Emily's 24-Hour Product Diary: Vacation Soap & Too Much Trader Joe's

Vital Stats: I am an almost-29-year-old, I have a pixie cut, and I work out (running, soccer, biking) fairly often. I work as a visual interaction designer for a software consulting company in Pittsburgh, PA. I live in the city and I absolutely love it.

I am a night shower-er so my 24 hours start in the evening. If I work out, I probably hop in the shower between 7 and 9 P.M.. If I do not work out, I may not shower and my fiance will give me eyes and ask when the last time I showered was. I am a bathe-every-other-day-when-I-don’t-work-out sort of a person, and I like it that way. It makes me feel like I can take a luxurious extra-long shower if I skip a day.

If it’s a shower-less night, I use derma e Evenly Radiant Makeup Remover and a cotton round. I can’t even with crumpled-up toilet paper or a cotton ball. I also live for Q-Tipping my ears but they have to be actual Q-Tips; not off-brand.

Things are always done in the same order in the shower. First, I take my eye makeup off with Avalon Organics Lavender Facial Cleansing Gel. I usually put some on my pinky and ring fingers and gently rub around my eyes before washing it off. Then I poke out of the shower and look in the mirror and see if I got it all. If I have raccoon eyes, I repeat.

Be forewarned — I use an embarrassing amount of Trader Joe’s beauty products. I love that place, they don’t use sulfates in their shampoo, and it costs less than five bucks. So next I shampoo with Trader Joe’s Tea Tree Tingle, and condition with the Tea Tree conditioner. I leave the conditioner in until the end of the shower; for some reason I think it has more time to work into my hair if I leave it on for longer?

Then I wash my body with any sort of overpriced bar soap from Whole Foods or sometimes soap I’ve found on a vacation. I love buying soap when I go places; it’s not that expensive, it travels well, and I can cherish the memories of the trip every time I lather up. I am not into shower gel. I don’t like those mesh scrubbies, and I don’t like to bother with a wash cloth. Bar soap is simple and it works for me.

The following statement may be me under the spell that is The Clairsonic, but I swear it has made a huge difference in reducing the amount of blemishes I have. I use my Clairsonic Mia 1 with the delicate brush head and the lavender face wash again, and go over my face, focusing on the chin because that’s where I tend to break out the most.

If I am going to shave, which is maybe two times a week, I use a Shave Mob razor and Trader Joe’s Honey Mango Shave Cream, which is so great and so cheap. I just got the Shave Mob razor because I was sick of standing at the store debating whether or not I wanted to spend twenty dollars on razor blades (I don’t). I chose the male version of the razor because I think maybe they make them better? I don’t know — I just hate having to use pink things because I’m a girl. I like pink, but why does my razor have to be pink? I’ve had the razor for about a month, and so far I like it. I got the cheapest blades but I think next time I’ll step up and try the medium quality ones.

Post-shower I either use Deep Steep Body Lotion or coconut oil. The Deep Steep lotion in rosemary mint is tingly when you put it on, which I really like. For my face, I use Thayer’s rosewater toner followed by Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Cream. I used to use a drugstore face cream, but at my parent’s house over Christmas my mom had the Kiehl’s and it was so nice that I decided to splurge.

I am a Neosporin-a-holic and put it on any imperfections (cuts, scars, etc.) I want to go away. I also have extremely dry cuticles, so I use Bee Nuts! Organic Cuticle Oil from Amazon, and I usually put this on post-shower. I have a horrible relationship with deodorant. I hate it. I won’t use the aluminum ones, so I have been using La Vanilla. It does a fine job. I have tried almost every deodorant brand, even the aluminum ones back in high school, and nothing seems to work. I guess I just sweat a lot.

In the morning I get up and brush my teeth with Arm and Hammer Healthy Gums and my Oral B automatic toothbrush. I love the Arm and Hammer because it seems to be less sweet than the others. I really hate fake sugar, and some toothpastes are just too sweet.

Since I have a pixie cut, I don’t really do much with my hair. My mom and I have curly hair, and she’s really into that Ouidad brand, so she gave me some Botanical Boost Curl Spray that I use in the morning to “revive my hair.” Besides, I bike to work a lot and the helmet pretty much ruins whatever I had going on with my hair, so I just let it be wild and how it wants to be.

I only recently started getting back into makeup, so I am not too good at it yet. I wore makeup all through high school, and then took a five year break but I got back into it about six months ago. First, I put on Urban Decay Anti-Aging Eyeshadow Primer Potion — I got a sample of each of their primers with my Naked palette and this was the best one. I used to have NARS primer and it really didn’t work for me. Then I do blush with Hourglass and a Sephora contouring brush for my cheeks. On my lids I use various combos of Naked palette colors — lately its been Half-Baked with a touch of Smog — and, if I’m feeling fancy, a cat eye with Stila Stay-All-Day Waterproof Liquid Liner in black. Then it’s mascara with Great Lash from Maybelline which isn’t really my fave but hey, it’s cheap.

Throughout the day I use Burt’s Bees on my lips and L’Occtaine Shea Butter Hand Cream. My hands get so dry and the L’Occtaine works so well. Sometimes I try to wear lip color, but it’s always so shocking when I look in the mirror that I conclude I can’t pull it off, wipe it away, and go back to Burt’s.

And that’s my day! Rinse (if necessary) and repeat.