New Skincare Routine with Schön

As someone who dabbles quite frequently in skincare products, I’ll admit - I wasn’t always so savvy. Growing up, thanks to my dad’s advice, I used a bar of DIAL SOAP to wash my face. Yes, I can hear you laughing through the screen and I certainly would be too. MYYY how things have changed!

And while I really love trying out products, I was sort of doing so blindly. Face brightening? SURE. Eye mask, why not! So after a lifetime of playing the guessing game, I decided to visit a leading cosmetic dermatologist, Dr. Nicole Hayre over at The Cosmetic Dermatology Center in McLean.

My experience with Nicole was amazing. Within minutes and without any invasive testing, she was able to tell me what she could do to help my skin. Since I’m prone to dry skin and redness in the winter, she recommended a few key items from her skincare line, Schön (meaning beautiful) to help my skin reach its full potential. Here’s what she recommended:

MORNING ROUTINE:
Calming Cream Cleanser
This creamy face wash is the first I’ve tried that doesn’t leave my skin feeling dry. It has no scent (great for my sensitive skin) and really helps with the redness I’ve been experiencing lately.

Essential Eye Complex
As I’m getting older, I’m starting to notice laugh lines and dark circles popping up more prominently. To remedy this, Dr. Hayre recommended this eye cream. After cleansing, I massage this thicker lotion around my eye area. It’s only been a month and I have already noticed less darkness under my eyes!

Intensive Hydrating Balm
This stuff is like my skin shield. I feel like I’m giving my skin a gulp of cool water when I use it - not only does it hydrate your skin, but it helps reduce redness, reduces the amount of oil production and improves skin tone with the Vitamin B in it. Even after a busy day commuting in the harsh winds, my skin is STILL supple by the end of the day.

Sheer Signature BB Cream
I’ve been on the hunt for a BB cream for a while now and finally found one I really love. This tinted BB cream is the perfect skin protector and is filled with anti-oxidants and SPF. It blends into my skin perfectly and really evens out my skin tone.  It also prevents premature skin aging (yes please!) This might be my favorite item Dr. Hayre recommended.

EVENING ROUTINE
Cleanser
Essential Eye Complex

Advanced Anti-Oxidant CE Ferulic Cream
My last step before going to bed each night is using this super hydrating cream. The Vitamin C and other anti-oxidants both brighten and smooths the texture of my skin. I always feel like I’ve just come back from the spa after I use this and my skin is SO SUPER SOFT in the mornings. I almost feel bad taking a shower because I don’t want to wash it away haha!

TWICE DAILY
Complexion Brightening Pads
Funny story - I never noticed that I had skin discoloration until I walked into a skincare shop and the sales lady offered to show me where the skin discoloration section was. I was SO offended! But I forgot about it. Fast forward to my trip to St. Lucia - I was talking a selfie with some macaroons (as one casually does) and it was THEN that I saw it. My tan had amplified the darker skin tones above my lip! THE HORROR. Even though I’m semi-mortified admitting something like that to the world on this blog, I’m obsessed with the results I’ve gotten with these complexion brightening pads. I thought I was basically doomed forever, but by using these once a day in that particular area, it’s evened out SO much!

ONCE A WEEK
Weekly Retexturing Treatment
Sunday is typically my beauty day. I do my nails for the week, treat myself with a Drybar hair mask and exfoliate my skin with the retexturing pads. It helps improve my skin’s texture (something that became not-so-great after all the holiday treats…) and smooths everything out. It's amazing.

If you’re looking to improve your skincare or develop your own skincare routine, Dr. Hayre’s office (The Cosmetic Dermatology Center) is located in Tysons at 8405 Greensboro Drive, Mclean, VA. You can call to make an appointment at 703-827-8600.

Thanks so much to Dr. Hayre and Schön Skincare for partnering on this post and helping me develop healthy skincare habits. As always, all opinions expressed are my own.

