042. Morning Skincare Routine, Back to Back Addiction

An in-depth look at my current morning skincare and thoughts on a day of watching two addiction films.

Hi! I’m Maggie, and welcome to Tender Forms Off-Camera: a weekly newsletter about slow living. Topics include skincare, makeup, film, television, and health.

---

For the past month, I have been in the best skincare relationship of my life! My morning skincare routine is usually fixed. At most, I will swap one item depending on my mood and sunscreen of choice.

C L E A N S E / T O N E R : Stark PETRICHOR Purifying Tonic* (gifted, $32, 120ml | 4floz)

I splash some water, wet a reusable cotton round, and do one spritz of Stark Petrichor. I’ve spoken about this item plenty of times. It remains my favorite morning cleanse.

H Y D R A T I O N : UNCOMMON YARROW Yarrow Hydrosol* (gifted, $20, 2floz)

Rebecca (licensed massage therapist, esthetician) of Uncommon Yarrow has her own line of hydrosols. If you’ve been a newsletter subscriber from the beginning, you might remember me talking about her Lavender hydrosol. She recently came out with 2oz options for the line, and I have been adoring the Yarrow. Early last month, my skin went through a moment of stress, brought on by mental stress and my over extravagance with skincare. I cut way back to using just pAra botanica’s Chaya and this. Dry patches, sensitivity, breakouts…all gone. Since then, I’ve continued layering this between skincare steps, and my easily dehydrated skin has been nothing but ecstatic. I’m already over two-thirds of the way through, and I only started using it in early January. I LOVE THIS.

E Y E B A L M :

evanhealy Blue Cactus Cooling Balm Stick* (gifted, $19.95, .5oz | 14g)

This Blue Cactus balm is the best discovery of 2020 (I started using it mid-December). Wow. I can’t believe how incredible this is and how it’s taken me so long to experience it. This is every sensitized and inflamed skin’s best friend. There are so many ways to use this: under the eyes, on the lips, all over the face. It’s excellent in all instances, though I love it most for eyes and lips. The cooling sensation is both a relief and an awakening for the eyes, meaning it’s excellent morning and evening. This has also become my FAVORITE LIP BALM. Yes, the all caps were necessary. Though in stick form, this melts instantly on contact and turns into a beautiful oil serum. It gets rid of dryness immediately, plumps and lessens any fine lines, and any lip color goes over seamlessly. And it somehow locks in hydration because I’ve had to apply lip balm less throughout the day. The fact that this is a multi-use product that actually works in all instances is a win in my book. Plus, I love the stick form providing ease of application and less germ contamination.

Nuori Vital Eye Cream (sample size)* (gift from friend, $69, .5floz)

I’ve only been testing this for about a week and a half, but I am very impressed so far. I don’t like eye balms that are too slippery or thick. Though this is a cream, it feels more like a balm because it’s nourishing and plumping. It smooths out fine lines and preps the skin perfectly for makeup. My favorite part is that it dries down (more cream in this sense) but helps my skin retain moisture! It has its usual Nuori faintly sweet, candy-like citrus scent, but it dissipates quickly. I am very impressed. Did I mention I have to use the tiniest bit? I’m talking a quarter of a lentil size, tiny dewdrop on a leaf, tiny. I’m guessing the full-size would last a lifetime? (Joking, but also, it could be true.)

S E R U M : pAra botanica Immortal Facial Serum ($72, 1floz | 30ml)

It wouldn’t be skincare without something pAra in here, would it? And you already know that this is my favorite serum ever—plumping, healing, silky smooth. Not only is this beautiful on its own, but it gives a powerful boost to anything it’s paired with. My skin loves it. I always combine one pump of this with the following.

O I L :

Naturallogic RAREFY Flawless Complexion Oil Serum* ($72, 1floz | 30ml)

I am floored by this oil. You might remember my quick take on it in last week’s newsletter, but let’s dive a bit deeper. This oil lives up to the “flawless” in its name. I honestly can’t find fault with it (aside from the powerful scent of blue tansy, but again, it dissipates quickly, and my skin loves the ingredient). The best way to describe what this does for my skin is by giving it its daily vitamins. It has all the right things to keep my skin looking and feeling fresh, healthy, and at its best. It also creates an amazingly smooth and silky base for any SPF and makeup that will be going on top. While it looks like I blew through this in a month, I didn’t. I’ve shared generous decants with a few loved ones. That and a little goes a long way. I mostly use only half a pump mixed with one pump of pAra’s Immortal Serum. When this bottle ends, I’ll be purchasing a full-size.

