Since August is my birthday month, and I’m turning 25 this year, I wanted to do something different with my monthly “favorite things.” Instead of just doing a few at the end of each month, I’m doing 25 faves total, spread out over the 5 Saturdays of August!

For the first week, I wanted to talk about something I’m asked a lot about on Instagram: my skincare routine. I’m sharing my 5 favorite products and tips that I actually use and love! PS, for a bonus post today, I shared my full skin care routine (for combo/oily, but not acne prone skin) here.

*hey wait! before you keep going, I want you to know that this post contains affiliate links, meaning if you make a purchase, I make a small commission. 

Drunk Elephant

I started using Drunk Elephant at the beginning of the year, and my skin has changed so much. Because of my allergies, I have to be a little more careful about what I use on my body, and Drunk Elephant doesn’t use any of the ingredients that are not so nice to my skin (looking at you, formaldehyde and methylisothiazolinone). In particular, my favorite products right now are B-Hydra Instensive Hydration Serum, and T.L.C. Sukari Babyfacial.

Bamboo Rounds

I recently started using reusable bamboo rounds in place of traditional cotton to apply toner/remove makeup/anything else I could. I will say that they aren’t as absorbent as I expected them to be, but now that I’ve figure out how much product I need to apply to get the results I want, they’re super easy to use. The ones I got came in a pack of 16, were about $11, and came with a storage/laundry bag.

Fenty Beauty

After a lot of trial and error with other brands, I’ve finally come to the conclusion that Fenty’s Pro Filt’r is truly the best foundation for my skin. I don’t wear it often, but whenever I did wear foundation, I always broke out afterwards, even if I checked ingredients ahead of time and make sure my face was squeaky clean when I took it off. I tried to get my shade matched when it first came out years ago, but of course, everything was sold out for a while near me, so it wasn’t until April of this year that I decided to try again. I finally got my match (which seemed entirely wrong, so I had 2 different stores test me, and I tried on the Sephora app, all had the same result: 330, which blended in perfectly, so clearly, I know nothing).

Not only does it give me the coverage that I’m looking for, but it’s perfectly breathable, and hasn’t made me break out at all - which is really a feat in and of itself.

Body Butter

In college, I worked for a skin care company that sold body butters and scrubs, so they quickly became part of my regimen. I loved the scents and hydration that they provided, but over time, I realized that nothing beats the original. Since I was little, we’ve always used Palmer’s cocoa butter formula in the house, and truly, it’s still my favorite body butter. It smells delicious, is super moisturizing, and stops ashiness in its tracks.

Though I still love my fun and scented body butters, nothing really beats the original. Don’t @ me for calling it “the original,” I know it isn’t raw cocoa butter, but that’s always been too oily for my skin unfortunately.

Water, water, water

So boring, so obvious, yet so easily forgotten. Hydrating from the inside out is something that can’t be overlooked, and washing with a water-based cleanser has proven to be amazing for my combo/oily skin. I aim for about a gallon of water each day, which is made infinitely easier by my Hydrojug (half gallon water bottle).

PS: you can use my code “magic” to save on your Hydrojug order.