bride-to-be beauty timeline

With wedding season gearing up fast and furiously in addition to being surrounded by engaged people (including BOTH of my sisters), I have been asked quite a few times recently for skincare advice for bride-to-be’s! Even if you’re not engaged, it’s beneficial to have a timeline in mind when considering switching up your skincare routine or preparing for another event.

photo courtesy of my sister, Emily!

Pre-Wedding Beauty Timeline

8 months before

This is the time to address any skin concerns you may have, such as acne, hyperpigmentation, fine lines & wrinkles, large pores, etc. There are SO many resources online to help you identify your skin type and suggest a skincare routine! If necessary, visit a dermatologist to get more insight as to which products could benefit you.

A great start is: Cleansing your skin twice a day, using a serum or treatment targeted toward your area of concern once a day, and using at least one kind of moisturizer (morning and night).

*hint: retinol is GREAT at improving both acne and fine lines, and you can find it in many drugstore products! Just look for retinol on the label. An added perk is it makes your skin glow, however, you have to be extra careful in the sun and liberal with your usage of SPF if you decide to use retinol because it increases your skin’s sensitivity to the sun.

6 months before 

If you would like to improve your exercise and eating habits, start now! Exercise helps your skin glow and reduces stress, which helps with acne and fine lines. Eating good “skin” foods (usually high in good fats as well as lots of veggies and cutting back on sugar) will make your skin look radiant.

5 months before

Nail down the hair and makeup look you’re going for on your big day and hire someone to do your hair and/or makeup if you haven’t already. Pinterest away for inspiration!

3 months before

You should have started to see results from your new skincare and exercise/eating routine! This is a good time to start targeted treatments such as once weekly masks, wrinkle treatments, peels, and acne treatments. One of my go-to’s is anything with glycolic acid; I love a good peel. Now there are plenty of gentle, affordable products containing glycolic/alpha hydroxy acid available! One of my favorites is First Aid Beauty Facial Radiance Pads.

1-2 months before

Do a hair and makeup trial run so you know exactly what you’ll look like on your wedding day! This is also a good time to test different self-tanners, nail polishes, etc.

2 weeks before

Refresh your hair cut and color! If you don’t do color, a clear glaze will make your hair shine without altering your current color. Start exfoliating a few times a week to maximize the “glow” you have been working on.

Try to avoid limit alcohol, sugar, and salt-rich foods at this point to avoid the negative consequences they reap on your skin (I know it’s hard!).

3 days before

Get a manicure and pedicure, a spray tan, wax, stay out of the sun, shape your brows, and get lots of beauty sleep.

If you don’t feel a need to change your current skincare routine, or don’t have much time before your wedding, hop in the timeline wherever you want! These are just my personal suggestions starting from ground zero.

Happy wedding season!

Revlon Skinlights

Everyone seems to be obsessed with dewy-looking skin that "glows" lately, and for good reason. It absolutely exudes health and beauty. 

Most celebrities and models attribute their radiant skin to a diligent skincare routine, juice cleansing, tons of sleep, daily exfoliation, the list goes on and on. For those of us who struggle to stick to all these different routines or simply need a little more help to get that perfect glow, there's highlighter. 

Highlighter is a bit tricky because you have to figure out the best type (liquid, powder, solid, cream) for your skin tone (pink, golden, bronze) to avoid looking too frosted and shimmery. I have tried many different kinds, and think I've finally found a very natural looking one for me: Revlon Skinlights in Bare Light. 

Revlon Skinlights comes in four different shades: Pink light, Bare light, Peach light, Bronze light. Bare light is the most neutral shade of all of them, which is why I decided to try this one first! 

It goes on smoothly, blends in really well and stays put. I love how it doesn't look like highlighter - it looks totally natural. You can apply it like regular highlighter, or mix a drop or two into your moisturizer/foundation for an all around glowy look. 

In these photos, I opted for your average highlighter application: tops of cheekbones, brow bones, and the tiniest bit in the center of my forehead (between the brows & blended up), down my nose, on my cupid's bow, and on my chin.

Pre-Skinlights

Bare Light looks closer to a BB cream than a highlighter (read: natural)

Blended in, you can see just a touch of "glow"

You can barely see the highlighter on my cheekbone/browbone

And again

Post-Skinlights

As you can see the difference is super subtle, but if you're scared of highlighter I definitely recommend started with Skinlights because it is so natural-looking!

Do you wear highlighter? Let me know which other ones I should try! 

New York Fashion Week: Beauty Re-Cap

Most people look forward to New York Fashion Week for fashion (obviously). From models' off-duty street style, to the celebs sitting in the front row, to the actual clothes on the runway, Fashion Week seems like an endless source of inspiration for the fashion-obsessed.

However, others of us look forward to Fashion Week for the beauty inspiration. Every show has a distinct hair and makeup look, yet there are always common beauty trends to be found for the upcoming season. While some designers go for bold, shocking hair and makeup looks, others incorporate beauty looks that us mere mortals can actually pull off.

