Anna’s Morning Skin and Hair Routine…Exposed!
This is another in our ongoing series—which will be around forever now, because you guys keep sending us your awesome routines. This one’s from a reader named Anna who lives in Brooklyn just like me (hi, Anna!). I love her mix of luxurious NMDL-approved clean products and DIY.
Anna seems to be one part no-fuss and one part kind of glam, which is basically our MO, too. Plus, she loves Joanne Woodward. What’s not to love? Let us know in the comments what you think of her routine!
Name: Anna
Age: 27
Current weather: Flirting with Spring in Brooklyn. Cold, crisp and sunny today.
Hair: Shoulder-length, growing-out-phase, brown, thick, and wavy.
Skin: My forehead, chin, and nose are pretty awesome. My cheeks are where it gets dry, and also breaks out. I’m pretty fair-skinned, and get freckles in the summer, but tan pretty easily. Basically, if I could get this pesky cheek nonsense figured out, I’d be golden (adult onset acne, awesome).
In the shower…
I shower at night, always. If I go running in the morning, I’ll do an extra rinse-off afterward. Either way, I only use soap (Dr. Bronner’s Peppermint) on my feet, if at all. I only get my hair wet once a week, and either wash with John Masters Organics Bare shampoo and condition with Alaffia Coconut and Shea conditioner, or just do a manual scalp scrubbing with my fingers & follow up with a little ACV. I generally rinse my face with warm water instead of washing, though some days I’ll put some rosehip seed oil on my face and rub that in, then wipe it off with a hot washcloth. A few times a week I exfoliate my cheeks with Acure Organics Brightening Facial Scrub.
Outside the shower…
After spraying with Evan Healy’s Immortelle hydrosol and/or a quick wipe down with witch hazel, I immediately put on some argan oil (either Kahina or Acure), then follow up with Pai Chamomile & Rosehip moisturizer. I asked the folks over at Spirit Beauty Lounge what facial lotion they recommended for dry skin that is also acneic, and they recommended that. I’ve used it for a few months now and find that it hasn’t upset my skin at all, but moisturizes well. For extra dry days, I smear on some shea butter where it’s dry.
On my body, I use a homemade body oil (after I ran out of Evan Healy’s Sweet Blossom body oil, which I love so much. When I get in bed after putting it on, my boyfriend says, “you smell like pepper”—in a good way) with olive oil and vetiver & rose essential oils. The body oil is literally just olive oil (sometimes I’ll add in a little avocado oil) and several drops of rose essential oil and vetiver essential oil. The ratio of rose:vetiver is around 6:1 (vetiver is really strong). At night, several times a week I’ll buff some oil into my nails, wash ‘em off, and apply some Scotch Naturals nail polish.
Finishing touches…
I never use hair products. I find I don’t need them, plus I’m pretty easy-does-it about my hair. Most days, since I’m growing it out and that’s sorta painful, I’ll throw it up in a low side bun, or lately I’ve been doing a simple twisty updo thing with my hair that looks so elegant but is really, really easy.
I use RMS Lip-to-Cheek in Smile on my cheeks, and RMS “Un” Cover Up under my eyes and on any spots or pimples I have. I’ll either do a subtle winged eyeliner with Jane Iredale’s liquid eyeliner, or smear together some RMS blush and RMS Living Luminizer and put that on my eyelids—I love how this looks, and sometimes I don’t even put on mascara because I feel like it gives me that cool redheaded Scottish-gal-chic thing. Otherwise, I use Couleur Caramel mascara (the brush! The brush! It’s all about the brush. I used to be a Diorshow gal, obviously) on my top lashes.
No perfume, though sometimes I’ll dab some vetiver and rose oil on. I use homemade deodorant that has rose and vetiver in it, so sometimes that’s enough—I’m very sensitive to smells (especially post-nasty chemicals). The deodorant is equal parts arrowroot powder or corn starch and baking soda and enough shea butter to make the whole thing the texture of frosting. I add in vetiver and rose essential oils for my deodorant, and orange, lavender, and rosemary essential oils for my boyfriend’s mixture. I made the mistake this morning of putting it on after shaving; itchy all day.
Et voilà! On to coffee.
Image of Anna’s favorite star (“mainly because she married Paul Newman”) via
I am so going to try RMS “Un” Cover Up to cover my spots :)
Coffee :D
I love your routine Anna
You only use soap on your feet? That scares me!
I’m totally in awe of this routine!
Oooh I’ve never heard of Vetiver before. Googling like crazy now!
Thanks for sharing your routine! super great!
This routine is awesome! Man oh oh man do I wish I could rock a routine like this without troubles.
So yeah, wait, quick question… you only soap up your feet? no other bits and pieces?
I really love that you DIY with a lot of stuff! If it weren’t for my stupid perioral derm I would totally take advantage of mixing and making my own potions, but I feel like I’ve gotta get that stupid shiz under control first.
Thanks for the Couleur Caramel mascara tip! It truly is all about the brush! So I’ll have to try it (was a huge fan of Dior show as well). Also, I envy that you’re able to just rinse your face or on occasion rub some oil on and wipe away. Ah – a girl can dream!
Thanks for sharing!!
http://iloveublank.blogspot.com/
A great one! Thanks for sharing Anna!
