2019 Skincare and Hair care Favorites

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Best skincare discoveries in 2019:
I have a ton of tried and true favorites that I’ve used every day for years (comment below if you’d like a detailed post on that!), so instead of going through each category, here are my favorite discoveries in skincare this year.

Good Molecules Niacinamide Brightening Toner – This toner is my favorite skincare discovery of 2019! It has made my skin clearer, brighter, and less dry. It’s also $14 for a huge bottle. I’m so happy Beautylish sent a free sample to me in one of my orders because this was the #1 product that changed my skin for the better this year.

Krave Beauty Kale-lalu-yAHA – After trying a bunch of other chemical exfoliants, this is the one my skin responds the best to. It keeps my skin from getting congested, and it always looks so much brighter and glowy the morning after I use it. I only use it twice a week, but I can tell a huge difference if I forget to use it when I travel.

The Ordinary Granactive Retinoid 2% Emulsion – I wasn’t expecting anything too crazy for something under $10, but this has done great things for my skin. I was having trouble with wrinkles forming on my forehead and around my mouth and using this twice a week has totally gotten rid of them. It didn’t cause any purging or redness either, so I’m super excited to have found this.

Fresh Lotus Youth Preserve Dream Night Cream – My friend Vera recommended this to me when I was looking to replace the reformulated Clinique Moisture Surge (which I had used for ten years!). She was right in that it was exactly what I was looking for. It’s incredibly moisturizing without being oily, and it smells amazing. I’ve already gone through a full jar in 2019 and repurchased another and can say for sure that this will be a staple for me for many years to come.

Krave Beauty The Beet Shield – My favorite sunscreen was discontinued earlier this year, so I had to look for a replacement. Since I already loved the Kale-lalu-yAHA and had heard great things about the Beet Shield for dry skin, I decided to try it. This sunscreen blends in so quickly, leaves no whitecast, and doesn’t dry out my skin like many others do. I can also confirm it works – I used it for a week in Las Vegas and two in Florida without getting any color on my face.

Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse Multi-Purpose Dry Oil – This is hands down the best body moisturizer I have ever found, and I have tried dozens at this point. It sinks in so fast, is lightweight and not greasy, and keeps my skin moisturized for days. I can also mix it in to my other moisturizers super easily if I want an extra boost. I usually get incredibly dry skin in the winter to the point of being itchy all over, but haven’t had that problem at all this year thanks to this dry oil.

Best hair care discoveries in 2019:
In 2019, I bought a few too many Sephora Favorites Hair sets and got a bunch of hair related gifts with purchase. This led to me having over 50 hair products to try this year. My favorites of the bunch are:

Bumble and Bumble Hairdresser’s Invisible Oil Shampoo, Conditioner, and Primer and the While You Sleep Damage Repair Masque – This line and the mask are magic for my hair. Together, they keep it looking shiny, soft, and frizz-free without weighing it down. Plus, it smells amazing and compliments all the perfumes I own vs overpowering them (like DryBar products can do). I only use the mask about once every 3 weeks, and that’s been more than enough to keep my hair feeling great.

Ouai Wave Spray – I had decluttered this years ago for feeling sticky and not doing much for my hair, but now that I have it back in my collection, I have no idea what I was thinking. It works incredibly well after I curl my hair to give it some texture and beachiness without making anything crunchy. I do think it works much better because I now have shorter hair, but I can definitely say it works better than the other wave sprays I tried this year.

dpHUE Apple Cider Vinegar Rinse – When dry shampoo and other products have built up in my hair, this rinse does such a great job getting it clean again. It doesn’t leave my hair dry or overly stripped. It was particularly useful after my engagement shoot and wedding when I had what felt like gallons of hair spray in my hair. It got it all out super quickly, and my hair felt exactly the same as before.

Tangle Teezer – I own a ton of hair brushes at this point, and I thought that it didn’t make a huge difference what you used. This brush totally changed my mind. I love how compact it is and how it fits in my hand, and I can use it with wet or dry hair with limited breakage. The best part for me is that I have some waviness in my hair when it airs dries, and this brush doesn’t straighten them out at all.

Next up – brushes and lifestyle favorites!


2019 Makeup Favorites!

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I get frequently asked for makeup and skincare recommendations, and I’m super excited to put them all in one place. I’ll be doing a separate skincare/haircare post and a lifestyle favorites next for books, clothes, movies, etc. so this doesn’t get too long. I would love see your favorites and recommendations for 2020 in the comments!

