Spring into Beauty

I am always trying out new products. How else can we find out what truly is the best? My favorite type to try are the “cult” products that beauty editors rave about.

What I’ve learned is that some of these may be amazing for others, but don’t really have a magical effect on me and my skin. And others, well, live up to the hype and stay in my repertoire.

My two best skin tips that I learned from my grandmother and have been reinforced by my dermatologist are to stay out of the sun … and hydrate. There are so many great products that can help.

A few that I have tried recently:

Biclique Recherche P50 1970 Toner

After much deliberation about this holy grail, I have now been using this for approx. 2 months and I feel it working every time I put it on. I use it in the morning and night and immediately feel my skin tingling. It’s a swipe in each direction with a small amount of toner on a cotton ball or pad. Post cleanse, pre moisture. I’ll continue to use it and see what happens.

Odacite Mint & Charcoal Cleanser

I bought this at the recommendation of Junk Free Beauty and really like it. For a morning wakeup call the mint refreshes and opens up my sinuses and eyes.

They had a travel kit aptly named Airplane Mode so I decided to try it out.

Wander Mist

Drift Away Cleanser

Mini Dive in Moisture

Baggage Claim Masks I've been a fan of Wander under eye masks. I love that these golden patches are called “baggage claim” and I’m a sucker for all things sparkly.

I loved that it was the perfect set to take on vacation. Everything I needed for a week. I would definitely re-order the cleanser and mist...the others I might need to give another try before I decide. I love that it’s also available on Net-a-porter so in the NY area, if you don’t want to wait, you can get it delivered even faster than shipping direct from Wander.

Static Cosmetics reached out to me and asked me to try out their products. This is actually a super fun part of what I do. For lip color I’m pretty basic – I find something I love and stick with it…

That’s been Tower28 Lip Jellies for me. And while they are not going anywhere – still stashed in multiple bags, drawers and pockets lol, the one flaw is that they’re not long lasting.

The Static lipsticks last all day… I actually had to wipe them off with some coconut oil before I went to sleep. One side long lasting lip color, the other is a gloss.

Tatcha The Dewy Cream

After trying out Augustinus Bader and La Mer and not being impressed, for my own skin, I decided to try out this Tatcha Dewy cream (also with a cult following).

The packaging alone had me. Purple, with a tiny golden spoon sleek smooth container. I was judging a book by its cover. It's been about 6 weeks and I like it. My husband hasn’t complained about funny smells lol (and he notices everything) my skin feels hydrated and smooth. And it won't break the bank…

Ilia Tinted Super Serum with SPF

I was so sad when my favorite Ilia tinted moisturizer was discontinued. I wasn’t sure what to replace it with. This serum is a new product with a different consistency. It definitely provides coverage but very lightly, it evens out my skin tone and I love anything with extra SPF in it. I wear color 9.5.

Mascara

My biggest makeup challenge is Mascara that doesn’t run...

Thrive Causemetics Liquid Lash Extensions has been the best I’ve found…but I get occasional clumps.

I have decided to try Bite Beauty Mascara on a recent trip to Sephora and it was love at First Bite lol. The brush was the fattest I've ever seen. It was lengthening, volumizing and managed to go all day without smudging. New winner I’ll be adding. I tend to layer mascara on top of eachother…lashes can never be too fabulous?

Body

Post shower I had a few creams I was rotating along with coconut oil (works as a good moisturizer and make up remover ☺, but not if your skin is oily). I also kept hearing about a few others that I wanted to try.

Nécessaire Moisturizer is completely unscented, very smooth and doesn’t leave a sticky residue.

Agent Nateur

Agent Nateur products are beautiful and clean and what I've tried so far has worked well Holi Oil Body Serum and Ageless Eye Serum. This goes on smooth and leaves your legs with that glow…looks even better on tanned skin (spray tan of course!) It's pricey but a little bit goes a long way. Also available at Nordstrom so you can use gift cards, etc.

I have also struggled with KP, the little red bumps / chicken skin yuck, on the back of my arms….have tried numerous different creams which marginally helped. The combination of the Nécessaire and Agent Nateur seem to have made it go away!