Charcoal: Hot Ingredient for 2015

The latest ingredient causing a buzz in the beauty industry is charcoal.  Why?  Because it helps to absorb impurities in your skin (think toxins and gunk, ew).  Interested?  Of course you are!  Here are some ways to start using it right away.  Say good-bye to your black heads!

Biore just released a whole collection with the hot ingredient.  Because of the added ingredient, even their famous pore strips are more effective.  Try using the Deep Pore Charcoal Cleanser or the Pore Penetrating Charcoal Bar (yes, a black soap bar) to help draw out the gunk in your pores.

To take things a step further use Origins Clear Improvement, an active charcoal mask, once to twice a week to really rid toxins in your skin.

It Ingredient: Charcoal for Your Blackheads

If you happened to catch my posts last night on Instagram or Twitteryou'll notice there really weren't any.  The last thing I mentioned was early in the night, because I blacked out.  Of course, not the way you're thinking!  I was challenged to a social media black out by Bioré, in which I detoxed myself the Internet and my pores from, well, you know.  Here's how it went down.

Confession: On any given night in I must check Instagram and Facebook about ten times. When I have down time I read, from my computer screen and I don't know how to relax.  If I have a second, I write a blog post.  So this wasn't easy.

With a mental detox in mind, I lit some candles, tested out the new beauty products including Bioré's One Minute Self Heating Mask with Natural Charcoal and Bioré Deep Pore Charcoal Cleanser and caught up on March issues of my favorite magazines.  Once I started trying out new products and looking into ingredients, I was fine.

The charcoal in the Bioré products helps to open up your pores and clean them out.  The One Minute Mask really heats up pretty much immediately as soon as you massage it onto your skin.  After just a minute, really just a minute, you rinse it off and look and feel more refreshed.

*This is a sponsored post by Bioré, but all of my thoughts and actions are true.

Get the Look: Hailee Seinfeld's Exact Makeup

Hailee Steinfeld walked the red carpet at the premiere of her latest film Ender’s Game last week in Hollywood, California and for a young thing, I thought she looked pretty grown up. Her eye makeup was a complete work of art so I got the scoop from her makeup artist, Stephen Sollitto, on how to get her look.  Of course, the eye was the most complex, but the rest was suprisingly simple. Skin

"To make sure Hailee's skin looked its best, we started by using Bioré Pore Unclogging Scrub to exfoliate and refine the skin. I can't express how important a clean healthy canvas is for makeup," he explained.  MAC Face and Body foundation, was then applied to Hailee's face, which Sollitto says works well on most women, because it allows makeup artists to go light or heavy depending on the area of the face.

Eyes

"I used purples hues to bring out the gold in her eyes," he explained. He first brushed a bronze shadow, Votre Vu Copper Suede, across her lids and underneath her bottom lashes. Then, in order to give her some definition at her lashes, he used NARS Gel Liner in Tatar (this is a purple that reads black to most people, but it is softer) as well as MAC's Strong Willed Pencil, which he smudged back and forth for a softer look. Next, he took a small, but wide eye shadow brush and swept MAC Red Violet under her lashes and out at the corners of her eyes. Finally, he lined her inner bottom lids with Laura Mercier Violet Pencil and added two Coats of Benefit Bad Gal Lash in black.

Lips

Jouer Moisturizing Gloss in Riviera was used to help mimic the sequins of her top and give the look longevity.

Cheeks

His go-to product was the Laura Mercier Creme Cheek Blush in Praline.

I Rid My Blackheads Without A Facial Thanks to A Middle School Throwback

One the things that irritate me the most in this world are blackheads.  They're more stubborn than my boyfriend when he knows he's right I swear!  I hate having them and when I notice them on other people all I want to do is start trying to squeeze them out.  Gross, I know, but seriously, what's worse in skincare than a noticeably clogged pore?  Before I was reminded of this middle school throw back, I always had to have a facialist extract them.  Yet today, in my own bathroom I was in awe thanks to Biore Deep Cleansing Pore Strips. They're back!  Do you remember obsessing over them in middle school?  I used to use them often and then forgot they existed for a while until I was recently sent a bag of Biore's latest product collection to test out.  I immediately pulled out one of the strips, recalling the fact that I thought they worked, but now as a beauty guru I wanted to really see.  Here's what I tweeted upon removal:

Jeannine Morris ‏ @BeautySweetSpot

I don't remember dissecting my Biore black head pad THIS much when I was a teenager... #beautygirlproblems

After sitting with the strip on my nose for ten minutes, I peeled it off (and quickly remembered the ouch factor like ripping off a bandaid) and sure enough there were blackheads sticking to the white strip.  They stood up and almost looked like a plucked eyebrow hair with a root (but much smaller).  After dissecting the strip I took to the mirror and was satisfied with my cleansed pores.

Check out Biore Deep Cleansing Pore Strips at drugstores.