Beauty Favorites: skin care products I love + my anti-aging routine

Hi. I feel like we haven’t chatted in forever. So grab a cup of coffee and let’s sit down like good friends and catch up a bit. There are a million-gazillion beauty things that I’ve been falling in love with lately. And for some reason, writing to you feels like telling a good friend about all of them. So here we go… this might be a long one!

Over Christmas week I turned 26 and suddenly became OBSESSED with all things beauty. Mind you, I now work at home and have no reason to put on make-up or actually wear nice clothes. However, I have been craving date nights and putting on a little blush and lipstick after my workouts, thus in an effort to build my beauty collection up, I have been shopping on Amazon WAY too much for my own good. I purchased this pink lipstick and it’s my favorite of all time. The color is gorgeous and I love that it includes a bit of SPF. Yep, obsessed

Second obsession involves mascara. I normally wear Clinique mascara, but decided to switch it up and am now devoted to It’s so BIG mascara by Elizabeth Moss. My favorite in all the world, and best of all it does not smudge! But surprisingly is fairly easy to remove.

Lastly, I started an anti-aging beauty routine because hello I’m 26. SO OLD. Just kidding, it’s more like I’d rather start taking care of my skin now rather than later. Plus I enjoy getting carded when I purchase alcohol. For my eyes, I love Oz Naturals Eye Gel; it gets rid of the puffiness in the morning and is absolutely the softest thing on the planet. Actually to be honest, I’m quite obsessed with everything that Oz Naturals produces. Their products are INCREDIBLE.

That being said, OZ Naturals Retinol Serum  is another thing I can’t live without. It contains 2.5% retinol, which if you aren’t familiar, is pretty high. This products also contains a unique antioxidant called Astaxanthin; I’m a huge fan! My skin always looks fresh and glowing after using this. You can actually get these products for a great price on Amazon and they seem to last a few months for me.

For night time I love a good moisturizer because winters suck the life out of my skin (especially in Chicago). There are two anti-aging moisturizers that I very much love. First is the Clinique Youth Surge Night Age Decelerating Moisturizer; it’s not greasy or oily and leaves my skin super soft and smooth in the mornings. Sometimes if my skin is super dry I will actually use it under my make-up. Another nighttime moisturizer I love is the Origins High Potency Night-A-Mins Mineral Enriched Oil-Free Renewal Cream. This product smells great and is more of a dense moisturizer compared to Clinique’s; I use the Origins Cream when I feel like my skin really needs a good soak. Best of all it last me for at least 6 months, so I find that it is really worth the price.

For face wash, I just buy my stuff from Target because I found two that worked for me a long time ago: Aveeno Skin Brightening Daily Scrub and St Ives Fresh Skin Apricot Scrub. They’re inexpensive and do the job of cleaning my skin and getting rid of the dead cells. I use the apricot scrub 2-3x per week and the Aveeno every day.

For my body, I have a routine. Although I shower nearly every day, I do love to take detox baths; they’re relaxing and can help you come down from a stressful day or a hard exercise session. Here’s what I typically do: I add 1/4 cup of coconut oil to my bath + 1 cup of epsom salt + a few drops of lavender oil and occasionally a sprinkle of baking soda. I know the baking soda part seems weird, however it helps your skin to stay extremely soft and actually detoxes your skin. Check out these awesome uses for baking soda over on the Huffington Post.

During my bath, I’ll often put on a face mask. My absolute favorite is the Yes To Carrots Softening Facial Mask. It leaves my skin incredibly soft and smooth; I only use it once per week.

Oh and of course, I can’t fail to mention my favorite body scrub. This stuff is crack. When I say that I mean it’s irresistible, as in I want to soak my body in it every single day. It’s completely wonderful and could quite possibly be my favorite thing on this list. I especially love it for cold winter months when my skin is dry and right before any vacation. It gets rid of little bumps and arms and legs and basically sends you into beautiful skin bliss.

Question: What are some of your favorite skin care products?

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