Jaqx Beauty- Homemade Facial Cleanser (Cucumber, Coconut Milk and Honey)

As most of you know who have followed my other blogs, I hate wasting things that can be reused into something else. I also try and find ways to use one item in a variety of different ways. If I purchase jam/jelly, spaghetti sauce or any other fridge item that comes in a glass bottle, I almost always save the bottle to repurpose it somehow. I love organic beauty lines but hate paying premium for things I could make myself for a fraction of the price. I love making my own facial cleansers and masks. One of my favorite homemade cleanser recipes uses items that many of you health nuts will already have in your kitchen. Gather the following items:

1. 1 cup Coconut Milk (you can use regular milk as well)
2. 1 cup Cucumber Juice or 2-4 whole Cucumbers (whole cucumbers will need to be peeled and quartered when placing in your food processor. After pulsing for 10 seconds, Strain the mixture using a fine mesh strainer until you get enough juice for the recipe)
3. 1 tablespoon Organic Honey

This is a great alternative for people with sensitive skin. Its soothing and gentle. It cleans deep down inside the pores while nourishing the skin. Take a wire whisk and combine the ingredients together until you get a smooth milky liquid. Pour enough product into a glass bottle or jar and place in refrigerator with a cute label until you are ready to use it for cleansing your skin and face. What you put in the fridge will stay good for 1 week, place the leftovers in an I've cube tray and freeze. Then just dethaw a few cubes each week. It will stay fresh in the freezer for about 8-12 months. This recipe will probably yield you about 6 weeks worth of product though. Rinse your face with warm water to open up the pores, pour some of the cleanser onto a wash cloth, and wash your face. Then rinse, your face will be extra clean and glowing.

The cucumber juice helps purify the skin while the coconut milk soothes and hydrates the skin. The honey works as a natural astringent and contains natural antibacterial properties which makes it excellent for killing the bacteria that causes acne or blemishes. You can find these ingredients at your local health food store or herbal store.

Jaqx Beauty- DIY Full Highlights

Ever since finding out that I was pregnant, I've been growing my hair out darker and not dying my hair at all. I've had 2 highlights professionally done at a high end salon in the past 10 months and I haven't been happy with any of the outcomes, the color was always too brassy. There's nothing worse than paying premium dollar for a quality service and leaving unhappy with the final outcome. I really wanted my highlights to lighten up my hair and got up a little courage to attempt doing it myself at home for a fraction of the cost....literally 10% of what Id pay going to a high end salon. I purchased the Loreal highlight kit for a little less than $14.00 at my local drugstore. The directions were really easy to follow and it took less than an hour to do (with application and process time). Ideally, you'd actually have someone else pull your hair through the cap, but I managed to do it by myself and just pulled the front section of my hair through the cap. I wanted a heavy highlight so I pulled hair through all of the holes in the front of the cap (you can choose whatever pattern you want depending on how heavy or how light you want your highlights). Applied the color, let it process, and jumped in the shower (with the cap still on! This is important, don't try and pull that cap off before you get your hair wet, you will rip your hair out!). I rinsed the color out and the cap just slid right off in the shower. The package comes with a shampoo to use, then I used my own deep conditioner. There is a leave in toner you comb through your toweled dry hair and then voila...style as you want. Here are some before and after pics. I really love the blonde, it's not brassy at all and frames my face well. I'm so happy that this product not only worked but that it was easy to apply and saved me so much money! If you're considering highlights, I definitely recommend this one from Loreal.

Jaqx Beauty-Drugstore Makeup Haul

After my last beauty post, some of you contacted me and asked about my favorite beauty pics that were more affordable options and could be found at your nearby drugstore and not necessarily online or at Sephora. I completely understand that reviewing beauty products at all price points are more beneficial to all my subscribers, and thanks for reaching out to me.

Here is a look at just a few of my favorite drug store beauty items, I found everything at CVS.

1. Stay Matte Pressed Powder from Rimmel London (I wear 'creamy natural' when I'm not tan). I rarely need powder, but when I want to set my makeup or if I think it's really humid out, I'll swipe on a bit of this matte powder to reduce any shine.

2. Glitz Glamour Gloss by Milani (in 50 center stage shade). A great addition to the below nude lipsticks. Keeps your lips shiny without being too sticky or sparkly.

3. Loreal Fairest Nude 800 -colour riche lipstick and Revlon's Nude Attitude matte lipstick. .. The perfect nudes!

4. Maybeline Eyestudio Blackest Black waterproof eyeliner (comes in a little pot with applicator brush). Soooo easy to use, the perfect product for an quick smokey eye look.

5. Loreal Voluminous Waterproof mascara in black (see previous beauty posts for my review on this product. Literally the only mascara I will ever use!

Jaqx Beauty- What's in my makeup bag?

I recently overhauled my makeup bag, trashed a bunch of products i was using and invested in some high quality products that will last me a long time and never fail me ;)

I look at a lot of other beauty blogs, beauty magazines, and makeup reviews on sephora before purchasing anything, so I rarely purchase a product I'm unhappy with or want to return. Here are my current favorites for when I want a fresh faced natural look.

- Laura Mercier silk creme foundation in beige/ivory (as I'm not tan right now) for $43.00, you only need a dime size of product to cover your whole face. It has a beautiful flawless coverage without looking heavy or too matte. I don't even need any concealer when using this product, it does a wonderful job evening out uneven skin tone. It's pricey but will last you a very long time. It's also oil and fragrance free!

-Illamasqua powder blush in 'Hussy' shade for $26.00. The pigment is incredibly rich, this compact will literally last you a solid year even if you use it every day. Gorgeous shade for a light to medium complexion. I use this everyday!

-Benefit Brow Zings Kit or Avon Eyebrow Pencil are my two go-to eyebrow fillers. The Benefit brow zings kit is sold for $30.00 at Sephora, and the Avon brow pencil is less than $5.00! The difference is mainly that one is a pencil and one is a powder/gel you put on with a brush. I actually think I prefer the Avon pencil the best. It takes me two seconds to fill and shape my brows, and it lasts all day. The advantage of the kit for me is that comes with a compact mirror and tiny tweezers which is great to have in your makeup bag ;) I would opt for the Benefit kit for daytime wear as its a more natural looking filler.

-I recently bought Laura Merciers tinted lip balm in Shy Pink ($19.00). I absolutely love the little pot of color and use it almost every day. Sometimes I will apply it over my Nars lip pencil described below. You will definitely need a moisturizer lip as it tends to be a bit drying.

-Burts bees Chapstick and Nars Velvet Matte lip pencil in 'Bettina' shade ($25.00) for my lips. I use this color almost every day. It's a gorgeous neutral and on the rare occasion when I want a more dramatic look, I have one red lipstick that I opt for also by Nars.

-the ONE and only mascara I use is Loreal waterproof voluminous mascara in black. I've used this mascara for more than 10 years! One of my very first photo shoots, the makeup artist told me that this was the best drugstore find she had ever discovered, and boy was she right. Every photo shoot I have ever had, the makeup artists always used this product. It's buildable, doesn't flake,doesn't smear and is inexpensive. I've tried a million others, but always come back to this.


Here are some product shots for you guys. As I've gotten older, I have grown to realize that it really does payoff to invest in quality products that are richly pigmented, made well and will last you a long time.