straightforwardskincare

This routine looks neutral (like my wardrobe) but it is anything but plain. I'm absolutely loving having access to my complete skincare stash now that we're back home. While I can definitely survive on very little skincare, I reaaaaally love having tons around!

It's also nice to do little things like self tanning drops, masks, and other non-essentials that just feel goooood.

What's your favorite non-essential skincare step or product?

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Here's a version of the standard AM skincare routine I've been using on my trip. The cleanser, moisturizer, and sunscreen can be swapped out for others (I brought small amounts of a fair amount of products for variety while saving on space/weight in my luggage) but the formula (and vitamin C serum) remain the same.

Tomorrow I'll post my *slightly* fancier AM vacation routine, which contains one of my favorite products! Any guesses as to what the product is? 👀

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Did this routine the other night and *chef's kiss* my skin loved it! My skin was a little mad about the jump in tret % but seems ok with it now. I've been babying it a lot and did only bring the lower % tret with on my trip. MY TRIP! Which is happening! 🤗🤗🤗

I'm short on words bc I'm short on sleep this week (let's call it pre-jetlag, thanks to stress and 2yo babes) but excited to report back fr my travels. And maybe a lil during them?

How's your summer going so far? Overall relaxing? Stressful? Lots of work? Tons of play?

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It's been another daaaaaay! I try to keep reminding myself how lucky I am that I have the ability to even have a European trip on the line here but it's frustrating to have days go by with almost certainty of a cancelled flight, meanwhile we keep passing the dates after which our hotels are no longer refundable 👀😐😩

We're still mostly packed and preparing to go as scheduled. I no longer expect this flight to happen and I'm not sure that we will be leaving via *any* airline on the correct day but I'm hopeful that maybe we will eventually get there for part of our trip? 🤞🤞🤞

What's something good that happened today? I got a message and that was definitely good!

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Remember how I switched to 0.1% tret? Yeah, so does my skin🥲

Most of my skin is fine but my upper cheek/lower eye area is a lil red and irritated. Cue alllllll the soothing products! You're gonna see a lot of these gems in the near future!

Do you have a favorite skin soother? I love the All Calm serum (which I sadly think I emptied tonight 😅), the avocado serum, the entire evercalm line, and of course the snail mucin (tret's necessary partner imo). I'd love to hear about your face skin soother!

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Popping* off another post today 🎉

*Autocorrect changed this into pooping

Yay for two posts in one day! On the downside, I have gotten approximately 3 steps in today, soooo yeah.

But then again I also got some awesome new leggings/joggers (tighter fit in the thighs with a looser calf) that I'm really loving! So today's all about the (small) ups and downs.

But....imma think before I pop/poop off from now on 😅 (typos are my legacy, I think)

What's the best typo and/or autocorrect you've had lately? I need to know!!!

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Sharing today's morning routine...it was a nice one! I really wish this sunscreen came in lighter packaging because I'd love to bring it with me on our upcoming trip. It definitely won't work for everyone but I'm (once again) spoiled by my light skin and am able to use so many mineral sunscreens without looking like a 👻 or 💀. If that ain't white privilege, idk what is...

Anywayyyyyy, I'm also on the hunt for replacements for sooo many things that I let go too far. Like wearing stretched out old nursing bras from years ago (they really don't last very long/get super stretched out easily, and the same can sadly be said of the stuff they're holding up....let's just say I need a lot of support 😬but this is way off topic 👀)

So I have been stuck in the cycle of buy-try on-return and sometimes, sadly, finding out that a new version of my old worn-out stuff is actually the one that I like the best and I could have saved a whoooooole lot of time not even exploring new options. Has that ever happened to you? It's *frustrating*!

Do you usually like new things or just new versions of your old favorites?

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Back to sandwiching with my brand-new 0.1% .skin tretinoin! This is also a routine packed with my faves, so it was an utter joy to do 🥰

Here's to hoping you had a great day and at least had a few minutes to yourself to breathe, relax, and find a little joy!!

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Popping in the post about some products I've been using. This time we've got two hits and one miss.

1️⃣ I've long loved the .global Midnight Blue Calming Cream. In fact, I have loved it since the first time I ever used it. It's just one of those products for me!

Texture: The thickest texture it can be without being tooooo thick. I actually love to make shapes with it as I squeeze it out of the tube.

Aesthetics: It's a gorgeous shade of blue. It has no discernible scent. It doesn't feel greasy on the skin.

Layering: it's played nicely with everything I've used it with, from sunscreens to three different serums at once, to facial oils, to tretinoin.