From the dead-ish look at Altuzarra, to smokey eyes at DVF, there was a look from this week for everyone. I could go through each designer's beauty look separately to point out what is so great about it, but I can't ignore the fact that there was an overwhelming presence of a single beauty trend for Fall '15: effortlessness. 

That's right folks, the "no makeup makeup" and "I woke up like this" trend is stronger than ever and here to stay. This is great news for us normal people! No need to buy the latest color-saturated products - it's all about looking your best naturally.

The makeup was minimal, with a sheer wash of color on the eyes or lips (or neither), the focus was on the skin and natural beauty. The hair was low maintenance, embracing natural texture and simple styling.

Below are my favorite I Woke Up Like This looks from NYFW:

Prabal Gurung 

Derek Lam

Donna Karan

Jason Wu

Marc by Marc Jacobs

Philip Lim

Tibi

Michael Kors

Tommy Hilfiger

My personal favorite all-around beauty look this week is tied between Prabal Gurung and Michael Kors! Which New York Fashion Week look is your favorite?

P.S. Check out  more Fashion Week beauty looks here and here (source of all photos).

there's a new, cool kid on the block: glossier

I realize I am a little late when it comes to proclaiming my New Year's Resolutions, but I honestly didn't give it any thought until January 2. Oops. 

This year, I simply want to take better care of my skin. By washing my makeup off every day, moisturizing on a regular basis sticking to a solid skincare routine I think I'll look and feel a lot better. Also, let's be honest here, I received Glossier's Phase 1 set for Christmas from one of my sisters so it seemed like a good time to start being serious about skincare.

Hint: if you don't know, Glossier is Into The Gloss's spinoff beauty brand created by Emily Weiss (you might remember her as super-intern Emily on The Hills). It's pretty effing cool that a beauty brand was born out of a blog if you ask me, or Forbes.

I have only been using this set for a little over a week and I'm OBSESSED. I can seriously already tell a difference in my skin texture; it looks and feels more even and more glowy! I can't make this stuff up, people.

The tie for my favorite product is between the priming moisturizer and the moisture tint. I use this priming moisturizer every day on top of my favorite serum, and actually look forward to slathering the stuff on my face. The super creamy texture is great but even better is that it completely moisturizes my skin (read: no dry flakes) WITHOUT making my face oily which is truly miraculous. The "priming" aspect does seem to work as my face makeup doesn't slide around as much throughout the day. 

If velvety cream existed this would be it

On the other hand, the moisture tint is simply amazing. I was skeptical at first because it looks pretty unassuming out of the bottle since it's runny and only comes in three shades, but it's definitely a power product. The coverage is medium, it covers imperfections well (still need concealer for pesky blemishes and dark circles) but makes my skin g-l-o-w. Since it lets my freckles show through it looks like a "me but better" version of my face and I'm not sure I'll ever try another face makeup again.*

Looks like totally the wrong color, but is perfect blended in.

*if you're looking for heavier coverage that covers everything, this may not be for you.

The smoothing face mist is pretty awesome, I guess, but I have to admit I'm not much of a face mist person. I have heard of people using it to set their makeup or simply to feel more awake during the mid-day slump (ya hear me, 2 p.m.?!), but I haven't  decided when it will be my go-to. To be continued...

The balm dot com is pretty much the bomb dot comb, as to be expected with any petroleum-based product. You can use it literally anywhere; I use it on my lips, eczema patches on my elbows, under my nose, tops of cheekbones for a glow, etc. I compare this to Elizabeth Arden's infamous Eight Hour Cream; it's a product you never want to leave home without, even if it basically is just glorified vaseline in a tube.

The do-it-all product

The tote and padded plastic travel bags the came with the goods. Not pictured: the cute, quirky stickers included as well.

Who was I before Glossier?! These products have quickly become essentials and I don't think I can ever live a day without them again. Word on the street is that Glossier will be debuting more products, including makeup, this year and I can't wait to see what my new favorite beauty brand has in store!

giving into highlights

Most people don't chose to lighten their hair with highlights for winter, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

I've been growing my hair out for a few months now, so not only does my hair already look "blah" because of the awkward growing-out-a-bob-phase but the color looked super flat. Up until a few days ago, my hair color completely lacked depth and dimension so I decided to get a trim to liven up my locks and add a few highlights as well. I have given myself highlights out of the box once a year for the past few years in anticipation of summer, but have never gotten them done professionally. I decided it was time to splurge and have my stylist add in a few highlights to add dimension to my hair while I grow it out.

Since the goal wasn't to lighten up my hair (which I will do in the spring), I didn't want many highlighted pieces or super blonde ones. I had heard of balayage (French for "hair painting") highlights before and wanted to give it a try since they look so natural. The balayage technique, basically randomly placing highlights without foils, really appealed to me since I'm growing my hair out and don't want to go to the salon often for touch-ups.

Randomly selected pieces for a natural look 

Jen has been cutting my hair for years so I knew I trusted her to do my color as well. I showed her pictures and explained to her the look I was going for, which was to not change my natural color just enhance it. She painted lightener on my strands randomly all over, being careful to not go all the way to the roots which would defeat the purpose of "natural" looking. It was important to me to not go too light, but to keep the same color with a little more dimension. 

