My Everyday Essentials [Guest Post]

by Samantha Braddy

Every girl needs to have an everyday essential routine, and none can be complete without a selection of beauty products. There’s a lot we couldn’t live without, and narrowing it down to a few isn’t a walk in the park – especially when you are one of those beauty-and-fashion obsessed girlies who enjoy spending time in front of the mirror. Still, needs musts and all that… Ah.

Anyhow, thinking about the essentials for the day – things I absolutely cannot go without – I’ve come up with the following:

Treat your lips for a fuller look

What I have recently noticed is that everyone looks at your lips first. I am not sure if this lip obsession started with Kylie Jenner or whether things were always like that but I failed to notice them, but good lip hygiene is essential. If your lips are flaky and chapped, you won’t appear as attractive as you might hope. My favorite lip balm, a staple go-to if you will, is always within my hand’s reach and you won’t ever see me leave the house without it. If you are into fruit flavors, go for cherry, strawberry, coconut or cocoa butter. Yum!

Your eyes don’t lie

Never get caught without mascara in public. It’s a great thing that will help adjust your makeup and boost your looks. With a unique name like Perversion Mascara from Urban Decay, how can you resist not owning one? The good thing about it is that the mascara lasts as long as you do (for the day).

Give your skin a glow

I’ve been there a million times already: countless meetings, pitches, presentations, running around doing errands… and makeup as the only beacon of hope to cover up the fact that I haven’t been sleeping properly for days. But, the skin’s got its own ways of revealing just how tired we actually are. Still, with the help of Huite Lotus skin oil from Clarins, you will moisturize and feed your skin to attain that excellent glow. It’s great for all skin types, helps level out blemishes and smooths the skin out

Keep your hands soft

No matter what you do, your hands need to be moisturized and soft on a daily basis. The absolute best hand cream I reach for every time is Loccitane from Peter’s of Kensington. It’s very nutritional and soft on the skin, and kind of addictive (not in a bad way, obviously). Once you try it out, it’ll quickly become an essential and you won’t even look at other brands.

Powder up

Finding a powder that will hide all the blemishes and give you the finishing touch you need is a demanding task, especially with a sea of brands at your disposal. Nobody likes looking cakey, do they? BareMinerals has got you covered! I just love this brand! Their light powder will help you blend your makeup together without strong brushstrokes. Moreover, it contains an SPF of 25, which is amazing since you won’t have to apply another layer of sunscreen.

The start and end of your day

Your daily routine should start and end with a generous amount of your chosen facial cream. A combo of day and night creams from Olay is exactly what you need. Make sure you don’t forget to apply it because otherwise you might spot the signs of aging way quicker than you have anticipated. Yack!

Always cleanse your skin

Applying layers upon layers of makeup will clog your pores and eventually cause more, sometimes acute, problems. However, thanks to Bioderma’s Sensibio H2O Micellar cleansing tonic, you’ll remove the makeup easily while protecting your sensitive skin. Sweet!

The scent of summer in a bottle


Flower in the Air from Kenzo is a must-have this season… if you love the floral tones, that is. It’s a light fragrance to go with a summer outing, and I just love how it feels on my skin. The floral scent is sure to help you complete your look, and keep you fresh until it’s time to sleep (and after).

Well, dolls – hope the selection helped! If you’ve got some other ideas in mind to help complete this list, please let me know!