Best of the Best
One of my favorite past times (in true millennial fashion) is watching YouTube videos. I love watching multiple reviews of a product before I ever hit the store. I am going to throw one of those disclaimers at the beginning of this post, where I tell you how I am not an esthetician, and how everyone’s skin is different. These are just the products that live deep in my soul and I have purchased way too many times to admit. I also want to touch base on pricing before we dive in. Most of these products can be considered “higher end,” as you cannot easily grab them at your local Target or Walgreens. HOWEVER, ya girl rarely pays full price for these bad boys. I am all about the sales, collecting points, and kits when purchasing my holy grail items.
Skin Care
I am a crazy person when it comes to washing my face every single night. I used to sleep in my makeup in my early 20’s and now the thought of that makes me cringe. With that being said, I am still the same amount of lazy as I was in my early 20’s so I bring to you the Philosophy Purity Face Cleanser. A dab of this takes all my makeup off (and there’s always a healthy layer of that) in one go. A nickel size amount with some warm water and boom. This has eliminated the step of makeup remover wipes and I’m here for it.
Next up in the routine is my Sunday Riley Good Genes. I have been using this for years and have never paid for a full bottle. This dude seriously hurts the wallet, but I’ve found a hack. Cha-ching. I save up my points at Sephora and a couple times they release Good Genes as a point perk. I literally ask the worker for as many tubes as I can get (it is usually around 10). So yes, I pay for it in points, but it is nowhere near the $100+ dollars you pay for the bottle. This serum is pure magic. Resurfaces the skin, fills in pores, and plumps wrinkles. In full transparency, I just bought my first full size bottle because we are now in a committed relationship. If I can actually see results with a skincare item it for sure gets to join the squad.
My last step is moisturizer. I used to buy different moisturizers each month until I found the Belif The True Cream. I don’t have any lengthy explanation of why I love this moisturizer besides the fact that it is just good stuff. I have now repurchased at least six times and we are at holy grail status. When I put this on at night my face is not greasy or oily and when I wake up in the morning my skin still feels plump and moisturized. Winning. I recently purchased the eye cream as well, the jury is still out on that one.
Hair Care
I have poured way too much money into hair products over the years to tame my mane. Wavy, frizzy, beast… I tell ya. These are the only products I use in my hair every single time I wash and I love them dearly.
The Ouai Hair Oil is straight from the heavens I will tell you that. I put three pumps on soaking wet hair and a pump or two on the ends after I style. It is SO incredibly light weight, which is very uncommon when it comes to hair oils. It tames the frizz and doesn’t weigh my hair down. ILSYM my sweet, sweet hair oil.
I am 30 and one of my greatest accomplishments thus far in life is the amount of time I can go in between hair washes. We are at about an average of 5 days in between washes and I owe it all to my good friend the Living Proof Dry Shampoo. I have tried them all. High end as well as drugstore and the Living Proof truly cleans your hair. There is no buildup so you don’t need to shampoo it 8 times on day 5. Amen.
Wetbrush. If you don’t have one of these, get in your car and go to Target immediately. It is the only thing I will use to comb my locks and it never gets caught on tangles. Magic I tell ya.
Nails
Painting my nails helps me turn my brain off. When your brain is full of anxious thoughts you will do anything to turn it off… including painting your nails three times a week. Real talk, painting my nails helps me feel a little bit more “put together” when the rest of me may be falling apart. So perfecting my mani routine has been a lovely little journey. I switch up my base coat and files often, but a couple constants remain.
OPI is my go-to. My color go-to is always Ski Teal We Drop. I do own some other brands as well, but mostly OPI.
The only topcoat I will ever use is Seche Vite. Game-changer. Gives the look of a gel manicure but doesn’t require you to wrap your nails in foil for 30 minutes when you want a color change.
The last tip I have is a small makeup brush. I use an old one, but I suppose you could purchase a fresh one as well. when you are finished with your paint job dip your brush in acetone and clean up those edges. You will look totes profesh in minutes.
Lashes
This is the topic of 90% of the DMs I get on instagram… lol. I promise you my lashes look totally normal when I am not wearing makeup and these products are the MVPs who really bring the heat. The rest of my makeup routine can wait for another post, but let’s get to the lashes.
Curl. Twice. Curl those lashes to the heavens baby.
Lancome Cils Booster XL Primer. Two coats of this as well. I like to build up the primer more than I build up the mascara because this is what really adds the length and the volume. People often ask me if you should let it dry in between coats, and I just pop from one eye to the next.
Hypnose Drama. Always. Lots of coats of this pretty little thing.
I promise you I have tried EVERY mascara in the biz and this routine is what works out best for me. A set of great lashes makes me feel alive. Yup, you heard that right. Sorry not sorry.
Thanks for hanging out for all my holy grails. As you can see most items are linked in my post. Please know that all Amazon links are through my TeacherGolz storefront. Most of these items can also be found at Ulta and Sephora… get those points girl!