Current Favourite Beauty Bits

Vaseline Total Moisture 

I have really dry skin and this is a life saver for me. I combine it with my regular body lotion to provide that extra moisture without being greasy. 

Marc Jacobs Daisy

This perfume has been on my wish list for a while now so I am very happy that I finally have it. It is so flowery and fresh. I love girly scents so this perfect for me.

MAC - Cleanse Off Oil
This is an oil base make-up remover. I personally would have never purchased this for myself, but I was gifted it for my birthday, but when it finishes I will definitely be repurchasing it. It removes EVERYTHING...and when I say everything, I mean everything!!! With other make-up removers I would have to put in effect to remove my waterproof eyeliner or mascara, but with this removing them is such a breeze. Also, because it is oil base a little goes a long way.

Essie - Butler Please
Talk about a nail polish colour that pops!!! This nail polish has been trending for a while now and I completely understand why. It is so pretty on girls of every skin colour. I just cannot get enough of it.

NanaCoco - Hidden Desire
I picked up this lipgloss at a pharmacy. I never heard about the brand before but I loved their packaging and I was looking for a nude everyday lipgloss. The quality of this lip gloss is superb. I love everything about this gloss. It is pigmented, long lasting and it also smells really yummy! I cannot wait to get some more, I want them in every colour.

Shannon
xoxo

Removing Acrylic Nails At Home (2 ways)

Hello again ladies, in today's post I wanted to talk to you all about removing your acrylic nails at home; now if you wear acrylic nails on the regular or you're a newbie, when your nails grow out they are very unattractive so taking them off is a MUST, but if you don't have the time to run down to the nail shop, I have two removal methods that are really simple and you can do either in the comfort of your own home.

These are the implements that you will need for either method

Buffing Block

Cuticle Oil

Large Nail Clip

Before starting either of these methods, be sure to first remove most or all of your nail polish and trim down your acrylic nails using the nail clipper.

Method One: Warm Water Soak Off 

 

Here's what you'll need for this method

Acetone (I put mine in this Clinique pump bottle for easy usage)

Small bowl

Ziplock Bag

Warm Water

Simply fill the small bowl with the warm water and place the acetone in the Ziplock bag. Place your hand in the Ziploc bag making sure your nails are full submerged in the acetone and place the bag in the warm water. The warmth from the water speeds up the process and in about 15 minutes or so the acrylic should have melted off of your natural nails.

Method 2: Foil Soak Off

 

For this method you'll only need the following

Foil

Loose cotton or cotton balls

Acetone (not pictured here)

Simply saturate the cotton with the acetone and place directly on the nail, then take the foil and wrap around your finger to secure the cotton, and that's pretty much it! :) Just sit back and wait for 20 minutes then remove everything after, your fingers should emerge sans acrylic.

After removing the acrylic, use the buffing block to shape and remove any residue left on your nails. Then follow up with your cuticle oil to moisturize your nails as acetone can be very drying. Afterwards you can even opt to apply a nail hardener because your nails might be a little brittle after going through this entire process.

Hope this helped, and if you have a different removal method let me know.
Debbie.

Moisturize Dem Lips !

Soft kissable lips is something that all girls desire so here are a few lip products that are sure to help out when combating dry lips, cold sores, and severely chapped lips.

Fresh Sugar Lip Balm

Carmex

Korres Lip Butter

Blistex Lip Medex

Evolution of Smooth (EOS) Lip Balm

Aquaphor Healing Ointment

Blistex Moisture Melts

Neosporin Overnight Renewal Therapy
 Neosporin Daily Hydration Therapy w/SPF20

Vaseline Cocoa Butter Lip Therapy

Maybelline Baby Lips

C.O. Bigelow Mentha Lip Shine

What's your favourite lip balm?
Debbie

RIRI [HEARTS] MAC

The Bajan popstar has proven to be not only one of pop music's greatest superstars, but she has been making her mark as a savvy business woman as she has launched her perfume line Reb'l Fleur in 2011      and she recently debuted her 'River Island' collection at London Fashion Week 2013, but guess what she hasn't stopped just yet..... she recently partnered with the makeup giants Makeup Art Cosmetics (MAC) to launch her own makeup line called RiRi [Hearts] MAC.

Her makeup line is set to be launched in four separate collections of lipsticks, lipglosses and eyeshadows and other items throughout the year.  The first item from her makeup line will debut on May 4, 2013 to coincide with her “Diamonds” concert in Brooklyn, New York and is said to be Rihanna's take on the infamous Ruby Woo lipstick, befittingly dubbed RiRi Woo.

I'm definitely looking forward to the great things from her makeup line as well as her other fashion endeavours. Keep up the good work Rihanna!

