Hello my lovelies! This week I shared my bathroom tour on the blog, so I thought I’d continue in the vein of self care and hygiene by sharing my current beauty faves. Everything from skin care and makeup, to my favorite products for hair and my daily/weekly routines.
Disclaimer: I am by no means a beauty expert, skin care expert, hair expert, anything expert, lol. I don’t know the exact best things, or methods. I just know what works for me, doesn’t cause me irritation or ill-effect and wanted to share my favorite products as of this moment. Shall we?
Skin Care
Cleansers
AM Routine
I use bar soap to cleanse my face in the shower. I lather with a silicone scrubber, which is gentle and helps get my face cleaner than just with my hands. It’s great for getting any makeup remnants I might have missed the night before, especially pesky eyeliner that never seems to fully wash away. My favorite soap is Dove (the pink bar). It smells good and doesn’t leave my face too squeaky clean. You know when you can’t even run your hands over your skin without them getting stuck, like you’re made of rubber or something? No, just me? Haha… anyway, I recently tried an activated charcoal bar after seeing it all over social media and I liked the way it lathered and it smelled yummy, but I didn’t love the way it rinsed… I’ll still use it, occasionally, but I just picked up another bar of Dove as my go-to. There was a new formula on the shelf that caught my eye, Anti-Stress Micellar, so I decided to try that instead of my tried and true pink bar. It smells divine, and I can’t wait to use it.
Once a week, usually on Saturday, I’ll use exfoliating gloves instead of my silicone scrubber. I lather and run lightly over the areas of my face where I get most dry and could use some exfoliation. I also use the remaining soap to exfoliate the back of my upper arms and any other spots that could use extra care.
Once or twice a week, after cleansing with the bar soap, I use my Clarisonic Mia 2 with the Radiance Foaming Milk Cleanser. I find this works great for clearing up any little bumps and the beginnings of pimples that start to form, and stops them in their tracks before they become full fledged citizens on my chin.
PM Routine
I used to use makeup wipes at the end of the day, but I don’t like the environmental impact and they would sometimes burn my skin or make my lips numb. That’s always reassuring, right? I found that the Simple brand removers, were the best for my skin and I will buy a small pack from time to time to have on hand in case of emergency (read: I fall asleep on the couch with my makeup on and can’t be bothered to do the whole washing my face thing before I fall into bed) or if I’m going away for an overnight somewhere. Otherwise, I use Burt’s Bees Cleansing Oil to remove my makeup. If I don’t feel like using the oil I’ll wash my makeup off with my Erase Your Face washable makeup remover towel. I love this thing. My mom bought it for me at Bed Bath & Beyond and it came in a 4 pack with pink, purple and aqua as well as the black, but they turn into a total mess with mascara remnants, so I recommend the black if you can find it as a single. And I recently purchased a 12-pack of small round pads made of the same material to use as a followup to the oil cleanser.
For body wash, my current favorites are Nivea and Aveeno. I’m crushed that they don’t sell Nivea Touch of Smoothness anymore, that was my absolute favorite. But now I use Care & Orange Blossom. I love the bright citrus scent in the morning. And the Aveeno Positively Nourishing line is great too. I’ve tried them all, but the Purifying Seaweed & Oatmeal is my favorite. It smells divine.
Moisturizers
I think I have combination skin? Some parts dry, some parts more oily? In the winter my skin get SO dry though. Lately I’ve been loving a couple of different moisturizing products but I’m always on the lookout for something even better. My criteria are that they don’t feel sticky, aren’t too greasy and don’t burn my eyes should some accidentally work its way in. During the day I use Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Moisturizer. I don’t have acne, but I love this moisturizer. It has a grapefruit scent and meets ALL of my criteria.
At night I currently use a Miracle Plus Melatonin Sleep Cream with a calming lavender scent. I don’t know if it actually helps me doze off or stay asleep (let’s be honest, don’t need a whole lot of help there), but the scent is definitely soothing when I put it on and I love the way my skin feels when I wake up in the morning.
Makeup
I have been known to leave the house for a quick errand without makeup, as scary as that may sound (or look, lol) but I usually like a little something to make me look less blah. For work, I have a quick routine that makes me feel more put together that I can usually do in about 5-7 minutes.
My go to makeup products of the moment include Winky Lux, Glossier or IT Cosmetics (or a combination of some sort) for concealer, Glossier Perfecting Skin Tint, Bare Minerals Matte Powder Foundation, Wet ‘n’ Wild Powder Blush, SheerCover Eyeliners, and Maybelline Mascara (The Falsies Volum’ Express and the Colossal Volum’ Express are my current faves).
I don’t wear makeup on Sundays if I can help it, just a little of my day moisturizer and my Nivea lip balm, because #obsessed
Hair Products
Shampoo & Conditioner
First let me say that I am not one of those people who can go days on end without washing my hair. I’ve tried dry shampoo and I can go maybe half a day lol. So, I shampoo and condition daily. I’ve tried an assortment of shampoos and conditioners over the years. Some expensive brands, mostly not so expensive. Hydrating, volumizing, sleek-ifying (it’s a thing, trust me). I’m not sure if any of them work. Sometimes they make my hair too oily. Sometimes too dry. And occasionally I go on an unintentional shopping spree and buy a bunch of different/new options within a short period of time. Then I rotate through them until they’re depleted and repurchase my favorites.
I find myself coming back to Suave a lot, they have a great variety of options. I’m currently using the Rose Oil Infusion because I love, love, LOVE the scent, but the Biotin Infusion line leaves my hair feeling its best. So I’ve been switch between the two. And once a week (Sunday) I use their Rosemary & Mint Invogorating Clean line as a sort of clarifying treatment.
Styling Products
I have naturally wavy/curly hair. It has calmed down somewhat over the years in that I can now leave it to air dry with no product and it’s not a HUGE frizzy mess, just a small one. And I have a thing with hair products that I don’t particularly like to have to touch them and get my hands sticky. So recently I’ve found and have been loving two different air dry sprays that help reduce frizz and define curl. I spray them in and let my hair air dry some while I do my makeup. Then I finish it off with the curl diffuser attachment on my hairdryer to give my waves a little more definition, especially in the winter when it’s frigid out and I don’t want to leave the house with wet hair. Even still, I don’t have perfect hair days every day. But they’re acceptable. And if they’re not, I put my hair up in a clip or a bun. And on Sundays I usually go product free.
Thank you for reading about my favorite go-to beauty products of the moment.