The #ITGTopShelfie interview series focuses on the beauty routines of Into The Gloss' lovely, accomplished, and loyal community of readers. Submit your own on Instagram—post your Top Shelfie (tag us @intothegloss!) and include the hashtag #ITGTopShelfie for a chance to be featured on ITG.
"My name is Emma Loughridge [@emmatheyellow] and I currently live in San Francisco—I've lived in the Bay Area all my life. I work at a women's clothing store called Mill Mercantile where I do sales and social media, but I'm really a huge literature nerd. Because I'm constantly working and running around doing things, the time that I spend reading I really treasure for myself. Currently, I'm in between three books—Margaret the First by Danielle Dutton, My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante, and I'm about to start the fifth book in the Outlander series, The Fiery Cross. I actually find myself getting really inspired by the characters I read about in books. Claire from Outlander, for example, has this natural beauty to her. She's a strong woman who can hold her own.
I'm kind of a beauty nerd, too. I love getting ready in the morning, but taking care of my skin at night is my favorite thing to do. That's when I get to treat myself. My favorite thing to cleanse with right now is Aesop Parsley Seed Cleansing Oil, which washes my skin and takes off my makeup. When I was younger, I had unbalanced, oily skin, and I totally bought into the idea that putting oil on oily skin was bad. Once I started using oil not only to cleanse but also to moisturize, I saw a huge difference. And it made my skin less oily, actually. After I use the Aesop, I spritz myself with Heritage Rose Water from Whole Foods and put on Kypris Moonlight Catalyst, which is this natural retinol alternative I'm hooked on. Then I'll use Kypris Beauty Elixir II Oil to moisturize, along with some Kiehl's Avocado Eye Cream.
During the day I'll switch out my oil moisturizer for Embryolisse. I can't live without it, and it acts as a pretty great primer for my makeup. I stopped using heavy foundations a while ago, because my skin wasn't a huge fan of them, but now I wear the It Cosmetics CC Cream in Light—super dewy, and it lasts all day. I love a flushed cheek, so I put on either Nars Madly or MAC Desert Rose. It's always topped off with the Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in Moonstone...which, let's be real, I just slap all over my face. As far as lip color, I'm a huge fan of Nars Dolce Vita, Cruella, Red Square and Banned Red. Banned Red is really pretty when you just dab it on—it's a gorgeous shade that's just a little deeper than my own lip color.
One product that if ever discontinued, I would wander the earth sad and lost, is the Sephora Collection Eyeliner High Precision in Black. I know I need to try other things but why should I when this eyeliner and I have a good thing going? It's super dark black, matte, and lasts all day. I'll use that for a cat eye with Covergirl Lashblast in Very Black, layered over Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes. My brows are filled in with Anastasia's Brow Definer in Caramel. I'm a natural redhead and it's super hard to find an eyebrow pencil that matches my hair color nicely, so I live and die by this one.
I'm a little embarrassed to say that I don't do anything to preserve my hair color at all other than normal washes and maybe an at-home deep hair condition every couple weeks or so...for that I really like the Oribe Cleansing Crème, which I just leave on in the shower. For washes, I go between the Davines Dede Shampoo and Conditioner and the OGX Nourishing Coconut Milk Shampoo and Conditioner, which I have to so say if probably my favorite. And it's so cheap! If my hair is feelin a little meh, I just throw on some Bumble Prêt-à-Powder and everything's instantly better."
—as told to ITG
More of the #ITGTopShelfie: fellow redhead Kirby Reynolds feels very strongly about her hairbrush, fellow shopgirl Summer Dawn Miller shares her "secret weapon" face mist, and fellow bibliophile Alyssa Reeder takes beauty cues from Joan Didion.
