FBFF - Beauty Routine

 This week's FBFF topic is beauty products.  I'll be honest, I'm pretty low key when it comes to my beauty routine.   Here's my daily "getting ready" process:

Hair:
For most of my life, I have had absolutely no idea what to do with this mess of curls on my head.  When I was young, my mom gave me a perm to see if that would make more controllable curls (actually made it worse).  Then we just chopped it very short (and I looked like a boy).  Then after it had grown out, I just did ponytails all the time.  In middle school, I learned about straightening my hair and did that pretty regularly for a few years.  At some point in high school, I gave up trying to fight my natural curls, and learned to deal with it.  Now, this has been my standard hair routine for about 10 years (I'm getting old!)

• Shampoo and Conditioner - Over the years, I have tried various brands, but what I realized is that I don't need anything fancy.  Shampoo to clean, and a generous amount of conditioner to de-tangle, good to go.   Suave is cheap and works for these purposes.  I get the "sleek" version, for dry or frizzy hair.   
• Hairbrush - there are a few rules for brushing curly hair. 
• Never even try to brush it when it is dry.  I basically de-tangle as much as possible when I'm in the shower, and then brush it out immediately.  Then I don't have too many knots for the brush to battle. 
• You need a very strong brush that won't break. If I had a dollar for every broken hairbrush from my life, I'd have a small fortune.  Okay, maybe more like $20, but that's a lot of broken hairbrushes.  These cushion brushes are no good.  The whole cushion of bristles just rips out of the brush handle and is stuck in my hair.  I've even had the whole top part of the brush come unglued from the handle.  I mean, this is ridiculous.  And don't even get me started on those circle brushes.  This brush looks like it would work. 
• Mousse! - I've tried many many many products for curly hair, and various brands of mousse, but the only one I like is Pantene's Curl Defining Mousse.  It reduces frizz, keeps the curls defined, and doesn't make my hair crunchy like a lot of curl defining products.  I have to use quite a bit of mousse, and make sure my hair is still wet when I apply, so this isn't ideal in the winter (frozen hair!) or if I have an early meeting, but it's the best option for me!  I've also been complimented pretty frequently on how this mousse smells (this is sometimes really awkward!)
• Very rarely, I will use a hair dryer.  I'll mostly do this if it is freezing outside or I need to be at a meeting and don't want wet hair.  Hair dryers are usually my arch nemesis, so I have to be very careful not to fluff very much.  I never every dry it completely, either.  
• A quick note on straightening:  I haven't straightened my hair in several years.  It just takes forever, and doesn't stay cute for very long, especially in the Nebraska humidity.   Also, I don't want to drop the money on a quality straightener when I know I won't use it very often. 

Skin Care and Make-up:
As with hair products, I've used quite an assortment of skin care and make up over the years.  My sister used to work at a department store, for a few different cosmetic counters, so I pretty much used whatever brand she was working with, because we got free samples and discounts.  That was great until she stopped working there, and I wasn't going to spend that much on face wash and make up!  For a few years, I pretty much stuck with L'Oreal products, but I wasn't super impressed.  I still change products every so often, but here's my current list:

• Face wash:  I'm a recent convert to Aveeno products.  Right now, I'm using the Ultra-Calming Foaming Cleanser.
• Moisturizer:  sticking with the Aveeno trend, I'm using the Ultra-Calming Daily Moisturizer SPF 15.  I like how it has SPF in it, so I am always protecting my face, and I don't have to think about it.  
• Make-Up:  I keep it pretty simple.  Before I started the blog, I probably wore makeup a couple times a month.  Then I thought I should be more consistent if I was going to take daily photos of myself.  For about 5 years, I've been using the Bare Minerals foundation.  I just love how easy it goes on, and looks really natural.  Most days, I just do the foundation and mineral veil.  For special occasions, I will go all out and add eye make up.  Maybe even lipstick if I'm feeling particularly fancy. 
• Chapstick!  This is important.  I don't know what I would do without my Blistex Silk & Shine.  

So there you have it - all my beauty secrets.  I like to keep it simple.