I should start this post off by exclaiming to the world that I am by NO MEANS a beauty expert. I haven’t tried tons of products, I rarely wear makeup and the truth? I don’t really care. Ain’t no one got time for that!
BUT. I do want to take care of my skin and hair and make it so that I age as gracefully as possible. I look at my mom who is GORGEOUS beyond words and I feel like if I can age as well as she has then I must have done something right. So here are the very little things that I’m doing to try and take care of myself; I’m linking to the exact products that I use, but fear not – I’m making zero money off of it. Just keepin’ it real for y’all!
OK so first I wash my face every day, once in the morning and once at night. I alternate between using this St Ives Fresh Skin Apricot Scrub (every 3-4 days) and normal Dove soap. Yep, just plain soap. I’m sure there are millions of experts who would tell me that I’m ruining my life washing my face with soap, but I like it and probably won’t change that. After I wash my face I heat up a teeny bit of coconut oil in my hands and rub it all over my face; if I’m going to be out in the sun I also put on L’Oreal Paris Futur*e moisturizer SPF 15. I’ve used it since college and love it – it’s really light, but works great.
Next up is makeup! So this is kind of cheating, but my eyeliner is tattooed on so I’m always kind of wearing makeup. However, I pretty much always have on mascara; it’s my one thing makeup-wise that I don’t like to live without. My favorites are both CoverGirl, and I always wear waterproof (coconut oil is a great makeup remover by the way…). More often than not it’s LashBlast Volumizing Mascara in Very Black or the Clump Crusher in Very Black. I’m really messy about putting it on and always have to run a Q-tip around my eyes afterwards to remove the extra I smeared everywhere!
Typically after that I’m done, but if I’m feeling fancy I’ll swipe a little BareMinerals foundation in Fairly Light on my face to even out the color. Maybe I’ll add a little BareMinerals blush too. Careful y’all, it could get crazy!
Finally I brush my eyebrows so all the hair is going the same direction and we’re good to go!
Now when it comes to body stuff I really do NOTHING special. I usually use Vaseline Cocoa Radiant lotion all over, but at night I’ll use coconut oil as a bedtime moisturizer. I try to be careful with the amount – a little goes a long way – because I don’t want to have to wash oil out of our sheets every day.
Finally, hair. I’ve talked before about my curly hair and attempting to care for it well, and most of that info has changed in the past year. Now I wash my hair with shampoo once or twice a week (Suave Rosemary + Mint shampoo), and otherwise I just massage my scalp with hot water and add a little conditioner to the ends (Dove Oxygen Moisture). I rake my fingers through my hair to “comb” it after towel-drying, rub a little coconut oil (less than 1/4 teaspoon) into the ends (THE ENDS ONLY) and let it air dry!
What’s your beauty routine like? Any products you love that are affordable too? I like my little routine, but I’m always open to learning about different things!
Fun…and I’m with ya in the simple-and natural category.
But I’m also with the other commenters and I want to know about the eyeliner tattoo! It looks so amazing on you! I rarely take time to use eyeliner b/c I’m not very good at it and it usually smears, but I do think I should wear it more (i can see the difference in photos when I finally wear it.) So, maybe this is the solution! 🙂
I’m trying to use coconut oil for more purposes too. IT really is amazing stuff.
Have a good weekend beautiful one! 🙂
Aloha
Ha! I answered the eyeliner question in the comments, but in short I would SO recommend it. I never wore eyeliner before I got it tattooed on, but loved it from day one!
And YES to coconut oil…I use that stuff for everything!
Gorgeous!:)
🙂
oh goodness your eyeliner is tattooed???? did it hurt? maybe i’m new to the makeup world but i didn’t know people did that!
It definitely wasn’t comfortable, but the whole process lasted maybe 20 minutes. I got it done 12 years ago and would do it again in a heartbeat!
Expert or not, you are a beauty! 🙂 I use coconut oil, too. It’s perfect for my skin and smells amazing. I’m still on the hunt for a natural-ish eye cream to help with dark circles (the skin is really thin under my eyes so any lack of sleep shows easily) but otherwise, I stick to the basics. Shampoo 1-2x a week, condition ends daily, Bare Minerals powder, mascara and a swipe of red lip gloss.
See, I’m not totally in love with the smell of coconut oil…I guess I just wish it were a little sweeter smelling? I still love it though! BareMinerals has something that you can use under your eyes that I really love; I used it a lot when Wes was teeny and I was sleep deprived 🙂
okay, but the tattooed eyeliner!!! can we hear more about that?! when did you get it done, how badly did it hurt, how much did it cost, would you do it again (was it worth it), etc. i’m super curious! you can’t just casually mention something like that 😀
HA! I am dying over your comment 🙂 Didn’t mean to leave you hanging!
OK so I was 18 years old and met a girl who had just had it done and it looked great. Apparently there was a lady in my hometown who did it so well that women from all over Texas would go see her, so I made an appointment (it was Halloween…weird?). So I went in and signed the paperwork (like you would for a normal tattoo), and then they put a numbing gel on my eyelids. They couldn’t get it really close to my lashline so I felt most of it, but the hardest part was just my eyes watering from someone being so close to them for an extended period. I think it took about 20 minutes, cost $75 (at the time), I couldn’t wear makeup for 3 days, and then it was done! I would really highly recommend it – I would do it again in a heartbeat!