Review: Korres Wild Rose Mineral Illuminating Powder

Since Hourglass released their Abient Lighting Powder Palette, it left me thinking, what do I have that is perhaps similar to it? To be honest, I couldn't find anything that was remotely close to the ambient lighting powder, but I did find I had two quite suitable alternatives. Today, my focus will be the Korres Wild Rose Mineral Illuminating Powder and the next post will cover the BareMinerals Illuminating Mineral Veil.

Review: La Roche-Posay Effaclar DUO

Photo courtesy of La-Roche-Posay

Unfortunately towards the end of the year, my skin was under constant attack by unbelievably large blemishes all over my face. It was one of the many side effects of a new medication prescribed to me, more on that later. The one miracle treatment that helped me quicken the life cycle of those demons was La Roche-Posay Effaclar DUO, which has 5.5% Benzoyl Peroxide and 0.4% micro-exfoliating LHA. Had it not been for this little gem, my face would most likely still be under attack, and probably scarred worse than it is.

Review: Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation

Hello Everyone!!

If you remember from my previous post, over the holidays my skin went out of whack and left me with discolorations and scars. If you haven't read it, click here. Since then, I've been trying to heal my skin and whilst it is doing that I do need to cover it all up!

New Year, New You? Nah!

Hello Everyone!

Hope everybody had a wonderful Holiday and awesome start to 2014! Better late than never, eh? To keep positive juju flowing, I am dedicating this post to changes and new adventures, I jest it is mostly admin stuff!!

Review: Emma Hardie Moringa Amazing Face Cleansing Balm

Oh. My. God. Seriously, I can't believe it took me this long to get on the Moringa Cleasing Balm bandwagon! I must admit, I was very skeptical about cleansing my oily face with oils! After just one use, I was a convert! Never again is my skin being touched by foaming cleansers, never!

How To: Clear Skin Part Three

Hello Everybody!

Here is the third, and last part of my clear skin series!

The last step, but certainly not least, is moisturize!

It is my believe that moisturizers should be very non-fuzz, basic, and dependable. I, for one, spend the most money on serums and treatments not moisturizers. I am not saying moisturizing is not important, only that I like a much simpler product, and typically simple=more affordable. I also have several different moisturizers in my rotation that are specific for my skin type, as should you.

How To: Clear Skin Part Two

As promised, here is part two of my clear skin series.

Next up, tone and treat!

I am a firm believer that if you do a deep and proper cleanse at least once daily, there is absolutely no need to use a toner. However, it is totally up to you. I like to use a rosewater toner decanted into a spray bottle and use that straight after my shower. The reason why, you may ask? I like how it smells! I spray it liberally over my face, neck and decolletage as a treat to myself, not as anything else. I don't believe it does anything special or offer any benefits to my skin. Anyway, straight after cleansing/toning it is time to treat any problem bits you may have. This is where you will use targeted treatments such as anti-agers, lightening creams, concentrates or serums. I am also a firm believer that this is where the bulk of your money should be spent. You will find in the list below some items that have a heftier price tag, and in my opinion worth every cent. There are quite a few items in my rotation and range from anti-ageing to (mostly) skin-brighteners and spot-lightning treatments.

Latest Acquisition: La Roche Posay, Marchesa, Murad, Essence..etc.

Hello Everyone!!

I just got back from good ol' Ulta and made some spur-of-the-moment purchases and a bit more damage than I'd like to admit. Moving on, please!!

How To: Clear Skin Part One

Hello Everybody!


I've decided it is time for a skincare how-to mini series. I will go over what I am doing at the moment and will provide product recommendations that I have truly tried and that have worked for me. This will be the first of three parts that will be posted every Sunday!

Bioderma in Mexico!!

Hello Everybody!

This will be a cheap and cheerful post!  I forgot to tell you about it on Thursday, which is when all of this happened. Anyway, on we go!

Random Post #2 and #3

Random post #2
I meant to post this last week and for some reason it didn't get posted. So weird. Anyway here it is.

As I am standing, looking like an insane mom of four toddlers, feeling like a train just ran over me, all I am thinking of is that I really would like to cut my hair very short, and dye it some light brown color. Oddly enough, this is something that usually occurs for spring or fall for some people, but no, I am unique! So there you are, cutting my hair and dying my virgin locks a light brown! ha!


