Maybe it’s the lack of Vitamin D, but isn’t winter skin the worst? The dryness really kills any glow factor, even if you are managing to eat healthy and get plenty of rest. We all know that exfoliation (AKA skin cell turnover) is the answer to brightening skin, but the real secret is targeted exfoliation. Just like we treat different areas of our skin with specialized products (i.e. eye cream), think about the differences in elasticity and thickness for each part of your face to determine whether you should take a gentle or tough approach to exfoliating. Of course none of this is a hard rule. Adjust to how your skin is feeling on a day-by-day basis, and your skin will never look brighter. Gentle – Cheeks, Temples, & Neck Patyka Damask Rose Toning Lotion: Technically toners aren’t exfoliators, but using a toner on your bare face (without cleansing) in the morning does a good job of acting like one. Just use a luxuriously thick cotton pad to slowly press the toning lotion into the skin to stimulate circulation and remove surface-level dead skin cells. Acure Organics Brightening Facial Scrub: The key to a gentle physical face exfoliant (AKA face […]

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It’s the season for holiday gift guides, which happen to be one of my favorite kind of articles to read. I used to source my inspiration for gift ideas from magazines, but seeing gift guides on blogs have the added benefit of being clickable so it’s easy to look into a product more closely and immediately. My favorite categories of gift guides are usually home and beauty, which is why I’m starting out the season with this beauty holiday gift guide. Beauty is a great multi-purpose category for gift-giving, since everyone uses beauty products in at least one form or another. Read through and let me know which of these are gifts you’d want to receive! Eve Lom Restorative Moisture Ritual Collection would be the most amazing gift for your skincare-obsessed mom. The set comes with fan-favorites from Eve Lom like her TLC cream and cult-favorite Cleanser (plus the necessary muslim cleansing cloth). The mini Moisture Mask is icing on the cake for introducing her to the Eve Lom brand. Eve Lom Cleanser and Muslin Cloth Bauble is such a cute stocking stuffer and perfect for a jet-setting recipient. The cute and tiny Cleanser and muslim cloth are just the right size […]

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One thing I sometimes miss (that my hair doesn’t necessarily miss) is using heavily fruit-scented shampoos. When I was a kid, the stronger the artificial fruit scent, the better. But now, picking fragrances in general is an endeavor in subtlety or simplicity. Although my perfume tastes may vary, I gravitate towards single-noted or pure, distilled scents in my bodycare products. This post will break down some of my latest favorites by fragrance. But really it’s a “what’s in my shower” kind of post, because it’s hard to commit to just one body wash for months! H20+ Beauty: Powdery Softness The Milk scent from H20+ Beauty has a very soft scent that I first encountered through the H20+ Beauty Milk Body Wash. After experiencing it in conjunction with the  H20+ Beauty Milk Body Scrub and the H20+ Beauty Milk Body Butter, I can say with confidence that it’s the kind of subtle bodycare scent that makes people think you just smell naturally nice. All three products really glide onto the skin exceptionally nicely as well. When it gets really cold and my hands start chapping, I’m planning on throwing the lightly rose-scented H20+ Beauty Teak Rose On the Move Body Butter Stick in my purse. The deodorant-style […]

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Previously, I wrote about some of my favorite serums for specific skincare concerns that come from everyday life scenarios (see article here). However, addressing skincare concerns seasonally is also a good way to approach the serum game. For Winter, you’ll want a hydrating serum. But you can also supplement that baseline hydration. Today, I’ll be sharing a few mix-in boosters and how to use them to really make a hydrating serum work doubly hard for you this Winter. The Hydrating Serum Let’s talk about the hydrating serum first. For pure and potent hydration, you need the True Botanicals Hydrating Serum. It has an extra silky, fine texture that sinks easily into skin. I prefer this for night. For an extra anti-aging boost, I’d go with the Sustainable Youth Firming & Revitalizing Serum. This one has a lightweight texture as well, and I prefer it for daytime use. Both serums will help to mitigate environmental skin stress in addition to helping to hydrate the skin. The Mixers How can we boost a hydrating serum? The answer is to take a custom approach. For example, with the True Botanicals Hydrating Serum, I’ve been adding a few drops of the True Botanicals Antioxidant Booster with each […]

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Being in New England, my skin starts to freak out a little once chilly weather sets in. I don’t break out from the seasonal shift, but my skin gets a little rough and dry, which doesn’t feel good when the mornings are 35 degrees. For these situations, it may seem intuitive to just slather on your richest face creams and call it a day. But actually, I’ve found that properly cleansing and prepping my skin to absorb those powerful ingredients is key. This season, I’ve been using my  Clarisonic Mia 1 Device with Radiance Brush Head daily and it has noticeably boosted my skin’s ability to accept and retain moisture. Which goes to say, if I notice an immediate difference in more effective moisture absorption, then I’m probably also getting more mileage out of the other skin treatments I apply, like spot treatments or anti-aging serums. Since cleansing the skin is the first part of any skincare routine, it’s so important to do right. The sonic cleansing of the Clarisonic Mia 1 is vastly better at cleansing your skin than just conventional hand-cleansing. As a result, the ingredients you put on your skin after the cleansing step can penetrate the skin effortlessly. […]

