Hi all! I’ve gotten a few of the same questions sent to my Instagram DM’s as of late and thought I could make a mini blog post about them, as I’m more than happy to share the answers. The most asked questions I get asked are about my hair (where I get it done, what I ask for, how I style it) and about my makeup routine (what mascara I wear, foundation, and how I make it look the way it looks).

First, let’s talk hair! I have literally never loved my hair more in my life and it’s kind of funny because so many people told me that I’d regret cutting my long hair, but honestly, I LOVE my short hair so much! It takes less time to style, it looks insanely healthy, and it feels so thick and lush when I run my fingers through it. This is mostly thanks to an amazing hair stylist, which is the first question that seems to pop up a lot in my DM’s. I go to the Jenn Martin Spa in Rhinebeck and see Ashley, you can find the salon and Ashley on Instagram respectively, @jennmartin.spa and @haight_hair.

I’m pretty sure this is the last inspiration picture I showed Ashley and honestly I totally trust her, what she thinks is best, and her creative process and always love the outcome. I’ve started going more regularly now that my hair is short, about every three months, and actually use a shampoo Ashley recommended as well, Fanola No Yellow Shampoo, which I got on Amazon – it keeps me blonde without any brassiness or yellow, and sometimes even gives me some ashy gray-tone pieces, which I love! Also, it’s super affordable, I’ve had mine for almost a year, it was only $25 and I’m not even half way through, a little goes a long way!In terms of my every-day styling, as soon as I get out of the shower and run a brush through my hair I use either a Milkshake, or Ouai leave-in-conditioner, after blow drying I run a small amount of Ouai hair oil through, which I rub in between my hands first, and then I either straighten it with a Chi straightener, or curl it with a Sultra curling wand and finish things off with Drybar triple sec, which is an amazing volumizing spray, that smells so good! Also, I should mention, I used to use nothing in my hair and now won’t go without at least a hair oil and a volumizing spray and I’ve noticed a huge difference.

Now, let’s talk makeup! These are the other questions I tend to get asked via Instagram DM kind of a lot, and usually the questions are things like what mascara or foundation I use, but I’ve also had people ask me if I could do their makeup, which I should clarify, although I like makeup, I’ve only ever done my own! In terms of makeup, I’m more than happy to make a few recommendations and tell you what I use every single day, but keep in mind that everyone is different, I tend to like full coverage makeup and have very dry skin, so what works for me, might not work for you.

First things first, I do not use any primers; in the morning I wash my face, put on a moisturizer, and start my makeup routine with foundation. Currently, I am in love with the YSL All Hours Long Wear Natural Matte Foundation, this has been my go to, since I reviewed it on the blog, almost a year ago, which you can checkout here. It is expensive, but I love the way it makes my skin look, you know what they say, don’t try on a wedding dress you can’t afford! Next step is concealer; I have been using and loving the Tarte Shape Tape and am on my second tube. The last “base” step is powder. I’ve been using the Too Faced Born This Way Ethereal Setting Powder, while I like it, I’m not in love with it and am actually looking for suggestions for something a little more hydrating for dry skin girls like me!

Next I put on my bronzer and blush, I’ve been using the Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Matte Bronzer to contour and the Hourglass Lighting Bronzer to bronze and bring luminosity to my skin. For a blush and highlight I use the Bobbi Brown powder that I wrote about for my March Beauty update; it was limited edition and is no longer available, but I’ve seen similar products from Bobbi Brown, like their shimmer bricks! I like to use powders with some highlight and luminosity since I use a matte foundation, it makes my skin look more youthful and healthy, and gives a real glow from within look too, I focus on the apples of my cheeks and it makes me look fresh and healthy!

Next step, eyes and eyebrows. For my brows I still am using the Makeup Forever Aqua Brow, which gives my brows such a natural color; I just use an angled brush and follow the natural shape of my brows. I own quite a few eyeshadow palettes, but have gotten a lot of use lately out of the Too Faced Sweet Peach Palette, it has a lot of great tones for fall, including bronze and purple shades! I also love Natasha Denona shadows, but know they are so expensive, and only lucked out because when I ordered one as a gift for a friend they accidentally sent two palettes! For eyeliner, I use the Stila All Day Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner, but am looking for a good drug store dupe, because I buy these over and over again, they dry out kind of quickly and I find the felt tip doesn’t keep its shape. For mascara, my absolute favorite is the Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara, which is under $10!Lips are probably my favorite part because they finish the whole look, my favorites are the Stila All Day Liquid Lipstick in the color Perla, the Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution Lipstick in Glastonberry, and I’ve been loving this Too Faced The Sweet Smell of Christmas-Mini Melted Liquid Lipstick Set, which has a nude (which I’m wearing above), a mauve color, an orange tone, and a beautiful red! Plus, they’re all scented – yum!

I am wearing Stila’s Perla in the featured image for this post and here I am wearing Glastonberry!(Worth noting that this picture was taken on my iPhone 6s, whereas the other images in this post were taken with my new iPhone XS Max – huge difference in quality in my opinion! Literally loving the camera upgrade).

Thanks for reading, hope this was helpful, leave any questions you might have below!