Oceanexpressway

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Liebster Award!

yay 2:37 AM

I am very excited to tell you all that I was nominated for the Liebster award by the lovely Johanna from Jo-Li Allure! Her blog is growing, just like mine, and I have really enjoyed going through and reading what she has to share.

What are the rules you ask?

1. You must link back to the person who nominated you.
2. You must answer the 11 questions given by the person who nominated you.
3. You pick 11 nominees with under 200 followers to answer your questions.
4. You cannot nominate the person who nominated you.
5. You must tell the nominees that they have been nominated by you.

So, without further adieu, let's answer Johanna's questions!

Question #1: How did you choose your blog name?

I actual got the name oceanexpressway from a poem that my best friend had written a couple of years ago, and I decided to start using it for a username. After my first blog name, which was daisyco27, didn't stick or catch too much attention, I decided that oceanexpressway sounded better, and it just seemed to fit.

Question #2: What is your favorite beauty item?

Johanna, how can you possibly make me choose just one?!? It definitely has taken some thought, but my all time favorite beauty item would probably have to be Clean and Clear Advantage Spot Treatment. I have been using it for three years now, and have definitely had moments where it has saved me from a massive breakout.

Question #3: What is your dream job?

This is an easy one for me. I have loved makeup since I was 12 years old, and once I turned 16 I knew I wanted to be a makeup artist. I still want to make a career out of makeup, and want to be a makeup artist. The only difference now is that I would love to expand that to beauty blogging and Youtube as well.

Question #4: What is something you cannot live without?

I would like to be generic and say my computer, or my cell phone, but the truth is that I could live without all of that. I know for a fact I couldn't live without my family, but my little sister specifically. I am 19, and she is 6, so the age gap is 13 years. Even though she can be a pest, and a pain at times, I love her to death and can't imagine life without her.

Question #5: What motivates you?

My passion motivates me. I have had people tell me I can't do what I want with my life, and that I should just go to a regular university and study something "normal". What those people don't realize, is that by telling me that it makes me want to prove to myself that I am good at what I do, and I enjoy it more than anything. It fuels my passion more and makes me work that much harder towards my goals.

Question #6: What is your skincare routine?

I'm not going to get into the nitty gritty details too much, because I do want to do a post on this sometime in the next week. Basically, though, I use Aveeno Positively Radiant Exfoliating Discs to cleanse in the morning, and Cetephil at night. The moisturizer I use is St. Ives Timeless Skin Anti-Aging Moisturizer. I'll do a blog post soon to list everything else I use later, but this is what never changes.

Question #7: What do you prefer: heels or flats?

My answer is both. Heels make me feel so elegant and girls, but flats are essential for comfort.

Question #8: What is the best place you have ever been to?

Indian River, Michigan. This place wins, hands down. It isn't anything special to most people, but it is where I spent a lot of time when I was 3-5. Hiking in the woods with my grandparents, and planting tulips in my grandma's garden was one of my favorite things to do up there.

Question #9: Do you wear makeup everyday?

Unless it is a no-makeup day (Sunday), or I am sick, I will where almost a full face of makeup. I love doing it, and seeing what I can do that is new compared to the day before. Plus, I want to be a makeup artist, so what better way to practice than on my own face?

Question #10: Do you have a New Years resolution? If so, what is it?

Originally, it was going to be to get healthy and lose weight. A couple weeks into January, though, I realized I had something else I wanted to work on, and that was being happier. You're only as happy as you let yourself be, and I realized that I wasn't allowing myself to be happy like I wanted. So, I took as much negativity out of my life as I could, and have been working on looking at life in a brighter way.

Question #11: What are your 3 top favorite things to do?

1) Daydream.

2) Reading.

3) Be myself.

My Nominees

1) Jennifer

2) Vanessa

3)Michelle

4) Holly

5)Melissa

6) Kimberley

7)Sarah Lilly

8)Sandy

9)Beauty Reviews 101

10)Katerina

11)Katie

My Questions for You:

Question #1: What made you decide to start your blog?

Question #2: What do you want to improve on your blog?

Question #3: Who or what is your biggest inspiration?

Question #4: What are you loving about your life right now?

Question #5: Who is your favorite Youtuber?

