Lookin' Good: Products!

I love products.
I just... love them.
Sephora is my happy place.
Seriously, I get really quiet and calm among the creamy pots and tubes, the soft bristles, the wafts of scents. You know that scene in Amelie when she sticks her hand in the barrel of grains? Sephora is my barrel of grains. It's like yoga without any sweating.
Anywho, over the past decade, I have tested and futzed and perfected my skincare routine. So here are my favorites:

The Tools
My Clerisonic: Love it. It's an investment, for sure, but it's been 100% worth it. I'm an exfoliating enthusiast, so having a brush that lets me feel scrubbed and buffed every day is heavenly. And it makes me feel fancy, which is always a plus.

My Eyelash Curler: I used to have one of those fancy-pants Shu Uemura eyelash curers, but it always pinched my eyes. So I grabbed this one at some Walgreens or Target or something for $4 and it works GREAT. I do pine for one of the Chanel ones- I'm such a sucker for those C's.


The Lotions
I don't have skin that looks dry, but it is. It's that horrible itchy dry that plagues you in the middle of a meeting or when you're wearing tight jeans. I'v invested in the $40 tiny, super fancy bottles of lotion with very little success. But I found three me-priced ones that I LOVE:

Vitamin E Cream: I get the huge tubs at the drugstore. After I shower I slather it on and let it soak in. My skin sucks it up like halloween candy.

That Nivea Q10 Stuff: the firming lotions don't actually firm much up. All they really do is moisturize your skin so it plumps up and LOOKS firmer. So I guess it does work. I love this one because it smells great, soaks in nicely and laaaaasts.

Lush Sympathy for the Skin: It smells amazing. It lasts all day. It comes in a pretty tub. SOLD.

The Face Routine

My skin is... temperamental. It doesn't like moisturizers or most face washes. But it does love the proactive stuff, so I go with it and use that three piece kit thingy. In addition, I've found my favorite little bits:

Soap & Glory the Fab Pore: obSESSED with this stuff. you only need a little bit. You rub it in, then do the dishes or sort the laundry and scrub it off. The result is glory happy clean clean clean skin.

Origins Modern Friction: The best exfoliator, period. And I have actually tried them all. I got this one from my cousin two or three years ago and I've never looked back. You only need a teeny bit, and you can make it more gentle with a touch of water. I like to scuba it on and then go to town with my Clerisonic. Afterwards, my skin is so soft and glows like a happy baby.

Biore Nose Strips: Love these things. Is there anything more satisfying than pulling these things off and being grossed out by them? I say no.

Eye Cream: I get a little tub of the Eucerin cream once a year and use it under my eyes at night. Then in the morning I use Cinique All About Eyes Rich. Between the two, my makeup slides on nicely and my skin feels happy.

Lookin' Good: Mascara

I have big eyes, which is great. I love playing them up, which is even greater. My favorite way is to go dramatic with the lashes. I always have something on my lashes, even if I skip the rest of my makeup. It's amazing
My go-to is mascara, but there's a lot to be said for a set of false lashes. Here are my favorites and some tips:

Mascaras:
Covergirl Lash Blast Fusion: My everyday mascara. I love this one because it coats your lashes but isn't too heavy so it doesn't ruin your curl. It adds tons of volume- my favorite- and comes in a nice inky black. It's also hard to beat the price, so replacing it every three months (which you should definitely be doing,) isn't a problem.



Benefit Bad Gal Lash: This one is defiantly gives me my favorite look. The downside of having such intensity and drama is that, at the end of the day, it's stubborn as hell. It's pretty much impossible not to wake up with some raccoon action. The price also makes this one more of a reach, but if you can swing it and are better about washing your face when you get home than I am, it's a winner. 


Tips:

• Blast your eyelash curler with your blow dryer for a couple seconds, then use it to curl your lashes while it's still warm. 
• When applying mascara, be sure to start as close to your eye as possible. 
• As you move the wand up the lashes, wiggle it back and forth to coat all sides of the lashes. 
• Flip the wand so it's perpendicular to your lashes to get the outer corners.
• Don't let your mascara dry all the way between coats- that leads to clumps!
• Instead of an eyelash comb, wipe off your mascara wand on a tissue and use that to separate your lashes and get rid of any clumps 

Then, you just bat those lashes to your hearts content. Happy fluttering!