I feel like it’s been a good minute since we had some real talk. Like getting a bit honest and real about life, opinions, and non-sponsored shit. So, here’s the 411 on what’s been happening in my life.
In just the past week I went through a massive reorganization in my studio. It started when I decided I was just OVER my previous workspace. It was just a junkyard of paperwork, receipts, old audition sides and blogger mail. I didn’t use the space because I didn’t love it, so I knew that I needed to revamp it. (I will continue with this story of my workspace on a future post when I have pretty pictures of the finished space). Anyhew, this set off a domino effect of throwing out a bunch of stuff that were old, expired, no longer used, never been used, and/or just don’t need and want it out of my life! The spiral sent me through two trips to the Container Store, where I then spent around $200 buying organizers, but like I said, that’s another story.
Now that the organization is pretty much complete, I can finally see the glass to my vanity, which I haven’t seen in two years, (see IRL pic below). It happens. You let one blogger mail haul pile up and then it’s just a mess going forward. I didn’t have any storage or organization to all the products and stuff I was receiving, so I just let the stuff pile up and up until there was no vanity or floor to my closet to be seen. Point is, all the stuff I ended up keeping, I organized, and once I could see everything that I own I knew why I loved them so.
Whether it’s skincare, haircare, makeup, or anything else related to beauty, I’ve had my fair share of tested products in the last 3 years since I started my blog. And even before I started my blog I’ve always been known to have great skin and healthy hair. Though I’m not a huge makeup person, I have a natural makeup look that I love and if you’re into that, read on. I’m not going to give you a bunch of BS spiel on why my beauty care life is important, so I’m just going to jump right into this and let you know my die hard must-haves of all time and why. Be prepared, it’s a long and detailed post.
SKINCARE
I take skincare VERY seriously, and I am VERY lucky to have been able to try out so many great products that are out there. HOWEVER, there are only a few skincare products that I would say I would put my life on it, which just means I haven’t been able to find and/or try anything out there that’s better or comparable to these products. Oh, and just to reiterate, this is NOT a sponsored post.
DERMALOGICA SPECIAL CLEANSING GEL
A lot of people don’t take as much care and consideration when it comes to facial wash simply because not as much hype is put into removing the nasty stuff that is on your face. We basically want something that removes the makeup without drying out our skin, right? So why spend anything past $20 dollars on something that will be washed right off? WRONG! Your face wash is just as an important step in your skincare routine as your magical $300 serum or that baby placenta moisturizer. Before any of that expensive stuff sticks on your face you need to start with a CLEAN face, and with that said, the face wash you use shouldn’t be whatever is the cheapest you can find.
I have normal to oily skin. I live in LA where there’s no humidity, and I don’t normally wear a lot of makeup. At first I was really excited when I found Cetaphil, which does a decent job and it’s under $10! It’s a win win situation. After going through at least 20 different kinds of face wash, (cream-based, oil-based, gel-based, expensive, cheap, etc), I still felt like Cetaphil was the best bang-for-your-buck face wash. Then I discovered Dermalogica Special Cleansing Gel, and I never looked back. It’s everything that Cetaphil offered, but oh so much more. I actually enjoyed washing my face, and how my face felt after it was clean. I never had to rewash or get Q-tips to clear away the smudge under my eye. This cleanser does the dirty work AND keeps my skin moisturized. It’s under $40 and it lasts for at least 3 months if you don’t over use it. I make sure to have at least one extra in stock at all times since this is now my daily face wash.
JOANNA VARGAS SUPER NOVA SERUM
This is a recent product for me in terms of the duration I have been using it. However, it took only 2 months for me to fall head over heels for this nightly serum. I was familiar with the name Joanna Vargas because I had seen a package of her eye mask at The Now massage parlor, but I wasn’t familiar with her skincare line. Then I was invited to attend a brunch event for the launch of her Super Nova Serum, where we each went home with a bottle to try.
Tbh, I wasn’t enthralled at first. It’s not like it’s my first rodeo and the first expensive serum I have ever received. Get in line sista. However, the packaging was nice and I wanted to try something new so I followed Joanna’s instructions and didn’t use it in conjunction with my vitamin C serum, (the chemicals negate each other). I didn’t think I believed in love at first try, but THIS was love at first try. There was a significant difference in the way my skin felt the next day. It felt like as if I had gotten a deep hydrating facial without getting a facial at all. Everything else I used was the same, so I knew that the difference had to have come from the Super Nova Serum. This is some game changing anti-aging product y’all. The Retinol is perfect for peeps in their late 20’s and going into their early 30’s. I only wish I had started using this sooner!
So here’s the kicker, it’s $295, which is a steep and heavy price for anyone to spend on skincare. I’m only getting to use this right now because I was gifted the whole bottle to try, but I would buy this still after my bottle is empty. I use it every other night now because my aesthetician told me my skin was a bit dehydrated, so by not using it every night I can prolong the use of this serum. (Fingers crossed it lasts me through the end of the year). I just think about it this way, would I spend less than $2 a day to have great skin? The answer to that is HELL YEAH, so that’s my justification for spending this kind of dough on must-have skincare products.
LA MER MOISTURIZING CREAM
La Mer and I go way way back. This was my first and only true testament to great skin for all of my 20’s. I had a corporate job back then with a big fat salary so I could afford expensive shit like this. But now I’m just a broke actress/blogger trying to make ends meet, so I had to part ways with my dear lover, Crème de La Mer. Trust me, this was an extremely hard breakup. I tried to do the long distance relationship thing where I would only purchase it at duty free stores whenever I had an international flight, but that just wasn’t sustainable.