Wildcare Face + Body Oil* (limited edition gwp)

On days when I’m too lazy to mix pAra’s Immortal and Naturallogic’s Rarefy, I simply do two pumps of this beautiful face and body oil from Wildcare. Cortney harvested and used sun-dried Blue Chamomile, Calendula, and peach-color roses from her very own garden! They are infused in the same jojoba oil used in SunRoot Solar Serum and Golden Hour Body Oil for three months and is essential oil-free. This was a limited edition gift with purchase, and she so kindly kept a bottle safe for me. I, too, can’t believe there are no essential oils because it smells divine: floral, with intoxicating swirls of fruit sweetness, and something on the edge of green. She just has a way of pulling scent profiles I don’t experience elsewhere, and I adore them. And in case you missed it, she just announced that the Wildcare line will be essential oil free coming this Fall. Head here to read her love letter on how and why. *Highly recommend signing up for the Wildcare newsletter too!

S P F : 

Saie Slip Tint (Shades Two and Three) ($32, 40ml | 1.35floz)

Marie Veronique Everyday Coverage Tinted Sunscreen SPF30 (sample size, Extra Light Tint) ($48, 2oz | 60ml)

These are currently the only sunscreens I own. The one I choose to use on a day determines the skincare I put on beforehand. Like skincare, SPF has its own glowy or matte qualities and textures. There’s a big difference between these two, so I change up my skincare accordingly.

I’ve written about the Saie Slip Tints plenty. It is a very glowy formula. Whenever I wear it, I still have to go in with powder during the workweek despite the skincare I use underneath. I don’t mind the shine during the weekends, plus I’m too lazy to powder since I’m not wearing any other makeup. The Slip Tint is advertised as a tinted moisturizer with SPF. I don’t find much moisturizing quality to it, which I enjoy since I’m covering that in my skincare routine. Either skincare routines work with this SPF.

The Marie Veronique SPF, however, takes a bit more finessing and thought. I went through full-size bottles of this back in 2017. Back then, I loved how lightweight this SPF is. It allows my skin to breathe and truly feels like there’s nothing on the skin. Yet, it still provides excellent protection even during the hot and sunny Summer months in NYC. My biggest gripe with it back then was that the formula was very gritty. It dries down to a matte finish, but the texture remains granular, sandy almost. And if you touch your face, you can rub it off. I’m happy to report the newer version is plenty smooth and beautiful. Unfortunately, it only has three shades (they haven’t updated the shade range since this went on the market): extra light, light, and medium.

I choose to go with Extra Light because it’s the most neutral in tone. There is a big jump between shades (much like the Saie Slip Tints), and light is too yellow for me. I’m happy I tried this SPF again because I still really enjoy it. If anything, the smoothing of the texture seals the deal. It’s retained all of its great qualities (tint, SPF30, matte finish, weightless) and now feels smoother and bouncier than its original formula. Plus, at a 2oz size, a bottle will last a while. This is a top contender for whenever I run out of the Saie Slip Tints.

Because it dries down matte, I’ll make sure to add a bit more hydration and oil into my skincare. That means either going from half a pump to a full pump of Naturallogic’s Rarefy Oil, or an extra pump of Wildcare’s Face Oil, and additional layers of Uncommon Yarrow’s hydrosol.

And just for reference, above are photos of me straight out of bed on the left and after skincare and sunscreen on the right (I wore the Saie Slip Tints in this one, no powder). This was taken today, the day I’m writing this (Saturday, February 6), so it’s how my skin is looking currently. You’ll see it has overall evened my skin tone, redness, and any leftover dry patches are gone. Though it may not seem like much of a difference in photos, the feel is vastly different. Skin doesn’t feel dehydrated and inflamed, and overall is smooth, plump, and glowy!

