Better Skin = Better Makeup

Hey girls and guy lol... sorry I have been MIA for way too long. Between trying to start my own eyeshadow line catering to Caribbean women ( which Im hoping to get by next year) and my actual 8-4 job, writing an article on 101 Kittitian dates- look out for that one pretty soon and going on vacation where i was buying all my new products- I have not had time to post anything new. I also just got a new laptop yay! So its music fest time- time to express yourself with makeup and outfits- we know how SK girls roll. I decided to re-introduce myself. While on vacation I acquired some new makeup goodies so I am gonna try and do a review on them. I am also going to post a review later on my new 88 coastal scents palettes that I just got today- the metal mania and the shimmer palette- super hyped about the colours- they look so pretty. I will rock the metal colours this weekend for sure and post pictures.

So I always say beautiful makeup starts with beautiful skin. I unfortunately wasn't born with perfect skin so I have to work on it- alot! I suffer from acne since I was a teenage and still do at 21 (lol) so I have been learning over the years how to take care of my skin. I pretty much accepted that I will always have breakouts- I just have to learn to deal with them properly. I also scar easily from my breakouts so most of my skin care regimen is dedicated to the black marks left from the pimples or blemishes.

I have tried AMBI FADE CREAM (about $15US)- you can pretty much find it anywhere. One thing AMBI claims is that it helps to give you an even skin tone and it caters to women of colour. I have been using this cream on and off for about 4 months and the results were pityful- no significant change at all- and don't worry there's no bleaching effect- the marks subsided just by 10% but they were still pretty noticeable. Then I kept seeing the commercial on tv and the ad in magazines for Clinique Even Better Clinical Dark spot corrector ( I love clinique products). It claims to visibly reduce dark spots by at least 53% in about a month or so, unfortunately it retails for around $50 US in places like sephora. I bought mine at Sears for around $60 CAD. This is from the sephora website "Dermatologist-developed to be safe, comfortable. Yet in clinical trials our serum was comparable to a leading prescription ingredient in creating a more even skin tone. A verified 53% improvement in skin tone. For all ethnicities: See results starting in as little as 4 weeks. At 12 weeks, see a visible reduction in dark spots, age spots, and traces of acne past. "

I have been using it since early May and its now June and I must say I am impressed. It has reduced most of my scars so much I even forgot they were there. I break out on my cheeks mostly so I just apply it there (just a dab will do). I love this product compared to the AMBI fade cream. I will post pics of me without make up later on so you could see.( yep without make up) Before I found this I used to be a concealer freak which just used to make my face look pale in the spots where I put it or feel cakey. Since I found this I have not put concealer on where I had dark spots. Before I found this, I also used the Clinique post blemish stick which costs about $20 US. This worked well also but the problem with this is the stick is so small I had to buy it every 2 weeks because I used it every day. NB ladies- If you are going to try and get rid of dark spots using a fading cream- MOISTURIZER AND SUNSCREEN ARE A MUST! THE REASON YOU GET DARK SPOTS IS BECAUSE THERE IS A BUILD UP OF MELANIN IN THE AREA (THE STUFF THAT GIVE YOU YOUR COLOUR) AND MELANIN LOVES SUN LIGHT! Please don't think because you are black you don't need sunscreen. I recently bought MACs Prep + Prime Face Protector in SPF 50 (yes 50). It can be used as a primer for your foundation also. I love this but be careful because such a high SPF can turn out to look grey or white on your face when you have colour and it can look ghostly in photos. I just use a little bit on the places the sun hits the most on my face- forehead cheeks and nose. It retails for about $30 US at MAC stores. Your skin is worth the investment. My foundation from MAC- Studio Fix Liquid Foundation in MW43 also comes with SPF but its only 15. We need at least 30 seeing that we live in a tropical climate.

MAC PREP + PRIME FACE PROTECTOR

If you have severe acne- mine is very mild. PLEASE SEE A DERMATOLOGIST! When I was in school I had a bad break out period ( must have been the weather or stress) and I went to see a dermatologist and she was amazing. I was using a cream for the acne and one for the scars which is called (RETIN-A) its basically vitamin A which helps to remove old cells so new skin cells can appear) I was in love with this product. After 2 weeks my new skin looked 100 times better. But it also used to dry out my skin so I had to wear moisturizer and sunscreen so that my new skin wasn't exposed to too much sunlight. TOO MUCH SUNLIGHT IS BAD FOR YOUR SKIN!

So now that you know you have to take care of your skin for your makeup to look gorg, Part 2 will look at 2 products that help your makeup stay on your skin and go on smoothly.

PS I just realised this post will be really long so it will be in 2 parts- This is part 1.