We’re already coming to the end of March which means…
A) SUMMER IS SO CLOSE I CAN LITERALLY TASTE IT!!!
B) It’s been a minute! We should catch up! Coffee Date style.
Spring drinks of choice have been mango kale smoothies (I’m hopping back on the train!), iced crafted press-es from Caribou, green tea lemonades, and iced royal tea lattes from Sencha but let’s be honest, that never changes. I even had a rogue WATERMELON juice the other day that was so good and so summery it almost made me cry.
But today, for this “coffee date,” I am actually drinking a big ol jug of minty cucumber water! Um, yeah. It’s taking my entire life up a few notches. More on that in a second.
Let’s chat about March.
I Switched To Beautycounter And I Wasn’t Super Impressed.
(To be fair, I love this product I’m holding which is the mattifying powder. Pure magic.)
So.. yeah.
Call me crazy, but specifically for the Beautycounter skincare, I don’t think I would spend the money again. I just didn’t love the products enough to justify the extra cost, especially when I feel like I can find other clean skincare alternatives that work just as well at more of a drugstore-level price. The lotion never really hydrated my face and the cleansers didn’t feel like anything special to me. Am I insane?
The good news is that even if my skincare spree was kind of a bust, I have found a lot of clean beauty products over the last few years that I can strongly recommend (including a few of Beautycounter’s makeup products):
- Burt’s Bees Sensitive Face Wash – Clean, easy to find, and affordable.
- Burt’s Bees Milk and Honey Body Lotion – Ditto.
- 100% Pure Potent PM Serum
- 100% Pure Fruit Pigmented 2nd Skin Foundation – Okay, I LOVE THIS STUFF. I only recently started wearing foundation in the last few years and it has been a game-changer. This one is so lightweight and it feels so much better and more natural than anything else I’ve tried. I use Shade 4.
- 100% Pure Fruit Pigmented Long Last Concealer in Peach Bisque
- 100% Pure Long Last Brows in Blonde
- 100% Pure Creamy Long Last Liner in Blackest
- 100% Pure Fruit Pigmented Pretty II Palette
- Pacifica Mascara – Annoying, because I would have really preferred to keep it all in the 100% Pure family, but the 100% Pure mascara stung in my eyes.
- Beautycounter Mattifying Powder – LOVE because I have very oily skin.
- Beautycounter Bronzer
Also worth mentioning that I used the Vintner’s Daughter Active Botanical Serum for several months last year as my night-time moisturizer and I really liked it. If you want a skincare splurge and you’re into oils, it’s luxurious and lovely.
Okay, are you a clean makeup / skincare enthusiast? What are your favorite products? Does anyone have a good clean shampoo recommendation? That’s one I haven’t found yet.
Also, tell me what you think about Beautycounter. Are you a fan? I love their other stuff (listed above), and if I didn’t care about the cost I would totally buy their lemony-sugar scrub on the regular. It was just specifically the skincare that I wasn’t crazy about.
1A. Eyelash Extension Update
I didn’t keep them up. They’re gone. Too expensive. Too time-consuming. Very pretty, but not worth it for me. End of story.
I Need To Drink More Water.
Like, we probably all do. So I’m trying a few hacks.
- Adding mint, cucumber, lemon, and other yummies to my water each day. Kind of obvious, but for me it’s a good place to start.
- Drinking out of a peppy 20 ounce tumbler with a straw. Just more pleasant, IMHO.
- Only refilling when I’m finished with my existing water so I can track how much I’m actually drinking.
My goal is three of those guys per day (plus additional water from juice, coffee, soups, fruit/veg, etc.), which probably isn’t all that lofty of a goal, but to me it feels kind of epic.
Anyone got any other get-yourself-to-drink-more-water-hacks that I should know about?
Bullet Journal Is Life.
I have gone back and forth and back again on every kind of calendar out there, and I think the Bullet Journal has had more staying power for me than all the other methods combined. Here’s why: it’s customizable. You can make it be what you need / want it to be. If you need specific time slots, add specific time slots. If you need it loose, just keep it loose.
