My 5 Do's for a Successful Beauty Collection.

As far as makeup is concerned, I have always been a minimalist. I suspect I took that from my mum. Her approach had always been to apply her foundation and her lipbalm.The end!

Apple does not fall far from the tree...

Sometime in college, my first investment went to lip balms and glosses. I always preferred a transparent color. If I ever deviated, I tried something that had a shade of pink. The colors were never deep enough to obscure my lip architecture. The thing is I was blessed with full lips. And for some reason, I believed that any colored lipstick would not do me justice. Accepting that as a fact, my next assignment over the following years was to find a quality brand.

There was a lot of hit or miss. I always embraced a brand that could create the gloss/shine, moisturize without irritation. I must have tried so many brands but I currently use the Forever living lip balm with jojoba oil and aloe vera. It ticks the boxes.

What's Next; Lifestyle...

For a long time, I stuck to the lip balm. However, I had certain habits I had adopted. My mum had practiced all and I did not realize the impact they had on her beauty regimen. They were:

Exercise,

Water drinking,

Eating vegetables; green and colored

Adequate sleep.

I noticed that whenever I was off my A game with any of these, it reflected on my skin and my health as well. I tried not to kid myself. I knew if these factors were taken care of, I would spend less on beauty products.

My Moisturizing Journey...

While growing up, I did not put my thought into moisturizing. When I migrated to a less humid and colder climate, who was I kidding? If I stepped out of the shower, wore my clothes without moisturizing, my skin became all wrinkly. Now I needed to find the appropriate moisturizer. For my body and hands, something for dry skin was perfect.

The story was different for my face. I needed something that was very moisturizing but would not clog my pores. At first, Aveeno was perfect for autumn and winter. Then summer came. Then, I stumbled on aloe vera gelly. It provided adequate moisture, some sun blocking and acne control. I also discovered its first aid capacities. I had cut my finger in the kitchen one day and aloe stopped the bleeding immediately.

With all these, I always had this in all bags; hand bags and overnight bags. When the next winter came, I was still addicted to aloe but the wrinkling skin appeared again. Coincidentally, I found a product that had aloe vera as its base but had other ingredients that could lock in moisture better. Sonya soothing gel moisturizer is designed for combination skin. It is filled with lush botanicals and powerful ingredients for a moist and dewey complexion. It breaks down into a hydra-infused carrier to provide powerful soothing and moisturizing for combination skin. Let the drums roll out:

My Foundation Journey

Due to skin sensitivity, I was skeptical to use foundation. Besides all the effort I had put into a basic beauty regimen was paying off. However, the experience with my friends and their beauty regimen was rubbing off on me. Some of them used the MAC brand. One day when I wandered off to the mall. I went into a MAC store and told the shop assistant I needed an effortless foundation. She took me to the section for liquid foundations. Expertly, she picked a bottle off the shelf and handed it to me. I looked at her with uncertainty and she nodded back. These were Covid-19 times and so I couldn't do store trials. She offered me a return option. I was glad. I tried the foundation soon after and voila, I had found my perfect blend [for the time being]. It was small enough to be tucked into a quiet corner of my bag until it was needed.

What lives in my makeup bag

The Aloe Lip Balm

The Aloe Vera Gelly

The Sonya Moisturizing Cream[ In fall and Winter]

My compliance with healthy living

The foundation [sits in another corner of my handbag, ready to be used when needed.]