'My name is Lawren Briscoe [@lawrenhb], I live in New York City and I work with Ralph Lauren on their employment practices. Prior to that, I was a practicing attorney and worked at several law firms. I'm always up for challenge—I recently started running, and ran my second half marathon a few weeks ago. I love the results. It's kind of like my beauty routine in that it's long and tedious but hopefully will pay off long-term, but that doesn't mean there isn't a ton of trial and error along the way.
I try to pay attention to my skin and what it needs and base what products I use on that, rather than having a set routine. On a 'normal' day, I will wash my face with water in the morning, unless I inadvertently slept in my makeup...in which case I will remove my makeup with Bioderma Crealine H20 and then use Sunday Riley Ceramic Slip Cleanser. Then I use Biologique Recherché Lotion P50, which I think is absolutely amazing. It stings a little, so I'll spritz some SK-II Facial Treatment Essence that I keep in a spray bottle to calm the feeling away. When I remember, I will follow up with By Terry Cellularose Brightening Serum. No matter what, I always use my two holy grail products— Sunday Riley Good Genes and Physicians Formula Laser Resurfacing Serum. Talk about glow.
If my skin is dry or irritated, I'll wash my face with an oil-based cleanser—I love DHC Deep Cleansing Oil or Eve Lom Morning Time Cleanser. I follow that with Hadolabo Super Hyaluronic Acid Lotion, which is from Hong Kong, and Embroylisse.
I periodically get cystic acne and when that happens, I will use Panoxyl 10% Foaming Wash—a great CVS find. It's made with benzoyl peroxide and is really great at targeting painful breakouts. During the week, I regularly use a prescription Retinol followed by Strivectin cream, which is actually marketed for stretch marks but also works wonders on fine lines. On most nights I will also use the Hada Labo Hyaluronic Acid Lotion as well.
Regardless of my morning routine, one thing that I never ever go without is sunscreen—that's probably the most important product in my beauty arsenal. I typically use L’Oréal Advanced Suncare Silky Sheer Face. I really like it because it's so light and isn’t greasy.
On the weekend I take a break from my typical routine. After washing my face, will normally just use something to moisturize—either Sunday Riley Juno Oil or Biafine Emulsion, which I'm also using on a tattoo I'm in the process of having removed. That's also when I like to take time and use one of the hundreds of Asian sheet masks I bought from a beauty supply store in Hong Kong called Sasa. I don't know if they actually work, but the concept of a full face sheet mask intrigues me, so I go with it. I store them in the fridge so that they are nice and cold when I put them on. I would say my favorite one so far is probably by SK-II. In Hong Kong, SK-II was a lot cheaper than buying it the US so unfortunately once I run out of my stash, I probably won’t be restocking for a while.
Although I love makeup, I really only wear it on the weekends. My coworkers always joke that I look like a completely different person outside of work—I'm not sure if that is a good thing or not. I'm really a lipstick-and-blush kind of girl, I don’t get too fancy with the eye shadows—it’s either a dark smoky eye or a nude color. I really love the Urban Decay Naked 2 Pallete and 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil in Pervasion. Easy, and all the color options I need. I'll use any mascara, as long as it's as dark as possible. I am lucky to have pretty long lashes naturally so I don’t think it makes that much of a difference on me either way.
I also don’t really use foundation—I prefer tinted moisturizer or something that provides a very light coverage. For the past year, I've been using Giorgio Armani Maestro, which I absolutely love. I normally blend #7 and #8 to get the perfect match. I also like Nars Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer and Smashbox Camera Ready BB Cream. If I need a bit more color, I will mix in a few drops of Giorgio Armani Fluid Sheer #7, 8, or 10. Concealer is always Clé de Peau in Honey.
Whenever I actually wear makeup, I always try to contour my cheeks—I say 'try' because my version of contouring is basically sucking in my cheeks and applying bronzer. The only product I use for this is Bahama Mama Bronzer. I found it at Duane Reade and it is by far the best bronzer I have ever used. I think the key to a half-way decent contour is the right brush—I use Sephora Pro Angled Contour Brush #75. I will then do a little highlighter using Benefit High Beam. I don’t have many go-to colors, but love Nars and MAC blushes because they're so pigmented. I typically wear Nars, MAC, Bite Beauty, or Buxom lipsticks for the same reason.
I probably go a little overboard with my products. But if I have one beauty mantra, it's that less is never more!”
—as told to ITG
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