My beauty uniform

I love Joanna Goddard's series My Beauty Uniform on her blog A Cup of Jo and decided I would share my own beauty uniform since my post on my new creme cleansing routine sparked such great discussion!

My Daily Beauty Routine

Depends on the day! Truth talk. Now that I have a new baby some days I straight up don't have time to do much beyond pin my bangs back and throw on some clothes. However, I really try to keep those days few and far between.

Most days I wear L'Oreal Paris True Match Naturale Mineral Foundation. My mother-in-law stuck some in my stocking about five years ago and I've been wearing it ever since. Not the most traditional way to discover new makeup but I love this stuff because it provides nice coverage without making me feel like my skin is gunked up. Plus, it's REALLY nice in the summer when it's hot and it contains SPF. 

In fact, I liked it so much I also wear the blush!

I usually sweep a little bit eyeshadow on - usually whatever color I have on hand. Then, add a little bit of brown eyeliner to the outside of my upper lids and put on mascara. I've switched brands a couple of times recently but I'm going back to Maybelline New York Volum' Express because I haven't found anything I like near as much. 

Let's talk red lipstick.

Three years ago I posted this photo on Facebook and ushered in a new era in my personal beauty journey!

I decided to jump on the red lipstick bandwagon and have loved every stinking minute of it. I truly believe there is a red lipstick out there for every woman and that everyone can rock this look. I love it because I feel like I have a full face of make-up on when I'm wearing my red lipstick. I feel put together and just the slightest bit brave!

(You will feel like you look like a clown at first but you'll get used to it I SWEAR!)

My color is Certainly Red by Revlon. I tried another more expensive brand but it bled badly and I didn't like the texture. I'll be sticking with Revlon from here on out!

The End Of Skin Care Drama

Truthfully, the biggest change to my beauty routine has come from being a mom. I just don't have TIME to put on a bunch of products. Heck, I haven't blow-dried my hair in five years!

I'm not kidding. I just stopped. You can, too. I highly recommend it.

Luckily, mommy friends are an excellent source of tips and tricks to get more from less when it comes to products. Two years ago, my friend Shannon recommended I try oil cleansing. I have had really bad hormonal acne since I got pregnant with Griffin so I was game for anything that might help that. 

She recommended this recipe and I've been using it every night since. No moisturizer. Just oil. I do plan on adding back in some anti-aging treatment once I'm done breastfeeding. But for now I just wash my face and go to bed.

I use Philosophy Microdelivery Exfoliating Wash in the morning and the combo of the scrub and oil has really suited my skin. My daily moisturizer/sunscreen was also the recommendation of a mommy friend (and expert to boot!) the fabulous Shani Darden. I use Control Correctives and really like the light, non greasy formula. 

I like to keep it SIMPLE.

My love simplicity extends to my showers. I'm still using and loving my Purely Perfect Creme Cleanser. As far as soap, I use an actual bar of soap and I love, love, love LAFCO Fresh Cut Gardenia Bath Soap which I discovered last year through Quarterly. It smells amazing and I'm not even kidding lasted almost a year. 

Things I DON'T do.

I don't paint my nails (unless I'm going to be on TV!) and I don't get pedicures. I realized last summer that I just didn't care that much and it became another errand on my list. If I want to have my feet rubbed I go get a foot massage. 

I don't shave. Well, let me expand on that. I don't shave at all in the winter. Period. No one sees my legs or underarms and shaving makes me ITCH. Badly. So, it just doesn't happen. In the summer, I do shave the absolutely minimal amount I can get away with. Like Joanna Goddard, I also have a pretty firm stance against shaving or waxing my bikini line. I wear swim shirts (another important beauty ritual I suppose!) and swim skirts. There's just no need to put myself through that. 

I did stop grooming my eyebrows but I've found a woman who will thread them for $2 in under 5 minutes. That's about all I'm willing to sacrifice in the way of time and money so it works.

I don't wear body lotion. I don't wear perfume. I don't sit in the sun. EVER. I also don't use fake tan because honestly I think it perpetuates the idea that only tan skin in beautiful. And that's bullshit. 

I don't read beauty magazines (or beauty blogs for that matter) and if I could wave my magic wand, no woman would. In my 20's, I realized that cracking open the latest editions of Glamour, In Style, or Cosmo was doing real damage to my self-esteem. I could feel my thoughts shift from almost the very first page. Suddenly, there were a list of things I needed to change. My skin wasn't right. My hair wasn't right. I didn't have the right nail color or shoe or latest skirt style. 

So, I decided I didn't want to spend money on a product that made me feel inferior. I stopped reading them and never looked back. It's one of the best decisions I've ever made. 