2019 Makeup favorites:
Some quick notes before I get into it – I have dry skin, wear shade 4 in Luminous Silk, and I tend towards a glowy, natural look. I didn’t find a mascara or brow favorite this year, so those won’t be listed.

Primer: Too Faced Hangover Replenishing Face primer
I tried a bunch of different primers this year, but nothing overtook my long time favorite – the. It’s definitely more of a moisturizer but I do find that it helps makeup last longer as well. A close second is the Smashbox Primerizer but I found it didn’t hydrate as well as the Hangover primer does.

Foundation: Armani Beauty Luminous Silk Foundation
This one is expensive, but Luminous Silk has just the right amount of coverage (medium), looks glowy but not oily, and lasts all day. For me, it is definitely worth the splurge. Some other foundations I discovered this year and may outrank Luminous Silk in 2020 are Clinique Even Better Refresh Hydrating and Repairing Foundation and Glossier Skin Tint.

Concealer: Becca Under Eye Brightening Corrector
This was a game changer for me. I have very dark and noticeable under eye circles and have been searching for something to help correct them for years. This corrector does the trick and puts way less pressure on having the perfect concealer to go on top.

I’ve been loving the Glossier Stretch Concealer for the rest of my face so far, but am still on the hunt for my perfect concealer in 2020.

Powder: Hourglass Veil Translucent Setting Powder
As someone with very dry skin, I’ve had trouble finding the perfect powder that will set my makeup, blend everything together nicely, and not look cakey. The veil powder does all of that and even though the full size is $46, the travel size is still going strong even though I got it at the end of 2018 and use it ever day. I decided to pick up the full size this year because the packaging is way easier to use, but I’m sure it will last for me for the next few years based on the travel size.

Contour: Kevyn Aucoin Sculpting Powder (powder) and Fenty Match Stix Matte Skinstick in Amber (cream)
Both of these give me the perfect natural looking contour quickly and easily. I have considered trying others to see if they’re better, but I have yet to see a need to switch it up from these.

Bronzer: Hourglass Ambient Lighting Bronzer (powder) and Nudestix Nudies Matte Blush & Bronzer in Bondi Bae (cream)
Like my contour favorites, both of these give a natural warmth and blend out easily. They both give a subtle radiance that is especially great in the winter when my skin needs a little extra help. The Hourglass is one of my favorite powder formulas because it’s not that pigmented, so I can slowly build it up depending on what kind of look I’m going for. I have a few other bronzers but don’t find myself reaching for them as much because I pick up way too much color too quickly, and they aren’t as easy to blend as the Hourglass.

Highlight: Mac Mineralize Skinfinish in Soft and Gentle (powder) and Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Flawless Filter (liquid)
The makeup artist for my wedding used the Mac powder on me, and it looked so amazing in the pictures that I went out and bought it as soon as I found out what it was. It gives the perfect amount of sheen without being glittery, and I find that it’s very hard for me to use too much.

The HFF had been on my wishlist for a long time before I finally decided I should just get it. I’m so happy I did because it is one of the most amazing products I’ve ever tried. I mix it into my primer or foundation for an all-over glow, put it under my eyes under my corrector/concealer if I need more brightening and coverage there, and use it on as a liquid highlighter. It works well in every way I’ve tried, and I get tons of compliments every time I use it.

Blush: Nars Blush (powder) and Glossier Cloud Paints (liquid)
Once I found the right brushes to use with my Nars blush (more on that in my brush post!), it became my go-to powder blush. It makes me look healthy and awake without overdoing it, and although it being hard pressed can make it harder to use, I find that it means I don’t end up with a giant splotchy mess that’s hard to blend out.

The Glossier cloud paints give a natural flush to the cheeks that lasts all day and blends well with my other cream products. The one thing I dislike about these is the packaging. I always end up squeezing out way too much, but it’s worth it for the effect they give.

Eyeshadow: Natasha Denona Biba Palette
This was a gift from my husband (thank you!), and I’m not sure I could have convinced myself to spend this much on a palette. Now that I’ve had the chance to use it almost every day, I absolutely would buy it again. It is the perfect mix of warm, neutral, and cool tones with the right amount of shimmers. The formula is amazing, and if I could only have one palette, it would be this one.

Lip liner: Make Up For Ever Artist Color Pencil in Wherever Walnut
The Bite liners were a close second, but given that they are discontinued and no longer available, my choice for this year is this Make Up For Ever pencil. The formula is creamy without being slippery and helps define my lips without drying them out. I particularly like this color because it adds depth to my lighter colors and helps retain the shape for darker colors.

