I’ll start this by quoting my mother (whom you might know as Ellen):

DON’T GET OFF THE BOAT.

This is a phrase she drilled into my sister and I’s heads from the very beginning when it came to skincare and makeup. You see, us Goldens are blessed with the gift of having very reactive, sensitive skin. And, since everything in our lives is a story, we have countless tales about trying countless products that have caused more pain and suffering than good. Thusly why Ellen instilled in us that when we find something that works and “agrees” with our skin,

DON’T GET OFF THE BOAT.

My skin stats are as follows:

Extremely sensitive, especially to fragrance (read: HATES LAVENDER)
Combination, but leans more toward dry
Suffered from hormonal acne on my forehead at age 18, but was quickly cleared up from birth control and haven’t had any issues since
Small pores
Tans very easily (a little too easily if you ask me)
One big zit here and there, but not consistently
Gets red as fuck when I workout
Microscopic and basically invisible to the untrained eye Keratosis Pilaris bumpies on my jawline

The biggest bullet point there, though, is the sensitive skin — another blessed gift from my mother. I’ve had the weirdest skin reactions known to man from using the wrong products, and so has Ellen. So, her and I have essentially been on a journey to find the perfect products for our faces for years. Because she’s magic, she found us our cleanser, face moisturizer, and eye cream. And because she taught me well, I was able to find my own foundation, face oil, and a bunch of other stuff. In short though, my skincare and beauty routine is very, very minimal. While I love beauty products, I love the idea of only having to use a few even better. So the products I’m about to list are quite literally the only things I use, and I NEVER GET OFF THE BOAT.

Skincare

Let’s say it’s the end of the day, and it was a day in which I wore a full face of makeup. The first thing I do when it’s time to “wash up” (as Ellen referred to it my entire life) is grab a Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleansing Cloth for dry, sensitive skin and wipe off the first layer of makeup. Cetaphil is renowned for its gentle nature on most skin, so I knew their makeup remover wipes would more than likely agree with my skin and they do!

Next, I wash my face with an actual cleanser. Derma E is A FUCKING AMAZING LINE OF SKINCARE PRODUCTS. They are a natural line, and every product is made of 100% vegan, cruelty-free formulas, and do not contain parabens, sodium lauryl sulfates, petrolatum, mineral oil, artificial colors, gluten, soy or GMOs. So basically—CLEAN AF. For face wash, I use their Sensitive Skin Cleanser. You can usually find it at Whole Foods, but it’s almost always cheaper to get it off Amazon.

Now let’s discuss moisturizing. I use both a traditional moisturizer and a face oil. For the moisturizer, it’s the partner to the Derma E cleanser — Sensitive Skin Moisturizing Cream.

I almost always apply this both at night and in the morning. I say “almost always,” because there are times I swap it out for the DHC Olive Virgin Oil. I wish I had a rhyme or reason as to why I decide to go with the face oil over the moisturizer on the days I do, but I don’t. It’s just whatever I feel. Sometimes, I’ll do the oil at night so it really seeps in. Sometimes, I’ll do it in the morning so my makeup looks a bit dewier. Either way, I really love it. It’s a bit pricey for my taste, but I swear to G I got it MONTHS ago, and it’s still plenty full. A little goes a very long way.

Something VERY new to my line-up that Ellen has been using since she was 15 and NEVER TOLD ME??? is eye cream. I’ve had terrible luck with it all my life, but because Ellen and I’s skin is so similar, I trust anything she uses will be nice to me. Therefore, I just started my love affair with this Firming Eye Cream by Clientele and so far, so good. Ellen is 65 and looks 48, so I have to believe it’s going to do wonders for me, too. Or else.

Lastly, I apply a lash growing serum I bought in on this past December called GrandeLASH-MD. I’m definitely seeing growth, but it’s a slow climb to the top. I’m keeping a CLOSE EYE on it. HAHAHAHAHA.