My overall philosophy

Not surprisingly, my mother greatly influenced how I feel about my looks and beauty. I always got the impression that it was important to look nice and special occasions were worth the added effort. However, the way my mother looked didn't define her. I never remember her bemoaning the appearance of wrinkles or being afraid to go outside without makeup.

My mother was and is a beautiful woman but that was not the entirety of her identity and it's not the entirety of mine.

The other huge influence was Nicholas. I realized recently how influential it has been on my self-perception and confidence that, since the age of 19, I've had the man I love telling me I'm beautiful on a regular basis.

That's huge and I'm incredibly grateful that the voices I've heard telling me I'm beautiful have always FAR outweighed the voices telling me I'm not good enough. 

What is your beauty routine? What products can't you live without? What's your beauty philosophy?

How to use Purely Perfect Cleansing Creme

I'm done with shampoo. Forever.

I have tried the all natural No 'Poo approach in the past but could never get my hair to participate. So, I went back to regular shampoo always wondering if there was a better option. 

Well, I'm here to tell you ... THERE IS! Purely Perfect Cleansing Creme, which I discovered in of all places - Wired Magazine! I was totally intrigued by the idea that Michael Gordon, founder of Bumble & Bumble and hair guru, noticed hairdressers and beauty editors weren't using detergent-based shampoo.

“I thought that was odd. Why would the best hairdresser in the world not use Redken, or Paul Mitchell?” the British-born, New York-based Gordon says. “They’d use a lot of grease, French hair care stuff, face creams, they’d use sugar, they’d use soap, a lot of things—but not normal hair products.”

Still, the $40 a bottle price intimidated me and I said as much in one of my weekly emails. Luckily, my best friend Annie wasn't so intimidated and we decided to try Purely Perfect together.

Side note: Don't let the price intimidate you like it did me. I got my bottle in mid-October and have used a little less than a third. That's $40 every nine months, which I assure you is worth it!

Apparently, we weren't the only ones who decided to jump on the creme cleansing bandwagon because the product was out of stock for TWO months! (Meanwhile, I kept reading about how awesome going shampoo-free is in Real Simple and the New York Times.)

Once, I got my bottle I couldn't wait to try it out - only to discover there is a bit of a learning curve. As in I spent A WHOLE MONTH RELEARNING HOW TO WASH MY HAIR! Y'all know I'm not a beauty blogger. This is not my thing but I was obsessed with getting it right. I tried every different approach. Refined the process at each step. Even grilled my hairdresser - who also uses cleansing creme!

But after LOTS of experimentation I've got it down and I'm here to save you the trouble!

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How to use Purely Perfect (or any other) Cleansing Creme:

1. Divide your hair into sections. How many sections will depend on how thick your hair is. I basically divide my hair in half and use one full pump per section.
2. Fluff your hair. Take your fingers and fluff your hair up a bit so you can get in there with the cleansing creme and it doesn't all get distributed on the outside of your hair.
3. Apply cleansing creme. REALLY work it through your hair and distribute as evenly as possible.
4. Emulsify. This tip came from my hairdresser Carrie. Dip your hair back into the water for just a second. It helps emulsify the creme and distribute it more evenly.
5. SCRUB! Now, this is the part that took me so long to figure out. You have to scrub cleansing creme into your hair and you CAN NOT just use your fingers. If you do, it will just be distributed around your scalp and your hair will feel oily. You have to use YOUR WHOLE HAND on your head and scrub the hair back and forth. Literally, use the entire surface of your hand all over your head to scrub it in. Then, you leave it in for a couple of minutes.
6. Rinse. Now, it's time to rinse it out and you divide your hair again if you want to make sure the water is evenly distributed.
7. SCRUB! Again, cannot emphasize this enough. USE YOUR WHOLE HAND TO COVER THE ENTIRE SURFACE OF YOUR HAND AND SCRUB OUT THE CLEANSING CREME. If you just scrub with your fingertips, you will not get it all out. Keep on scrubbing and rinsing until you feel like the cleansing creme is out. It usually takes me a minute or two.

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Now, I know this seems like a process and it definitely takes longer than using detergent-based shampoo but here's the thing. 

It's worth it!

My hair is shinier and healthier AND I don't have to wash it as much! I went from having to wash my hair every other day (at minimum!) to only having to wash it once or twice A WEEK! And here's the crazy part - this even applies to my bangs. My bangs were always greasy and I had to wash them every morning, even if I'd taken a shower the night before but not anymore. Now, I can even wash my bangs once or twice a week. 

This is a dang product is dang miracle, people!

Have any of you tried cleansing creme?