Random post #3

I am having a bit of a rough start of the week, my baby puppy became very ill with Parvovirus and has been at the vet's since Wednesday of last week. I was called by the vet this morning and was informed she is deteriorating very rapidly again and in his medical opinion, it would be best for Cleopatra that I put her to sleep being that she is in so much pain and even if she did recover she would be very likely to have long term damage to her intestines, heart, and possibly brain due to the severe dehydration.

As of the wee early hours of this morning, Grandma is also in the hospital with some heart problems and will be there for the foreseeable future.

On top of that I have a huge exam tomorrow morning that I haven't had the chance to study for, completely forgot that I was supposed to teach this morning because I was at the hospital with my grandma and even more mind boggling is the fact that I haven't received any angry student emails yet. Scary business, students are.

Something that keeps running through my mind and the reason for this random post is how dry my skin feels, and how dry-but-not-quite-chapped my lips are at the moment. Quite bizarre. Anyway, I just ordered some moisturizing bits including a facial spray, lip scrub, and some dedicated facial moisturizer.  

I will let you know which ones I ordered when they arrive!

Much love,

Mireya G.

Latest Acquisiton: Jo Malone Peony and Blush Suede Cologne

Hello lovelies!

I am feeling quite amorous today and so I wanted to share one of my fall must-haves! A you can see from the title, it is also one of my most recent purchases! I must admit, purchasing the Jo Malone Peony and Blush Suede Cologne was a big moment for me since it was my first ever Jo Malone acquisition, a huge leap of faith because I had never smelled it before, and it is almost twice the price of all my other fragrances. I usually draw the line at around $50-$60 US dollars which believe you me stretches far more than you'd think. More on that later!

Latest Acquisition: StriVectin SD Eye Concentrate

I hope you all get to read this before the promotion is over, which I have no idea when that will be. I ran out of my eye cream about a week ago, and have been putting off repurchasing one until today. I woke up, feeling tired, and on top of that looking terrible! I feel my under eye area to be very dry and definitely need to do something about that.

Latest Acquisition: Zara Office City Bag

Being a pseudo-graduate student, you are in need to carry loads and loads of papers, technology, and other essentials around with you all the time plus any personal bits you need. You MUST be prepared for anything and everything that may be thrown your way! Not exactly, but certainly does help if you are!

Fall 2013 Trends

Just finished flipping through Marie Claire about five seconds ago! I loved most of the magazine, but some trends did leave me quite curious as to what designers are thinking.

Top 5 trends:

1. Cara Delevingne!  I was half surprised to find Cara in loads of adverts and fashion edits looking quite fabulous as usual. 
2. Bold red lips. It wasn't much of a surprise as this year has been very lippy. The particular trend is bold dark red lips. Think rich burgundy, beautiful deep rose, and so on.  I have been waiting for so long to wear my Julie Hewett Sin lip color, and I am so excited to finally be able to do it without feeling like a total weirdo amongst nude lipped women. Very excited about this trend!!
3. Colorful fur. I am quite confused by this trend. It seems every page had some kind of colorful fur booties, coat, or head piece on it particularly from Fendi. This is an unusual feeling for me since I usually love everything from them. Can't really afford it, but absolutely love most their collections! I haven't had time to read up on their inspiration, or reasoning behind it, but either way, hardly seems wearable for the average Jane. They did have some lovely investment pieces, though. Totally worth looking into!
4. Oil paint everything. I had an array of emotions when I first saw them. They're so, very beautiful pieces, you'd be wearing pieces of art across your body with beautiful colors and textures! I dont think it would be very convinient and hardly think anybody would wear that particular piece more than once, perhaps twice, certainly not more than that. I do love them though. 
5. Jeweled crowns. Perhaps this ties in to point number four, it was probably part of the theatrics of things, and honestly I think it was brilliant! Having said that, and since I do love anything jewel tone, jewels, or anything sparkly, I am translating this trend into chunky jewel tone necklaces, and bracelets in nice, rich gold tone hardware. 

So there you are, nice and short! 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Love,

Mireya G.