The 10 Beauty Products I Am Never, Ever Without

Here’s an ancient photo of pre-baby me shortly after getting my first salon keratin treatment. While I no longer get those – having discovered that they did seem to thin my hair, and also that I enjoy having the option of texture – I never pick up a blowdryer without a nice big spray application of this leave-in conditioner. It was recommended to me by a hairstylist on a set earlier this year, and it truly is the most lightweight, softening, smoothing treatment ever. And it’s way more affordable than most comparable products I’ve tried.

I am almost loathe to keep writing about these, because I sort of love that they’re my little secret – I’m constantly being stopped by people who compliment me on my nails (!!! what) and get to tell them “they’re press-ons,” at which point I enjoy a little reveling in the “omggg you are a GENIUS” compliments.

But I am going to be generous, because it’s the holiday season and also because that’s kinda my job. Buy these. Use these. You will not regret it.

This, right here, is my Desert Island Product.

Supporting evidence for my ongoing insistence that you should try Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation: this photo, taken in direct overhead light. Spoiler: My skin does not look like this when I wake up in the morning. (I wear shade 5.5, if that’s helpful.)

Question: “Jordan, how do you have such short hair and yet constantly seem to be wearing it in an updo?”

Answer: “Because these.”

(A tutorial for how to use u-shaped bobby pins is here.)

I discovered the importance of eyebrows relatively late in life – at the ripe old age of 36 or so. And now? I do not – and I mean this literally – leave the house to go anywhere other than, say, CVS, without mah brows on.

I’ve tried a ton of different pencils and specialty products, but keep reverting to the simplest option: A small, soft brush and whatever brown eyeshadow I happen to have handy.

I’ve been using this exact liquid liner for over a decade, and never allow myself to run out of it. (If I was comfortable saying things like “my signature look”…well, a cat-eye would be part of it.) It’s just perfect: the flexible tip lets you easily adjust the thickness of the line and bring it to a perfect point. It’s also excellently priced.

When I first got this palette, I didn’t think I’d use anything other than the light, sparkly colors and the regular dark brown ones…but as I experimented over time, I found that all of the colors – even the ones you wouldn’t ordinarily think to use, like the burnished reds and sparkly coppers – are gorgeous. I wear one or several of these shadows every day; it’s virtually the only palette I need.

…Yes, even in the winter. And GOODNESS I wish I had internalized the importance of sunscreen earlier in life, but what can you do?

Neova’s tinted sunscreen has the perfect weight to melt right into your skin, and provides just enough coverage that you actually might not need anything else.

When you have lips the size of mine, they are a source of fairly major and constant concern. I’ve tried…well, everything over the years. And while the most important lip product to have on me at all times is “something,” Lucas’ Paw Paw Ointment is my treatment of choice: It’s lightweight, non-greasy, and suuuuuuper moisturizing.

This sounds disgusting, and is disgusting, but is also the single best method I have found for dealing with my horrifying foot situation. The first time I did it, I removed a shot glass’s worth of dead skin from my feet, revealing all the baby softness that had apparently been there all along, and it was mayyyyybe the single most satisfying thing I have ever done in my life (ok, after this). 

Just try it, friends. And start the new year with the heels of your dreams.