I'm low-key kinda
a product snob.
By that, I don't mean that something is automatically better if
it's pricier or suddenly trending. I'm actually more skeptical of something if
I sniff out that it's been priced just for marketing sway and doesn't actually
have the quality I require. Since I don't have 200 lipsticks and I'm always
ahead of the trend (meaning, I'm not caught up in
a trend craze, stalking a product page and trying to snag goods before
they run out)…when I DO choose to buy something, it's well reasoned. I buy
things for reasons.Maybe you're like me. I'd rather spend my
money on sparkly vintage goodies or travel than beauty products…but when I DO
find a gem of a beauty product, I'm all in! With that said, below are some of
my fav products that I'm excited to bring out for warmer weather!
Ready? :D
FYI, any links below marked with an * (asterisk) are
affiliate links. This doesn't cost you anything, but if you choose to click on
them and make a purchase, it means I did a good job helping you find the value
of their services and I might get some sort of credit or commission. I'll only
share products I love, no worries! Thanks! :)
10 Skincare Essentials to Revive your glow after dry
weather
Sunglasses for eye
protection. I'm including this because sun protection is huge for me, and it's easy for a lot of people to overlook the necessity of protecting your eyes and surrounding eye area as an extension of skincare!
I love the concept of the See Concept Paris brand x branding so much. Stylish Rx
sunglasses for a flat rate. If I needed prescription reading sunglasses, these
would be perfect. But don't worry, because they have non-prescription versions,
too (which I have). In fact, since Ryan and I got our pair from Bon Marché, I've
been wanting the version that sold out when we were there. When they're priced
at only 35-40 euros, it's a win on both ends!
A post shared by WomenInSTEM life by: Jacky So (@jackypostgrad) on
Visine
Don't laugh, it's
true! I usually put a drop into my eyes after I get up around 5:30 AM. It
blasts a "woken up" feel and is also good for times when I feel like
my eyes get irritated after a lot of screen time. I don't use it every day,
though.
Now that the
weather is transitioning from dry winter to sunny spring, I've noticed that my
skin also has begun reacting to the change. I have sensitive skin and finally
started using oil blotting sheets to wipe away oil on my face as the day goes
on.
Beach Tonic, Dry Body Oil: for skin, but I
decided to try it as a scalp oil to help soothe my scalp from the dry weather.
I spritz some in my hair after a shower and comb it in. I found that I really
like the light scent in my hair. This product appears to be sold out (again), but hopefully, they'll come back soon! I'm going to cherish mine until it does. XD
Rock Star Hand Crème*: This works so well and
smells soooo good! It became my "go to" sense memory for calming
& re-centering in grad school. If I knew I needed to dive into intense
work, I'd squeeze out a tiny dab and massage my hands with them. So therapeutic.
What Your Skin Needs*: I'm impressed with how
well this skin milk works. If I've just showered or washed my face in the
morning, I'll use this to treat my skin after. If my face is feeling dry or I
feel like I have itchy potential red spots about to crop up bc of dryness, I'll
also put a little on to sooth/hydrate my skin.
Boost Your Radiance*: This is one of their newer
items in their "Korean Skincare" line. Because the sister product,
"What Your Skin Needs" works soooo
well, I was ready to give Boost Your Radiance a chance. So far, I'm also
impressed with it. I started using it at night before bed to let the oils soak
into my skin while I sleep and keep me hydrated overnight. The smell is gentle
and it feels more hydrating than greasy. It also seems to absorb quickly. I
also use a tiny dab on my lips to hydrate them/prime them before lipstick.
If you're interested in joining Julep Maven, it's their subscription box program which TOTALLY helped get me through grad school! Self-care is so important. Julep also makes great gifts! ;)
They release new beauty & skincare items every month, and I love how innovative they are with being on the cutting edge of what's next. A big part of Julep's success is that they crowdsource opinions from the very people who they seek to serve, so they keep churning out consistently amazing products for us!
You can skip as many months as you want or cancel your subscription at any time. I keep skipping until I'm running out of What Your Skin Needs Milk for your face or if I want to send a box as a gift to someone or if I'm really excited about a new skincare product. If you're not ready to join a subscription box program just yet but want to buy some of the beauty / Korean skincare items, Julep shipping is free for orders $10 or more and you can use the code FREEMAY to snag a free polish if your total is $10+! The code is valid for the rest of May.