Until next time guys.
Debbie

NYX Series: Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencils

I have been neglecting my NYX series but I've brought it out of hiding with my favourite NYX products which are the Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencils; I swatched the ones that I have collected over time just to give you guys an idea of the shade range that is offered. If you need a better idea of the total colour range of the jumbo pencils, you can check here.

Here's a close up of the jumbo pencil itself

So here are my swatches for you guys :)

The NYX Jumbo Pencils have a creamy, blendable texture and can be worn as an eyeshadow or eyeshadow base. They come in a wide array of colours that will intensify any makeup look as you can see in the swatch below and best of all they're available at Significant Details in Kingston, so if you're looking to try them out you can head on down there for yourself. The only con about the product is that it is a bit difficult to sharpen, but that can easily be remedied by melting them down into a small container so it resembles the Maybelline Color Tattoos.

Left: swatch with base | Right: swatch without base

Hope this is helpful, and you can check out my other NYX posts on the Soft Matte Lip Creams and Lipsticks in the mean time.
Have a great day guys!
Debbie

Thank You

We wanted to take this time to thank everyone who cast their vote for Exotic You during the week long voting period, it means a lot to us. We might not have captured first place in the public votes, but we are extremely happy nonetheless that our blog been so well received and this is what motivates us to continue making posts for you all. In our eyes we have already achieved a great deal....Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

New Hair Goodies

Hey beauties, over the past few months we've collected some new hair goodies. Some we've never used before and others are repurchases. If you see anything that you would like us to review, just leave a comment.

Shannon's Hair Goodies:

1. Creme of Nature Argan Oil - Oil Treatment

2. Creme of Nature Argan Oil - Moisture & Shine Shampoo

1. Tropic Isle Living Jamaican Black Castor Oil Hair Food

2. Tropic Isle Living Lavender Jamaican Black Castor Oil

3. Tropic Isle Living Jamaican Black Castor Oil

1. Organic Root Stimulator Olive Oil - Edge Control

2. Organic Root Stimulator Olive Oil - Smooth-n-Hold Pudding

3. Organic Root Stimulator Olive Oil - Oil Moisturizing Hair Lotion

Debbie's Hair Goodies:

1. Shea Moisture Deep Treatment Masque
2. Cantu Shea Butter for Natural Hair Deep Treatment Masque
3. Cantu Shea Butter for Natural Hair Coconut Curling Cream

1. Aloe Vera Oil
2. Aussie Moist Conditioner
3. Tropic Isle Living Lavender Black Castor Oil
4. Tropic Isle Living Black Castor Oil Hair Food

1. Revlon Perfect Heat Tourmaline Ceramic 1" Styling Iron

Toodles,
Debbie & Shannon

Highlight Powders: Ben Nye Banana Powder vs Black Opal Deluxe Finishing Powder

One element to the achieving that perfectly chiseled face is  knowing how to highlight the face correctly. Today I'm going to talk about the Ben Nye Banana Powder, which has taken the beauty community by storm recently and an old favourite of mine the Black Opal Deluxe Finishing powder in Medium. I initially heard about both these powders through Youtube, so here are my thoughts on each of them.

Ben Nye Visage Powder in Banana

Price: USD$7.95 for the 1.5ounce bottle at www.makeupmania.com

Amount: I purchased the 1.5ounce bottle but there is also a 3 ounce bottle available


Packaging: small conveniently sized plastic container 
                 has a small sifter barrier at the top
                 there is no powder puff

Texture & Appearance: finely milled, smooth texture but with a light yellow 'banana' tint to it.

Application: I will either use a makeup sponge to pat on the product in the appropriate highlighting areas for a more intense finish then I'll dust off the excess with a powder brush, or I'll use an eyeshadow blending brush for a lighter application for an everyday look. It applies very smoothly.

Results: The yellow tint of the powder gives me that perfect bright under eye look. In the initial application it appears very light, almost white against my dark skintone, but when blended in it gives a bright highlight to the face, without looking too overbearing.

Final Thoughts: it is an excellent powder and the price can't be beat. I see this powder working great for a variety of skin tones. I must mention that Ben Nye also makes other shades of highlight powders for WOC if you're not too fond of this one such as Sienna and Topaz. The Ben Nye Visage Powders can be used as all over face powders as well.

Rating: 4.5/5

Black Opal Deluxe Finishing Powder in Medium

Price: I estimate that I paid around JMD$1000

Amount: 1 ounce

Packaging: small plastic container
                 has a sifter barrier
                 does not come with a sponge

Texture & Appearance: similar texture to the Ben Nye powder but this has a more 'skintone' colour as you can see in the swatch below.

Application: I use a similar application technique as I do with the Ben Bye powder.

Results: As I had mentioned this powder has a more skintone shade which actually blends in to my complexion a little bit better than the Banana powder. It highlights the face just as well and it also has oil controlling properties.

