You know that friend you have, the one you can always call when you want to be told “no,” or to be talked out of doing something? I am not that friend. I’m never going to talk you out of getting a new beauty product (unless, of course, it has toxic-laden ingredients or is covered […]

After all these years as a beauty writer, I have occasionally thought about designing my own line of makeup. I haven’t ever seriously considered it, but I’ve wondered what it would be like. Every lipstick shade would be brown-based and have shimmer. There would be tons of bright pink blush and mascara that builds nicely […]

New makeup for every type of makeup wearer! The lines between “want” and “need” have always been blurry for me when it comes to makeup; one person’s necessity is another person’s wishlist, and who am I to judge?! Be it for health reasons, for self-expression, or because the world is bleak and we need joy […]

The pandemic is over! Okay, it’s not over, but you can stop wearing masks! Well, you still should wear masks in some places, but not if you’re vaccinated! Hold on, there’s another variant, let’s see what it does…. So are masks… over? Are we still wearing masks???? Ah, the rollercoaster ride of the beginning of the […]

I’m so pleased to bring you our THIRD annual Top 3 Staff Picks roundup! This is my favorite (and also the hardest!) post of the year. I love seeing what my fellow team members at Integrity Botanicals have been loving this past year! But it’s also VERY hard for me to pick just three top […]

I always learn something when I’m researching and writing a blog post, like how Bakuchiol is not actually a kind of Retinol, or how eczema is often triggered by dietary factors, but rarely does a post influence me to change my habits so drastically! While researching this post— talking to brand founders and scouring websites and product packages for […]

There is no way, if you’re reading this, that you have not already heard (and read!) a ton about COVID-19 and the pandemic of this novel coronavirus. So I’m not going to give you more facts, or try to make you feel calm about it, or freak you out about it. Because it’s here, and […]

If you read our Top 3 Staff Picks of 2018 post last year, you’ll recall how hard it was for me to write. Choosing only three favorite items to shout out was like asking me to choose a favorite child. Impossible. I’m a true product junkie! So this year, I’ve narrowed it down for myself […]

I love to travel, but I’m often torn between wanting to go to new places where I’ve never been before, and wanting to go back to beloved spots I have previously visited and loved. For example, as a kid, my family went to South Carolina every summer. I could see every inch of our house […]

In the beauty industry, we put a lot of focus on the new. What’s the hot new product? What new innovations did such-and-such brand incorporate into their products? What is the new color of the season? The new, trendy smell, the new, cool ingredient, the new “it” category. You’ve seen it all, I’m sure, whether […]