Ole Henriksen Truth Serum, $20-128If you write, do you ever have so much to say that you find it overwhelming to decide where to start? In spite of using Ole Henriksen Truth Serum for ages and promising reviews, that’s where I was on this. I’ve finally found some clarity and pared down my thoughts to a concise (enough) format, so here we go.
I sat down to write about my 2017 Favorites and ended up laughing at myself. I went back and checked the previous year’s favorites to make sure I wasn’t inadvertently writing the same post and … wow, I definitely almost did! I still love and use everything from that list a year later. I even still use the now-discontinued Gimme Brow; I’m on my last tube, sadly. Maybe next year will feature a new brow product. Maybe I’m set in my ways.
Rather than repeating myself, check out what I had to say on these items last time:
Drunk Elephant C-Firma Day Serum, $80Buying an $80 consumable skincare item even at 20% off was a huge risk for me. I enjoy prestige makeup, but I was worried that I was:
Although I was obviously hoping I’d like it, I was shocked by how much good it has done for my skin. It is my single largest beauty expense, but I am gladly forking over the money twice a year.
November 2017 FavoritesAmerican Thanksgiving has come and gone (somehow it was already like two weeks ago, WTF). The holidays are officially here. I have yet to decorate my apartment (because I have been drowning in work, as I shared on earlier this week). This weekend, I will get the wee tree up and then I will wrap all the things. I’ve been into tying gift bows lately and have some amazing peacock ribbon that I’m excited to use. Before we get into my November 2017 Favorites, don’t forget to check out (and enter, duh) my Real Techniques Sculpting Set Giveaway; there’s only a week left!
Drunk Elephant C-Firma Day Serum, $80I mentioned in my June favorites that buying Drunk Elephant C-Firma Day Serum. I adore this damn serum. A colleague and paled at the cost when I sang its praises; I understand. I love it, plan to repurchase, and still recoil from the price tag.
Short of tools like my Luna Mini or Clarisonic Mia2, I don’t tend to spend much on individual products. With a few exceptions, I’m generally of the opinion that beauty need not break the bank.
Being young (enough – and only for now, don’t worry, this isn’t a cocky statement) and skeptical of products promising miracles, I pass on a lot of prestige and luxury skincare. Aside from my tools, none of my skincare routine is prestige at this point!
Never. As far as I’m concerned, mid-twenties is a perfectly reasonable time to reconsider your approach to skincare even if you aren’t suffering a skin mutiny as I was.
Once my acne was under control, I decided my skin could use a boost in the liveliness department. Although I find makeup fun, I much prefer to have healthy, radiant skin than to need to slap on product to fake it.
Mid-twenties is not too young to start anti-aging products – and with a demanding career, my skin was looking a bit tired. I don’t want or need anything hardcore. No retinol here (at this stage in my life). But I do have under-eye circles, some dullness and uneven tone, etc. I decided that Vitamin C was the place to be for my needs right now.
A blog I’ve followed for years and implicitly rely on touted Ole Henriksen’s Truth Serum but when I got into reviews and other comparisons, many sources seemed to suggest the Drunk Elephant product to be superior. Part of this is packaging, part is the concentration and type of Vitamin C itself, and the other part of are the other ingredients. I was leery about spending that much on a type of product I’d never tried before, so I kept searching.
Interestingly, although Stefanie Nicole (check out her channel here) has a YouTube channel, she works in the beauty industry on the manufacturing and distribution side of things. She also has a no-nonsense attitude that resonates with me. I appreciate her willingness to say, “I didn’t care for this,” or, “This product didn’t perform well for the price.” We need more of that! In this case, Drunk Elephant C-Firma does, in her opinion, perform well for the price.
Upon hearing her ringing endorsement of Drunk Elephant C-Firma Day Serum, I decided to splurge during the Spring BI/VIB Sale. My skin was consistent at that point (not as stable as it is now, but better!), and I felt comfortable adding a variable.
Year is half over. I just celebrated a birthday. ‘Murica just celebrated its own. I will have my first set of Invisalign trays before the end of the month. Hallelujah.
Btw, is anyone else like, “Get off my lawn and stay out of my damn hydrangeas,” when it comes to fireworks? No one was physically on my lawn, and I don’t have hydrangeas – but I am exhausted today because don’t you know it is ‘Murica’s birthday until (at least) 2AM on July 5? Sigh.