Holiday party season is upon us… Do you have any holiday makeup tips and tricks? Have you learned anything new (a hairstyle, a makeup technique) or bought a new product you’ll definitely be using for upcoming holiday parties?

Kat’s Holiday Makeup: A Dramatic Eye

I must say I have fun with a dramatic makeup look… and hands down, the top trick I’ve learned lately that I’ll definitely be using for holiday makeup is to line the inside of my upper eyelid’s waterline with black pencil to make my lashline look fuller. I’ve been using this NudeStix eye liner — this thing does NOT budge and is a matte, opaque black; I find the chunkier pencil an easy way to get my waterline because it needs less precision than all of my skinnier eyeliner pencils.

(This is actually great for a “no makeup” look also because you can skip regular liner — my eyes look noticeably bigger when I do it.)

I also got this “winged eyeliner stamp” during the Black Friday sales, but haven’t tried it yet… I am almost as bad at a winged eyeliner as I am at fake eyelashes, and that’s saying something.

Otherwise, I generally like to let the kids pick my overall eye makeup color — sometimes I do black, sometimes brown, sometimes navy — and then choose my lip from there. (I keep trying purple, which should be great with my brownish-greenish eyes, but I feel like it just makes me look like I’m ill. Onwards…)

Psst: If you’re hunting for stocking stuffers, this set of lip stains in teensy wine bottles is kind of great. The colors all look different on me than as shown on the product page, but they all look better; they’re very wearable. “Merlot” is a really nice bluish red; it doesn’t read as purple at all.

Ann’s Holiday Makeup: An Elevated “No Makeup” Look

For the holidays, I take my usual “natural look” / “no-makeup look” up a level by adding some extra glow.

First, I prime my skin so my makeup lasts from cocktail hour to holiday cookie platter. Instead of using my usual mattifying primer, I’ll use one like Glow Recipe’s Strawberry BHA Pore-Smooth Blur Drops that imparts a blurred, satin finish.

Next, I’ll mix a buildable, brightening foundation like NARS Sheer Glow Foundation with an illuminator like Kosas Glow I.V. Vitamin-Infused Skin Illuminating Enhancer for a healthy (but not shiny) glow.

Then, I go bold with a reflective lip gloss like this one from Fenty Beauty and shimmery eyeshadow like this one from stila.

From beginning to end, it takes me about five minutes (because kids). If you have a little more time, add some blush (like this one from NARS) for a “I just took a brisk walk in the snow” look, and your favorite eyeliner for more definition. A gold or silver mani (here’s a sparkly option from ella+mila) is also a nice festive touch.

Elizabeth’s Holiday Makeup Look: Flawless Skin

I just got a new product that makes me look slightly less ghostly white: Makeup by Mario’s SoftSculpt Transforming Skin Enhancer, a tinted balm that comes in six shades and is $30 at Sephora.

Stock photo via Pexels / Julia Larsen.

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It’s been a while since we talked about our favorite hair products — what are yours, readers? We asked each Corporette writer to share their favorite shampoos, conditioners, and other hair styling products!

Elizabeth’s Favorite Hair Products for Her Fine, Wavy/Curly Hair

I have very fine, wavy/curly hair (something like a 2B/3A hybrid if you’re into curl types), so I like products that don’t weigh it down too much. My current routine starts with the Ouai Fine Hair Shampoo and Conditioner. The products smell nice, and you can buy the huge refills at Sephora or Ulta to cut down on plastic waste.

Once a week I also use the Detox Shampoo from the same line to help get rid of any product or dry shampoo that may be lingering. The brand isn’t cheap, but I stock up whenever I have a coupon code.

For folks with fine hair, styling products can be a challenge. Select the wrong one and you look like a stringy mess all day. After a lot of trial and error, if I’m blowing my hair out, I usually use some kind of heat protectant like Drybar’s Prep Rally or the Color Wow Dream Coat. Those seem to provide some protection from heat damage without weighing everything down.

