5 Beauty Essentials for the Woman on the Go

Who is a drugstore makeup + beauty product qween?? Me. Me, I am!  Today I am rounding up some of the zero-effort beauty products that have been saving my life this summer.  These are simple and affordable products I swear by! Especially this summer, its hot, sticky and humid and you just don't want to fuss too much with your hair and makeup, am I right?  These products I am sharing with you it today's post, I own, I use and I love.  Let's jump in!

1) Baptiste Dry Shampoo

Cost: $7

I can't even tell you how many times this dry shampoo has saved my life! If you read my hair care tips post you know I wash my hair once every week or week and a half.  Dry shampoo can help "wake up" flat roots in between washes.  I just section the top part of my hair into four sections and spray.  It gives my hair an instant boost of volume, not to mention makes it smell good too.

2) Cetaphil Daily Facial Moisturizer

Cost: $11.49

I have always been a fan of Cetaphil products, specifically their unscented daily moisturizer, I used it for years.  My skin care has graduated a little because your skin changes and so the needs change too.  I am still in the process of understanding what products give me the best results.  I will give you an update of my day to day skincare routine and my newly added nighttime skin routine as soon as I settle on one.  I recently had a friend over who manages an Ulta in New Jersey.  We had dinner and we talked a little informally about my skin and some of the problem areas I thought I might have.  Let me start by saying I don't sit around "picking" at my imperfections, I have talked about this idea of perfection and I don't want anything close to perfect.  But in talking I did realize my skin was sensitive (something that is fairly new to me) and I do suffer from some redness in the cheek area and around my nostrils.  She told me Cetaphil had a line of products that address redness.  I was surprised but looked into it the next week.  This is a tinted moisturizer with sun protection built in meaning you can skip an extra step.  What I love about this moisturizer is that it is easy to apply, it gives you enough coverage to reduce the visibility of the redness and it absorbs quickly into the skin.

3) Nad's Waxing Kit

Cost: $7

I will confess to you right here and right now that I have never, ever had a bikini wax.  I am not exactly sure why I hadn't tried it sooner, maybe I have an aversion to intense pain, who knows.  As a result I have spent much of my life in the shower worshipping the razor and let's face it the razor just doesn't get to the "root" of the problem (see what I did there? lol).   After returning from my cruise this summer I decided I would try a bikini wax but preferred the home edition, at least for my first time.  Can I just say how easy it was?  Not only easy but relatively painless, I mean there was some pain but it is the same kind of pain when I wax my eyebrows; shocking, but not deadly.  I picked up this kit from my local Walgreens for under $10.  It is super easy to use, you just have to rub the strips with your hand to warm them up a bit, strategically place, smooth out and PULL!  Hair stayed away for nearly two weeks, that is amazing considering how much time and energy I waste in the shower everyday just so the world doesn't find out that I grow hair on my body just like pretty much the entire human race.  Still, this is a great product that I would buy again and recommend to anyone looking to wax for the first time.

4) Laura Geller Baked Balance n Bright

Cost: $33

This was gifted to me and at first I didn't know what to do with it.  I mean, is it a bronzer, is it a blush?  One morning while getting ready for work I took a chance and used it in place of my translucent powder to set my foundation.  It was magic!  Now I will say, full disclosure, I used a bit too much the first time and I looked "baked", not the look I was going for.  The next day, I knew to do a little less and it gave me a beautiful summer glow.

Tip: For a natural + glowy skin: swirl with a powder brush, and tap, tap, tap, then start with your hair line, forehead and continue to cover your entire face and neck.  A little goes a long way.

4) Maybelline Super Stay Matte Ink

Cost: $7

I am ALWAYS looking for shortcuts when it comes to lipstick so when Maybelline released the Super Stay Matte Ink I jumped all over it!  This works people, like it stays on throughout the copious amounts of coffee I drink, food I eat, all of my lip licking, it stays on for at least 6 hours before you need a touch up.  If you are like me and don't want to spend any time applying your lipstick a million times a day then you want to add these to your collection. Below are some swatches of the colors I have pictured.  The Pioneer is my absolute favorite, the color is so BOSS.  Dreamer and Seductress are perfect for every day use. Just set it and forget it.

There you have it my 5 Beauty Essentials for the Woman on the Go.  I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I loved putting it together.  What are some of your beauty essentials?  Share below.

Until next time,

LifeStyledbyErica