Lip gloss: Em Cosmetics Morning Dew Crystal Lip Gloss
I have tried so many lip gloss formulas this year, and my favorite is absolutely this one. It is incredibly moisturizing and makes my lips look great even why they are incredibly dry. I tend not to go for clear glosses since I like one and done products, but I have come to appreciate that I can put this over any lip color to add shine and moisture. And it’s not sticky at all!

Lipstick: Bite Beauty Lip Lap Custom Lipsticks
While I am obsessed with the Lisa Eldridge Velvet Mattes that I got this year, my pick has to be my Bite custom lipsticks. I went to the Lip Lab for my bachelorette party and made my perfect red, my wedding lip color, and a replicate of my favorite but now discontinued lipstick. All 3 look amazing on me, and I loved the experience of making my perfect shades with my bridesmaids.

Setting spray: Cover FX Dewy Finish Setting Spray
I was dedicated to Urban Decay All Nighter as my setting spray of choice for years, but the Cover FX knocked it out of my top setting spray spot for keeping my makeup looking great all day without drying out my skin. It’s alcohol-free, and I find that has helped a ton with my skin feeling less dry throughout the day.

I can’t wait to keep using these products and the new things I found in 2019 – looking forward to seeing how different my 2020 favorites are from my 2019 list!

Did watching ASMR videos make me happier?

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ASMR, which stands for autonomous sensory meridian response, has gotten incredibly popular over the last couple of years. The videos are supposedly a great way to wind down and relax, according to articles like this one. I had never considered watching them until recently one of my favorite YouTube channels, Bon Appetit, posted an April Fool’s joke of the test kitchen folks trying to make an ASMR video.

I was surprised that I really loved the video and was definitely more relaxed and in a better mood afterwards. So, this week, I decided to watch an ASMR video every day. This was a better way to clear my mind and relax than meditating every day, although I’m aware they aren’t at all the same thing. It was easier for me to just turn a video on in the background without it needing to be a focused activity when I didn’t feel like I had the time or space. It was also something that my fiance didn’t mind having to watch while he was doing something else, since I usually fell asleep pretty quickly.

Did watching ASMR videos make me happier? Yes. The videos made it so easy to fall asleep, and it was a great and relaxing way to end my day. I’m definitely going to turn to them when I need a calming moment or am having trouble falling asleep.

Did writing in the Five Minute Journal make me happier?

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The full name of this journal is “The Five Minute Journal: A Happier You in 5 Minutes a Day,” so this felt like the perfect thing to try; “a happier you” is promised up front for this product. The premise of this journal is that it helps you focus on the good in your life and cultivate gratitude, which has been shown to decrease stress and improve mental resilience, among other benefits. Each day you start with what you’re grateful for and what you want to focus on for the day and end the day with what went well and how it could have been better. Some pages have inspirational quotes and others have a weekly challenge.

I bought this product in August last year and have been writing in it off and on since then. This week, I attempted to write every single morning and night, and while I was able to write every morning, I missed a couple of nights. I have had a very consistent nighttime routine for a long time now, and it was more difficult than I realized to add something to it. Reflecting back on the week, it would have made a huge difference if I had put the journal and a pen on my bedside table so I could have written when I woke up and right before I went to sleep.

My favorite aspect about the journal is writing the three things that would make today great. I noticed that I would remind myself to do whatever it was when I was in the situation I had written it down for. For example, I wrote down “listen more than you speak” for an event I had to go to, and I reminded myself of that during the event when I felt like I wasn’t listening enough or asking enough questions. This made a huge difference in how that went.

I didn’t really notice any differences from the gratitude/amazing things sections of the journal. It was definitely nice in the moment to reflect but they didn’t seem to have a lasting impression on my day or mood in the same way that setting an intention for the day did. Once I finish this journal, my plan is to add a section in my bullet journal for a daily intention so I can carry that through rather than forcing myself to do all the steps in the journal, which felt repetitive over time.

Did writing in the Five Minute Journal make me happier? A little bit. There are aspects that made a difference for me that I will definitely keep doing, but I don’t think it’s necessary to spend the money on this journal, and it didn’t make a huge difference for me like it seems to have done for those who reviewed the journal on Amazon.

Did reading every day make me happier?

