What’s Your Skin, Makeup, and Hair Routine Right Now?
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With so many people working from home, or with greatly reduced formality requirements if you are going into work, I thought this might be a fun discussion: What's your current skin, makeup, and hair routine right now? How does it compare to your previous routines?
For my $.02, having worked from home for a while now, I know these routines can change a lot once you're working from home and not seeing too many other people.
As I've written before, when I was a lawyer I had work makeup and going-out makeup; weekend makeup was pretty much me, barefaced, in workout clothes until it was time to shower and get ready to go out. Once I started working from home I struggled with finding a happy medium and settled on what I now call my 2-minute look: MLBB tint or lipstick, blush, concealer, waterproof eyeliner (only occasionally mascara or eyebrow pencil, although I benefit greatly from both); eye shadow is a pretty fancy day. Still, when you've got different makeup looks for different occasions, what is your makeup looking like in 2020 with pandemic chic?
These are pretty much all of the makeup products I use regularly; I basically pick the eyeliner shade based on my mood. (Chanel eyeliner is by far my favorite, but I have a lot of others right now.)
My Current Work From Home Makeup Routine
As of 2024, my short makeup routine is pretty boring — curled eyelashes + concealer + blush (Nars Orgasm) + powder, with a different lipstick and eyeliner depending on my mood. If I'm feeling extra fancy I'll add mascara, highlighter, and/or do my brows with this cream and a brush similar to this one (here's my review). (I also add eye shadows in the “extra” days but it's a huge variety, maybe 25 or so different ones.)
Some favorite lipsticks include Clinique (Graped Up), NARS lipstick (Damage), Fenty (Goji Gang), NARS gloss (Orgasm, Fast Lane), and Clinique (Black Honey). I use this NYX lipliner (Natural) for almost all of them.
My favorite eyeliners as of 2024: Chanel (Espresso), Urban Decay (Sabbath, Smoke), and Clinique (Intense Chocolate & Plum). I also really like NYX and Sephora's eyeliners.
If you're like me, your skincare routine probably hasn't varied too much, although you may have time for more masks or may be being more careful about sunscreen if you work outside or in a sunnier indoor spot than you worked in the office. I
t also is a great time to try a retinol product and get past the inevitable first few weeks of flaking. In addition to the skincare triumvirate of Vitamin C, retinol, and sunscreen, I do occasional overnight masks from Sunday Riley Good Genes or LANCER Intense Radiance Awakening Mask; I also occasionally do a pre-shower mini-mask with Drunk Elephant BabyFacial. (Here's my review and comparison of Good Genes vs Drunk Elephant.)
For general facial moisturizer I'm liking Drunk Elephant's Protini, but I have a huge quantity of Clinique moisturizer somewhere in my bathroom that I need to locate. (For winter, with dryer skin, I still swear by Bioelements's Really Rich Moisture.)
I just bought a second container of 9 Wishes' Foaming Rice Face Wash for in-shower use, and I still like Glossier's Milk Jelly for washing my face in the morning.
My Latest Skincare Routine
Here's my latest skincare routine! Not pictured: prescription Vitamin C and trentinoin)
For hair, working from home allows for a ton more air-drying — I recently put my beloved Revlon straightener in the closet since I figured a) it's summer and b) I'm not going anywhere where I'd prefer to have straight hair. (I actually gave myself a haircut a few weeks ago, cutting each individual curl — didn't take crazy long and looked OK immediately after, but as it's growing out I'm definitely eager to go back to my hairstylist!
(As I've mentioned before, my family is high risk for a variety of reasons, so we're still pretty isolated; it will probably be a while before I get an actual haircut.) I did recently have the thought that I could try styling third-day hair with my Sleep Stylers, but instead of sleeping in them, just wearing them around the house for an hour or so — but I haven't tried that theory yet.
I generally rotate through pretty affordable shampoos and conditioners (Kirkland, Giovanni, Not Your Mother's (currently the blue but I think I'll try pink the next time I need shampoo and conditioner), but I splurged on a large size of Caviar Alterna's Anti-Aging Shampoo and Conditioner a while ago and still feel like my hair looks best with it.
I'm not currently doing a “curly girl” routine, so at the moment I'm using lots of hair stylers with silicones… when I remember to put them in. I've also been loving leave-in conditioners (in addition to my very moisturizing regular conditioners), generally from Mixed Chicks or Ouidad.
My Favorite Hair Products
Psst: As of 2024, these are some of Kat's favorite hair products (she largely follows curly hair routines)… but she loves this $30 brush/blowdryer!
Readers, how about you? How has your skin/hair/makeup routine changed in the past few months? What are you finding to be essential — and what not so much?
Stock photo via Deposit Photos / EdZbarzhyvetsky.
My routine is pretty simple.
