What better time than Valentine’s Day to talk beauty? Whether you’re getting ready for a night out with a special someone or staying in and pampering yourself (or both!), here are some of my very favorite tried-and-trues. I am rather picky when it comes to beauty products, so hopefully you’ll find these as excellent as I do. Trust.
Skin Care
I have to credit the excellent Andrea Linett with this find. Kimberly Howell created this amazing skin balm that I love love love. It is deeply moisturizing, healing, and revivifying for both face and body. Did I mention it is handmade and all natural? Jojoba, avocado, and coconut oils along with tupelo beeswax make for a luxurious, glow-inducing, well… Glow Butter!
Elta MD UV Facial Broad-Spectrum SPF 30 Plus
This is the ONLY sunscreen I have managed to use on a regular basis. It feels more like a moisturizer and has none of that terrible sunscreen-y smell I loathe. 10/10 will buy repeatedly.
My favorite face mask, this rosy gel is soothing, moisturizing, brightening, and all-around lovely. My skin always feels supple and refreshed afterwards, which I love.
Even my husband loves Fresh’s cushy lip balm — he says it is the only balm that makes his chapped lips feel more comfortable right away, which I agree with wholeheartedly. I’ve tried a few of the tinted options, but I always come back to the original clear formula. Why mess with perfection?
Clinique Self-Heating Blackhead Extractor
My skin tends towards blackheads on my nose and chin, but I have never had much luck with products to combat them. Enter the Self-Heating Blackhead Extractor by Clinique. It is a little creamy, a little scrub-y, and heats up like magic when you get it wet. It even has a funny bumpy scrubby little massage tool built right into the cap. All of these things together somehow have combined to create a product that miraculously cleans out my pores like none other.
Thank you, Emma Watson, for spreading the news of Fur Oil far and wide. This spherical bottle of smoothing, soothing, quick-drying oil is a truly wonderful thing if you ever deal with ingrown hairs. Buy a bottle now and thank me (and Emma Watson) later.
Makeup
I am pretty minimal when it comes to makeup these days, but there are a handful of items I reach for every day without fail.
Rimmel Provocalips in Kiss Me You Fool
This 16-hour lip color really delivers, and is a great price to boot. I hate applying lipstick throughout the day but also feel like a ghost without any lip color, so this liquid lipstick/balm combo is the answer to my flutist prayers. It really doesn’t budge — food-proof, kiss-proof, holding-an-instrument-to-my-lips proof — and it comes in the perfect red. Sold.
Glossier Boy Brow and Lash Slick
Most days I don’t use much eye makeup, opting for a strong lip instead. I swipe on Boy Brow and Lash Slick daily, though, for the perfect wide-awake eye. Mandatory feature: Lash Slick never ever clumps.
Milk Makeup Lip + Cheek in Rally
If I go the extra mile (or minute) and opt for blush, my favorite go-to is Milk Makeup’s Lip + Cheek. Rally is the perfect bright fuchsia pink to brighten my face a bit, and the creamy stick couldn’t be easier to use. It is also super natural-looking — their formula just melts into skin like a dream.
There you have it! My most favorite, tried-and-true beauty products. Go slather on that delightful Rose Mask, kick up your heels in your fuzziest slippers, and enjoy.
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