If I’m doing a curly/wavy style, the routine is a little more involved. I start by applying R+Co’s Twister Curl Primer to damp hair, then spritz my whole head with a continuous spray bottle to bring it back to sopping wet. Then I section and comb out my hair with a Denman brush to distribute the product and make some curl clumps.

Once I’ve got a bit of a style in place, I either add some medium-hold gel or some mousse to finish things off. Honestly, blow-drying is quicker most of the time, but once I stopped shelling out several hundred dollars for smoothing treatments every few months, I learned to embrace the curls most days.

Ann’s Favorite Hair Products for Her Straight Hair

When it comes to hair products, I’m always open to trying something new. But I have a few favorites that are working for my straight hair right now. I just started coloring my hair, so I have a big bottle of Tresemme’s Keratin Smooth Color Shampoo to protect my new look. I alternate that with Aveeno’s Apple Cider Vinegar Blend Shampoo when my hair and scalp start feeling a little greasy.

Weekly, I apply a clay mask like this to keep my scalp happy so I only have to wash every other day. I also swim, so UltraSwim’s Chlorine Removal Shampoo is in the mix as well.

I’m not that particular about conditioner, but I love Herbal Essences Bio:renew Repairing Hair Mask — I use it once or twice a week and it makes my hair feel super soft.

Because my hair is very straight, it’s easy to manage and style. I use this Kristin Ess Style Assist Blow Dry Mist Heat Protectant Spray and massage a dollop of Moroccanoil Volumizing Mousse before drying with a round brush for volume.

Kate’s Favorite Hair Products for Her Fine, Straight, Short Hair

My hair routine is simple because my hair is easy to take care of. (Half of it is buzzed, for one.)

I discovered Amika’s Normcore Signature Shampoo several years ago when I found out the kids’ salon my son went to used Amika. After I bought the shampoo for him, eventually I started using it myself (my CorporetteMoms review). Recently, my mom switched to it as well! I really like the smell of this shampoo (apparently it’s “amber vanilla”?), and it always leaves my hair soft and shiny. It’s cruelty-free, too.

Afterward, I blow it dry with a cheapo small round brush. (Amika recommends Normcore for fine to medium hair, 1–2c.)

I only use one styling product, and it’s from Sexy Hair, a brand my hairstylist uses in her salon. I use their Style Sexy Hair Frenzy Matte Texturing Paste to add a little volume and definition to my fine hair, which my asymmetrical style needs in various spots.

The product doesn’t take away the softness or shine from my shampoo, it smells nice, and it’s cruelty-free. When I first started using it, I had a very short pixie cut, and it was great for that, too.

Kat’s Favorite Hair Products for Her Curly, Dry Hair That Takes Forever to Dry

I saw a meme once where someone asked a curly girl what her hair routine is, and her reply was, “I don’t think you’re emotionally prepared for this conversation.” So, um, buckle up.

I’ve been following the Curly Girl method exclusively since 2020. I’d flirted with it in previous years, but during the pandemic I decided that since we weren’t going anywhere, I had lots of time to experiment with different curly hair methods. (Is it weird that I would kind of classify my curly hair as a hobby?) If you’re interested in trying to follow it, I highly recommend the r/curlyhair subreddit, as well as their Holy Grail list of products — I’ve tried almost all of them. (My favorite influencer was Janelle O’Shaughnassy on YouTube, but it looks like she’s stopped posting for the moment..)

There’s a saying in the curly community that the process is more important than the products, and I do generally agree with that — but some of the more time-intensive processes I’ve tried, like the bowl method, just don’t net a huge enough difference for me to do them. (Other processes I just haven’t mastered yet, like the Denman brush or finger curling.)