MAKEUP

I swear by Charlotte Tilbury’s Magic Foundation. I started using it about two years ago, and it literally changed my outlook on foundation in general. I did tinted moisturizer for many, many years, but turning 30 had me itching to have a bit more coverage on my punim. I tried a few, but they were all TOO full coverage and left me feeling try-hard. Then, along came Charolette. It’s called MAGIC for a reason — because it really is. The coverage is perfect, the color matching is perfect, and it doesn’t break me out, which is the biggest sell of all. I don’t see me getting off the boat on this one, ever. Also, I apply it with THE brush (if you’re new to my blog, I went on for about a month about this foundation brush that Ellen found for us to apply our makeup, and I still use it every single day. And clean it with this magic mat).

I’ve been using this stick blush by NARS since college. For real. The color is Portofino, and I just love the texture and look of cream stick blush over powder blush. Period. End of story.9

Then I take some of the shine out with Laura Mercier’s Translucent Setting Powder. It works on literally any skin type and color, and I’ve also used it for a very long time.

Only when I’m feeling REALLY fancy do I use highlighter at this point in the process. I don’t know why (probably because I’m weird), but I typically reserve highlighter usage for nights out or big events. So I mean it when I say, I don’t always use highlighter, but when I do it’s this stuff from NARS in the “Fort De France — Champagne” color.

Then, I move onto the most important part of the makeup process: EYEBROWS. The only thing I use for them is Glossier’s Boy Brow in Brown. That’s it. I also keep an extra mascara-tester wand on hand to touch up the Boy Brow and spread it out evenly (expert tip right there).

The last step in my daily routine is curling my lashes, then coating them in THE BEST FUCKING MASCARA LITERALLY EVER. Y’all, I’m telling you — I know mascara preference is v personal, but this shit is incredible. It’s NOT waterproof, but somehow it does NOT come off (which is sort of annoying when it comes time to wash your face), and the black is a very true black. I usually do one swipe for work and two for a night out. That’s really all you need because it goes on so thick and dark and is perfect.

Last but most importantly, are all my go-to lipsticks. I have A LOT in my arsenal, but the following 5 are the ones I almost always turn to day-to-day. There’s a red, a fuchsia, a pink, a nude, and a gorgeous, everyday subtle neutral rose that is truly perfect.

For red, I’ve been using NARS’ “Jungle Red” for a few years now and have yet to find anything else that I feel as strongly about. It’s truly the perfect red — not too on the blue/purple side, but not too orange either. It’s glorious and almost always what I have on when you see me wearing red lipstick.

“Girl About Town” is my fuchsia by MAC and was literally the first lipstick I EVER wore when I decided to start wearing it. It was 6 years ago when I was working at Fossil, and I remember a few coworkers being like “WHOA-K. YES WITH THIS LIPSTICK” and that was that. It’s a “bright blue” fuchsia and just so good.

For a true carnation pink, my go-to (again FOR YEARS) has been “Speak Louder” by MAC. I consider it an easy, everyday pink but I know it may be bold for some. Either way, I’m very loyal to it.

The nude I use is “Pillow Talk” by Charlotte Tilbury. Nudes can get tricky because you really need to ensure you get the right shade for your skin tone, but I think Pillow Talk is one of those universal nudes that somehow looks good on everyone? Probably cause it leans more pink. Every time I wear it, people tell me I’m pretty which makes me wonder if I’m not as pretty when I wear my bolder colors, but fuck it.

Lastly is “Activist” by Hourglass. This fucking shade. It’s so pretty??? This is my go-to lipstick when I’m like “I don’t really wanna wear any lipstick today, but I want some color.” The rose shade is just natural enough that I think even a lipstick novice would feel totally comfortable wearing it.

And there you have it! How I take care of my skin and dress up my face. I hope you’ve been enlightened and learned something new today. Always feel free to reach out to me and ask questions — I love answering them.

xox,