I thought I'd make my first official blog post one highlighting a few things that I love the most. My 'desert island' beauty must haves, if you will, not by any means a comprehensive list of my favorite products. And the best thing is, they are items that are relatively affordable and easy to buy. Yes, the skincare products that I talk about have to be purchased through me in order to get them at a discounted cost, but what's easier than sending me a text with your order and picking it up a week later (or, if you aren't local, having me ship them to you)? Pretty much the same amount of effort as going to your local drugstore and picking up products there...except ordering through me means you'll be getting professional products that will actually do something for the health of your skin. Alright, enough with that. Let's dive in, y'all!
The first thing I do on an average morning (after shaking off the existential dread) is head to the bathroom. I grab my trusty Image Skincare Vital C Cleanser and massage away the night's sweat and dirt. A lot of people skip a morning cleanse, and I don't recommend that. While you sleep, your body temperature fluctuates. Your face is smushed up against your pillow, and unless you're changing your pillowcases daily, you're smushing it into several nights' worth of bacteria. Think about the stuff in the air, floating around and settling onto your skin. Do you really expect any other product that you put on in the morning to absorb properly if there's a layer of sweat, dirt, bacteria, or last night's drool? Wash your face! The Vital C cleanser is so creamy and gentle-perfect for a morning cleanse.
After cleansing, I dry my face gently with a fresh towel. I have a stack of small hand towels that I use for this purpose. I never ever reuse a towel. I wouldn't dream of picking up a towel I'd used the day before, damp and filled with bacteria, and then putting it on my freshly cleansed face. Yikes! I have the heebie jeebies just thinking about it. If you struggle with breakouts and reuse towels, changing that habit might help! You can even use a fresh paper towel if you don't want to run out to your local Bed, Bath, and Beyond right now. ANYWAY, yes, gently dabbing my face dry with a fresh towel, check. Next up, I apply my Image Skincare Prevention + SPF Daily Moisturizer. I'll be completely honest, they recently reformulated this (higher percentage of zinc oxide now) and I haven't tried the new version. I will definitely update you guys when I do, but I'm crossing my fingers it's just as good as the original. I literally cannot leave my house without it, rain or shine. Most sunscreens smell weird or can leave a chalky feeling on the skin, and this doesn't do that. If I happen to be stranded on a deserted island one day, Prevention + will definitely help keep my skin looking youthful and prevent sun spots until I can be rescued. No matter what sunscreen you prefer, it's an absolute must 365 days a year.
After my easy peasy morning skincare routine is done, I spend about two minutes on my makeup. This is definitely just a "need to seem like I care about what I look like but I pressed snooze 3 times" routine. My holy grail mascara, L'Oreal Voluminous original formula in Black, is as good or better than the $25+ mascaras you can buy at Sephora, and I've tried pretty much all of them. I always go back to Voluminous. Even when I find a high end mascara that I like, there's always something that makes me think, "hmm, this is good, but is it that much better than the Voluminous?" and I go back to my trusty drugstore mascara that costs me less than half the price. It doesn't flake, it doesn't give me raccoon eyes, it gives me perfect volume without looking clumpy, and gives them a little length too. Plus, it's not like a lot of high end mascaras where it looks great for a week and then you have to throw it out because it gets dry. I do find that the first few uses of it are kind of meh and that it takes about a week for the spoolie to have the right amount of product on it to work its best, but stick it out! It's definitely worth the buy! After lashes are done, it's time to give my super light brows a little color and lift. I've been using Maybelline Brow Fast Sculpt gel mascara and while I'll admit that you have to play around with it a bit at first, once I figured out how much pressure to use and how little product I needed on the spoolie, I became obsessed. My brows aren't just sparse, the hair itself is also light. Pencils can work okay, but having the gel that can cover each hair and also the sparse areas where skin is exposed is a GAMECHANGER. I prefer an imperfect brow these days, so it works for me. I don't like the super sculpted "Instagram Brow" and I discourage my clients from getting their brows shaped that way too. As we age, our precious brows will thin out the same way that our head hairs do. So I'm doing my best to keep as many of them around as possible. I suggest y'all do the same. Alright, off my pedestal. Onward! Luckily, this step isn't always necessary thanks to my good skincare habits. But I'm human, and I have acne-prone skin, so I do get breakouts from time to time. I'm also vain and absolutely cannot just walk around without covering them up. The best concealer I've ever tried is also by L'Oreal. True Match is exactly what it says it is! You can buy it for warm, cool, or neutral undertones, which is awesome. I'm definitely cool (hardy har har), and their lightest shade works perfectly for me. It covers blemishes well, isn't thick or chunky or hard to blend, and doesn't feel cake-y at all. If I do use concealer under the eyes, I always press a little Rimmel Stay Matte powder (the best there is!) to help set it, otherwise it can crease. Most of the time, I put on a little lipstick as a last step. When I want the perfect neutral-but-not-nude lip, I grab my NYX matte lipstick in the shade Natural. Honestly, I think it will work on every skin tone, it's really versatile. I rarely have to touch it up, it doesn't feather into my lip lines, the formula isn't too drying. There are a lot of shades that they offer, and I've never tried one that I didn't like. After checking the mirror to see that everything looks okay and winking at my reflection, I'm out the door!