Final Thoughts: This is a great highlighting powder if you are around my complexion ( for reference I am an NW47 in MAC and shade 178 in the Makeup Forever HD foundation). This powder is readily available for us Jamaicans in pharmacies and beauty supply stores so it may be the better option for most of us in terms of availability. The Deluxe Finishing Powder is made to be used as an all over face powder so it does come in a variety of shades for WOC.

Rating: 5/5

Here are the swatches:

Ben Nye & Black Opal Powders Heavily Applied

I honestly love them both and will use them interchangeably, I can't choose between the two because I get great results with both, so I will leave it up to you to decide ;)

I hope this was helpful to you guys and I'll see you in my next post...take care
Debbie.

Self Esteem.....

...... What does it mean to you?

Debbie

VOTING PERIOD EXTENDED

Hello everyone, the Jamaica Bloggers Association (JBA) recently decided to extend the public voting period until midnight this Wednesday, January 16, 2013. We would sincerely appreciate it if you would continue to vote for us until then; just click on the logo below and it will take you directly to the voting point.

THANK YOU!!! once again to everyone who has voted for us and will continue to vote for us. If you have problems with the site registering your vote, wait several minutes and continue to click the "Click To Vote" button until your vote is registered and the number increases; sorry about that guys.

Debbie & Shannon

The Low Down: Martina's Nails Place

The 'Low Down' is basically a new series that we would like to jump start for 2013 on our blog where we visit various local business that operate within the beauty industry such as spas, hairdressers,etc and we give you our personal experience and feedback on the location.

We begin the series with Martina's Nails Place, the hip spot for trendy nail designs. I initially heard about the nail spa through Spa Week 2012 and I actually purchased a gift card for discounted services which were acrylic tips application and a pedicure. The nail shop is located at Shop #12 Princeville Plaza on Constant Spring Road and it's a small yet cozy setup. The owner Martina is a friendly and jovial person and so is the staff, but  her nail art skills are what draws many of her clientele to the business. Strewn across her Facebook page are pictures upon pictures of trendy nail art designs from polka dots to Pacman; no design is too technical or difficult for them. I put my stamp of approval on this place and if you've been let me know what you think, until then, take a look at the pictures of her work and price list below.

Price List

MANICURE................................$1,000.00

PEDICURE.................................$1,200.00

FRENCH TIPS...........................$2,200.00

REGULAR TIPS.........................$2,000.00

RE-POLISH.............................$500.00

SOAK OFF...........................$300.00

REFILL............................$1,000.00

She also does shellac and gel nails.

My Nails done by Martina

A look inside the store

Pedicure station

Until next time guys!
Debbie

Japonesque Professional Parian Spirit: Review & Demo

Hello friends! I have another product review for you as well as a little demo/how to on the Japonesque Professional Parian Spirit Brush Cleaner. I picked this up at Ulta simply because I was curious and wanted to try out a new brush cleaner. I'm very happy that I decided to get it, it works very well at cleaning, sanitizing and deodorizing my brushes, so I'm gonna give you the 411 on this product.

 

The brush cleaner cost USD$12.00 which is not bad seeing that you get 4.25 fluid ounces of product and some other brands of parian spirit can get pretty pricey. It's great for makeup artists on the go, the everyday girl who may not have time to always deep clean her brushes after every use, and it's excellent for travelling, as it takes the hassle out of cleaning your brushes when you're not at home. The spray nozzle makes it easy to apply the cleaner to the brushes and it has a pleasant orange scent which leaves your brushes smelling fresh. It dries very quickly (about 3 minutes) so you're ready to use your brush again almost immediately. I must note that you should still try to deep clean your makeup brushes at least once a week with soap and water since this is meant to be a quick fix for dirty brushes.

How To/Demo

Here's how well the brush cleaner works on my Real Techniques powder brush and Sigma concealer brush.

See all the makeup residue left behind?...yuck!

You will need paper towels or an actual towel, whatever you prefer and a hard surface.

For the powder brush, I lightly saturated it with the cleaner and began to swirl the brush in gentle circular motions and as you can see it works perfectly at removing powder residue from brushes.

Concealer brushes can be a little trickier to clean because liquid or cream based concealers can really stick to the bristles of your makeup brush, but with a little elbow grease it quickly dissolves the cream/liquid residue. I cleaned this brush using a zig zag motion and I applied a bit more pressure to get in between the bristles.

Now my brushes are clean, conditioned and sanitized and ready for use

I would definitely recommend this cleaner to any and everyone and I give it 2 thumbs up!

What do you think of the Japonesque Parian Spirit Brush Cleaner guys? or have you tried any other brush cleanser?
Debbie