How much does your daily beauty routine cost? Welcome to The Klog’s Beauty Diaries. Inspired by Refinery29’s Money Diaries, we thought it would be fun to recap a day in the life of people with different occupations and highlight their beauty routines. First up, a woman in marketing who works in skin care.
Occupation: Associate Marketing Manager
Industry: Beauty
Age: 24
Location: New York, NY
8:50 am – My sister gets sworn into the New York bar today, so I’m taking half the day off to go to the courtroom. When I hop in the shower, I wash my hair with Vitabrid C12 Shampoo ($32) that my mom got me from Korea and condition with SheaMoisture Sacha Inchi Oil Conditioner ($12) that I bought from Duane Reade. I hate buying beauty products from drugstores because I feel like they’re usually overpriced given the quality, but I love SheaMoisture products for my dry strands. I wash my body with a tiny leftover piece of Erborian Black Soap ($15). – $59
9:00 am – When I get out, I moisturize my body with the Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Formula Lotion ($6). It’s cheap and does the job, but it’s not moisturizing enough. I’m considering buying the $35 body moisturizer from Aesop I saw on Refinery29. I brush my teeth and wash my face with the Missha Near Skin pH Balancing Cleansing Foam ($14). Normally, I wash my face and moisturize a bit before I shower, but I’m in a rush. – $20
9:05 am – Time to start my facial skin care routine. First, I pat on the Benton Aloe BHA Skin Toner ($19) all over my face and neck. I don’t like most acids, but this one doesn’t sting or make my face red at all—it just feels like a hydrating toner. After that, I apply two pumps of the Goodal Anti-Aging Double Serum ($35), which I snagged from my company freebies’ bin when it got discontinued. For moisturizer, I apply the Benton Snail Bee High Content Steam Cream ($20), followed by the Enature Plantlicious UV Sunscreen ($28), both which I snagged from the freebies bin. – $102
For makeup, I use the RMS Beauty “Un” Cover-Up ($36), which I bought in college when I went through an organic beauty phase. I apply a muted coral blush from the ELF Soft Cream Blush Palette ($6) and set everything with the Son & Park Flawless Pore Pact ($27), which is my favorite setting powder ever. – $69
For my brows, I use the Clio Kill Brow Auto Hard Brow Pencil ($14), which I got for free from work. I curl my lashes with the Shiseido Eyelash Curler ($20) and coat them with the Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara Mini ($12). Since I rarely ever finish makeup products, I always buy the mini size when I can. Then, I set my lashes with the Etude House Dr. Mascara Fixer ($7.80) and finish off the look with the NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Cannes ($6.50). – $60.30
9:35 am – I finger brush my hair and apply a pump of British M Organics Annato Hair Oil ($67) on my damp ends. Since I dyed my hair, if I let it air dry with no hair essence, the ends look like dry reeds. I dry my hair on medium heat for about two minutes and then run out the door. – $67
12:00 pm – After the ceremony, we head to The Modern at MoMa for lunch (my sister is fancy). Her friend joins us. After lunch, I apply a lipstick I got from the freebies bin—Etude House Chiffon BE109 ($12). It’s the perfect MLBB lipstick that makes me feel like Lily May Mac for a hot second. I lightly powder again with the Son & Park pact to get rid of the shine between my brows. – $12
2:00 pm – Back at work. I have a lot of emails to catch up on. I sit at my desk and crank them out.
4:00 pm – When I go to the bathroom, I realize to my horror that the ‘afternoon face’ has set in—my skin looks dry, the areas around my nose are flaky, and I have mascara smudges everywhere. I reapply the Etude House lipstick and mist with the Neogen H2 Dermadeca Serum Spray ($19) sitting on my desk. – $19
6:30pm – Time to head out. Because I took the morning off, my afternoon was a bit hectic. I just want to go home and rest. Before I head out the door, I reapply my lipstick and pat some on my cheeks as blush.
6:50pm – I stop by the drugstore to pick up some paper towels and end up picking up an Essie nail polish in Geranium ($9). I wanted Clambake or Fifth Avenue, but they didn’t have those. I’m somehow into red nail polish these days. After paying, I walk home, make dinner, and watch Terrace House Season 3 on Netflix while texting my boyfriend. – $9
11:20pm – I start getting ready for bed. I brush my teeth and floss. Normally, I remove my eye makeup before doing the double cleanse, but I’m feeling extremely lazy and tired. I rub the Biossance Squalane + Antioxidant Cleansing Oil ($30) all over my face to melt the makeup. It’s a very light oil that gets the job done, but sometimes when my face feels dry, I prefer something thicker like the Eve Lom Cleanser. But that one is $50 a tub, so I can’t use it every day. After the oil cleanse, I follow up with the Missha Near Skin gel cleanser. – $30
11:30pm – My PM routine is mostly the same as my AM routine. I put on the Benton Aloe BHA Skin Toner, this time using a cotton pad, and apply two pumps of the Goodal Anti-Aging Double Serum. Then I apply a generous amount of the Missha Time Revolution Night Repair Ampoule ($49) and then the Benton Snail Bee High Content Steam Cream. Because my lips become chapped overnight, I coat them with the Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask ($20) and also apply Medicine Mama’s Apothecary Sweet Bee Magic all over my hands and cuticles ($22.49). – $91.49
Daily Total: $538.79
Hair, Body, Nails: $141
Skin Care: $256.49
Makeup: $141.30