My Beauty Journey

I have always had a love/hate relationship with beauty products and routines. I love being able to get creative with my makeup and I love the confidence I get from spending time to really do my hair. However, I hate the time it takes to make it all happen and the sheer amount of options to choose from for products. Thankfully, because I am lazy a lot of the time, I am not someone who “can’t leave the house” without mascara and I feel just fine throwing my hair back into a bun and putting on tinted moisturizer.

More recently though, my interest has been piqued by youtube videos and tutorials from my favorite bloggers on their favorite products and routines. I’ve invested in some new products, after a surprising amount of research, and have been slowly building my collection (well, more like a messy cabinet and makeup bag). I’m not a huge researcher or indecisive gal when it comes to shopping for myself… which is why I have a overflowing closet! But for beauty products, I have to be much more careful with my decisions.

I’ve always had very sensitive skin. I’ve become allergic to sunscreen, have had bouts of eczema, always have dry skin, and have consistent small breakouts on my face… so I am completely scared to try anything new on my face. Four years ago, I somehow mustered up the courage to forgo my drugstore products that were of no service to my skin, and tried various mineral-based makeups until I landed on, and have now stuck with, Bare Minerals. I’ve been using the tinted moisturizer gel/bb cream (Complexion Rescue) and original foundation loose powder and love it. Foundation is something I don’t want to mess with! But when it comes to eyeshadow, mascara, and other fun additions, I am slowly becoming more adventurous. I am currently obsessed with my Too Faced Sweet Peach palette and their mascara. Trying to figure out a way to look like an adult with lip color, so far I feel very scared and can’t commit. Oh, and I have discovered the power of setting spray and have been using this one from Urban Decay.

My hair. My hair is a different story. I have always hated it with a firey passion. Thick, coarse, curly hair and lots of it! But not dependable curls, it is the kind that don’t match other curls on the rest of my head. AND THERE IS SO MUCH OF IT. Beginning in junior high, my mom would blow dry it straight for me... until I was way too old (she literally blew it dry for me whenever I needed it until I left for college) and then I would use my trusty chi flat iron to smooth it more. The whole process easily took two hours and my mom and I would argue the entire time she blew dry it (note to self to never blow dry my angsty teenage daughter’s hair, never ever). Getting my hair blown out at a salon was a royal treat, but I always felt self-conscious that the stylist hated me for having so much hair (I no longer care about this anymore because IDGAF and my stylist is way cool).

Eventually, in college when my mom wasn’t available for blowouts, I got better at blow drying my hair and flat ironing, though it still took forever. But I always wanted to be able to straighten my hair and then curl it so I looked like all the cool kids, but who has time to blow dry, straighten, and THEN curl your hair?? Then I discovered the Drybar curling iron (thanks to my fav blogger and her tutorial video) and life changed. And I learned that lightly brushing out the curls after you’ve created them is better than crunchy spiral curls, mind-blowing. I’ve also gotten speedier at blow drying/smoothing and realized I can skip that middle step of flat ironing before curling *high five* Suddenly, I had Pinterest-worthy hair! My thick hair was actually good for holding a style! Next step to being an expert for my own hair is to be able to use a round brush to give myself a great blowout… baby steps (I will be using this video, also from my fav blogger, when I am ready).

I’m very excited to continue trying new products, learning new techniques, and hiding Sephora purchases from my husband (jk… or am I?)

What are your absolute FAVORITE products? Let me know! xo.

Kaitlin