Jen and me! Please ignore the rat's nest that is my hair after a two-day bun...

After enjoying a glass of wine (is there any other way to get your hair done?!) she washed and trimmed my hair per usual. The end result of the highlights and a much-needed trim was just what I wanted! I think the balayage highlights will keep my in-between-length hair looking fresh and interesting for a while.

Right after my appointment. You can really see the dimension the highlights added! If only my hair would look this shiny and smooth all the time...

Different lighting at work the next day.

Still in the "awkward" growing out phase, but I actually like how my hair looks now!

What are your thoughts on highlighting? 

Kendall Jenner is the new face of Estee Lauder

What a savvy move for Estee Lauder!

While I have always liked wearing Estee Lauder products, it's definitely been perceived as an older brand. Kendall will definitely attract a younger consumer, and may be able to help shift the aging perception of the brand in millennials' minds. I'm excited to see where this goes!

http://www.esteelauder.com/kendall 

image from esteelauder.com

adult acne

If you thought you would retire from acne around the same time you retired from being a teenager but are still dealing with it, join the club. It can be frustrating to deal with acne when you feel like you've finally grown up in most areas of your life but your skin is lagging behind. I had multiple people ask for this post so if you're struggling with this issue, you're definitely not alone! 

As someone who has struggled with acne on and off for years, I have tried countless acne remedies and treatments. I feel like I've finally found what works for me, but that's the catch: everyone's skin is different so everyone's solution is different. 

Personally, my best acne skincare routine is all about prevention instead of treatment. My acne tends to be more hormonal - a few under-the-skin cysts versus many little pimples. This means that drying acne treatments (i.e. products containing salycilic acid) don't do much for me and I'm better off keeping my skin clean and calm.

I didn't start this routine all at once, but gradually increased use of products so my skin didn't freak out and even now I only use my acne products sparingly. 

Every day I:

• Wash my face using an acne cleanser once a day at night. I just rinse my face with water in the mornings instead of using cleanser because I find my skin becomes dry if I wash too often.
• Moisturize with a gel-based moisturizer (any light moisturizer will do). A common mistake people with acne-prone skin make is not moisturizing because their skin is oily and they think moisturizer will make it worse, when actually, your skin will produce even more oil if it isn't moisturized because it's trying to make up for a lack of hydration. Don't believe me? Try using a moisturizing serum before joining the moisturizer club.
• Avoid touching my face or picking at possible zits. This never turns out well (it will most likely leave the area inflammed or even scarred). Just don't do it!

Two-three times a week I:

• Use a tea-tree toner post-cleansing and pre-moisturizing. Tea tree is a natural acne-fighting ingredient and makes your skin feel ah-mazing.
• Use a glycoloic-acid based treatment Glycolic acid speeds up your skin's cell turnover rate, decreasing the chance your pores will get clogged with oil and produce pimples. Exfoliating can be tricky with acne because sometimes the harshness can make a pimple problem worse instead of better, but glycolic acid gently and effectively exfoliates. 
• Go to sleep with a thin layer of retinol on my face. You can find tons of drugstore products containing retinol these days because its an ingredient found in a lot of anti-aging products. Retinol will definitely make your face worse instead of better initially, so if you're thinking about stealing your mom's wrinkle cream and giving it a try I recommend sticking to it for at least six weeks to see results. (Tip: also apply moisturizer or facial oil over it if your skin becomes dry)

As needed I:

• Use a spot treatment. If a zit pops up out of nowhere I'll dab a tiny bit of blemish-clearing gel on it. Look for spot treatments containing salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide.
• Take a prescription pill. I'm in the process of weaning myself off this right now, but it helped me tremendously when I was suffering from moderate acne.

A big part of preventing acne is lifestyle. I believe that drinking a ton of water and exercising regularly helps my skin more than anything else; just make sure you wash your face or use a face cleansing wipes post-workout so the sweat doesn't clog your pores. Also, I know that my cystic acne tends to flare up after consuming a lot of dairy due to the hormones in cow's milk, so I try to limit it as much as possible (except for cheese, duh). Not sure if cutting down on dairy could help you? Try eliminating it from your diet for a couple weeks and see if your skin improves at all.

Keep in mind that it is possible to overdo it. If you get a bad breakout, do not panic and slather every acne product you own on your face because you may do more harm than good. Be gentle with your skin and have patience! In the meantime you can try switching up your foundation/concealer to a higher coverage.

If you still feel like your acne is making you self-conscious I really recommend considering a dermatologist. I found a great skincare routine incorporating a prescription cream, pill and birth control when I was really struggling with my skin a couple years ago.

And the friend you have who never washes her face or even owns concealer? No, it's not fair, but move on! Stressing and being upset about your skin definitely doesn't help the issue.

I hope my skincare routine gave you some inspiration! What do you do to prevent or deal with breakouts?