---

The other day, I decided I was finally in the right mood to watch 2018’s ‘Beautiful Boy.’ I’m a big fan of Steve Carell, in comedies or dramas, he’s always excellent. I’m also a fan of Timothée Chalamet. I waited so long because I have to be in a specific mood to watch a film about addiction. I’ve watched some of the classics: ‘Requiem for a Dream,’ ‘Trainspotting,’ ‘The Basketball Diaries,’ the ‘Pusher’ trilogy, all of which I’d recommend. But there’s a reason these films are tough to watch and even tougher to swallow (excuse the pun). Viewed on a bad day, they can send me deep into despair for weeks, a dark cloud hovering wherever I go. Viewed on as right a day as can be, they still break me into pieces, but at least I can pick up those pieces afterward.

For some reason, I decided to watch ‘Beautiful Boy’ (streaming on Prime Video), and follow it by watching ‘Ben Is Back,’ (streaming on Hulu). Let’s start with ‘Beautiful Boy.’

‘Beautiful Boy’ ★★★½ © Amazon Studios

As far as (drug) addiction films go, this is a good one; heartfelt and genuine. I thought I would get annoyed with the constant jumps back and forth between flashbacks and the current day, but in this case, it was helpful rather than harmful.

‘Beautiful Boy’ is based on two memoirs by a father, David Sheff, and a son, Nic Sheff, who battles with drug addiction, specifically methamphetamines. Most of the film’s version is true, the main differences being certain events from the memoirs were left out of the film. Carell plays David, and Chalamet plays Nic. Both give excellent performances and have a way of showing affection. You can see they care deeply for one another, which makes the heartache all the more heartbreaking. The entirety of the film is very believable, especially the ending. Despite its often romantic golden-hour, sun-drenched shots, it feels like an honest depiction without going out of its ways to draw out emotion. Is it an exceptional film? No. But does it feel grounded in reality? 100% yes.

‘Ben Is Back’ ★★½ © Roadside Attractions

‘Ben Is Back,’ though also centering on a son fighting addiction, is different in many ways. The first being its focus on a mother and son dynamic versus father and son. The second is that the story takes place over the course of a single day. The third, I think, is that it’s very apparent that Ben, who has a drug addiction himself, was also a dealer.

Unfortunately, I only got through two-thirds of the film. Of the two-thirds I watched, it was very tough for me to get into. I’ve viewed plenty of films back to back, so it wasn’t that I had watched a movie just before this, even one about addiction. There was just not much to grasp onto in this one. Julia Roberts (who plays Holly, the mother) and Lucas Hedges (play Ben, the son) do their best. It was refreshing to see Roberts play someone a bit more controlling in a malicious (whether on purpose or not) way.

Viewing these back to back provided multiple vantage points of a situation. Overall, reminding me that while the experiences, symptoms, highs, and lows can overlap between people with an addiction, the stories and journeys are different. Especially when it comes to how their addiction has affected those around them and how loved ones cope, problem-solve, and make peace.

In the parents’ case, it’s how they grapple with acknowledging their child’s addiction and how they find the best way to help, which frequently is not to at all. With David Sheff’s story, he has a tough time letting others know about Nic and, at first, tries to hide the fact from friends and acquaintances. On the other hand, Holly doesn’t hide the truth and openly tries her best to move past it, whether it’s blaming the man who got her son into drug use or comforting a mother who lost her daughter because of Ben.

Though Nic and Ben are central to the storylines, I’d say both films skewed more towards the parents’ story versus the persons with addiction. This is why I’m left thinking more of the families rather than the individuals. How do you hold onto one side of your family while another is in pain or missing? Can you hold onto your family at all? In ‘Beautiful Boy,’ there’s a scene where David and his wife attend a meeting, and a mother who just lost her child to overdose talks of her grief. She speaks of the child she knew, dying while living and realizing she’s been in mourning for years. *In case it isn’t clear, I think ‘Beautiful Boy’ is worth a viewing. 

Watching films about drug addiction reminds me why it’s no surprise that drug overdose is a leading cause of American deaths. It reminds me of the hard fact that it can happen to anyone. Any person can develop an addiction, and every day is a fight. Fight on.

---

Thanks so much for reading! I’d love to hear what you’ve been using in your morning skincare. Do you change your routine often or swap in products too? Remember, you can always leave a comment or reply directly to this email to chat!

As always, I hope you have a great start to your week! See you next Sunday.