Here’s what mine looks like at the beginning of the week, when I put in my scheduled events with a little circle and leave space for the rest of the week to fill up as needed:
And at the end of the week:
I use a modified version of this Bullet Journaling shortcode to keep track of what I’ve done, what needs to still get done, what I decided not to do, etc. Bullet Journals are good for people who like to kind of build their own thing. It is basically a next-level to-do list that is highly personal and doubles as a calendar and/or a journal.
How do you keep your life organized? Do you use a physical planner / journal / calendar?
I Made Myself a Mini-Jungle-SPa In My Office And It Makes Me Feel Happy.
Chair, diffuser on side table, and plant shelves over top. That’s all you need to make a jungle spa in your very own home. This corner of my office is my favorite place EVER! It’s where I sit in the morning to just kind of center myself before the day starts. Music, journal, pray, meditate, read, avoid email, all of the above.
It’s also where I pile the junk that I don’t know what to do with. Very handy for that.
What’s your happiest place in your home?
We Got a TV!
We didn’t have one (2009-2013), then we had one (2013-2014), then we didn’t have one again (2014-2018), and now we have one again (2018)! This is our struggle. Thank you for understanding.
What is your TV set up? Any no-TV-ers in the house?!?!
That’s all from me!
But that’s not all from Sage.
She would like to look into your eyes and say HEY! You’re gettin’ it done! You’re working hard! You’re rising above! YOU ARE AWESOME!
She would also like you to know that even when you make mistakes, you can always try again.
And she will be trying again in April.
Sage loves you guys.
Cheers to a great coffee (tea / latte / cucumber water) date! See you next month.
She looks so cute with those ears on.
Great article and interesting, thank you for sharing.
Hi Lindsay – can you share where you got your birch tree art in the above picture? Love it!
I’m happy to see you so happy and glowing during your pregnancy! I had twin boys 20 years ago and yes clothing was tough stuff
Goodluck with that! When are you due?
Anyways regarding clean beauty I love the Lavish body butter cream from ever skincare. It’s all botanical based helps with hydration without leaving sticky residue, smells wonderful (like you could eat it) smoothes scars and yes helps fade them and stretch marks if you happen to get those! part of the baby making process????
We just discovered this all natural cream helps repell mosquitos and gnats etc. No more nasty DEET for me.
I would be more than happy to send you a jar of this Allures best of beauty award winning amazing body butter and get your feedback
If you don’t accept gifts (you’d be nuts to turn this down girl) you can order from my website. Would love to hear back from you!
Love following your coffee talks.
Sincerely, One of your biggest fans, Denise of Lakeville,Mn
Ps almost forgot we have an amazing lemon sugar body scrub too
http://Www.Everskin.Com/with/denisebranson
May I ask the paint color on your office wall? I love it! Thanks!
i’ve heard lots of good things about 100% Pure but haven’t tried anything yet. I’ll have to check out that foundation! I love Pacifica products and Alba Botanicals for skincare but haven’t found a good brand that I like for makeup yet. I’ve tried some Pacifica CC and BB creams, but they weren’t quite what I was looking for (although I do like their mascara!).
Does that castor oil trick really work? Ive never tried extensions but they do seem like alot of work! I do personally know however that biotin is excellent for hair, nails, and skin. And jello!
Oh boy I could talk about skin care allllll day long! I don’t know that I have too many product recommendations as I don’t know that I use true “clean” products. But! I highly recommend the seven skin method for hydration. It originated in Korean Skin Care and basically, you find a toner you like and pat in 7 thin layers. The toner has to be a hydrating toner, not an alcohol based or astringent one, I really like Pyunkang Yul’s essence toner. It’s been so great for my combination-oily skin, everything else I’ve tried makes me too oily but I get a healthy glow and hydrated skin with this method. I love it.
OH! Also, The Ordinary and Hylamide (both Deciem brands) might? have some clean products. They’re awesomeee. Hylamide has a glow booster that uses keto-sugar instead of DHA to give you a subtle glow (like you just came back from vacation). It’s been great this winter.
Needless to say, I could go on and on! Haha.
I just re-organized my home office and it makes me so much happier now that everything is clean and de-cluttered! I need to add some plants and a diffuser to really take it up a notch.