My nighttime routine changes fairly often, so I wanted to highlight the one evening product that I'd have with me if I was stranded (and it kind of feels like I am, due to this coronavirus situation. Yeesh!). Image Skincare's Ormedic Bio Peptide Creme feels so good on the skin. It's slightly thicker than some of my other favorite night creams, and you'll definitely feel the difference. If you're wondering what a peptide is, you're probably not alone. I'd never heard of them until esthetics school. Peptides are chains of amino acids that are vital for collagen and elastin, two things you definitely want plenty of. I had a teacher explain it to me using a really simple analogy-if you're thinking about it as a mattress, collagen is the stuffing, and elastin is the spring. If you pinch your skin and it immediately bounces back, you have great elasticity. If you pinch your skin and it takes a little time for it to go back, there is less elasticity. If your skin seems like it's losing volume, it's probably a lack of collagen. We'll get into this in a later post, but for today, just know that you want to maintain both and that peptides are a great way to do that!
I'm a beauty junkie, and I have countless skincare and makeup products at home. If someone were to force me to grab just a few to get me by, these would be my choices. It doesn't take much to look and feel your best! I'd love to hear about what you guys keep on hand, too. Is there something amazing out there that I need to test out? Let me know!
I'm going to be bringing in some new lines soon, and I'm always trying products, so this is just a current list. When I find something that I absolutely love and think you should know about, you'll find a full review with before & after photos here. And now that the studio is closed due to the current pandemic, I'll have plenty of time to overshare beauty related goodness with you guys. I hope that you all use this social distancing time to take care of yourselves, and as soon as I can, I'll be opening back up to take care of all of you. Stay safe!
love & lipstick,
Cherrie
cherriedarlingbeauty.glossgenius.com
instagram.com/cherriedarlingbeauty
My nighttime routine changes fairly often, so I wanted to highlight the one evening product that I'd have with me if I was stranded (and it kind of feels like I am, due to this coronavirus situation. Yeesh!). Image Skincare's Ormedic Bio Peptide Creme feels so good on the skin. It's slightly thicker than some of my other favorite night creams, and you'll definitely feel the difference. If you're wondering what a peptide is, you're probably not alone. I'd never heard of them until esthetics school. Peptides are chains of amino acids that are vital for collagen and elastin, two things you definitely want plenty of. I had a teacher explain it to me using a really simple analogy-if you're thinking about it as a mattress, collagen is the stuffing, and elastin is the spring. If you pinch your skin and it immediately bounces back, you have great elasticity. If you pinch your skin and it takes a little time for it to go back, there is less elasticity. If your skin seems like it's losing volume, it's probably a lack of collagen. We'll get into this in a later post, but for today, just know that you want to maintain both and that peptides are a great way to do that!
I'm a beauty junkie, and I have countless skincare and makeup products at home. If someone were to force me to grab just a few to get me by, these would be my choices. It doesn't take much to look and feel your best! I'd love to hear about what you guys keep on hand, too. Is there something amazing out there that I need to test out? Let me know!
I'm going to be bringing in some new lines soon, and I'm always trying products, so this is just a current list. When I find something that I absolutely love and think you should know about, you'll find a full review with before & after photos here. And now that the studio is closed due to the current pandemic, I'll have plenty of time to overshare beauty related goodness with you guys. I hope that you all use this social distancing time to take care of yourselves, and as soon as I can, I'll be opening back up to take care of all of you. Stay safe!
love & lipstick,
Cherrie
cherriedarlingbeauty.glossgenius.com
instagram.com/cherriedarlingbeauty
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