For the past 3 months, I have been using these five products in my routine, and my skin feels so happy. I never even got the usual winter skin blues- dry nose, crinkled skin, and itchy redness- nada. I've been taking a more minimalistic approach to my skincare routine, and I truly believe that Max and Me products have made my skin more hydrated, balanced and overall healthy.

It's that time of the year again—summer vacations are coming to an end and it's time for us to return to the real world. If you're anything like me, sunscreen, pool chemicals and sun exposure have left your skin dehydrated, dull and in need of some extra TLC. But with a busier schedule and back-to-reality blues, who has time for a complicated, 10-step routine?

If you're looking for a brow pomade, your search can end here. EcoBrow makes my all-time favorite green brow product, that is in every way comparable to (if not better than) Anastasia Beverly Hills, NYX, or any number of other conventional brow pomades. 

Published July 14, 2017 by Nicolle Mackinnon

Rose has had its moment and the late summer heat is making us reach for brighter, bolder colors when we want to showcase our sun-kissed skin. That's where poppy comes in. A beautiful shade of coral-pink, poppy give us that POP of color we crave. The best part? It can be layered for boldness and works on nearly every skintone. Here's how to GET THE LOOK with poppy this summer.

Ulta is a great place to find deals and rack up points on products (particularly skincare, in the green beauty category) on many of the same brands you can find at health food stores. The selection at Ulta tends to lean more on the drugstore side, with fewer high end items than Sephora, but you can also find much better deals. There's almost always a $3.50 off coupon, and 20% off deals pop up a couple times a year for rewards members. 

As green beauty or 'ingredient conscious' becomes a more popular category, beauty stores are clueing in and carrying more of what the people are asking for! For green beauty junkies like myself, this is a huge victory. Here are a list of some of the cleaner brands you can find at Sephora, along with a few of my favorite products from each line. 

If you have 6 of something, it probably means you like it- at least a little. In this case, for the Kjaer Weis Cream Blushes, it's a LOT. Yeah, I like these a lot. 

If you work in an office, work makeup can be tricky. Too much or too little can come across as unprofessional, as silly as that may be. Of course, you should set your own standards and do whatever you feel comfortable with. But if you're curious what I use, this post is for you. 

This routine works for me because it's bullet proof, lasts 12 hours without moving, and looks pulled together but not over done. I can also get it done in 15 minutes or less. Sometimes I surprise myself by being finished 30 minutes early. 

I'm a bit of a lipstick snob. 

I think it's because I'm pretty low maintenance when it comes to touch-ups (aka, I don't) so a lip product needs to be moisturizing, long-lasting, and have a balance of pigment that works with it's consistency. When I'm ready to reapply, I want to be able to do it without a mirror, so I tend to stay away from highly pigmented colors day to day. If I want a darker shade, I reach for a liquid lipstick, but because they're so uncomfortable, I tend to avoid them and go for something easy. 

The myth, the legend, The Blue Cocoon... One of the green beauty community's famed skincare products. Loved by Caroline Hirons, praised by Into the Gloss, veiled in mystery and intrigue. It's $180 blue face balm people- I mean who? What? How? 

Here's what I like to call my 'weekend makeup'. It only lasts for around 3 hours on me before getting oily- just long enough to run a couple errands. But it takes literally 5 minutes, and looks natural and glowy. 

Rituel De Fille as a brand has captivated me since I first saw their display in Credo in San Francisco. Their witchy-chic vibe was so strikingly different from anything I've seen in the green beauty space, and I was captivated. 

Over the past few months, I've been collecting pieces of their collection, a highlighter here, an eye soot there, and I've gotten along with almost everything I've tried. Their products do, however, have a learning curve, and take a little bit of patience to work with...

If we're going to be talking about skincare and makeup, I think it's important that you know a bit about my skin. What works for me might not work for you, and vice versa. There is no one perfect skincare or makeup routine that will work for everyone. That's why there are so many cosmetic lines out there- people have different preferences. 

I also think it's important to show my skin and face without makeup, so you have a point of comparison when you see me made up. You deserve to know what makeup and skincare are and are not capable of. There is a lot of distrust between beauty gurus/bloggers and their audience because of Facetune, filters, and editing...

After two sample vials, six months of waffling, and countless Youtube reviews and blog posts, I purchased Vintner's Daughter for a whopping $185. 

I just had to know if the hype was real. An active, completely pure and natural oil-serum? What does that even mean? Will it balance my oily skin, heal pimples, and fade my dark spots? Will it cook my dinner and do my laundry too? (For that price, expectations were high).