My General Curly Hair Routine

For wash day, I alternate through a variety of different shampoos and conditioners. I generally only wash my hair with shampoo once a week, so all of these last a long time. (I’ll get to exact products in a bit…)

Anyway: my current wash day process is thus: I shampoo my hair, condition my hair (then combing it out with a wide-toothed comb), and then rinse it all out. At the end, I turn off the water, and — while my hair is still dripping wet, still standing in the shower, I flip my head upside down and 1) apply leave-in conditioner, 2) apply a curl cream/mousse 3) brush with the Denman, 4) scrunch out as much water as I can, 5) add a cheap gel like LA Looks, and 6) (while my hair is still upside down) “plop” using a moisture-sucking hair wrap/cap. I generally use some combination of scrunching and “praying hands” to apply the products, but I’m not devoted to either of them. (Sometimes I will separate my hair into distinct clumps after step 3, then skip step 4, but I’ve gotten away from that as it’s started to get colder in favor of getting my hair as dry as possible before I put it in the cap/wrap.)

But wait, there’s more!

THEN, I get dressed, put on my makeup, et cetera (letting the wrap/cap soak up more water). Before I blow it dry, I remove the now soaked cap, flip my hair upside down again, blot my hair with a t-shirt to get any excess moisture out, and then add another layer of a better quality gel. I use duck clips to clip my hair out of my face (and give a bit of volume)… then, on to the blow dryer.

To blow dry my hair, I absolutely love my Shark blowdryer and diffuser, and it takes about another 10-15 minutes for my hair to be mostly dry (80%, maybe?). My interest wanes after 5 minutes, to be honest, so whenever possible I try to blow dry it as much as I can, and then let it air dry — in a few hours when it’s totally dry, hopefully the gel will have dried in a cast.

The common phrase for curly girls is to “scrunch out the crunch,” but I don’t actually like to scrunch at this point — instead, I flip my head over yet again and “clap out the crunch,” basically applauding with my hair between my two palms. (If it’s late enough I may just go to sleep with the crunchy cast; that’s another great way to get rid of the cast.)

My CoWash Routine

A few days after my wash day, I’ll do a cowash routine — I don’t use shampoo, which can be stripping, and instead use a dedicated cowashing product or just 3X the amount of conditioner so I can get enough slip to scrub my scalp. Then the rest of my routine is pretty much the same.

My Refreshing Routine

I shower daily, even if I’m not getting my hair fully soaked every time. I used to wear a shower cap, but lately I just put my hair up in a claw clip, leaving the ends out so it’s kind of like a floppy ponytail. I wash my body and face, and then grab handfuls of water under the spray to scrunch into the ponytail; ideally it’s about 50% wet.

(I’ve also used a big bowl for this step of wetting the ends — some people like this because the resulting water in the bowl ends up with runoff from the products you put in on wash day, and then those products get reapplied as you scrunch the bowl’s water into your hair.)

When I step out of the shower, I flip my head and use a ultra fine water mister to get the rest of my hair slightly damp — and then I plop my hair it in this great mesh cap I love. (You could instead do this with the “fishnets on your head” routine, but I’ve never gotten that to work.) I’ll do my skin routine, get dressed, and do makeup, then take my hair out of the mesh cap and clip it up with duck clips. It’s usually dry within 20-30 minutes from this point forward.

(Some days I will also mist my hair with this “curl energizing & refreshing spray,” but it’s usually a sign that I really just need to shampoo or cowash my hair. Another sure sign: my hair is totally frizzy and my curls are all flat.)

How I Maintain My Curls Overnight

Sleeping is one of something else that curly girls talk about. There’s the pineapple (a super high ponytail), there are hair wraps, there are a ton of different techniques! The one that I’ve found works best for me is a “cooling gaitor” I bought back when we thought those might be good protection from Covid (they are definitely not).

I just put the gaitor around my neck, then pull it up over my face and around the top of my hair, kind of like a headband that continues all the way up. I look a bit like a nun, I guess. Sexy!