Nod to the Nineties

Today’s outfit is a big ol’ dose of nineties goodness. This jacket? Inspired by the nineties. But this dress? ACTUALLY FROM THE NINETIES.

Let me explain - I’ve had this dress for a long time. Like, wore it for my 5th grade graduation party old. Not kidding.

I decided on a whim to browse through my old closet at mom’s house a few week’s back and found this LBD hiding in the very back. If you wait long enough, things always come back in style.

At first, I was hesitant to accept that the nineties had come back (I had JUST thrown out my last pair of flares), but now I can’t get enough.

Since this is kind of a fancier dress, I decided to dress it down with a button-up, jean jacket (another nineties staple) and my very favorite Everlane loafers. Of course, nothing other than a brown lipstick (another nineties fave) would do. This is my new favorite shade - it’s a little nude, a little brown and a lot of awesome. ;)

Long live the nineties!

Wearing A.Byer dress (similar), H&M blouse, J.Crew jacket, FLOW scarf via The Odivo c/o, Everlane Loafers, MAC lipstick in “Velvet Teddy”

5 Ways to Make It Through The Post-Holiday Blues

Get organized
Nothing stresses me out than not having a game plan. Set yourself up for success this month! A few tools that help me accomplish this? A desktop calendar so I can see the entire month in advance. I write down things like meetings, lunches and conference calls so I don’t overbook (or overwhelm) myself. I love the GSD Master List from Meg Biram - it allows me to categorize the most important projects I’m working on!

Plan a vacation
This is HUGE, you guys. Nothing helps cure the winter blues more than a long weekend in the sun. Around this time of year, flights to Florida can be crazy cheap too. Also getting away to a new destination enables a certain part of your brain to become more active (and THIS is why I’m not a scientist haha!) Plus, the anticipation of going somewhere warm gives us HOPE!! Our body needs that Vitamin D.

While we usually drop off our fur baby at my in-law’s home, I’ve heard awesome things about the Old Towne Pet Resort! Have any of you taken your pets there? You can even watch them on live video cams!! Rates start at $60/night for dogs and $30/night for cats. They even have a spa, grooming area and boot camp for your pets to pamper then while you’re away! (And I thought our pup was spoiled at Mimi’s and Grampy’s!)

Clean out your closet
I’ve mentioned this quite a few times, but I felt like a new person when I went through all my clothing and only kept the things I loved (per Marie Kondo’s advice in “The Life Changing Magic of Tiding Up.” I got rid of about 2/3 of my clothing, which unfortunately, did leave a few gaps that required me to do a little shopping (OOPS!) Of course, since I’ve given up on fast fashion (for the most part), the things I really love and want to invest in are far more expensive.

To try out something before I decide to invest, I love using Rent the Runway. It allows me to give certain trends a trial run before I decide if I should spend the money on a piece. Questions like, “will this edgy jacket become a staple or a one-time wear?” and “Is this designer bag big enough to store the things I need on a daily basis?” won’t be hard to answer when you’ve been given time to try it out! Trying new things on also helps refine your signature look (something I’ve been working on for years and finally feel like I’m figuring out!) Their PRO program is under $30/year and gives you free shipping and insurance on all orders. PLUS you get a free birthday dress! OH AND DID I MENTION that they're is having their clearance sale right now? Best get to it!

Exercise
Getting your endorphins going is going to help with the winter blues more than anything. I focus a couple days a week on strength training and then do cardio for the other few. Although I love running (read: slow jogging), it’s terrible on my knees. Lately, I’ve become OBSESSED with Soul Cycle. This is so embarrassing - but I was totally nervous before my first class. Was I going to pass out in class? Was I even ready for this endeavor? WAS I GOING TO SURVIVE?! All these questions melted away when the instructor starting talking about the experience being different for everyone - that we were there to ride OUR ride. I was surprised at how spiritual the experience was! I felt like not just my body, but also my mind was totally renewed after the class. Call your nearest studio for your first ride free until January 18!   