I live in Denver, where it’s very dry, and so I try to drink a ton of water. It helps me to keep a full water bottle on my bedside table at night, so I can either drink some in the middle of the night when I randomly wake up, or I can drink some first thing in the morning. I also keep my water bottle with me at all times. Usually I aim for 100 ounces a day. I can always tell when I haven’t had enough water – I get headaches and crave junk food!
Forget about false lashes. Use Latisse–it really works and they are your own lashes. Even though it is not an “approved” use, I also use it to grow more eyebrows:)
Totally agree with you on the beauty counter products! I SO wanted to love them and was really excited to try but I went through the face cream in a month (!) as similar to you, it didnt really moisturize, and while the face oils are nice they work out really expensive and no better than other ones I have used. I can highly recommend TROLOGY pure rosehip face oil, it is very clean, relatively well priced ($38 in whole body) and my skin looks good on it. For dry skin cleanser I use the Boots Cleansing Balm which is under $15 and found in Walgreens, Duane Reade or online. It is very good and 99% organic/naturally sourced. I’m a big fan of RMS for make up and Darphin oils for a splurge 🙂 good luck with your new beauty routine! Let us know if you find any good natural hair care…. that’s the one that I struggle with!
Go no-shampoo! I haven’t used shampoo in 3 years and my hair has never been healthier. To go all out, rinse and massage your scalp with a combo of baking soda, apple cider vinegar, and essential oils, diluted with water. If that’s too scary, use a cleansing conditioner – I love Renpure products which are available on Amazon. There is a transition period where your hair is extra oily, but after you make it through that the results are amazing, plus one less step in the shower! Long time reader first time commenter – love everything about PoY! Thanks for all you do!
I have been lately reacting to every new skin care thing on the planet so I have become a connosseur out of necessity hahha. The 4 products I use that my face seems to like are the Nourish Organic Cucumber & Watercress Face Wash, Nourish Organic Refreshing Balancing Face Toner, Nourish Organic Renewing & Cooling Eye Cream, and Pratima Neem Purifying Cream (this is from an ayurvedic spa in NYC but available online too.)
Can you tell me where you got your cross body bag that is sitting on the table in your March coffee date photo?
I love Juice Beauty’s mascara! My eyes are super sensitive, and this stuff is great. Bonus- it’s organic and is made with purple carrots! I might have to look into 100% for the foundation. I’m a minimalist when it comes to make up, so less is better.
I am with you on needing to drink more water! 2 things that help me: always having a huge glass of water at my desk (if it’s there, I’ll drink it!) and freezing lemon slices to add to my water when I need extra motivation but I’m too lazy to slice the lemon 🙂
Starbucks expresso crossed my mind after seeing the title of this post. 🙂
umm…is it me or do you keep mentioning this??
I tried Beauty Counter and was totally unimpressed. It did nothing for my skin and I actually hated how my skin felt after using the cleanser and lotion. I sent it back and tried to get the full refund which they said they would honor. They didn’t. Their customer service leaves a lot to be desired. I’ve been using Acure skin care products and absolutely love them!
I can completely understand you re: water… For some reason I just can’t keep on top of it! Now, give me 2 l of coffee – no problem! 3 l of tea – no problem either. 1.5 l of water = struggle!!! WHY? 🙂 I will try your idea with a nice cup with a straw and I will see how it goes 🙂 Btw – really like your bullet journal 🙂
I love the notebook you use for your bullet journaling! Any chance you could share the brand and/or where you got it?
Clean shampoo recommendation: Acure (love the body lotion too, fragrance free for the face), and recently I’ve been trying Everyday Shea
The Body Shop is THE BEST cruelty free skincare line ever. Worth everything. Also The Ordinary super cheap and amazing company vision (also not tested on animals).
OMG!!!!!!!!! I can’t believe ___dr_mack @yahoo. com could bring my boyfriend back!!! I am so impressed with the result, everything happened so fast!______.”
Just in response to your good clean shampoo recommendation, I love the Arbonne Shampoo! It’s clean, lightweight and smells amazing! Summer in a bottle 🙂
Target has really upped their green beauty game recently. I love the Acure face wash and shampoo. They also have W3ll People makeup. I really like the foundation stick and luminizer. They also have Schmidts and Meow Meow Tweet deodorants which both work really well.