It’s cheap and easy, not sweat-inducing, and my curls come out of it mostly in tact and not overly frizzed.

My Favorite Curly Hair Products

Shampoos & Basic Conditioners: At the moment my collection includes drugstore brands like Kinky Curly’s Knot Today/Come Clean shampoo and conditioner set, the Trader Joe’s tea tree tingle set, Giovanni’s Deep Moisture set, and Not Your Mother’s Blue Sea Kale & Pure Coconut Water (it’s in the middle of their hydration range).

Every six or so washes I do a clarifying wash with Suave. (There actually isn’t that much product buildup as you might expect from all these products because as far as I remember they’re all Curly Girl approved products and rinse out without the need for sulfates, but a clarifying shampoo still helps!)

CoWashes: Cantu, and Trader Joe’s — I also have an extraordinarily old bottle of Devacurl’s cowash that I found in my parents’ house… I think I’ve heard chatter that the formula has changed, though, so YMMV). The two cheap conditioners I use for this purpose (because I take 3x as much conditioner as usual to get enough slip to really scrub my scalp) are Suave’s coconut one or the Vo5 lime one.

Leave-In Conditioners: I alternate between As I Am, Curls Blueberry Bliss, Ecoslay Rice Leave-in, NYM’s Tahitian leave-in detangling spray, and sometimes just the basic Kinky Curly conditioner. (One surprising thing about the past few years is how much conditioner my hair can take — I’ve loaded it up and my hair hasn’t felt weighted or greasy at all.)

Curl Cream / Mousse (Middle Step): I’m still figuring out what I like here, to be honest. I seem to get the best results from Kinky Clean curling custard or drugstore mousse (I like Herbal Essences or Giovanni ones). I also sometimes use Uncle Funky’s Daughter Curl Stimulator, as well as Curlsmith’s Feather-Light Protein Cream, as well as the Cantu curl enhancing cream.

Gels: My first gel is always the super cheap LA Looks. I’m pretty loyal to the fancy ones for my second gel, though, switching almost exclusively between Ouidad’s Climate Control Gel and Ecoslay’s Orange Marmalade.

Tools: Turbo Twisties, mesh Scrunch It cap, wide-toothed comb, Denman brush (or sometimes a Tangle Teezer), Shark blowdryer and diffuser, cooling gaitor, thermal heat cap

Extra masks and other treatments: I’ll do these as needed/when I have time…

For when my hair is feeling dry/frizzy then I’ll do Olaplex No. 3, Vo5 hot oil, Ecoslay’s Banana Cream Deep Conditioner, or NYM’s butter masque. (Ideally I’ll do them about 30 minutes before my shower, with a heated cap on.)

When my hair is feeling frizzy and limp I’ve been experimenting with adding protein (although too much protein can also make your hair frizzy, I guess?) like with Ecoslay’s protein shake — I also get good results from an apple cider vinegar rinse (you dilute it with water first). (I have tried the rice water rinse and hoo boy was that nasty, so perhaps I let it soak too long.)

If my scalp feels itchy or dry, I love Kiehls’ Magic Elixir and Briogeo’s scalp reviver. I also make sure to scrub my head extra well on my wash/cowash days, and sometimes before a wash I’ll use this metal scalp massager is also good for circulation, which in turn is good for scalp health. (I have one of these palm-sized scalp massagers but I find it hard to use with my long hair, for what it’s worth.)

Also, yay gray hair: I’ve heard that you should keep your gray hair from getting “brassy,” so I’ve also been experimenting with purple shampoo (I like Shea Moisture), but at about 15% gray I don’t seem to need it very often. I feel like it lightens the rest of my brown hair, but maybe it’s just the gray being lightened? Hmmn.

(If you’ve made it this far, CONGRATULATIONS!)

Readers, do tell: What are your favorite hair products? Anything you’ve been meaning to try lately?

The post Our Favorite Hair Products in 2023 appeared first on Corporette.com.

