(summer) essentials

Each spring, I eagerly await the first hints of summer, usually marked by how many days in a row I can get away with bare legs and no jacket. Despite all my giddy (and premature) summer shopping, I still find myself woefully unprepared when the first hot summer day hits – my skin is pasty, I can barely string together a decent look, and damn it, I need a pedicure.

Thankfully I have my old standbys – the essential items I return to, year after year, regardless of what’s on trend this season. These include (but are not limited to): the infinitely wearable loose-fit racerback tank, the one-in-every-color fitted v-neck tee, the casual summer shoe, the staple high-waisted cuffed short, the perfect hot-red nail polish for a pedicure, tan and tone (in a bottle), a flouncy pleated mini skirt, and the classy alternative to flippy floppies; see my picks below.

|ABOVE, from top left| Soludos espadrilles; Mossimo Supply Co. short sleeve pocket vee tee; L’Oreal Paris sublime bronze; Sparkle & Fade neon mini; T by Alexander Wang classic tank with pocket; ASOS belted shorts; Sam Edelman gigi; L’Oreal Paris in 430 apple of my eye

loud mouth (five red lipsticks)

It’s ironic that red lipsticks should be the bastion of sluts everywhere, when if one were to act on any of the indiscretions a red lip suggests, they would end up with Kool-aid mouth, which is ultimately, not cool. No, red lips are better suited to the tease – striking, yes, but she is going home alone.

Maybe it’s to offset my short boyish hair, or I’m finally settling into my femininity, but a red lip has become my go-to look for the past year or so. Below, five of my favorites – from wine-red to coral, each shade has its own personality (though unfortunately, each of these personalities is high maintenance). The trick? A good pencil and a lip brush. Which is your favorite?

|ABOVE| L’Oréal saucy sangria, Giorgio Armani 400, Nars heat wave, Clarins clementine, YSL rouge pur 152

essentials (natural beauty, part deux)

So last night before bed, I was doing a honey mask (my face was feeling red and parched) when my husband came up behind me and was all like, “Oh hey baby (winky face, winky face)”. That is, until I turned around, slowly, horror movie style. It was then that his face dropped in a very sad way.

These beauty posts may as well be called Ways to Be A Boner-Kill (With Common Household Items), but alas, they work, and the ol’ I-have-a-headache excuse is getting a bit tired, no? I kid, I kid. So without further ado, I present you with the final three natural beauty items I swear by:

Tea tree oil with vitamin E – Tea tree oil should be in everyone’s medicine cabinet. You know that father with the Windex in My Big Fat Greek Wedding? That is me with tea tree oil. It is great for blemishes, skin irritations, after waxing, razor rash, athletes foot, warts, you name it (it treats it). This formula, diluted with vitamin E, is especially gentle on sensitive skins, which is great as I am always dabbing it on my face before bed. Whenever I see the hint of a pimple, tea tree oil comes to the rescue, clearing it up without leaving the usual telltale patch of irritated flaky skin of a blemish treatment.

Apple cider vinegar – One summer I had the weirdest onset of seborrheic dermatitis on my forehead, which is a fancy doctor term for gross oily acne bumps. I tried everything to get rid of it, and some worked in the short term, but the only thing that actually clarified the issue, and kept it from returning, was a treatment of apple cider vinegar. And not just any apple cider vinegar, raw unfiltered with something terrifying-sounding called “The Mother” (just like anything raw and unpasteurized — full of ass-kicking enzymes and good bacteria). I would mix a 1:1 ratio of apple cider vinegar and water and apply it as a toner every night, letting it dry before smoothing on a thin layer of tea tree oil. In fact, I still preform this ritual whenever my T-zone gets congested. Try it, it works.

Monkey Balm – Affectionately called “Monkey Balls” in our house, because we are childish and immature, Monkey Balm is the best treatment we have found for eczema. I say “we”, because it’s my husband who mainly suffers from eczema — the kind that, for whatever reason, doesn’t respond to prescribed steroid medications. We tried a lot of natural remedies, but this is the one that has the best effect, many times seemingly overnight. Its active ingredient is sea buckthorn oil, one of the latest on the superfood bandwagon, as touted by celebrity Dr. Oz. Whatever. Effectiveness aside, I love that it’s one of the only balms that comes in a stick, making it less messy to use and less germy than a traditional stick-your-finger-in-it pot.

Continued from: essentials (natural beauty, part un)