6 little things i use for my teeth and face
all super affordable. all with longer backstories than you probably wanted.
Sunday I went grocery shopping and got the usual food basics which is ordinary af and not very exciting at all.
What WAS a little out of the norm is that I oddly needed to restock on lots of pharmacy area things, and i’m gonna tell you about that now.
I’d say about half of my usual cosmetics and toiletries are a bit higher-priced and have to be ordered online, and half of them are simple drug store buys like this.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a snob about any of it.
If I COULD get cheap drug store stuff for EVERY single item, I would.
But I simply go up the price chain only as far as i need to go in order to get something of the right quality / effectiveness/ feel.
Sometimes it’s nice and cheap, sometimes it’s not.
And when it comes to my sensitive and dry skin, if I find a specific product I like, I am VERY particular about it and will very rarely try new things.
So these little things listed below are MUSTS and I genuinely love them and I will not compromise with other shit.
Okay okay that’s enough preamble!!!
Let’s get into this baby haul of items from this particular trip…
🐥🐥🐥 NEUTROGENA MAKEUP REMOVER MELTING BALM - does exactly what the name says.
I use it all over my face every night to remove my makeup before washing it.
It’s a weird solid-ish texture that you scoop out, and then when you rub it on your dry face without water it literally turns into an oil.
It’s kinda strange, but it’s real nice and smooth and it works super well.
When you rinse it off, it takes everything with it.
🐥🐥🐥 NEUTROGENA HYDRO BOOST WATER CREAM - I use this at night as an eye cream because of how lovely and thick and hydrating it feels and all that jazz.
HOWEVERRR!! I do not wear this as an eye cream during the day under makeup for that same reason — it’s just too thick and doesn’t sit well for me. Looks kinda cakey.
Which kind of makes sense because it’s not even an eye cream to begin with lol … it’s an actual face moisturizer but whatever.
And you might then wonder, “why don’t you use it as a face moisturizer???”
Well, these drugstore products simply don’t cut it for me.
If I apply a thin layer of it, my face skin drinks it up way too fast.
If I apply a thick layer of it, my face breaks out.
It’s just not the vibe for that job unfortunately.
(But of course as I already mentioned, my finer under-eye skin likes it just fine.)
And if you’re curious, my all-over face moisturizer of choice is Paula’s Choice SKIN RECOVERY Replenishing Moisturizer. I apply a thin layer of it under my sunscreen during the day and a thicker layer at night before bed.
🐥🐥🐥 E.L.F TOTAL FACE BRUSH and E.L.F BLUSH BRUSH - these are literally only $3 and they work just fine and I replace them every few weeks.
When doing my normal makeup routine, I start by just using my fingers and hands to apply sunscreen, foundation, and concealer.
And once thats all done, I leave it all sitting/absorbing while I put on eyeliner, mascara, and brow gel.
Then as a final step, I use the blush brush to dab a setting powder under my eyes, and the total face brush to apply some bronzer under my cheekbones and on the top of my forehead.
Again, since I barely use these brushes for two tiny tasks and never really change the product they’re dabbed in, I don’t need them to be fancy.
And the super cheap price point makes it easy to replace them frequently rather than trying to clean them, probably doing a bad job of it, and then breaking out everywhere.
🐥🐥🐥 SENSODYNE EXTRA WHITENING - this is the only damn toothpaste you’ll ever catch me using!!!
When I moved to Austin back in 2016, I started seeing a dentist for the first time in like 5 years.
Unsurprisingly, I had hella cavities that needed fillings and some sensitivity because of it.
My dentist recommended this brand, and I’m very good at following orders so that’s what I did.
But I had to go through a few flavors and textures that didn’t taste right until I landed on this one and it’s perfect.
Since 2016, I have been a fucking champ at teeth care and dentist visits and probably don’t need specific toothpaste for sensitive people any longer, but it’s too late.
I am hooked on this one and it’s what I love and I refuse to change.
Brandon DOES still have sensitivities and also uses this brand, but he prefers a green spearmint looking flavor.
I’ve tried it. I don’t like it. So this is where I stay.
Side note: when I was in Canada, I purchased my usual fave and it had a slightly different taste and texture than the American version. So if you’re from up north and buy it and don’t like it plz don’t come at me!!
🐥🐥🐥 GUM PROFESSIONAL CLEAN FLOSSER PICKS - I go through 3 of these bad boys every day.
I floss after breakfast, after my pre-workout meal, and before bed. (Not after my usual lunch time smoothie bc i didn’t really chew anything, ya know?)
That probably sounds like a lot.
But when I began wearing Invisalign, I started flossing after every meal like this because nothing is grosser than the thought of having food stuck between your teeth AND THEN ALSO locking it into a plastic tray to just marinate under there??!?!? EWWWWWW 🤮
And since then, it’s a habit that is easy to maintain and keeps my teeth feeling healthy so I just continued it.
And when you need to floss that often, you don’t have time to actually cut damn little spools of string and jam your whole hand into your mouth and all that nonsense that comes with regular packs of loose floss.
After trying quite a few kinds of plastic pickers, these ones are my absolute fave.
They have the most solid grip and a nice thin string to be extra precise.
Brandon likes the more popular Oral-B Glide flossers, but that string feels hella fat and like it can’t get into the corners as well imo.
Okay wtf this post about a few little grocery store products turned into wayyyyyy more typing than I thought it would lol
So I’m gonna call it here.
Talk to you soon 🫶
xoxo,
AV
