Fashion
Handpicked: The 9 Beauty Products I'm Loving (and Using) Right Now
Things to know about my beauty regime: I'm a big believer in only recommending products that I've tried myself (though, as a beauty writer, that's sometimes impossible). I'm obsessed with green beauty products, and if you stranded me on a desert island, I'd bring olive oil — for my face. I feel really insecure wearing bright lipstick, unlike Candace; I just can't seem to feel like myself in it. I'd rather spend money on skincare than on makeup. Oh, and I'm living proof that the placebo effect works.
Enough about me? Here's what I'm genuinely loving — and actually using, I swear — in the beauty realm these days.
Super-super-super natural night cream
You guys, Sanre Organic has been my top-secret favorite brand for, gosh, a couple years now. I've been using their day cream, Shaded Rose, for ages — it includes SPF and does an amazing job at clearing and evening out your skin tone. I don't usually wear creams at night — I just slather on olive or jojoba oil — but I decided to give their night cream a try. It doesn't absorb super well, but it moisturizes and clears your skin at the same time (lots of citrus and tea tree oil help prevent breakouts, while evening primrose oil and co. work on the whole I-don't-want-wrinkles thing). But best of all, you could eat it from the jar and it wouldn't hurt you.
Sanre Organic Sleeping Beauty Night Cream, $30, sanreorganic.com
Black nails and magic rings
When the weather's cold outside, I kind of want to feel like a witch, at least in the hand area. This polish was 99 cents, and it lasts for about two days, but I try to embrace the whole chipped-polish look for a few days longer, since I'm so busy casting spells.
Wet N Wild Nail Color in Black Creme, $1, walgreens.com
Major mascara
Mascara is the one thing I (shamefully) cannot live without. I just feel zombie-like without it, and a really great mascara pretty much eliminates the need for all other eye makeup. This one is fantastic; it really separates each lash, creepy doll-style.
Buxom Lash, $19, sephora.com
A sexy, slightly masculine perfume
I've always wanted a perfume that flirts with the masculine side of things, but I've never found the perfect one until now. This "Hungary Water" originated in legend — it was apparently the first alcohol-based perfume in Europe, and promised eternal life and beauty to its users. Crabtree & Evelyn's version is full of the original rosemary, as well as notes of pink pepper, spearmint, cypress and geranium. Best of all, it's not a spray perfume — you apply it to your fingers, and then dab it on your temples, wrists, and clavicle like a real sophisticate.
Crabtree & Evelyn Heritage Collection Hungary Water Eau de Cologne, $59, crabtree-evelyn.com
Ginger tea after every meal
Ginger is honestly my drug of choice. Ginger ale, ginger beer, candied ginger, and currently, ginger tea — the spice is warming, stimulating, and best of all, it cures even the slightest feeling of nausea or dizziness. It's perfect for those nights when you ate too much frozen pizza, or those mornings after you drank too much red wine. I drink it with lots of honey.
Yogi Ginger Tea, $5, yogiproducts.com
A ladylike "complexion clay"
When I'm not wearing turmeric and yogurt, I'm using this healing clay mask that's designed for sensitive, dry skin. It simultaneously draws out impurities and nourishes cells, and here's a bonus: It can also be used as a gentle, natural blush.
Pollen & Wax Roses & Roses Complexion Clay, $5 (for a sample size, pictured), etsy.com
Hippie supplements
If I take my biotin, I'll have hair like Rapunzel, skin like Cleopatra, and nails as strong as, um, Medusa? I do believe, I do believe!
Trader Joe's Biotin Supplement, about $10, available in Trader Joe's stores
A boyfriend-approved perfume
My dear friend gave me a sample of this unabashedly girly perfume, and my boyfriend immediately declared it his "favorite perfume of all time." Big words from a dude who avoids cologne like the plague.
Guerlain La Petite Robe Noire, $81, sephora.com
A near-invisible line of bright eyeliner
First of all: this cost like $2, and you can tell how well-loved it is. Second of all, I've been wearing just the tiniest thread of this electric blue eyeliner by my upper lashes, using my PATENTED super-thin-eyeliner technique, and it's the perfect way to wear blue on your eyes without really committing to the look.
Wet N Wild Mega Liner in Indigo Blue, $2.39, cvs.com
