Welcome to Normal Girl Beauty! Our new Beauty column from TN expert Tiff: make-up artist, beauty junkie who worked for Mac and Estée Lauder & girl who answers her texts when you’re too afraid to ask the guy with false eyelashes at Sephora which NARS blush looks better on you: Deep Throat or Orgasm. (Spoiler: orgasm is my color). Tiff gives the BEST advice that we’re now passing on to you, so be sure to let us know what YOU want to know about beauty, make-up and skincare in the comments!
Now that I have far surpassed the point of no return on the whole aging spectrum I’ve had to really consider what I want my skin to look like for the rest of my life. While I am an advocate of good skin care, I don’t always practice what I preach. I love the sun and if I wear sunscreen its never more than an SPF 8. Nevertheless I still get carded pretty much everywhere I go, and the other day I wanted to kiss the receptionist who told me I had to be 18 or older to sign a release form at a doctor’s appointment.
I started a serious skin evening skincare routine when I was about 13 years old, and I believe that’s what has saved my skin from the abuse I’ve put it through. I get a lot of questions and panicked phone calls from friends about skin care. Whether you have dry or oily skin, are acne prone, have dark circles, are starting to see some premature wrinkling or just want to be proactive about aging gracefully, here are some tips (and some of my favorite products) to tackle these problems in your sleep! This Bedtime Beauty Routine Post is Part 1 of 2, so check back next week for more advice!
Makeup Remover/ Cleansers
I am lazy. I don’t like a thousands steps so I typically don’t use makeup remover. I just pop some cleanser on my trusty Clarisonic and voila, makeup removed! From there I will go over my face once again real quick with a gentle everyday exfoliater to make sure my Clarisonic did the job. I always pat my face down with a stark white cloth to make sure I got everything and no makeup is transferring to the white cloth.
Products I love
Clarisonic: A Staple in my skin care regime. I can’t overstate how much this tool has changed my skin I wrote a little post on them last year during Xmas time.
Remover: MAC’s Cleanse Off Oil and MAC wipes are my favorite, but I have been known to use the Walmart Equate brand, I think they are better than the more expensive Neutrogena ones.
Cleanser: My go to recommendation is always Philosophy’s Purity its good for all skin types.
- Struggle with acne or oily skin? Try something from Mario Badescu’s or Peter Thomas Roth’s acne lines.
- Dry skin? First Aide Beauty or my all time favorite Murad Refreshing Cleanser will clean you right up while adding some moisture back into your skin.
Exfoliators: If you are using a daily exfoliating cleanser make sure it is super gentle. My all time favorite is Bliss Foaming Facewash. This is safe to use every day. If you like a deeper exfoliating product I like MAC’s Volcanic Ash, but this is a once every other week kind of product so don’t go crazy.
Me after a trip down the skin care aisle
Toners
When I was 13 I started using the Clinque’s 3 step skin care line. The toner I used gave me a chemical burn it was way too strong for my baby skin, so I am always gun shy when it comes to toners. The two I like balance the skin well, while adding some great moisture. In my honest opinion the good ones are spendy and the cheap ones are not worth the money.
Products I Love:
Estee Lauder ReNutriv Softening Lotion: The damn stuff has pearlised golden flecks in it and the price point makes it evident that the ingredients are high quality, its amazing but very expensive.
Bliss Daily Detoxifying Facial Toner: You can sometimes find it at Nordstrom Rack or TJ Maxx on sale, I just found 2 for $24 and had a celebration! It’s totally worth its normal $26 dollar price point though.
Moisturizers
Most women know they should be using Moisturizer every night but many have no clue on which ones to use. Well ladies I’ve tried them all. Here are some of my favorites. Pro-tip: be sure you are pulling your moisturizer down your neck and down on the back of your hands. If you use an anti aging serum do the same, pop left over product on the back of your hands since those tend to age more rapidly than your face.
First Aide Beauty: If you have sensitive skin, you can’t go wrong with this line. I can not overstate how good every product I have tried from this line is.
Nars Aqua Gel Luminous Oil-Free Moisturizer: Oily girls need moisture too! You wont find a better moisturizer than this one for your oily skin.
Estee Lauders Hydrationist: News flash, I worked for Estee Lauder for three years, I love their skincare products and Hydrationist is my favorite, but if you have money to burn and want to fight wrinkles and or prevent them buy Time Zone, but you really can’t go wrong with any Lauder skincare.
Clinique Moisture Surge: A good friend of mine who is also a makeup artist suggested this one to me. She has struggled with very sensitive and sometimes acne prone skin, and she told me this moisturizer was a “game changer” for her.
Next week we’re talking Eye Creams, Serums and Spot Treatments, plus I’ll tell you the MUST HAVES in these categories if your budget is limited!
Phew! That was a lot! Now go forth and wear your best skin!
Shop all the recommendations:
Have a great product you want to share with the group? Have a skin care or product question? Let me know in the comments. Also feel free to let me know what other products or tips you’d be interested in hearing about.