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This week, I decided to read a book every day without any distractions. Like everything else I’ve tried, reading promises to lots of amazing things, like reducing stress and anxiety and improving memory and focus. I used to religiously read 10 pages every day and loved both the quiet time and actually reading all of the books we have in our apartment. I’m not sure when it happened, but I slowly started reading only every once in awhile and then only on weekends when I really felt like I had time. So, this week, I forced myself to sit and read every single day.



Over the weekend, as expected, it was really easy to carve out time to read, as it’s something I’ve already been doing fairly consistently. We went to coffee shops, where I now order something decaf, and read quietly with our coffee until we felt like we’re ready to do something else. It was relaxing, felt like such a nice break, and was much more satisfying than scrolling through the internet.

On weekdays, this was harder than I expected given that I used to read every day. There never felt like a good time, and when I tried reading before bed, I either fell asleep or got distracted really quickly, even though the books I finished (Algorithms to Live By) and started (Furiously Happy) are both incredibly interesting and great reads. This reminded me a lot of mediation; when it was working well, it was great, but it was hard to fit in to my life.

We also spent some time walking around bookstores looking for new books to buy, and I realized how much I missed the experience of shopping for books in an actual bookstore. This made me realize that there are probably other things that I tend to buy online that I should spend more time shopping for in person, both to enjoy the experience of looking through things and to be more thoughtful about what I’m buying.

Did reading more make me happier? While I enjoyed spending more time reading because I already like to read, I wouldn’t say this made me happier in the way that reducing my caffeine or dressing up for work did. I didn’t see a profound change in my stress levels or mood, and I ended up turning something I like doing into a task I needed to complete every day. For this one, I’m going to go back to sitting down to read when it makes sense, like on the weekends, and otherwise stop giving myself a hard time for not reading often enough.

Did reducing my caffeine intake make me happier?

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A few of my friends cut down on the amount of coffee they were drinking and told me that they experienced less anxiety, had more energy, and slept better. I wanted to see if it was really the caffeine intake change or something else, so I decided to take on this experiment this last week.

Before this, I only drank one 8 ounce cup of coffee every morning and never had caffeine after 11am. Instead of cutting out coffee completely, I decided to make my 8 ounce cup a split cup of 4 ounces regular and 4 ounces of decaf. At coffee shops, I had to do split shot americanos because it turns out the coffee shops here don’t have decaf drip. One day when I was working from home, I attempted to brew a 4 ounce pourover, which ended up tasting horrible, so I switched to tea.

Overall, I felt way less anxious than usual even though my life has been about the same or more stressful. I also slept better and had more energy, as promised. I was very surprised that just cutting my coffee intake in half had such a profound effect on me, but I’m convinced that at least for me, caffeine was doing more harm than good. Because I genuinely love coffee, I’m not planning on giving it up completely. I am going to try to limit my caffeine exposure and treat it like I do dessert – something I don’t have every day, but enjoy when I do.

Did reducing my caffeine intake make me happier? Absolutely! Out of all the things I’ve tried so far, this had the quickest and clearest effect on my mood, and I’m very happy I tried it.

Did dressing more formally for work make me happier?

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Originally, I decided to try dressing up for work because I wanted to get more use out of my closet. I have a large collection of dresses (over 60) and blazers obtained over the years living on the East Coast, going to business school, and working at places like McKinsey. When I moved back to Seattle last June and went back to working at a tech company, I very quickly started wearing the jeans plus a t shirt or sweater uniform. I realized that I had so many pieces of clothing that I love that I wasn’t wearing and instead was rotating through the same few outfits.

My giant collection of dresses, as seen by the number of hangers.

I definitely accomplished my goal of wearing more of my clothes, including many dresses that I genuinely missed wearing. It also turns out that “dressing for success” is real. Wearing my formal clothes made me feel more confident and put together. It put me in a “working” mindset which led to much more focus and productivity. I spoke up more often in meetings, even when they were conference calls. When I worked from home, I still made an effort to dress up, and it really did make a difference in how I worked.

Another benefit I didn’t expect was that changing out of my formal clothes when I got home into something comfier helped me wind down at the end of the day. It helped create a distinct change from the work day so I could relax rather than continually checking my work email when I was trying to enjoy dinner or read a book.

Did dressing more formally for work make me happier? Absolutely. I love wearing and getting use out of all the great clothes I already own, and more importantly, I love how dressing differently for work and home makes me feel. I will definitely continue to do this.

Did giving up second-screening make me happier?

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After reading this article about why second-screening can be horrible for us and how we’re all “doing it wrong,” I decided to go without a second screen for a week. This meant no chatting with friends while watching a YouTube video or reading news while watching a movie. I also couldn’t look anywhere else during a conference call or check my phone during a meeting where someone was presenting.

