most popular one is the flat top brush. Using a flat top brush with synthetic hair will give you a natural looking finish, which i'm sure is what everybody is aiming for. Every makeup artists favorite, and mine personally, is Sigma's Flat Kabuki. The synthetic hairs are going to grab all of the product and place it onto your skin, instead of soaking up most of it and wasting a ton of foundation. The brush makes it super easy to blend so you aren't left with you streaks on your skin. You will be left with naturally beautiful looking skin, fooling everybody that you have it!

Another technique for applying foundation is with a beauty blender. A beauty blender is one of the easiest ways to apply foundation or concealer. The beauty blender is a sponge that is going to hydrate your skin while applying, which is amazing for those with dry skin. All you do is put the sponge under running water, squeeze it about five to ten times until it grows, and then squeeze out the excess water with a towel. The beauty blender will blend out your concealer and foundation beautifully and make you look nice and hydrated!

Eyes:
There are so many different eye brushes but i'm only going to mention the two that I believe everyone should have in their kit, whether you are a beginner or professional.
Everyone should own a angle brush for eyeliner. An angled brush is for gel liner, which is the easiest liner to apply and has the best finish to it. The brushes small bristles are going to make your eyeliner go on smoothly and easily because you will be able to get right at the lash line. The angle of the brush is going to help you if you want to do a wing. Angle brushes are miracles when it comes to wings because the brush does almost all the work for you. My favorite is small angled brush by Sigma.

Another brush everyone should own is a blending brush. It is so important to blend out all your shadows so they don't look choppy. Blending out your shadows will give it a smooth natural look. My favorite brush for this is Sigma's Tapered Blending Brush.


The last brush is Sigma's Large Angled Contour . This brush can be used for blush and bronzer. It picks up the perfect amount of product and makes your skin look like you're blushing or like you got a nice natural tan, depending on what you're using the brush for.

Sigma brushes are high quality and are always compared to Mac Cosmetic brushes.

The best part about Sigma brushes are that they're half the price of Mac's brushes! If you're someone who doesn't do their makeup often or doesn't want to spend a lot of money, real techniques also has amazing brushes for a much cheaper price!