Daily skincare and makeup routine

I am so excited about this post!! I have been day dreaming about sharing my love for skincare and makeup via social media forever. Before I get into my typical, daily makeup routine first let me give you a little background on my beauty journey…

I remember the first time I wore makeup, I was in the 8th grade and I had no clue what I was doing! My Mom always took care of her skin, and I remember watching her apply creams and all sorts of products as a little girl. However, she hardly wore any makeup. So when it came time for me to experience with makeup I was on my own. My foundation (which I didn’t need) was too dark and too oily, my blush too pink and my highlight WAY too shimmery. It wasn’t until about 10 years ago that I really found my way.

I never wore too much makeup, just a little bronzer, eyeshadow and mascara. When I turned 23 I got a job at Macy’s in the cosmetics department. I had to sell makeup and apply it on customers, needless to say I was so nervous. My makeup always looked pretty, but could I do it on someone else’s face? But after practice (practice really does make perfect when it comes to makeup) some classes and certifications with some really big beauty brands (Lancome, Clarins, Elizabeth Arden and Estée Lauder) I became an expert, well an expert in my eyes. The rest is history. I truly enjoy doing my makeup, and even if I don’t feel like it, applying a little bit always makes me feel better. Now I’m going to walk you through my daily skincare and makeup routine. Obviously it changes once in a while, but 8 times out of 10 this is what I do.

Beautiful makeup starts with beautiful skin, so I always make sure to apply my skincare before my makeup and also after I wash my makeup off at night. Yes ladies, you MUST wash your face every night, even if you don’t wear any makeup that day. These are my favorite and current skincare products:

Face wash: Estée Lauder Perfectly Clean Cream Cleanser Idea for Dry Skin

Scrub/Exfoliator (only 1-2 a week): Laura Mercier Face Polish

Mask (only 1-2 a week at night): Origins Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask

Eye serum: Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Serum

Eye cream: Estée Lauder Revitalizing Supreme Eye Balm

Face serum: Lancome Genefique

Face cream: Estée Lauder ReNutriv Intensive Age Renewal Cream

I always start with eyes, then face serum and cream. Then I’m ready for my foundation primer and makeup. This is the fun part. And real quick, I’m not talking about any tools or brushes, saving that for another special post that’s in the works!

Foundation primer: Laura Mercier Hydrating Foundation Primer

Eye primer: Benefit Stay Don’t Stray

Concealer: Estée Lauder Double Wear BB Highlighter in Light/medium cool or Makeup Forever Ultra HD concealer in R30 (I love both, sometimes I’ll layer them, but it’s usually which I grab first)

Tinted moisturizer or foundation: Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer in Sand or Makeup Forever Ultra HD Foundation in R360 (depends on the day, but I love them both and in my opinion both offer pretty nice coverage)

Powder: Estée Lauder Double Wear Powder in 2n1 right now. (holy grail! I just dust it lightly over my foundation. If applied heavier it will give full coverage which is amazing in the summer when I don’t want to wear a liquid foundation)

Highlight/Contour: Anastasia Beverly Hills powder contour kit in Light

Blush: Nars powder blush in Orgasm (my go-to always)

Eyebrow pencil: Estée Lauder Automatic Brow Pencil Duo in Dark Brown

Eyeshadow: Urban Decay Naked Basics 2 (this is my most used palette. It’s so versatile and I love the all matte shades. I use the darkest color as eyeliner and I smudge into my upper and lower lashes)

Eyeliner: Estée Lauder Double Wear Eyeliner in Onyx for my upper and lower waterline

Mascara: It Cosmetics Superhero (and it’s exactly that, a SUPERHERO! My lashes never looked so good)

Finishing spray: Mario Badescu Facial Spray

Lips: good old Chapstick and one of my 4,000 glosses

WAIT..I can’t forget fragrance, I have too many to count, but a favorite is Lancome La vie est belle. I always find myself grabbing this one and it smells oh so pretty. I always get compliments when I wear it.

  
So, like I said before some days I’ll mix up my makeup, but these products are the ones I’m always grabbing for. Some of them I cannot live without, like that mascara, oh I am so happy I found that!

