After work routine

plethora of skin products

masks

me without makeup. I have the Botanics Sauna Mask on. Yesh

Hi Beauties,

I wear makeup at least 5 days a week but I also take very good care of my skin because of this. The trick is to find products that offer "deep cleansing" ,  unclog pores, removes oil and dirty and other impurities- in essence products that will get rid of the stress left on your face due to environmental factors such as pollution and sun damage caused by exposure to UV rays. Some foundations tend to get into pores and attract oil and dirty to the face and if you are prone to break outs like me , this means you have to choose your foundation wisely but also find a good routine to take good care of your skin especially after you've taken off the makeup at the end of the day.

My routine varies alot- depends on what I have in stock, how my skin is reacting and whatever I feel like using to be honest.

First thing I do when I get home is ALWAYS remove my makeup, I bought some makeup remover wipes from a walmart brand called equate. I always look out for these wipes when I'm in a walmart. 60 wipes in a pack and I got two sets for $9 US. These are great- I use them in conjunction sometimes with my Neutrogena Deep Clean Cream Cleanser to remove any excess from my face. walmart.com

Other times I use Ponds Cold Cream to remove my makeup. This is something every woman should have in her skin artillery. It is an old trusted product that brings back moisture to your skin that you may have lost in the day while removing your makeup.
Oh for heavy eye makeup which is usually pretty labour intensive to remove like waterproof mascara I use my ALMAY EYE MAKEUP REMOVER PADS- which are some of the best ,if not the best out there on the market. Costs around $6 US on amazon.com or ulta.com.


Secondly is have a glass of water. 8 glasses of water a day is recommended by most physicians. Water is great for your skin, especially after a long day. This is essential if you live in hot or dry climates, you loose alot of water during the day whether by sweating or from dry weather, hence you have to replenish your skin's moisture. One sign to tell me that I need to drink water , is that I get very dry lips. I am drinking my water as we speak. It also helps to flush out the impurities out of your system which in turn helps to promote better skin.

Next step is to take 15 mins to relax and put on my face mask with some cucumbers on my eyes and some relaxing music while sipping on my water of course. Take the time to relax, let you body whine down after a long day, give your face a rest- literally. My favourite masks are those that claim to minimize pores, unclog pores or remove oil and dirt and impurities from your pures, this is necessary especially after a long day. I usually turn to my clay mask about twice a week because I have oily skin. For someone with normal skin you can use a mask once a week.

 Lately I have been obsessed with BOTANICS products- I am using their  Refining Sauna Mask with horsechestnut extract to help refine skin, drawing out dirt and impurities, promoting a healthy complexion. Doesn't that sound promising? Botanics products use all natural ingredients and is very affordable. Botanics can be found at Target.

Other masks I use from REIPINOL'A Natural Beauty. I bought them when I was in Barbados.  There's the Chamomile Revitalizing Facial Mask and the Sealange Lifting Facial Mask, again all natural and they only cost $1US.

There are times when I don't use the masks and go straight for my Tea Tree Oil. This is one of my favourite products. I use it for everything. Its great to clean my makeup brushes also. What is does is gets rid of bacteria that can cause break outs. So after I am done cleaning my makeup off, I use a cotton ball to apply some tea tree oil to my face to fight bacteria. I use JASON Tea Tree Oil which costs around $5 US.http://www.amazon.com/Jason-Natural-Cosmetics-Australian-liquid/dp/B000VA35ME

So for those of you who are worried about your skin, if you wear makeup all the time, you just have to be willing to look after your skin and get products that will either soothe, deep clean or remove impurities after a long hard day at work. Love your skin ladies! Remember there's no good makeup without good skin.

Beauty inside and out.

Gap-toothed beauty

Anna Paquin "Sookie" from True Blood

Famous gap toothed beauty- Madonna

So this blog is not all about makeup and beauty products but it's a way for me to express my self on particular views about what is considered beautiful in societies around the world. Today I was staring at myself in the mirror contemplating on whether I should get rid of my gap between my front teeth for about the 20 millionth time.

 I was reading this article on the huffington post website about how "Gap teeth" have become the latest must have accessory and it made me smile. It meant to me that society, especially that of the west has finally accepted that beauty comes in different forms and shapes and that having a gap between your teeth does not make you any less beautiful. For years, I have been proud of Madonna for not getting hers fixed or for Lauren Hutten who is known for her beauty for not bending to social pressures and go to the dentist to get that "perfect smile." I used to say the day Madonna gets hers fixed, that the day I will get mine fixed. And then, there's Sookie from True Blood or Anna Paquin in real life who also says she finds it rude when people ask her why she never fixed her gap. I DO TOO!!!! She makes gap teeth look so sexy. Here's the link to the story http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/05/gap-teeth-the-latest-must_n_164339.html. Its a pity that I can't recall any black women who are considered beauty icons and have gap teeth. Ne ways back to my story...