Here’s a little question for today: What makeup shades have you worn for years — you know, the ones that you’ve worn so long people now think of as “your” color?

The Makeup Shades I’ve Worn for Years

I’ve had a few lipstick colors on repeat over the years:

High school: Cherries in the Snow and Rum Raisin. (I recently saw a TikTok from Erin Parsons about why the formulas and colors have changed since the mid-’90s — she finds vintage options and tests them against the ones currently being sold. The one about Spice lipliner was eye-opening!) I am mildly fascinated by the memory that I used to apply Cherries in the Snow without a mirror — like lip gloss — during class. Because, you know, bright red lipstick, what could go wrong?

College: MAC Odyssey (and a few other more unfortunate MAC shades, like Taupe and Fluid)

Law School and Beyond: When I first wrote this post I couldn’t think of anything, but I can’t believe I didn’t think about this: I loved a weird purple drugstore gloss and wore it ALL the time. It’s been out of stock for at least a decade now and I’m still finding tubes of it in my stuff. Here, I even wrote about it: Covergirl Lipslicks Lip Gloss. (In terms of formula this e.l.f. Hydrating Core lip shine is very similar.)

More recently: Clinique’s Chubby Stick in Voluminous Violet (which, ZOMG, no longer appears anywhere, even on the Clinique website — I’m only mildly panicking)

I’ve worn the same blush for years (and years — definitely since my late 20s): NARS Orgasm

I’ve worn many brown eyeliners over the years, but I haven’t been loyal to any one brand — even now if I don’t particularly care if I grab the Chanel one or the NYX one. Ditto for eyeshadow shades!

Readers, over to you — what makeup shades have you worn for years? Do you have specific colors on repeat?

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Readers had an interesting threadjack the other day about what constitutes “long” hair, which made me think about this old discussion about whether older women can have long hair “and still be professional.” (Yeah, I know, even the question is cringe.)

But I started wondering — are any of these old arguments relevant in 2023? Is there a certain magical age at which you have to get your hair cut to shoulder length or shorter?

(Full disclosure: I have always had my hair between shoulder length and bra-strap length, save for a cute asymmetrical haircut that was adorable aside from the fact that I’d forgotten my hair has never been consistently straight — and then the “post-wedding chop” where I donated 9 or 10 inches or whatever. At this point (in my mid-40s) I cannot see myself willingly having hair that is too short to put into a bun.)

Why Did People Used to Think That Only Young Women Could Have Long Hair?

So let’s go way back to 2009 — some of the reader comments at the time on this issue (from a threadjack, of course), involved things like these comments:

Women over 40 in law firms or corporate practice almost uniformly have hair above the shoulders. Anything longer just doesn’t look polished and modern. There’s plenty of flexibility to wear your hair in a sleek bob, or with loose or tighter curls. But hair that drags on the shoulders seems inconsistent with the classic look you see on most women of that age in senior positions

Another commenter noted that “[u]nless it’s a stunning cut, short hair makes you fade into the background, i.e. forgettable!” (Which is soooo interesting taken with the idea that women often talk about becoming invisible in general once they’re past a certain age… like the short hair trend is encouraging that “we value your contributions but it would be better if you just blended into the background” vibe.)

Other posters noted that the rule of thumb (short hair for older women) was grounded in the physical realities of aging — frizzy hair, jowls, crepe-y neck, etc.

Only Younger Women Could Have Long Hair, Then?

The fun part of this discussion is that no, young women often wrote in to Corporette worrying that their long hair made them look too young — and wondering whether they should cut it when they got their first “Big Girl Job,” as we phrased it back then.

Long Hair and “Professional” Looks in 2023

I’m curious to hear what people say here. I would say that there are no rules anymore (huzzah!)… but I would still argue that waist-length hair is probably still not something I would advise, although I’m struggling to put my finger on why exactly.

