1. Convince your kids to wear sunscreen to school and on the weekends during September. My kids love the texture of
SkinCeuticals Sheer Physical UV Defense SPF 50 ($34 SHOP NOW) and will put it on their faces by themselves. It is really thin, so it’s easy for them to do, but has superior protection because the micronized titanium dioxide makes it a sun block rather than a sunscreen.
2. Quickly fix dull skin. I hate the way my skin feels in the fall. As the weather changes I immediately go pale, which only emphasizes my sun spots. I keep
m-61 Power Cleanse ($34 SHOP NOW), a glycolic facial cleanser, in the shower and wash my face while I condition my hair. It exfoliates dry patches, revealing new skin. When I get out of the shower – after I’m dry – I quickly apply
m-61 Vitablast C ($92 SHOP NOW), which contains brightening vitamin c and gallic acid (found in blueberries). I finish with a hydrating cream, like
La Mer's The Moisturizing Soft Cream ($155 SHOP NOW). My skin glows after.
3. Run to a weeknight event without redoing your makeup. September seems to be full of weeknight events and I do not have time to reapply makeup.
I use
NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base ($24 SHOP NOW) on my eyelids under shadow to keep my makeup looking fresh until I get home at 10pm.
4. Speed up an at-home blow dry. I am in love with
Oribe's Smooth Style Serum ($49 SHOP NOW). A small, pea-size dab on wet hair before blow drying saves me about 10 minutes of drying time and my hair looks straight and hydrated.
5. Get out the door on a Saturday morning in 5 minutes flat. SkinCeuticals Sheer Physical UV Defense SPF 50 ($34 SHOP NOW) quickly evens out my skin tone. I follow with
Trish McEvoy’s High Volume Mascara ($31 SHOP NOW) and
NARS The Multiple ($39 SHOP NOW) in Orgasm or South Beach applied with fingertips on my cheeks and lips, and I am done and presentable (sort of)!
6. Look like you got sleep. I always find the first weeks of school to be exhausting. Use bronzer and blush to transition to more pale skin without looking ghostly. Swipe bronzer over a warm peach blush to warm up pale skin. I love
Bobbi Brown's Bronzing Powder ($38 SHOP NOW) in Medium over
Laura Mercier's Second Skin Cheek Colour ($25 SHOP NOW) in Orange Blossom.
7. Have fun reconnecting with friends you haven't seen all summer at a cocktail party. I love all the fall cocktail parties and always feel better if I pick up a new, deeper-colored lipstick.
This fall the berries, plums and scarlets are dramatic and festive. My old stand-by is
NARS Sheer Lipstick ($26 SHOP NOW) in Fast Ride, but I am definitely going to Bluemercury Bethesda to pick up a new color for fall. Maybe one of Chanel's new Rouge Allure Lipsticks
(* available at select Bluemercury locations).
Darphin’s Stimulskin Plus Divine Eye Cream also just hit my desk. A deeply hydrating treatment for fine lines and circles, this is pure luxury in a pump. Definitely for those nights when you need heavy-duty overnight reconstructive treatment for fine lines and dark circles (for me that seems to be more frequent than it used to be!).
"Mom, I LOVE it," said my ten year old daughter. "It goes on so soft and creamy," said my eight year old daughter.