Eat right
I’ve been totally slacking off in this department over the last couple months (totes blaming the holidays) and this week I’m getting back into the swing of clean eating. Most of the time, that means cooking veggies, eating brown rice and getting back in the green smoothie grind. However, I was recently introduced to Sweetgreen (yes, I know, late to the game as usual) and I’m in love!! It always leaves me feeling amazing afterwards and the food is AMAZE. I always get the Harvest Bowl - it has apples, chicken (but I get tofu instead), wild rice, sweet potato, kale and goat cheese. And I get the bread slice on top because calories smalories…worth every bite.

BONUS (YET MANDATORY) TIP

Treat Yo’Self
One thing that easily goes out the window when things get busy around this time of year is taking care of myself. I’m really making an effort to focus on my daily skincare routine and treating myself to little things here and there. Last week, I splurged on the new Olivia Palermo X Ciarte nail polish (you can find it here.) If you’re not great at doing your own nails (I AM LITERALLY THE WORST), I had an awesome experience at Varnish Lane, which is just a short walk from the Friendship Heights metro.

And next week, I’ll be trying out a new service called ZEEL that’s basically like an uber for massages. They come to your house (perfect for the busy girl in all of us) on-demand when you’re in need of a little pampering. You can choose whether you want a girl or guy and what type of massage as well. And the app is super easy to use too and you can get $25 off your first massage with code:  BLDC25

Do you guys have any more tips on how to make it through these next few frigid months? Here are a few more ideas I shared last year about how to beat the winter blues.

Images via Jen Eun, myself, Soul Cycle, Sweetgreen

Blue

Not to be basic...but THIS WEATHER. It's killing my soul. And my health. I've had a virus for the past few days that I'm still trying to get over (getting lots of rest thanks to Making a Murderer on Netflix - who else is watching?!) So...to be honest, this has definitely been my least productive January to date.

And while I'm usually a super positive person, I'm kinda bummed out. HOWEVER, tomorrow I'll be sharing a few ways I'm going to try and get myself out of this funk. If you guys have any tips, I'd love to hear them in the comments below!

Until then, I wanted to share one of my favorite color combos as of late: royal blue, black and white. (Remember when I wore it here?!) This whole color situation was inspired by this cool vintage scarf that I found thrifting a few months back. It's been one of my favorite finds to date!

Unfortunately, all of the items I'm wearing are sold out, but I've linked to a bunch of similar items below!

Wearing Finders Keepers coat (similar), vintage scarf (love this vintage YSL find!), Rag & Bone dress (similar), and Finders Keepers pumps (similar.)

• SHOP THIS POST •

5 More Minutes

I don’t know about you, but I FOR SURE needed 5 more minutes when I woke up this morning. You’d think I’d get used to it after YEARS of needing to wake up early after a long weekend but NOPE. In fact, I feel like it gets worse. (See: 10 Ways to Beat the Winter Blues)

Everyone’s been posting about being ready for a new year with all their lofty goals and I’m just over here like barely motivated to look presentable for work today. The struggle has never been more real.

While I get my motivation up and at ‘em, here are a few highlights from the past couple weeks (to prove I wasn’t a lazy sloth the ENTIRE week ;))

Grabbed brunch with some friends at Le Diplomate (wearing Sophie Blake cuff)

Took my sister to our favorite winery, Stone Tower in Leesburg

Celebrated a pleasantly warm Christmas in the country (shop my dress and scarf here)

Visited the future site of my Aunt-in-Law’s B&B

Made (and subsequently ate) all the ricotta pancakes

Watched the sunset on skyline drive

Chopped off some more hair (thanks to the great Nadine Matar at PR @ Partners on K Street)

Tried a new coffee shop (King Street Coffee in Leesburg)

Fell in love with Darling Magazine (and tried green nail polish - LOVE)

Finally visited JRINK Juicery! (YUM)

Got my first shipment of goodies from From the Farmer! Can't wait to share more about them!