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    collierLAEllie Shechet
    12/16/14 7:27pm

    To minimize pores, go get multiple sessions of professional dermabrasion.

    Or, exfoliate at least every other day with a badass chemical exfoliant and use a good foundation primer with silicone. Unless you're like me and silicone gives you catastrophic cystic zits, in which case use a less-effective-but-still-pretty-good silicone-free primer like Becca Evermatte.

    And if a given foundation can't easily be applied well and smoothly with my damned fingers, then it is too fucking fiddly (and probably way too heavy) for me.

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      Portions For WolverinescollierLA
      12/16/14 7:36pm

      Any suggestions for a badass chemical exfoliant?

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      NeoFlyGirLcollierLA
      12/16/14 7:37pm

      I just discovered chemical exfoliants this year. I really enjoy Mario Bedescu's Glycolic Facial Cleanser. I only use it once a week because I am on the dryer side but it is effective and won't break the bank either.

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    fortheloveofbeetsEllie Shechet
    12/16/14 7:58pm

    How to clean makeup brushes?

    Thoroughly and at least once a week

    HahahahahaAHAHAhaahah. Yeah, right.

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      collierLAfortheloveofbeets
      12/16/14 8:06pm

      RIGHT? Okay, I DO wash my cream-eyeliner brush after each use, because it's absolutely necessary. But blush and powder brushes? Once a month, MAYBE. And foundation brushes don't even exist in my universe. That's called "my fingers."

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      fortheloveofbeetscollierLA
      12/16/14 8:17pm

      Oh yeah, I don't use brushes for anything creamy—only powders! In part because the brushes get so gross. And then I'd have to clean them.

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    ASnowdenofYesteryearEllie Shechet
    12/16/14 7:46pm

    Yeah, the curly hair thing is weird. My hair apparently always has been wavy, but I just thought it was stringy gross straight hair. A hairdresser actually told me one day, "By the way, did you know your hair was curly? It's also really really dry"

    So, I had to learn how to deal with what my hair really wanted to do in my 20s. I have fine, moderately wavy white girl hair. Not only was I drying it out with daily shampooing, but I was also then weighing it down with silicone-based conditioners. So I use a variation of the Curly Girl method now (ie. wash with conditioner, use gel, diffuse/air dry, pray to the hair gods) , and my hair is completely different (and better).

    Actually, this is the story of my entire life. My mom rarely wore make-up, had stick straight hair, and is a tiny waif. I had to teach myself how to do everything appearance related in college.

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      madmadammimASnowdenofYesteryear
      12/16/14 8:17pm

      Are you me?! My mother has stick-straight hair, has skin that tans easily and has cool undertones, and is very petite-leaning-towards apple-shaped now that she is older. I have wavy hair, I am very fair with warm undertones, and I have always been decidedly pear shaped and overweight.

      My mother thinks she and I are practically twins.

      I was given quite a bit of bad advice before figuring this shit out on my own.

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      NeoFlyGirLASnowdenofYesteryear
      12/16/14 8:19pm

      I have curly hair but the strands themselves are rather fine yet I have a ton of it. So when I wear my hair curly and diffuse it it looks enormous. It took me year on years on years to learn how my hair works because I too had a mom like yours who didn't know anything about hair care given her straight thin hair. Kids today have it so easy with a YouTube tutorial for everything. I walked around with the poofiest pony tail in middle school. I shudder thinking about it. Currently my hair is less curly when air dried because of the endless flat ironing I've done in the past few years but I do plan on trying to bring it back to its once curly perfection.

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    Heir 2.0Ellie Shechet
    12/16/14 7:38pm

    American BB cream is tinted moisturizer.

    Korean BB cream however is usually medium-coverage foundation with skincare, and usually has a super dewy finish/limited colour range.

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      NeoFlyGirLHeir 2.0
      12/16/14 8:21pm

      the drug store bb creams are mostly garbage but I do think the Loreal Youth Code is something special. Though it only comes in three shades so I always have to mix it with another to get the shade right but it leaves my skin super moisturizes and pretty.

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    How_It_HappenedEllie Shechet
    12/16/14 7:20pm

    Best thing to clean brushes is Dr. Bronner's soap. I use the unscented bar and do some swishing but also the liquid is good.