Morning:
Water only wash 90% of the time
Light moisturizer (was using M-61 vitamin C but I ran out. Now using the moisturizer that comes with my Curology)
Trish McEvoy eye serum on lids and under eyes (helps with makeup application)
dr Jart premium BB cream, both as makeup and sunscreen
Physical sunscreen for babies on my chest area
I only do an additional facial sunscreen if it’s going to be a big outdoor day
Evening:
Oil cleanse (hada labo)
Second cleanse, la Roche Posay toleraine cleanser
Let fully dry while brushing teeth
Apply curology (tretinoin, azaleic acid, niacinamide)
Apply curology extra rich moisturizer if dry (more often in winter)
Sometimes eye cream, not fussy about brand but I like a sample size Ole Henriksen right now, only if my eye Area is dryer than the rest of my face
Sometimes a lash grower like Latisse. Right now I’m not using it
I’m trying to save money on skincare right now which is why I’m not replacing things like my M-61 vitamin C moisturizer when they run out, or stopping my use of Latisse.
I was clicking in to reply and I accidentally hit Report comment — I’m so sorry!
What I wanted to do was ask how you like Curology; the ads are sucking me in. I have a bunch of products I need to use up before I add anything new, but I’m intrigued.
Not OP, but Curology is incredible. I only break out about once a month now. I always pick, because I have no self-control, but my formula actually seems to fade the hyperpigmentation pretty quickly. I’ve been using it for almost two years now and I love it. I tried the face wash and moisturizer which I wasn’t in love with, but my provider actually recommended some drugstore moisturizers that would work for my skin type and I’m using a Neutrogena hydro-gel on her recommendation that works perfectly for me. At one point my skin changed, and I reached out to my provider and she changed my formula. I can’t recommend it enough.
I love my curology. I have a dermatologist IRL and I visit her regularly for skin cancer checks. She used to help with my adult acne and I can get tretinoin from her covered by insurance, but I still like curology better.
I like my custom mix. I’ve asked them to tweak it a few times (increase tret as my tolerance increased) and they’ve done so no problem. I appreciate the price and convenience. No going back for me.
I don’t have much of a skin routine generally, but I was an everyday blow dry and most days flat iron person before and I think I’ve only used heat on my hair once since mid-March. I am loving it. My hair is extra soft and wavy now.
I haven’t worn makeup or done my hair since March.
Basically here. I went from light but full makeup each day, to only wearing any noticeable makeup when I’m on Zoom video. It’s been better than I expected! My usual routine now is sunscreen, lipstick sometimes, concealer for spots, and curl my lashes.Sometimes I wash my face at night too :) (I had to laugh at the “basic” routine described by the first commenter).
I’ve blown out my hair and worn makeup a grand total of 4 times since March. It’s been amazing. But I am SO happy that salons are reopening Friday… I am not ready for life without highlights.
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I love both of these topics! Watching lots of YouTube skincare videos by dermatologists has convinced me I need to wear sunscreen even when inside, so I’ve been very diligent about that during this time working from home.
Morning: Cetaphil Gentle Cleanser, The Ordinary Azelaic Acid, CeraVe AM sunscreen (actually measures 1/2 teaspoon, and it’s a lot!) and baby mineral sunscreen on my neck and hands. On days I have a zoom call, I will wear BB cream, loose powder, blush, and mascara. Otherwise, no make up.
Evening: Micellar water followed by Cetaphil Gentle, The Ordinary Niacinimide serum (let it dry completely), Differin gel (let it dry completely), CeraVe moisturizer.
Hair— I have curly hair, so I think I spend quite a bit of time on it. I recently ordered some new tools (a Denman brush, a buff to keep it nicer at night, and some new t-shirt material towels). Every second or third day, I wash with Cantu no-poo and then condition with Tresame Coconut and Aloe conditioner. After getting out of the shower, I squish in Kinky Curly Custard and “plop” my hair in a t-shirt for about 45 minutes, then take it out and air dry. On days I don’t wash my hair, I just use a little oil to keep down the frizzies. In addition to my new tools, I also have ordered some products from Ecoslay and am VERY excited to get them in a couple of weeks (I got a banana deep conditioner, the “moonshine” oil, and Orange Marmalade).
Any good retinol alternatives I can try while breastfeeding? My skin is looking rough and I know retinol would fix it.
Sorry to threadjack, but I’ve got a hair question you guys might be able to help with. I’m a current law student in my 30s and my white hair has decided to accelerate from “a few dye-able strands” to “thorough salt-and-pepper on top,” and I’m not a fan. I’ve dyed my (very thick, very curly, very dark brown) hair pretty consistently since they showed up years ago, but I’ve always wanted to embrace the white eventually. I’m wondering if I can get away with dying my whole head white or gray (as it seems to be in fashion now) instead of sticking to covering with brown, and whether I should. Will it hurt my hire-ability? Will it make me seem older than I already am compared to my 20-something student peers, or will it just seem too funky for the field? Are the in between steps (going from so dark to so light) awkward enough that they’ll be problematic in interviews over the next couple of months?
For context, I’m 33, a rising 2L (and 2L summer associate positions are interviewing from the usual now through—thanks to the pandemic—”sometime in January” this year), and looking at civil litigation in mid-sized firms in the northeast US. I was previously in a creative field where this would have been a moot point (go funky! dye your hair purple! show off those tattoos!), so I’m really looking for some for this field. Thanks!