2️⃣ I also like the sunscreen. I'm a little lukewarm (as you'll see below) but despite it's imperfections, it's really not bad for an untinted SPF 50 mineral sunscreen.

Type: It's an inorganic sunscreen (which is (sadly)still all that my eyes will tolerate).

Cast: yes. Sadly this does leave me a little pale. Which is disappointing on my quest, but I still happily use this because I can hide the slight cast with a little application of tinted liquid highlighter.

Scent: none

3️⃣ Now for the flop: the by Wishtrend powder cleanser. This felt okay...maybe a little abrasive...but the real reason it's a flop for me is the ingredients list. It has baking soda in it, which (as I understand it) is not good for your skin. Its pH is high enough to disrupt your acid mantle and it can seriously irritate skin. So this is a no for me and I won't use it anymore. There are other mildly abrasive powder cleansers that I love (I'm looking at you, and !) How well this might work short term is irrelevant to me because of the risks of long-term use. Protect that skin!

In summary, I highly recommend the Klairs Midnight Blue Calming Cream to anyone with skin, and the Rovectin sunscreen to anyone with skin as fair as or lighter than me (or someone who wants to use tinted products or straight up foundation over a nice, high-SPF, but casty mineral sunscreen).

What do you think of these? Agree/disagree with my assessments?

*Products provided for review

I did one of these a while back but I can't possibly state it enough: there are tons of amazing brands and products available in drugstores/Target/etc. You do *not* have to buy luxury/high-end brands to have happy, healthy, beautiful skin. You absolutely can, but it's not at all a requirement to do so.

While I like a few pricier cleansers, I always come back to the OG, affordable, effective ones. and make amazing cleansers.

There are also some great sunscreen options out there. I love LRP for this too, but and make great options too. The Aveeno Protect and Hydrate line is amazing for body sunscreen. It's like really good lotion that happens to protect against UV rays too.

I could go on and on....should I? Do you want more posts about affordable/drugstore skincare? Tell me what you're interested in in the comments and I will make✍️it✍️happen✍️*

*That emoji is me writing down what you want because I'm both busy and organized 😅

**Also 💀 at me for explaining my emoji use

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Sigh.

I do love how this routine ended up basically a mixed-up rainbow (🌈 for life), tho that wasn't planned.

Today was an interesting day for me/my family. A super-tired Saturday (we took turns sleeping this AM since it wasn't a good night of sleep for anyone) and I did a bunch of boring errands while the little one napped.

I grilled chicken and made a really good pasta salad to go with it using whatever I had on hand. (it ended up being mini penne, orange bell pepper, tomatoes, julienned power greens, olive oil, and lots of feta)

I'm (obviously?) still really distraught over the political state of America and not sure what to do with those feelings. I've also had a migraine for a few days now (not the worst one though, and it comes and goes somewhat).

Let's go back to this: finding the joy. Always find the joy. Three bits of joy today: 1) my 2 year old randomly reciting lines of her favorite book, Everywhere Babies, but with other things filled in (eg "everyday, everywhere, babies wear goggles!") and recited in her adorable toddler voice 2) really yummy food made from scraps we might not have used up in time, and 3) the air after a rain storm (the smell and breeze ❤️)

What's something little (or big, whatev) that brought you joy today

✨❤️

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Unique Retinol Products | If you hadn't noticed, I'm *really* into my tretinoin....but sometimes a retinol comes along that I can't help but try (and love). Here are some uniquely textured retinol products that I've been loving using:

Retinol Regenerate Serum in 2x and 5x: I usually use the 5x but have tried the 2x and it has the same texture. Irritation is minimal and I love the moisturizing qualities of the dry serum, and I love how it feels to apply it. It feels kind of silicone-y but also...dry? I know, what a description 😅 but I assume that the dry nature of this helps to reduce irritation since it's not introducing more water to the situation. It feels almost like a sleeping mask as opposed to a retinoid and I maintain that it's super fun to use!

Retinol Face Stick and Retinol Eye Stick: these are solid sticks of product that melt and glide easily over the skin. These would be great for travel since they're solid and don't count toward your measly liquids bag! They're also both similarly "dry" but feel more moist on the skin that the Replenix dry serums do.

I like all of these products for their textures, novelty, convenience, and also, oddly, their scent...while none are fragranced/all are fragrance-free, my nose always interprets retinol products as smelling like mild jalapenos....is it just me!? Smelling that sorts spicy pepper scent lets me knows it's legit retinol up in there 😅 What do you think retinol smells like 🧐

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