  
I will be doing a favorites post that will include more detail on some of these products and where you can find them the cheapest, so be on the lookout for that!

xo, Julia

Quick recap of our weekend

 So, Jax and I had a nice, laid back weekend here in CT. We are finally having some beautiful weather, thankfully because Jax wants to be outside all.day.long. and that can be very hard to do in the nasty, rainy weather we’ve been having. So fingers crossed it stays nice? Yes!

Like I said, Jax loves being outside, so we spent all out Saturday enjoying our back yard. Running around, kicking the soccer ball around, taking walks down the street to visit this little stream that runs through our neighborhood. Jax is just obsessed with going and looking at the “tream.” Haha!  We always bring all of Jax’s Paw Patrol pups or dinosaurs outside and play with them in his big “Little Tikes” fort, he just loves sliding them down the slide.

To add to his “fort” Jax got this adorable little picnic table by “Step 2” from my mom. It’s the perfect size for him to sit at and enjoy a snack outside. He thinks he’s such a big boy having his own picnic table.  Our Boston Terrier Tux wanted to join in on the fun. But I think he was just waiting for some food to drop.  So after playing outside all day on Saturday we finally we’re able to get some things done on Sunday! Jax got to visit his dad for a little bit early in the day and when I picked him up we headed over to BJ’s for some groceries. I was on the hunt for fresh pizza dough they have there SOMETIMES. And I stress the “sometimes” because I’ve only been able to find it there 3 times. It is THE best pizza dough I’ve ever used, I can’t even explain it..it’s that good! It’s chewy, but rolls out perfectly thin and the crust is amazing, and let’s be serious- who likes pizza crust? Except Jax who will pretty much only eat crust when it comes to pizza, ha! Well it was our lucky day because they had it, yay! We grabbed a few other necessities and headed home.

We made 2 pizzas. One bbq chicken and the other pesto chicken. I also bought the pesto sauce from BJ’s and OMG, it’s so good! I’m a huge pesto fan and loving making my own, but let’s face it, you don’t always have the time or the freshest ingredients to do so. So I love keeping this in the fridge! After Jax helped me spread the sauce and sprinkle the cheese they went into the oven. And they came out great! (I can post a quick blog post tomorrow with step by step instructions and pictures on how I made each pie😊)

We finished our night with “The Good Dinosaur” movie…so cute! Overall our weekend was easy, filled with sunshine, good times and definitely good food! Hope you all enjoyed yours!

xo, Julia

Tiffany Jazelle- my favorite accessory

Many of you who follow me on Instagram (Missjulxo) know that I have a slight obsession with jewelry, but mainly bracelets. I love them! I don’t discriminate, I like them all..Silver, gold, glitzy, boho- it.does.not.matter.

So, about a year ago I came across this local designer, well not so local for us in CT, but local as in New England. Her name is Tiffany Jazelle and her jewels are just, ah I have no words..so AMAZING will have to do. Handmade with love on Capecod her bracelets are made with gemstones and sterling silver charms. She has recently added gold and rose gold charms to her core collection, and new necklaces..making all of her things irresistible.

Each gem holds a different meaning. Meant to be stacked I just love creating my individual stack each day. I’ll wear my amethyst bracelet if I’m feeling stressed out or my white opals if I’m looking for some clarity. I love mixing it up and stacking several together. Each charm also has a different meaning.

Tiffany and Me at her trunk show at Tickled Pink in Seymour CT

I even like stacking her bracelets with my other favorites, including a chunky boyfriend watch like this one.

You can check out all her beautiful things on her website at http://www.tjazelle.com or her Instagram @tjazelle you won’t be sorry you did 😊

xo Julia

Let me introduce myself

Hi, my name is Julia. I’m a mama to my beautiful little Jaxson Thomas who turned 2 this past December. He is my greatest accomplishment in my 29 years (yes I’ll be 30 this year 😳) I’m a makeup artist and love what I do. I’m a single mom, my sons father is involved and we coparent really well. Friends and family have been telling me to start a blog for years, I guess they think I should share all the makeup and fashion advice I give them with others. So that’s exactly what I’m going to do. I really have no clue where to start, but I’m starting anyway, so here we go..