Haute Child in the City: Laura Mercier

Benefit, Chanel, Laura Mercier, MAC, Makeup, NARS

Daily Make-up Routine

3/07/2014

Beauty, Beauty Review, Clarisonic, Estee Lauder, Jergens, Josie Maran, Laura Mercier, MAC Makeup, Smith's, St Tropez, summer beauty

What's in my Summer Beauty Toolkit

5/10/2012

(I would say medicine cabinet, but our house doesn't actually have any)

Regardless of what you have in your house, if you are anything like me, you change up your beauty routine seasonally to account for weather changes. Here are some of my favorite summer beauty products.

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1) Exfoliate - A good skin foundation can make or break your beauty products. Exfoliation is the key to maximizing the effectiveness of your other products. I love the Clarisonic Mia because I'm able to use my usual facewash and exfoliate all at once. If you don't want to spring for the Clarisonic (which is worth it's weight in gold), I would definitely recommend an exfoliating scrub (St. Ive's Apricot is my fave).

2) Sunscreen - Use it often and liberally. There's a lot of changes going on right now in the sunscreen realm with the FDA stepping in to ensure the quality of the products, as well as that the labels are written in a less confusing manner. Regardless, I would recommend Josie Maran's line. Ah.may.zing.

3) Moisturizer - Ole Henricksen for my face and Jergen's Natural Glow for my body. I try not to use a moisturizer on my face that has any sunscreen in it anymore because the sunscreen can break down as it ages and mess with the balance of things. And Jergen's has been my go-to for years for the rest of my body. I love the subtle tan it gives you without an orange glow.

4) Self Tanner - When I really want to step up my tanning game, I jump all in with St Tropez's foaming self-tanner. It's hands down the best. Just don't forget to wear gloves when you apply or wash your hands well after it's application or you'll have weirdly tanned palms. Other recommendations for making your self tanner stick: showers a few hours after you apply and before you go to bed dust yourself with baby powder to avoid rub off on your sheets.

5) BB Cream or Tinted Moisturizer - I find that Estee Lauder's BB Cream has a bit more coverage than Laura Mercier's Tinted Moisturizer (Oil Free) so depending upon what I'm doing, I alternate between these two products. I actually love them both; it's very hard to choose a favorite.

6) Lip Balm - I'm obsessed with Smith's Strawberry Lip Balm at the moment. The smell reminds me of strawberry shortcake and it has a great finish that allows me to be mildly OK with not apply gloss or lip stick.

7) Lipstick - I'm loving brights right now in lipsticks. Currently I'm obsessed with MAC's Girl About Town. It is such a flattering bight pink and is a great color. MAC makes an excellent lipstick and their pigment is the best.

8) Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair - This is a product that my mother has used for decades that I dismissed as 'older people products', but as I am aging and as this triple punch face serum has gained chatter in the blog-o-sphere, I decided to give it a try. It's a bit pricey, but amazingly worth it. My face heals so much faster when I use it and I wake up looking like a whole new person. Given the amount of craziness that your face is exposed to over the summer (and year round for that matter), it's definitely worth investing in.

So what are your summer beauty go-tos?

Bare Escentuals, Beauty, Bobbi Brown, How to, Laura Mercier, MAC Makeup, makeup brushes, Trish McEvoy

How To: Care for your Make-up Brushes

3/06/2012

The foundation to any good make up collection is your make-up brushes. Investing in a good set of brushes really makes a huge difference in everyday make-up application. And if you are going to invest the money in a good set of brushes, you might as well take care of them.

Here are a few tips to how to clean, care for, and store your make-up brushes that I have found helpful.

You should be washing your brushes pretty frequently to ensure that bacteria doesn't build up in your brushes. I would recommend at a minimum of once a month.

Select a cleanser that is specific for make-up brushes or gentle enough to use on the brushes (MAC Brush Cleanser or Johnson & Johnson Baby Shampoo)

Use warm water to dilute the cleanser and clean the brush gently with your fingers. You should see the pigment begin to come off of the brush. Continue until the water runs clear and there is no visible pigment left on the brush.

Lay flat to dry overnight on a paper towel (DO NOT place on end in container to dry)

Once the brushes are dry, store them as usual. I would recommend that you store them on-end in an open container. This allows the brushes to not roll around in a make up bag and continue to get dirty or pick up other particles of other makeups that may be loose.

If you are looking to start your make-up brush collection, I would recommend going to speak to someone at a beauty counter. MAC Cosmetics are some of my favorite brushes (especially for eye makeup and blush), but other brands such as Bobbi Brown and Trish McEvoy make excellent brushes as well. Most of these brands have starter kits that you can purchase and have individual brushes to supplement for your specific beauty needs. I personally use a combination of the Bare Escentuals (for face), Laura Mercier (for face), and MAC Brushes (eyes and blush).

Other applicators/tools that should be in your beauty drawer: eyelash curler (Shu Uemura is a fave), Tweezers (TweezerMan Slant Tweezers), All Purpose Blender (for those who use foundation/tinted moisturizer - this or this) and a lash/eyebrow comb.