Growing up in St. Kitts, I never realized that my smile was different till I was about 13, when I went down the road to go the shop and this older man stopped me to ask me If I know what it meant to have a space between my teeth but never finished telling me what it was. I was like what is he talking about? Then I went home to ask my mother what does it mean if I have a  space between my teeth and she told me don't ask her about that non-sense. Then later on maybe 15/16 I learnt that the local myth states that if you have a space between your teeth or gap teeth that you were some how "sweeter" than all the other women and that some how you possessed "sugar down there". I was appalled to learn the truth of course and went to my mother and demanded that she carried me to the dentist to get it fixed but my mother told me not to listen to what silly men say and that I should walk down the road with confidence and be proud of who I was and what I looked like because my gap tooth was part of my identity- not part of some local myth. She said it gave me a distinct look and she can't even picture me without it. I struggled with accepting her views of this situation for a while. My mother to me had a perfect smile- no gaps, my aunts, my cousins, my friends all had perfect smiles and here I was with this space that some how meant I was better in bed and men always seemed to approach me about what their grandmother told them or what people say about girls with space between their teeth. 

Of course in high school, I was made fun of several times by mean girls with self esteem issues telling me to go get my front teeth fixed or by ignorant people asking me if I was missing a tooth. I often did my research on my "condition" and found out it was actually a condition  called "Diastema" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diastema_%28dentistry%29. You can read more about it if you click on this link. 

The treatment for my condition is of course braces or veneers, both very expensive dental procedures. Oh and my gap grows with age so it is slightly bigger than when I was younger. I started begging my mom to let me get braces in my last year of high school because I didn't want to go out into the world looking different to every one else. I got the dentist appointment, he told me that the braces would be about 12,000 EC and that to make that gap smaller by using veneers would be about 3000 US. I sat in the chair dumbfounded that to fix something so simple could cost so much money but I still wanted it. 

During the summer before 6th form, I was so exciting that I was finally going look normal like every one else with my perfect smile but I still felt guilty about spending the money on the procudure ( I was going to get veneers). I went for my second consultation to discuss the procedure and the dentist told me he wouldn't be able to close the gap completely, just enough to make it smaller or I would look like I had three front tooth. I was disappointed and went home to think about it. I thought to myself, why do I want to look like every one else, that is not me. Why am I ready to give up my identity to look normal? Well I opted out of the procedure because I guess I accepted my gap and looking a little different to every one else.

Today when men approach me about if I know what people say about women with gap teeth, I just smile and say "probably but  let's see if you can be a little original". Honestly, I think I've heard them all. When I went off to uni in Canada however I got into a rut with my gap because the looks that I got were very different to the ones I got at home. People would be looking at my gap when I spoke instead of me. I felt very uncomfortable and realized I had it good at home. Yep it was a cultural thing, in the Caribbean. I again went to the dentist to consider my options but I always ended up opting out after a few convos with myself and my mother. And then I met my bf, who by the way also has a gap (coincidence). He never came up to me and asked me if I knew what people say but he told me one thing he noticed was my beautiful smile. I believed him and still do. He always encouraged me to accept my gap as part of what makes Shyne shine.

My gap is part of my distinct look. I finally get it. So when I looked in the mirror today wondering about how it looked compared to every one else, I just laughed and said maybe some day you'll get it fixed if it does get bigger but for now ...Im ok with it. To all my gap toothed beauty- be proud of being different- it is what makes you, you!

Oh, Condeleeza Rice and Susan Taylor- founder of Essence Mag both have a gap.

Interesting post from the black snob blog.
http://blacksnob.com/snob_blog/2010/9/9/fashion-discovers-gapped-teeth-will-likely-get-over-it-in-a.html

And the winner is....

 Here's our beauty who won the 1st Anniversary Giveaway. Congrats Karimu. I wish you long and full eyelashes! :)

 Here we go....

And the winner of the New Year's Giveaway is....Goldz. 
Congrats hun. You have just won a Colossal Mascara. Contact me via msg or fb or email to collect your prize.

Thanks for participating and stay tuned for more giveaways. Love and beauty to all!

Makeup resolutions for 2011

me earlier this year- my "no makeup" makeup look

Here are my makeup resolutions for next year and beyond. What are some of yours?