I also love Evan Healy’s Immortelle hydrosol. It is by far my favorite toner. I’m also a HUGE fan of vetiver. Evan Healy has a great plain vetiver and mixes as well (her Puja line of perfumes). I learned to love vetiver from Hope Gillerman’s stress remedy and now I’m obsessed. And I’m not a girl that uses many scented products – most of my products are unscented. The DIY deodorant recipe sounds really similar to my own, though I leave mine unscented and make it hard enough to use in a twist up tube. Seriously, no stink whatsoever (I still love the performance of Soapwalla but I prefer no scent). The RMS stuff is great too, I use several of their products and the living luminizer, lip-to-cheeks and eyeshadows are spectacular.
favorite routine so far! I love that you mix your own body oil & deodorant so it’s kind of customizing, I’ll try that later
This morning, I totally stole her RMS luminizer on lids with blush and no mascara thing AND the side bun.
@ danielle: Why not? That’s pretty much what I do as well, except that I’m also using it when I shave my legs and underarms. Actually, the soap I’m using is also Dr. Bronner’s Peppermint Soap (it’s great)!
@Siobhan, post a pic : ) I put the luminizer on my lashes (as well as lids) on no mascara days. I feel like it makes lashes more noticeable plus conditions so they look nicer over the long term.
I’m so happy to know that this “routine exposed series” will go on forever.. They are the best!
Thank you Anna for sharing yours and reminding me of old favorites (RSM and Couleur Caramel mascara)
And although I never tried mixing my RMS blush and Luminizer to put on my lids, will be triyng,why not? Will be looking into vetiver as well ..
Thanks!
Love this Anna, thank you!! So excited to try the living luminizer & blush on the eyelids! I’m a redhead so that redhead-scottish-gal-chic thing I should totally be able to rock!! I’m a huge fan of the pai chamomile & rosehip moisturizer myself, and apply some on my cheeks after coconut oil since I get flaky dry patches there. Love the recipe for the body oil! I’m currently using the skinny skinny calming body oil from spirit beauty lounge and I love it, but it sure seems like I should be able to make my own…will have to try your recipe next!
Love and regularly use many of these products as well. I always love a good, simple routine with a mix of purchased and DIY products. I’m also a fhuge an of vetiver rose blends!
I especially love how low-maintenance this is. As a teen, it took me over an hour to get ready for school because I had to shower, fix my hair, put on a full face of makeup and pick the right outfit – and this is just for high school! Life’s way too hectic and exciting to be spending it in the bathroom all day just primping to experience it.
I love Dr. Bronner’s peppermint soap and Acure’s products too, especially their facial scrub. :) Great routine, Anna – I’m definitely inspired!
@Danielle & @Votre Amie, yep, just the feet. I get creeped out by New York sandal time and have to wash after a day walking around. Other than that, hot water does the trick. I actually found that washing pits with soap made them smell worse later on. Who knows if there’s anything actually scientific behind that, but whatever. Also, @Votre Amie, I’ve had perioral dermatitis before, and that junk is AWFUL. I ended up getting a Rx for it that cleared it up, but I haven’t gotten it since, which is nice.
@Dylan, vetiver is super woodsy and sorta masculine-smelling on its own, but mixed with rose, it’s so heavenly.
@Rebecca: SO trying that tomorrow.
I think the question all these sweet, delicate people are asking re: only the feet is not ‘do your pits stink’ but WHY DO YOU NOT WASH YOUR BUM WITH SOAP?! There, I said it. I’m sure the pits and bits are fine.
velvetvitron Hot water is pretty good for germies, because it physically washes them away. A lot of soaps are v drying and can irritate sensitive areas. People think that the rear is a war zone, but it’s pretty delicate!
Thank you Anna for spelling \voila\ correctly. I cannot tell you how many times I have seen it spelled incorrectly (viola, for one or the cringe-worthy \walla’) and mispronounced/butchered as well.
Some great ideas! I especially appreciate hearing from someone who isn’t trying to sell their products. These were getting to be too much of a flashing advertisement.
I’m with Lynn — I love reading these routines when they’re from readers, and much prefer them to those of the company reps. These are so much more varied and interesting!
I like hearing about the routines of “regular” people, but I also like hearing routines from women who have their own product lines, and hopefully they love their own products enough to use many of them. I sort of assume those women know the industry well and know what’s available out there, so where they use products NOT their own I’m more impressed and possibly inclined to try them out. I’d love to see the routine posts be a mix.
Enjoyed reading your routine. I will say I tried RMS Lip to Cheek (in Modest) and it made me breakout on my cheeks. I was super upset by this, as I like the company. I tested it out 3 times just to make sure it was, in fact, the blush. I may be allergic to the Rosemary in it. If you’re breaking out on your cheeks, you may want to think about switching to a different blush and see if that clears it up. Mine has!
@Kina we work with a lot of clients who break out when they first start using RMS. Beeswax and coconut oil are comedogenic by nature but that doesn’t mean they have to make you break out – it just means you probably have to use a different cleanser than you normally do, to break up the wax that can be lodged in the pores if you’re skin isn’t “digesting” it. RMS is not water-soluble so you’ll need a plant based lifting or foaming cleanser at the end of the day. The Dr. Alkaitis Purifying Cleanser works well for that. :)