Fran Magazine: Issue #109

The beauty issue, round three

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Shoppies relief

I have insatiable shoppies right now but I am also hating just about everything I see in stores. I do not want a v-neck blouse or a mid-length skirt or a dress with cut-outs in it. I almost bought a red linen skirt from Madewell over Memorial Day weekend before I was like, now what the hell am I thinking? The rule I then invented for myself was that everything I buy has to be something that I can use on my residency — so only hardy outdoor socks or moisture-wicking clothing or anything that will make sense in the forest or on the farm, the two places where I will be for a few weeks.

Every year of Fran Magazine so far, we have done a sort of “Into the Gloss” beauty, skin, and hair inventory which I love doing because I love shopping for this stuff and using it, and also because I love talking about it with people, but I only really like doing this in fits and spurts. Summer is not a particularly heavy make-up season for me unless I am at an event (a wedding, a House of the Dragons red carpet to livetweet for Vulture), but every time I’ve done this version of this post it’s been summer, and the reason I’m doing it in June and not July is that I won’t be wearing makeup for the next month. What will happen to my skin without makeup for a month? Probably nothing. If there was ever any marked improvement on my skin and face from no longer wearing a type of makeup, it was when I divested from Big Eyeliner a few years ago. Eyeliner: it doesn’t really make a difference if you wear glasses.

I’m not getting any affiliate money on any of these links. If I was dogged and determined, I would, but mostly I like linking this so people know that I’m not just making stuff up.

Skin

As I’ve said year after year, the best thing I do for my skin is take 100mg of spironolactone every single day. I did everything: accutane, antibiotics, topicals only, and the main thing that’s worked is spironolactone. I used to take 150mg and scaled it down to combat “breakthrough bleeding” (if you don’t know what this is, don’t worry about it). I also use a prescription Tretinoin at .05% every other night which is up from .0125% daily last year. I find that that this dries me out in the winter so I cut back almost entirely but it’s good for the summer.

In the morning I don’t wash with soap unless my face feels actively gross. I opt instead for a cold rinse, and then I immediately use the Paula’s Choice super-light antioxidant serum. When I don’t use this serum for a week or so, I can tell: my skin gets dull and flat and I start getting some darker spots that form. I am still brand loyal to Olay Complete as a daily moisturizer which has SPF 15, though these days I am doubling it with either a tinted or regular Supergoop to get SPF 40. I am also more inclined to wear a hat out and about these days.

In the evenings, I alternate between a whole host of cleansers depending on what I feel like my skin needs. For days when I don’t feel that grimy, I go between the Glossier Milky Jelly or this Beauty of Joseon Green Plum cleanser — both of which are extremely mild and lightweight. I still use the Kiehl’s Calendula Deep Cleansing wash when my face feels particularly dirty, and I use a generic Cetaphil if I’m irritated or sunburned. The latter is a new product in my routine; I saw Phil’s sister using it over the holidays and I thought it smelled good and I was immediately envious of it. Then I put on the prescription Tretenoin, if I’m using it, and then the Olay night moisturizer which is so heavy and I truly love it because no matter the time of year my face gets dry overnight from either the radiator or the air conditioner. I have an Osea undereye roller that I got for free and DOESN’T DO SHIT! For undereyes I prefer Cetaphil’s gel cream.

Hair

I cut about ten inches off my hair at the end of last summer, in part to combat it “looking like shit” for half a year and in part because it’s really expensive to have over a foot of hair. A college friend once drunkenly told me that there’s no economic reason why a modern woman should have long hair, which I don’t think is true, but whenever I see my short hair, I go, “this is economically responsible.” I like the short hair, which has thus far made my routine much easier, cheaper, and hats look less stupid on me.

For shampoo, I am still using Head & Shoulders once every ten to twelve days. My hair does not need to be washed more often than that, and blasting it with a bajillion chemicals less often is more effective for me than blasting it with “natural” chemicals once every five days. I use teatree oil on my scalp when needed as well. I now use the Blueberry Bliss Leave-In Conditioner (which I wash out) along with either the Malin and Goetz styling cream OR Miss Jessie’s Quick Curls but NOT both because they don’t mix and instead harden, opaque, onto my hair. OOMF housesat for us when we were in Estonia and Finland last year and left her Ouidad curl spray which I DID NOT RETURN. The bottle was half empty so I added water (I love adding water to hair styling products) to dilute the otherwise too-intense formula and I only just ran out of it. Will I buy more? Probably not, but it worked and was easy to use. I still swear by the Milbon bodifying oil to keep flyaways from going nuts.

Makeup

While I usually incorporate a dollop of the Supergoop tinted stuff in with my daily moisturizer, I have stopped wearing any kind of foundation beyond that. It’s mostly all too heavy on my skin and I don’t find that I need smoothing so much as I do spot treatment.

On the rec of

clare

, I bought the Merit concealer which is great. I put this on spots or “problem areas” (under eyes), leave it for 20 seconds, and then I rub it in with my fingers. I wear Glossier Boy Brow on my eyebrows after spending a half year with the Kosas formula that’s similar (I prefer the Glossier). Those are my only two daily musts!

If I am going out, I’ll usually wear a brown mascara (typically Glossier) and this Ilia blush in the shade Dreamer. Sometimes I will use the Milk Cooling Water Jelly as a blush (in coral) which frankly blends terribly but is such an objectively weird texture that I can’t help but try to make it work within my routine. I have an Ilia highlighter in Cosmic Dancer that I wear maybe once a week. I bought it with a giftcard and I do not like how it goes on (too rough, patchy, very different from the blush). I find that using a tinted moisturizer means that I don’t really need highlighter. That, and I am so naturally sweaty this time of year that making myself up to “look glowy” will happen whether I want it to or not. I started using the Sephora brand setting spray, which I like.

I have opted out of Big Eyeliner completely once again and while I have two brown ones from last year, I never wear them and whenever I’m like, “hmm, maybe tonight.. eyeliner?” I put it on and then immediately take it off. Just not worth it! I very rarely wear an eye shadow, but when I do, I use this very neutral pink that I got at Walgreens from Maybelline which is called Socialite (this!).

I own more lip products than I do any other type of makeup, and I am wearing almost all different colors than I’ve worn in previous years. For a long time, I opted for reds or orangey reds. I’m over that. I mean, I’m still doing it, but not on a day-to-day basis. Who has the time! For a daily color, I wear either Glossier’s Cachet or Clinique Black Honey. I love the Merit Shade Slick (terrible combo of words) in Merlot. Sometimes I will even layer that over one of the other two colors. For a brighter but low maintenance color, I go with the Supergoop color High Five (which is like, a dimmer coral). For a neutral gloss, I opt for the Kosas lip oil in Unbuttoned, which I like a lot. I have gone “back to basics” with red lipstick if and when I ever wear it, and I just go for MAC’s Ruby Woo, a beloved shade from the 2011 era of wearing makeup.

I am in the final dregs of my Commodity Bergamot perfume and it’s always sold out so who knows what I’ll do. This has lasted me six years, which I would say is a pretty good deal.

In conclusion

I still don’t know how to French braid my hair (now it’s too short) or contour. I am available for beauty #spon and I am not above any chemical.