my parents recently sold my childhood home. in mid-July, they said goodbye to a house they built over 25 years ago and finally moved to Florida. my father and mother both went to high school in New Jersey (my father’s parents – my grandparents – went to the same high school too.) needless to say, we have some deep roots in my hometown of Bernardsville, NJ.
my father isn’t retired yet, so he comes up every couple of weeks to run his business (he owns a landscaping company in my hometown), but for the most part, aside from the random visits, they’re down there.
about 5 years ago, they started renting a condo in the Palm Beach area (specifically, Singer Island) for the winters to stay down there and escape the cold. and about 2 years ago, they finally bought their own condo and now, they live there!
while they were packing up the house I grew up in my whole life, I found some old photos from high school, when I started wearing makeup.
OMG THE WHITE CREAM EYESHADOW. I literally wore a shimmery creamy white eyeshadow on my lids with black eyeliner for YEARS. I looked like a deer caught in headlights.
flipping through more recent photos, like ones from college, I saw that I started wearing under-eye concealer and basically, always looked like I had a really bad sunglass tan. actually, I even named a Facebook album in college after it, see:
LONG STORY SHORT, my journey with beauty and makeup has been littered with faux-pas, and now, I feel like I finally have a hold on makeup and what looks best with my skin tone. to celebrate (ha!), I figured I’d share some of my beauty favorites lately:
this hair pomeade is a lifesaver. I use it for every hairstyle. when I’m in a rush and just hopped out of the shower, I’ll put a dollop in my hand, work it through my naturally curly/wavy hair, scrunch around a bit, and it keeps the frizz to a minimum. if I’m waving my hair with a curler or straight iron, when I’m done, I’ll work it through my hair to keep the waves intact – and it lasts! also, I use it for flyaways when I put my hair up – the little wisps at my temples, the frizzy ones at the top – it just creates a nice, smooth look.
this CC+ cream works wonders. whenever I have a blemish, I put it on using a beauty blender and TA-DA. coverage for hours – and it’s waterproof I think, because even when I sweat, it stays on!
this bobbi brown lipstick for fall. I’ve been getting more and more into lipsticks – and it’s hard to find a darker berry lipstick that doesn’t make you look 20 years older or gothic. my mother had this on her over the weekend, I tried it on, LOVED IT, and bought it immediately. can’t wait to wear it this fall! I also have this same lipstick in different shades – perfectly matte.
this pore refining charcoal mask. I put this on last night to test it out and I woke up with a seriously hydrated face – my skin has a dewey glow, almost! loving it.
this universal brown pencil. another it cosmetics product (I’m really digging their brand) – I am ALL about the brows. sometimes, if I’m running behind, I’ll just add a little CC+ cream under my eyes and do my brows and voila – Insta-glam. I’m a firm believer in brows and this brown pencil is the perfect color and is easy to apply.
this vegan lip gloss. it’s vegan, but that’s not why I love it – it’s the perfect nude gloss that makes your lips somehow appear bigger (and I have pretty thin lips!) I pair it with my MAC matte nude lipstick and I always feel sexier.
for my full makeup routine, click here.
what are your beauty favorites lately?