So we have a funny
story with this item. In Paris of Summer 2015, we were in a hurry in Monoprix.
My sister grabbed the French version of this, which was brand new and out at
the time. It was under the lotion category. For whatever reason, we just skim read
the main part that said After Shower Body Lotion. We totally missed the fine print below that specifically tells you
to WASH IT OFF. 😂
So for about a
week, we were using this in-shower body lotion as though it was regular body
lotion. We were slathering it on and going about our regular days, and we were
like, hmmm this lotion doesn't seem to absorb very well! We feel sticky, and
like it's melting (plus, it's summer in Paris, which means you're probably
sweating…). Usually Nivea makes great stuff. What a bummer! This lotion isn't
very good. So Angelica grabs the bottle to look at it and figure out the
ingredients or why it's not working very well. OMG. We realized we were in such
a hurry that we grabbed this one because it was new and looked good, and we
completely skipped over the most important part with the direction right there
on the front. We were using it wrong all of this time!!!! 😂😂😂
But also, this was
a new product at the time, so we were expecting that we grabbed regular lotion,
not in-shower lotion. We figured it made sense to not work well because the
Honest SPF lotion we were using was actually not that great (and we kept getting
random silver/black specs all over us from the label rubbing off the bottle
just from holding it), so at the time, we were thinking, "Great. We're on
a roll with these products!"
Haha nope. Once we
started using the Nivea in-shower lotion as intended, it worked SOOOO well. Our
skin is so soft! We were completely impressed and slightly embarrassed (but
also not, because…well, it was in the
body lotion section).
We couldn't use up
the bottle while abroad, so I brought it back with me. Then, I have this habit
where I bring back all these goodies and keep them stored to
"preserve" them so that I don't use them…which defeats the entire
purpose and is completely illogical. I know that, but it was my
"thing." So during my last year in grad school, I acknowledged how
silly this was and made a pact to start using these things for myself. I had
other products to use, so this one remained in the suitcase until I graduated
and then moved to MN with Ryan after we got married (more than a year after
buying the lotion to begin with).
When we unpacked my things from Philly, we
were soooo happy to see it! We tried to
use up the bottle and were completely impressed with how good it still worked (again, more than a year later). In fact, we finally ran out of
it, and Ryan liked it so much that he saw the US version while grocery shopping
at Target a couple of months ago and immediately bought it as a replacement!
When your husband buys the Nivea In-Shower Body Lotion on his own without you
asking him to because you didn't even realize it was available Stateside
yet…that's how you know it's a good product!
What we're both so
amazed with is how well it works so quickly. It's like you put a little on and
wash it off right away…and your skin holds that softness. It's crazy!
Besides Gillette
Men's Deodorant Clear Gel (loved since c. 2000),
the only other deodorant that I swear by
is this one by Nivea, but it has to be the European version. The American one
isn't the same for me. Whenever I go back to Paris, I stock up on them.
Most
of my beauty products are actually from when I go to Paris.
Because the EU
standards are arguably much stricter than the US standards (unless that's
changed within the last 3 years), I tend to trust EU products a lot more (even
if we've had the same brand in the States for a long time). I have sensitive
skin, so finding products that harmonize with my skin is a big deal. Le Petit
Marseillais was one of those brands we could only find if we happened to be in
France. Keep in mind, this was Oct. Ryan and I traveled in Oct and then
Dec-Jan, so we feel like we were barely back
home when I opened up a March edition of Cosmo US to be surprised with a Le
Petit Marseillais ad!
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Whenever this
happens, part of me selfishly wishes it would stay special and exclusive, but
the other part of me is excited that we can now buy Le Petit Marseillais in the US. We are
actually almost out of the current one we have from Paris, so I want to save
the bottle and then compare it to the one sold in the US! Muahaha.
UPDATE: Ryan found the US version at CVS! Haha but, in classic American style, they only had the big versions available (for now, anyway). We got the 250 ml one from France (they also have 650 ml), but the only sizes available right now in the States are either 400 ml or 650 ml.
What do you think? Do you have any beauty products you're excited to break out or try for the change of weather? :D