1. Throw out make up that I do not use. I need to stop hoarding makeup and get rid of what I don't use because bacteria does grow in makeup and make up products do have a shelf life. Some people have lipsticks for 5 yrs or more. C'mon! Let the overhaul begin.

2. Invest in an airbrush machine. This should be number 1 on the list.

3. Try out more brands like bobbi brown, smashbox, stila, bare minerals, physicians formula and urban decay.

4. Wear less makeup. Which leads to #5

5. Take better care of my skin so I can wear less makeup. I think I already do but I will continue working on my hyper pigmentation and acne for next year and share my experiences with you. I'm constantly searching for the next best thing. Speaking of which I found this line called specific beauty that is geared towards women of multi-hued complexions. Jennifer Hudson swears by it.

6. Start making more mineral eyeshadow. I started this earlier in the year and stopped but owning my own make up line is still my dream.

7. Get certified. Cosmetology school here I come.

8. Spend less on makeup during the year and find ways to get free makeup to try out for companies.

9. Reach out to more mature women. Oh the faux pas they commit when it comes to makeup. I know my mother is guilty of wearing a bright lip and blue eyeshadow but I am trying to ween her off her bad habits. And ladies the dark pencil with the lipstick or gloss- #Insert not so nice word here#.

10. Write more on my blog. Hence why I know need to be able to blog from my phone. I have many ideas just don't find the time to sit down by my laptop to write them down but I will dedicate more time to writing more posts in 2011.

Let's hope I can stick to at least 5 out of 10 of my makeup resolutions next year.
Happy New Year my beauties!!! I will post all my looks for the holiday season sometime this weekend. Enjoy the parties or balls or parades or where ever u gonna put ur best face forward. Until 2011, stay beautiful...inside and out.

New Year's Giveaway Contest

Hi beauties, I know its late but the flu kept me on lock down for a few days and I'm just recovering.:) I still want to have my second giveaway contest for New Years-the only draw back is the winner will be announced on the 4th January 2011 instead of the 1st. But its still a treat. The winner will receive... drum roll please................

 

The Colossal Volum' Express Mascara

Why You'll Love It

Creates 9X the volume, instantly.

• Patented MegaBrush + Collagen Formula plump lashes one by one
• Dramatic Volume with no clumps 

Contest Rules

• Subscribe or follow my blog by 6 pm on the 4th of January 2011. If you subscribe, please send me a message via facebook or via the blog or by email (scimills@gmail.com) or I will not be able to enter your name.

• Must be at least 14 to enter. 

• For this contest, its open to all as long as there's a mail service to that country.:)

• You get bonus a entry, for every friend you refer and they follow or subscribe.Just let me know of the friends name and you'll get you name entered again.

Good luck to to all!!!

PS Those who are already following or subscribing will also be entered but if you refer a friend you can receive a bonus entry. The more times your name is in the contest, the more chances you have of winning.

Thanks for supporting Necessary Beauty!

And the winner is....

All names in the bag

Names and prize

Congrats hun! You have just won a Falsies Mascara.

Thanks for participating in the 1st Necessary Beauty Contest. Congrats to Karimu for winning. For those who weren't so lucky, your names will be entered in my New Year's contest to win a Colossal Mascara. Keep locked to my blog for details. Merry Christmas my beauties and thanks for your support.

1 YR ANNIVERSARY/CHRISTMAS GIVE AWAY CONTEST

In the spirit of Christmas and to celebrate my blog's 1 yr anniversary I decided to have a my first contest/giveaway . You will have two chances to win two of my favourite products.

The first is Maybelline Falsies Mascara in Blackest Black (pictured above)

Why you'll love The Falsies Mascara:

Instant false glam in a tube!!!

The Falsies Mascara delivers a false lash look; giving you a full set of voluminous, bold, fanned out lashes and the appearance of no gaps from any angle.

The Falsies Mascara is designed to give the appearance of no gaps and spaces. In a wink lashes you didn’t even know you had look visibly thickened!

I love this mascara!!!

Contest Rules:

1. If you are in the first 30 to subscribe or become a follower of Necessary Beauty, your name will be put in a pool and a winner will be randomly drawn from the pool.

2. You have to be in St. Kitts or Nevis to participate. (sorry I don't want the hassle of shipping)

3. You must be 13 and older to participate.

4. Would prefer females to enter but guys if you want to enter to win for your girlfriend or yourself , go right ahead.

5. After the names have been pooled and the winner is drawn which I will announce on the blog in 1 week I will contact the winner via email or they could contact me via my email scimills@gmail.com.

Good luck!

Stay locked on to necessary beauty for my next give away- another one of my favourite products.