Question #6: Do you prefer handwritten letters, or typed letters?

Question #7: What is your favorite memory?

Question #8: Tell us about your favorite time of the year.

Question #9: Who are you when you look in the mirror?

Question #10: What are your top 3 things to do before you die?

Question #11: What makes you happy?

I know this was a lengthy post, without anything super interesting, but I was super excited to see that I was nominated! I am literally shocked at the amount of people who have viewed my blog in just 4 days. Thank you so much for reading and I will be back very soon with another, more exciting post. xoxo Ashley

Weekly Review~Estée Lauder Lucidity Foundation

tuesday 3:45 PM

As I have been looking around different beauty blogs, I was searching for someone else's opinion on Estee Lauder's Lucidity foundation, only to be disappointed. It came to my attention that the focus in their foundations is on the Double Wear foundation. So, I figured why not just put my own opinion out there?

I didn't have high hopes for this foundation when I found it in the bottom of my collection. Previous experiences with it were still lingering in my mind, and so when I decided to go ahead and pull it back out, I was pleasantly surprised with the results I got.

As I said before, my first impression with this foundation was anything but great. It had sunk into any lines on my face, as well as my pores, and within an hour or so, it looked patchy. Fast forward to 5 months later and I decided to give it a try once again. I decided I would give it a week, and if at the end of the week my opinion hadn't changed I would just get rid of it. To my surprise, it only took a couple of days before this foundation became my new favorite. So, what changed my mind about it?

First off, the consistency of it was amazing! It's not too thick, and not too runny either. That seems to always be a problem when it comes to foundations for me. If it's too thick it will look cakey, which this doesn't, and if it is too thin the pigmentation very rarely pleases me. That leads me to my next point: The coverage is actually pretty darn good. I would say that it is a medium coverage foundation. I have pretty bad acne and acne scaring, and I find that a lot of foundations just don't cover enough before I put on concealer. The Estee Lauder Lucidity covers any minor spots I may have and the majority of my redness as well. Once I get to concealer I have to use the tiniest amount just to cover any active spots and my under eye area.

The finish of this foundation is another thing that had me very quickly. Upon using it again for the first time, I was expecting it to sink into my pores and fine lines around my eyes as it had done before. This tends to happen for me with any luminous foundation, because I have quite large pores. I was beyond excited when this wasn't the case! (I am sure there were some other factors involved this time around as well, such as using a damp makeup sponge and my L'Oreal Miracle Blur as a primer.) It sits beautifully on my skin and gives me a very nice, natural glow without looking shimmery.

My only problem with this foundation seems to be that it oxidizes on my face when I don't highlight properly, or set it with powder well enough. This is my own fault as of right now though, seeing as I bought this foundation in the summer, and it is now February. The difference isn't noticeable at all though for the most part as long as I blend everything extremely well. The other thing I love about his foundation is the longevity of it! I can where this for a twelve hour day and not have any problems with it getting splotchy or looking like it has melted off, no matter what powder or spray I use to set it. I usually have to touch up my T-Zone once with a blotting sheet and a tiny bit of translucent powder to keep it from oxidizing, but I feel like that is the case with all of my foundations.

So, now the question is, is this foundation worth the money? As much as I love this foundation, I'm not sure I would repurchase it at full price. It normally retails at any Estee Lauder counter for $37.00, and I am not usually a high-end makeup buyer. I did however find it at a discount makeup store for around $26 or $27, (and yes, I made sure to check the experation date before purchasing.) If you are into high end makeup, however, and it is within your budget for a foundation, I would say that it is definitely well worth it! It does come in 9 different shades on Macy's website, which I believe is 2 more than what was available where I bought it. I currently have it in the shade Vanilla Beige, which was the lightest shade available, while Macy's has Pale Ivory as the lightest shade.

A posting schedule has been determined! I will be posting Every Tuesday, Thursday, and on occasion Saturday's as well. Tuesday's will be the day I do my weekly review on a product I have been using for a while, or for a first impression on a new product I am trying. Thank you so much for reading and I hope to see you back on Thursday! xoxo Ashley

What do you guys want to see next?

Checkout my everyday makeup collection on Luvocracy!

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