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“Serum” is one of those skincare terms that is so ubiquitous in product labeling that it almost doesn’t mean anything. We all know that we’re supposed to be using one, but it can be confusing to pick one to address our immediate skin concerns. I like to think of serums as the most specific kind of skin treatment I can apply. I’m looking to correct specific problems like hyperpigmentation. Serums are definitely where I recommend paying for the best since they’re lightweight, which allows them to really sink in and penetrate the skin for maximum potency. Read on to see what kinds of situations would call for a specific serum. For City Dwellers: Ursa Major Brighten Up Vitamin C Serum is perfect for counteracting free-radical damage caused by environmental pollutants. Personally, I notice that this kind of accrued damage manifests on my skin in the form of dullness in appearance and uneven, rough texture (different from breakouts). The vitamin C in this quick-absorbing serum is good for brightening skin tone, especially in conjunction with the other ingredients: rosehip (pigmentation and uneven texture) and aspen bark (exfoliation for fresh, new skin). I like that this serum has a very thin texture, which […]

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I like to get gel nails a few times a year. They look amazing and help my nails grow longer, but it’s hard to commit to wearing one color for a month especially in the Fall. Fall collections are my favorite in fashion and beauty because of the richer colors, textures and finishes. The JINsoon Art Nouveau collection completely embodies that look for me in a very modernized way. JINsoon Milieu is a complex smoky purple-grey shade with light silver pearly flecks. It’s an updated version of the warm-toned taupe everyone was obsessed with a few seasons ago. It’s a color that would be easy-to-wear for most people since it comes off as almost neutral in tone. JINsoon Fable is a really nice dark eggplant that doesn’t come off as black (like a lot of other dark nail colors). It has a very glossy, high-impact finish but manages to still look very elegant. JINsoon Idyll is a warm persimmon red that looks kind of brick-red at times. It’s definitely not a holiday red and has a more fashion-forward feel that would look amazing with a cozy camel outfit. JINsoon Abyss is a deep Prussian blue that pulls more navy and more […]

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Thanks to Kylie Jenner, the trendiest lip products have been lip pencils and powdery matte colors. I’m happy that we are nixing sticky lip glosses and have worn my favorite MAC lip liner down to a stub to celebrate. Nowadays it takes something really special for me to want a traditional lipstick, but I think that the Kosas Weightless Lip Color gets it right. Maybe it’s the Instagram-worthy branding of the line. Or maybe it’s the hefty and luxurious packaging. Either way, Kosas is convincing me to put down the matte lipstick and adopt a sheerer lip look this Fall. I’m wearing Rosewater (1st in first blog photo) in this photo. And what I love that you can see is that the Kosas Weightless Lip Color has a silky slip and satiny sheen to it that feels and looks natural. With bolder colors like Darkroom (2nd), Thrillest (3rd), and Fringe (4th), the lips maintain a healthy glow since the Kosas Weightless Lip Color formula reflects light beautifully. I prefer wearing moody dark colors like Darkroom, a red-toned plum, in the Fall. Since Kosas Weightless Lip Colors aren’t about heavy mattes, I blotted this one down for a more un-done, stained lip look. It might be easier to opt for […]

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With my combination-oily skin type, venturing into the realm of beauty oils was a totally unexpected move. But since every trusted resource I turned to reassured me that I too, with my mid-day shine, could reap the benefits of facial oils, I had to give them a try. This was two years ago, and since then I haven’t looked back. If you haven’t caught onto beauty oils yet, you absolutely have to give them a go. Frankly, there’s no better time like now when the seasons are transitioning and your skin needs some extra TLC. The only catch to incorporating beauty oils into your skincare routine is that there’s a slight learning curve. Don’t give up on them until you figure out: 1) At which step in your routine to massage them in 2) Which beauty oils to use for which purpose Let me share some of my tips and my current arsenal of beauty oils after the jump! Leland Francis Luxe Face Oil – Among beauty oils, this one is a fantastically fragrant one with a thicker texture. It’s the kind of face oil that is too rich for everyday use for my combination-oily skin (although it may work […]

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I went apple picking a few weeks ago, and it really put me in the Fall spirit. Or maybe it was the smell of fresh-baked apple crisp wafting throughout our apartment afterwards. Either way, I was feeling ready for Fall when I first tried out the Kopari Coconut Cleansing Oil and Kopari Coconut Rose Toner. Well immediately upon applying the Kopari coconut skincare products, the balmy coconut scent hit me with fond and recent memories of this past summer. Guess I’m not ready to let go of warmth and sunshine yet. If you associate the fragrance of coconut with summer like I do, get yourself these summer-in-a-bottle to reminisce about your last beach vacation before the temperatures drop to below 40. Then thank yourself for preparing your skin for colder temperatures with these coconut oil packed beauties. Kopari Coconut Cleansing Oil has a really thin, silky consistency that is excellent for breaking down makeup without leaving an oily residual feeling. I like the pump applicator on this too, which has more control than a lot of other cleansing oils I’ve tried before. Kopari Coconut Rose Toner smells amazing. The roses come though more than the coconut in the fragrance and the toner has a really […]

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