It’s so important to delight in the small things. A beautiful piece of stationary. A stickynote pad that makes you smile. Or the perfect shade of pink macaroon. My camera is filled with so many pretty little instances of beauty that inspire me, that I want to share. These are a few favorites lately. 

I always struggle with the need for sun protection and moisturizer in the summer. So many of the good sunscreens aren’t also specifically moisturizers, so I am happy to report that when I tested this one out, I found it to be a true moisturizer with the added benefit of a high SPF. And I love that it isn’t formulated with harsh chemicals like:

- Sulfates
- Synthetic Fragrances
- Synthetic Dyes
- Petrochemicals
- GMOs
- Triclosan

But if watching Food, Inc., blew my mind back then, reading Michael Pollen’s In Defense of Food was like a blast from the past. Tips like, “shop the outside aisles of the grocery store,” “eat real food,” and “only eat things your grandmother would have” were things I’d learned growing up. I had ants on a log and hard boiled egg breakfasts while my friends had Lunchables, Capri Sun, and Twinkies!

Still, half the battle is acting on all these good intentions. It’s too easy to let a weekend pizza “treat” turn into a spiral binge of Velveeta Mac n’ Cheese, daily bagels, and fast food, so I like to regularly re-read books like this as a reminder to myself that efforts towards staying healthy need to be made daily, one decision at a time. This is what works best for me.

The above products make up my dermatologist-recommended routine.
I use them in the following order:

CVS Acne Foaming Face Wash, $9 — Few things make me happier than discovering similar ingredient labels and testing to find similar performance between store and name brands. Love me some savings. I wash with this morning and night at least 4-5 days a week.

Clindamyacin Pads — These are prescription. Without getting too scientific, they’re round pads soaked in a lincosamide antibiotic used to stop the growth of certain bacteria that cause acne. Sexy, right?

Adapelene Cream — Another prescription. This is a topical retinoid cream that works to unclog pores. One of the side effects is sun sensitivity, redness, and peeling in the beginning. Make sure you use sunscreen if you’re using retinoids!

Neutrogena Oil-free Moisture, SPF 15, $10 — No matter what, but especially crucial because of the retinoids I use, my AM routine always contains some form of SPF. I like this moisturizer on work days because it’s oil-free.  But if I’m going to be outside for longer than an hour, I always use a straight broad spectrum sunscreen and a higher SPF for more protection. But when I’m just commuting to/from work and plan for minimal time outside, I think an SPF in my moisturizer and makeup covers enough bases.

I’m not claiming to have read them cover to cover though.  Sure, I’ve gleaned a lot of styling tips and developed the foundation of my beauty knowledge from magazines, but more often, it’s the content design, fashion photography, and advertisements that prove the greatest sources of inspiration for me.

So for now—they stay!

Maybe it’s just because another birthday is on the horizon, but May is feeling a lot like New Years. I’ve been making lists of projects I’ve been meaning to tackle, setting aside time to write, taking my camera everywhere, and making time to cook and bake.  I’m so much happier. Strangely, this blog is a massive source of stress because I want to write about SO many different things but (usually) feel that it’s best to leave the beauty/product stuff separate from the more personal and married-life stuff that I write about over here. For now, I’m not going to keep stressing over it and  just focus on getting some posts up. Happy Friday!

Amore Pacific Treatment Enzyme Peel, $65 here
Ralph Lauren “Duchess” candle, $55
Kerestase Ciment Thermique, $45
Cle de Peau Beaute Smoothing Base, $65 here
Dani Notes Monogrammed iPhone case, $55, here
Jonathan Adler Dachshund bottle stopper, $24 here
Ojon Rare Blend Oil, $35,  here
Essie polishes, $7, Boxer shorts// Maximillian strasse-her, here

I push sunscreen for two reasons: Skin cancer and wrinkles. In fact, the main reason I began writing this blog was because I noticed a lack of online information educating people about the importance of proper sun protection while using retinol products. And as the number 1 fan of the chemical peel, I’m  schooled in the dangers of sun exposure in the weeks following one. But there are so many out there who aren’t.

So I started this blog to share what I know. I’d always heard that most sun damage occurs before age 18, but recently read that this was confirmed to be a total myth. What other misinformation is out there? Do you know what SPF actually means? Or the difference between suncreen and sun block?

In an effort to educate, I’ll be dedicating a post or two a week over the course of May to answering some some of these questions and will also review some of my favorite sunscreens. Who doesn’t like new beauty products?

For as long as I can remember, the quality of my day was defined by whether or not I was wearing contact lenses. I was committed in all my bloodshot glory for about 18 hours a day. It wasn’t pretty. Or healthy.

But Warby Parker changed all that. Now the one perk of my poor vision is the need for fun new frames.

I recently tested out these frames but can’t decide exactly how much of a hipster I’m comfortable pretending to be. Thoughts?

Top-bottom frame names:
Linwood
Aimsworth
Fitz
Marshall
Japhy