I do think it’s important that whatever your hairstyle is, it looks intentional (but, ideally, not in a way that screams “I spent three hours on my hair this morning”).

Readers, what are your thoughts? Are there any limits on long hair these days for women, young or old?

The post Long Hair, Older Women, and Work appeared first on Corporette.com.

OK, sure, that’s a loaded question, but as many of us are traveling for summer, I think it’s an interesting topic: Which items in your makeup/toilette collection do you happily swap out for whatever’s available in a travel size, and what products do you decant into smaller bottles, buy expensive travel sizes of, or even travel with full sizes if you’re driving somewhere?

We’ve been traveling a bit this summer, and I’ve realized that sometimes the extra hassle of having my preferred products is worth it.

Some of the products I’ve found I can’t live without:

• I brought the full size of my preferred conditioner, as well as an almost-empty full size of one of my favorite shampoos and one of my favorite gels. (I’m still avoiding silicones, etc., while I do the Curly Girl method, so hotel shampoos aren’t great — and I had overestimated my ability in rural areas to get the cheap VO5 and Suave products that are OK.)
• I’m very happy to have a travel size of my Clinique moisturizer — that was more providence (it came in a gift set, perhaps?), but I’m going to keep an eye out in the future.
• Makeup brushes: I have a bunch of cute tiny travel sets but I always just end up packing my preferred makeup brushes because if I am putting on makeup, I’d rather it look the way I want it to.

How about you, readers? What are some of the beauty products that you can’t live without? (Does anyone have any great tips for putting things in travel-size containers? The one trick I’ve used for years — squeezing eye makeup remover into contact lens cases — is still a good one for something you only need in small volumes.)

Psst: As of 2023, these are some of Kat’s favorite hair products (she largely follows curly hair routines)… but she loves this $30 brush/blowdryer!

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We haven’t discussed nails in a long while — what are your thoughts on nails for the office? Are there any rules in 2023? Are there any lengths, colors, or decorations that are perhaps not appropriate for every office — or any that would raise eyebrows on Zoom? If someone paid zero attention to their nails, would it affect your opinion on whether they were “polished”? (How do these responses change if we’re considering interview nails?!)

As I’ve said before… I have (at least since my teens) kept very short nails… if they are slightly long they annoy me while typing. (YES, I even have scraggly cuticles, which are probably not ideal, but I truly think aren’t really visible unless you’re about six inches away from my nails.) I grew my nails long for my wedding, and before that got weekly manicures for the first few weeks after I was engaged. I just don’t enjoy the process of manicures very much, nor do I enjoy the chipped polish that seems to happen after a few days.

On the flip side, I know some women have long, curving nails, with all sorts of fun designs and even gemstones and the like embedded in their nails. I actually love the creative designs and details on other people, but the length gets to me. Overly long nails always, always make me wonder how the heck the person buttons their pants, let alone types for more than a few minutes.

The last time we discussed work-appropriate nails (in 2017!), one reader had an excellent point that what is “appropriate” is highly regional.

From what I am tell, nails are regional. Really, specifically regional. There are areas here in the NY suburbs where most well-dressed woman have longish (likely acrylic) nails. In Manhattan, a weekly professional application of Mademoiselle or Ballet Slippers on a natural nail was standard. When I lived in rural PA, manicures were for special occasions, mostly. I guess my point is that what reads “stripper” in Muhlenberg looks standard in Massapequa.

But I also wonder how much social media has made it more generational as well as regional — after all, if lots of 20-somethings are watching TikTokers with long, creative nails, does that now look “standard” to them?

What are your thoughts, readers? How do you personally keep your nails? What, if any, nails would make you raise an eyebrow at the office? (Outside the office, such as on Zoom calls, would anything raise an eyebrow?)

(How do the nail rules change for interviews? Interestingly, the reader favorites for interviews — Ballet Slippers, Mademoiselle, and Sugar Daddy (all by Essie) — are all still available years later.

Stock photo via Stencil.

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