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      strangerwcandiHow_It_Happened
      12/16/14 7:25pm

      Do you dilute the liquid?

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      collierLAHow_It_Happened
      12/16/14 7:28pm

      Yeah, I don't think you really need to use designated "brush cleaner!" product. If it's gentle enough that you'd use it on your face, then it's probably fine for brushes. I just use my normal Aveda facewash crap.

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    edith undoEllie Shechet
    12/16/14 8:29pm

    How to get rid of acne:

    Purchase and consume high quality probiotics, a healthy diet (full of fruits, vegetables, legumes, tomatoes, carrots, leafy greens), drink hot water with two tablespoons of raw apple cider vinegar and ONLY use baking soda to wash your face. This regimen helped with my acne! When you're done working out immediately was your face with a tablespoon of baking soda. Use warm water (not hot, not cold), gently rub baking soda in and thoroughly rinse! You can apply a dab of baking soda on your massive zits before going to bed; they will greatly reduce in size the next day. I am speaking from personal experience. Also, avoid touching your face, or avoid using any kind of antibacterial soaps: this abrasion can take away your immune resistance to outside pathogens! Avoid makeup like powder, foundation, bb creams because they're evil for your complexion.

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      collierLAedith undo
      12/16/14 8:47pm

      1) Re: baking soda and vinegar : http://www.reddit.com/r/SkincareAddi...

      2) Most consumer "probiotic" products are dead bacteria, not live cultures. And even products with live bacterial cultures probably won't survive the digestion process and so the beneficial bacteria won't end up in your gut, where they're actually helpful.

      3) A healthy diet may help (particularly limiting sugars), and avoiding touching your face (and thus transmitting dirt and bacteria to it) may also help. Antibacterial soaps are usually way, way too harsh for your face, and there's also the risk that they may, however incrementally, increase the aggregate risk of developing antibiotic resistant strains. This is also true of topical antibiotic acne treatments. Acne is caused primarily by acnegenic bacteria, clogged pores (clean and exfoliate regularly, but do not strip or overcleanse, and always moisturize after — harsh cleansers will just make your skin produce MORE oil to compensate), and hormonal imbalances (which is why anti-androgenic birth control is often prescribed as an acne treatment).

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      TyrannosaurusBataarcollierLA
      12/16/14 9:08pm

      Idk man re: probiotics - maybe it's the placebo effect, but I used to get an intestinal back up of hard stool (yes TMI whatever) like clock work every year or so, that resulted in terrible pain and having to OD on stool softeners. But since I added a probiotic it hasn't happened at all, and I feel noticeably better.

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    madmadammimEllie Shechet
    12/16/14 8:11pm

    Wash makeup brushes once a week?!? Next you are going to tell me to wash my bra after every wear.

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      Heir 2.0madmadammim
      12/16/14 8:51pm

      I wash mine everyday in the shower with the same shampoo I use on my hair. Saves time but I'm happy in knowing I won't get an eye infection(learned the hard way on that one).

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      madmadammimHeir 2.0
      12/16/14 10:06pm

      To be honest, I don't wear eye makeup very often. I always knew you had to throw away mascara after 6 months, but the rest never occurred to me.

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    EldritchEllie Shechet
    12/16/14 8:32pm

    ...seriously though, how DO you wear a scarf? I bought like four blanket scarves from Aerie and they are intimidating as fuck. Hell, I have trouble with infinity scarves sometimes.

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      Marx and SparksEldritch
      12/16/14 9:14pm

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      collierLAMarx and Sparks
      12/16/14 9:34pm

      My god that was hypnotizing.

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    IWASDARTHVADER's death star canteenEllie Shechet
    12/16/14 7:45pm

    Way back when, a jez commenter posted this organic beauty blog on an article about the crap in makeup and changed my entire life/skin issues/ect. Hoping to pay it forward.

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      collierLAEllie Shechet
      12/16/14 8:13pm

      So as long as we're on the subject of makeup, I got a box from BeautyHabit today, and I can report that Uslu Airlines lipsticks are pretty boss. And the TUBE. They're all mod sci-fi looking clear frosted rubbery plastic and eeeeee.

      Also, people who say Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector compacts are the shit are not kidding. New favorite highlighter.

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