Nail Trend: Pink Nails

Pink nail colors have never really been my thing. I always felt as though pink nails were too girly or too Barbie for me. Well, OPI's Strawberry Margarita may have changed that for me.
I was at Target earlier this evening looking for a happy nail polish color that would give me a taste of the warmer months (since it has been so gloomy and cold lately). For some reason, this polish caught my eye and I decided to go out on a limb and give it a try. I painted it on both my fingers and my toes and it looks great! I feel as though it compliments my skin tone and makes me happy just looking at it. It's definitely a nice change from the winter colors I've been wearing. Also,  I think this color would be great for Valentine's Day.
So, Regular Girls,  what's your go-to pick-me-up color for a dreary day?

Quick Tip: Removing Waterproof Eye Makeup

I wear a lot of waterproof makeup. Everyone wants their makeup to last all day with minimal touch-ups. But what happens at the end of the day when you need to get it off before bed? For you ladies that just don't take your makeup off at night, it's definitely to your benefit to take the extra 3 minutes to really make sure you get all of your makeup off before going to bed.
I've been using neutrogena's makeup removing wipes and I've been pretty happy with them. However, I've been wearing more liquid eyeliner as well as waterproof mascara and this is always more difficult to get off. I recently purchased Beautifying Oil from The Body Shop. There are so many uses for this oil and I decided to try it on my eye makeup to remove residue that the makeup wipes left on my face. Let me tell you. It has changed my nighttime routine. As you can see in the photo above, the top photo is what my eye makeup looked like after just using the makeup wipe. The bottom photo is what little was left after using the oil.
You can apply the oil by using a cotton pad, or all I do is put some on a clean section of the makeup wipe I already used. So I challenge all of you fellow regular girls to give an oil a try and let me know how it worked for you. Or, if you use something different that works well for you, please share it in the comments below.

Holy Grail: Daily Skincare Routine

Ok. I think I've done it. I think I've found my Holy Grail of skincare products. I've had a real struggle with my skin the past few months, but these products have brought me to my clearest skin. I've spoken of a couple of these products in previous posts, but I wanted to present them in the way I've been using them so all of you Regular Girls can try it as well.

The first product (labelled #1 in the picture above) is Aveeno's Active Naturals: Positively Radiant Brightening Cleanser ($6.49 at Target). I begin my skincare routine with this product by using it to cleanse my face at night in the shower and in the morning using warm water. For all of you ladies who don't want for the water to get warm need to re-examine your skincare routine. I've found a drastic difference between washing my face with warm versus cool water. I know you're tired in the morning and probably in a rush, but please. Wait until the water gets warm. I promise. It will do wonders for your face. The warm water opens your pores in order for your cleanser to actually clear out the dirt. In other news, this cleanser is wonderful. It contains soy extract and has been a cleanser I've stuck to for almost a year now.

The next product (labelled #2 in the picture above) is St. Ives Blemish Control Green Tea Scrub ($4.99 at Target). This product has made all of the difference in my skincare routine. I use this morning and night with warm water after using my daily cleanser. This product claims to "gently clear breakouts & calm redness". Let me tell you. It definitely does that. I saw a difference even after the first use. And it's $4.99. 

#3 in the picture above is Aveeno's Active Naturals: Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer ($14.99 at Target). I use this product in the morning after using the brightening cleanser and the green tea scrub. It soothes my skin from the scrub and prevents dryness from the cold and dry Illinois winter air. I would also recommend using a lip balm such as Burt's Bees at this time since the scrub tends to dry out the skin. This moisturizer works without being too greasy and doesn't seem to break out my sensitive skin.

The last product in my holy grail skincare routine is Neutrogena's Naturals Multi-Vitamin Nourishing Night Cream ($12.99 at Target). I have mentioned this product before and I will link the full review here. I use this moisturizer at night after using the green tea scrub. I have found that this cream really soothes my skin without making my skin greasy. The last thing I want before going to bed is a greasy face because of my moisturizer. Something even less attractive is an overly greasy face in the morning. This cream doesn't do any of those things and doesn't break me out. It is more on the pricier side of the above mentioned products, but it lasts a very long time. A little of this product goes a long way.

So there you have it: the products that have made it to my holy grail of skincare products. These together have really saved me. If you guys have tried any or all of these products, please leave me a comment below letting me know what you thought!