My Unqualified Guide to Winter Style
A #beautyblogger I am not. So when I qualify this as a Winter Style Guide, this is most definitely a stretch. But as I mentioned yesterday in my Winter Mom Wins, this is somewhat of a new experience for me. And if I am being honest, I probably never did a very good job of taking care of myself when I lived through the winter before. With age comes wisdom, right? And aging skin so there’s also that. Here are a few of my style and beauty tips for surviving the winter with a little care for my looks and body health.
Winter Hats can look Cute.
Folks, in all of my years (except the last four of course) of tackling the winter dress, I always hated wearing a stocking cap. I have a very large head, larger than my spouse in fact. This means wearing hats meant my head turned into the top of a tampon. Gross. I tried all sorts of hats, usually opting for the baseball/newsboy hat look but it never kept me warm enough over the years. And I would too often forgo the hat for style sake. But this year I knew that sporting that hat was more than just part of my wardrobe, it was an essential part of my health and well being. I would be wearing that hat erry single day. I had to figure this out. And I did. The trick is this: you must leave a little swoop of hair in the front and make the hat go back more than up. Is this making sense? Sneak a peak at that pic above. See that side swoop? See how my ears are warmly covered and yet you can still see some of my forehead. The tampon head thing is gone. In fact, I began to keep the hat on even inside as a hip style thing I loved it so much. I am a stocking cap wearing person now!
Thick Mositurizers are great for Winter Dryness.
A couple years ago when exploring a more natural beauty routine, I stumbled upon the S.W. Basics line available at Target. I loved the idea of clean simple ingredients especially when I could affordably source them at everyone’s favorite boutique Le Target. However, while I loved the daily cream moisturizer, it felt too heavy for me in the typical Texas weather, especially in the summer. I just wasn’t reaching for it as much as my oil based moisturizers. But this winter, I pulled it out one day and I found it to be perfect. My face wanted a thick drink of water and barrier from the harsh winter wind, and this stuff provided. And just three ingredients, folks! Talk about winter minimalism.
My Body Needs a Good Drink of Water Too.
My face wasn’t the only part of me that needed some love. This pale skinned beauty was thirsty too (I’m working on my self love here. I really struggled with the word beauty. But that’s another post for another day.) Also during my quest for simple skin care products, I found the Burt’s Bees Lemon Body Oil. Maybe I need to read more women’s magazines but I didn’t know body oil was a thing, other than that stuff that our moms coated their skin in to get that summer sunny glow, and then a serious case of skin cancer. But when I tried this Lemon Body Oil I knew we would be good friends. Obviously they had me at lemon. I would do anything for a lemon. ANYTHING. This stuff is A-Mazing poured into a hot soaking bath. But it is even better as a full body moisturizer after. Maybe an oil moisturizer sounds messy. It kind of did to me at least, but if you can brave the delicious oil bath of a roast chicken, then you can do this for your skin as well. Is that too gross of an image? Food and beauty are so intertwined for me. But really, this stuff not only left my body feeling smooth and soft, it leaves you with that bright smell of lemonade, which is such a light in the dark dreary days of winter.
Oh but there’s one more way to add water to my skin!
Once upon a time in a place called Sephora, a make up artist chick suggested (bullied?, shamed?) to me that I needed this hydrating face spritz. She said it was the best way to set my make up. And she also told me it was perfect for refreshing my make up at the end of the day, like right before going to happy hour after work or meeting up with my husband for a date night. Insert laughing emoji face here. Preferable rolling on the floor one. Who does she think I am??!! A girl who regularly needs to refresh her daily makeup at the end of the day for a fun carefree night out??!! And also, can she please ring me up for this now so I can get out of here before she convinces me that I need hair extensions as well? This is why I haven’t stepped foot in that target of beauty products for a good long while. They are just too good.
Well anywho, here I was with this magic hydrating spritz stuff. And nowhere to go to be refreshed at the end of the day except my own bed. So it got shoved to the back of the drawer with the rest of my leftover Mary Kay samples I am still making my way through (fun fact! I was a beauty sales person for MK for 2 days once!) . But then, in a crazy afternoon of organizing this winter, I found he bottle again. And I thought, what the heck, let’s refresh this face. I don’t even remember if I had put in makeup that day. Probably not. But either way, something about this hydrating drink of water at 3:00 in the afternoon, darn it if I didn’t feel refreshed! No, I was not date night ready. That would take a whole afternoon without children to prep for. But I did feel brighter, dewier, and without coating my face in more moisturizer, I felt hydrated. I’ve been using it ever since.
There are many different products out there. This post shares some great ones. I have no idea if this is the best one. I’m sure the ladies at Sephora could convince you of the perfect one to bring out your cheek bones. But I might suggest, the skin refresher at the end of a dry cold day was delightful. Stay tuned if I use it throughout the summer. I might just stick my face in the sprinkler instead!
As I said, I don’t plan on jumping aboard the #beautyblogger/#styleblogger cruise ship anytime soon/ever. But I am learning more about how to take care of me. Especially in a season of challenging odds. That feels pretty good. But help a girl out. Send me your winter style/beauty brains! Also accepting submissions for summer. I need all the help I can get.