I’m still not in a relationship with La Mer, (though I would like to be **hint hint nudge nudge wink wink**), and would easily hop back in bed with it as soon as I get that phone call. I feel like there’s a misconception with this product, and that a lot of younger folks think this moisturizer is only for older people because of how rich the cream is. I used just a mini dollop of this every night for over a decade, and I would go head to head with any 20 year old out there on their skin dexterity. I didn’t care if it was winter, spring, summer or fall. I used it regardless of location or weather, and I use to live in Atlanta, GA where it was straight humidity.
I am now in a new happy and loving relationship with Dermalogica Sound Sleep Cocoon Transformative Night Gel-Cream, but I will always remember my first and one true love.
HAIRCARE
I don’t believe I’ve posted enough about hair products. It could be that I chopped off my long, gorgeous hair last year and just never thought that I would be an influencer for hair products. However, I will disclose that I just signed to become a T3 Micro Ambassador starting this September, which probably makes me sound less credible if I list any of their products now. But know that I became an ambassador for them AFTER I have already been using their products, and it’s because I love their hair tools so much that I agreed to become an ambassador. Anyway, you probably don’t really give AF about my explanation so let’s get to the short list.
T3 MICRO CURA LUXE BLOWDRYER
F*ck it. This is my first must-have in haircare, and yes, it’s a T3 Micro hair dryer. But this isn’t just any hair dryer, this is the Cura Luxe and it dries my hair in less than 5 minutes. As I was throwing out all my old junk, I had 4 curling wands and 2 hair dryers that I had to toss. You know what I kept? The Cura Luxe. I had even just purchased a new Xtava blow dryer a couple of months before I got the Cura Luxe and the Xtava was replaced in the blink of an eye. Obviously there’s a huge price difference between the Cura Luxe and the Xtava, but that price difference is made up by it’s performance.
I was freaked out at first by the auto pause sensor feature. I thought I was given a faulty blow dryer and that it would shut off automatically by itself. It wasn’t until I saw another influencer talk about this functionality that I realized if I let go of the handle it pauses the airflow. DUH! I don’t really care about any of the other cool features. My sole devotion to this hair dryer comes from the fact that it dries my hair so quickly without burning my head from the heat.
I haven’t tried the Dyson Supersonic Hair Dryer, so I can’t say that this or the other is better. But I stated earlier that these are my must-haves based on what I’ve tried so far, not to mention that this is $150 less than the Dyson.
OUAI WAVE SPRAY
Chopping off over 8 inches of my hair last year was life changing for me. I haven’t had short hair (above my chin) since I was in 4th grade when I got lice from a sleepover and my mom cut off all my hair. I didn’t know how to style my short hair or make it look cool like Brittany Xavier.
The upkeep cost me an arm and a leg per trim, so while I went through my awkward phase of short-ish hair, I found Ouai Wave Spray. This was something that I could easily spray into my damp hair, blow dry, and it would still come out texturized. I have dead straight asian hair, and it’s hard to get any kind of volume or movement to my hair. The wave spray just added something that made it easier to style and more manageable with my flyaways.
I’ve tried spraying it on and just letting my hair air dry and my hair doesn’t feel crinkly or hard or sticky. My hair isn’t curly on it’s own, but this spray helps me when I do curl my hair. I’ve been using it for over half a year now and there’s still a lot left in the bottle. If you’re looking for a texturizing, volumizing, hair shining spray, then this is your hair product.
MAKEUP
I’m still figuring this portion out. I don’t have as many die hard, must-haves in the makeup category because there are a lot of great comparable products out there. It’s hard for me to say this particular item is better than anything else out there because I’m just now getting into makeup products. I’ll do another post of my favs, but since this post is about MUST-HAVES, I’ll stick to just that. Here’s my one must-have item for the makeup category:
SHU UEMURA CALLIGRAPHINK LIQUID EYELINER
Obviously I had to find the one makeup brand that no longer sell their makeup products in US stores anymore. Sigh. I first discovered Shu Uemura when I was still using eyelash curlers (pre-lash extension days), and they were known to have THE best eyelash curler. Once I started getting eyelash extensions I couldn’t use pencil eyeliners anymore due to the oil that’s in the liners, which causes the extensions to fall off faster. (WATCH my YouTube video on everything you need to know about eyelash extensions for reference). That’s when my search for the perfect liquid liner started. I wanted something with a super soft and malleable brush, ink that stayed and didn’t bleed, and that someone who never used a liquid liner could pick up and draw a smoking hot cat eye. I tried Dior, I tried Trish McEvoy and a few other brands, and then finally stumbled upon Shu Uemura Calligraphink Liquid Eyeliner. The pen and the ink cartridge are sold separately, but together it’s around $32, which is a very comparable and reasonable price compared with the leading liquid liners out there.
You replace the cartridge when the ink runs out, which I love because we don’t need more waste in the world. Also, the ink cartridge is only $16, so I save a lot of money when it comes time to replace the ink. The only downfall to all this is that you can only buy it online in the US, which is not that big of a deal if you already love the stuff. However, like you, I like trying new things on at the store before I purchase, but please take my word for it. This is the best liquid eyeliner I’ve used, and I do love my eyelash extensions and my cat eyes.
This is it for my beauty must-haves. Let me know if you’d like to see more posts like this. I apologize for all the cursing, but I just felt like it was time to be real and write the way I actually talk. I’m glad you’ve gotten this far on the post. Congratulations. You just read a f*cking novel. Haha!
xo, Linda
Cover photo by Jessica Sprowitz