This is slightly different than uni-tasking; instead of only focusing on one thing at a time until I was finished with it, the only rule was that I could only look at one screen at a time. This meant that I could still switch from one activity to another, such as from working on a PowerPoint deck on one monitor to email another, but I had to make a conscious choice to switch rather than quickly flitting back and forth. In a future week, I’m planning on committing to uni-tasking, but this felt like a good first step.

Second-screening is way harder than I thought. This was the first time writing this blog that I failed. I ended up accidentally second-screening without even thinking about it so many times. Overall, the act of stopping to think of whether I really need to check my phone or look at my email on another monitor right now was a great way to make sure I was doing the right things at the right time. I also watched way less on YouTube this past week because there were countless times where I started doing something else on my second monitor and realized that I honestly didn’t care about what was happening in the video. When I successfully single-screened, I paid way more attention and got a lot more out of what I was doing, whether it was a meeting, a movie, or a conversation I was having with a friend online. I also learned, similar to my week meditating, that my ability to focus is not at all where I need it to be. In a future week, I’m going to fully dedicate myself to uni-tasking and see what happens.

Did not second-screening make happier? In the short term, definitely not. It was incredibly frustrating, and I felt awful for not being able to focus for more than two seconds on anything. In the long term, I think it will make me happier. It’s an amazing when you break the habit, and single-screening really helped me focus and make the most of my time. I will continue to try to avoid second-screening where possible.

Did removing Instagram from my phone make me happier?

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I’ve read more articles than I can count about how social media is making us miserable and how we should all delete our accounts. Given that I already don’t use Twitter and removed Facebook from my phone years ago, I was curious to see if removing Instagram would make a huge difference in my life. I’ll preface this by saying that I tend to spend more time on YouTube and Reddit than on Instagram, so this experiment probably would’ve been more useful had I cut out all social media for a week. That said, here’s how it went.

For the first few days, I noticed that I really felt like I was missing out on what was happening in the world. That feeling that I used to have when I saw someone on an incredible vacation or having an amazing dinner was replaced by the fear that I no longer knew about things like the latest product launches from my favorite fitness companies or which puppy was now the cutest dog on the platform.

Then, about half way through the week, I totally forgot about Instagram all together. I wasn’t thinking about whether my meal was Istagrammable or whether our weekend activities were worth sharing via stories. This helped me enjoy things in the moment and reduced the stress of making my life “picture perfect”. On the other hand, the 30-45 minutes throughout the day that I used to spend scrolling Instagram were replaced with other mindless scrolling elsewhere. I had hoped that I would read, meditate, stretch, or walk more, but I just switched to a different mindless activity. I learned that how we spend our time is both our habits and our choices, and taking away the habit of Instagram didn’t automatically remove the habit of mindless scrolling.

Did removing Instagram making me happier? Ultimately, I think it did. It removed pressure from my day to day life and helped me stopped comparing my life to others’ highlight reels. That said, I still have more work to do using my time mindfully.

Did meditating every day make me happier?

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Meditation and mindfulness, like many of the things I’ve tried so far, have promised to fix everything in your life. It will reduce stress and pain, promote healing, reduce anxiety, increase relaxation, improve relationships, promote productivity, and much more. I personally have been a subscriber to Headspace for more than a year now, which I only know because I had a charge on my credit card for the annual subscription renewal that I had completely forgotten about. As much as I had tried in the past, I haven’t been able to meditate consistently over time.

Many of the studies done on meditation show that it’s important to “retrain your brain” by practicing meditation consistently rather than when you feel like it. I wondered if I would see the benefits of meditation if I actually did it every single day, so that’s what I did this week.

My current mediation streak on Headspace

When I was feeling extremely overwhelmed with wedding planning or my back pain (I currently have 3 bulging discs), meditating in the moment helped immensely. Otherwise, meditating mostly showcased how unfocused my brain really is. I struggled to stand or lie still for more than a few minutes. While I know that your mind wandering is totally normal and part of mediating, it was frustrating that I couldn’t focus for more than a few seconds at a time. I now have a long list of things to try for this blog like uni-tasking, staying off of Instagram and other social media sites and setting up specific times to check emails.

Did meditating every day make me happier? I think it’s still too early to tell, but it did make me realize what other actions I could take to make me happier. For now, I’ll keep my streak going and provide an update when I’ve meditating every day for a couple months.