Atelier Doré

What is your morning beauty routine?

Having a 2 year old shapes how my mornings look these days. On an ideal day, I would have time to do a breath meditation and pilates, but often my mornings are a marathon and a juggle between getting my daughter ready and fed, and getting myself ready for the day. A hot latte with oat milk first thing is a necessity, as is filtered water, and a probiotic.

My beauty routine takes about 5-15 minutes, depending on whether I need to shower that morning or have already showered the night before. I use shampoo and conditioner by Sisters, which is completely non-toxic. I love that they donate 40% of their profits to organizations that support women’s health. I only use non-toxic, clean products – in both my home and on my face and body. A few years ago that was harder to do, but fortunately there are more and more clean products that are just as effective as their non-toxic alternatives. I became very in tune with the harm of using conventional products while pregnant, which is such a sensitive time for women. The more research I did, the more it became hard to ignore the negative impact products can have on our health, and the link between them and infertility, cancer, autoimmune diseases, Alzheimer’s and so much more. I also have Hashimoto’s autoimmune disease, so using non-toxic products is an important part of keeping the disease in check.

On my face, I alternate between different face oils, I like Kjaer Weis’ The Beautiful Oil and Vintner’s Daughter. If it’s a weekend and I’m staying local, I don’t wear much or any makeup. Brooklyn is very lowkey like that, which I love. If it’s a work day, I wear Kosas tinted oil – it has nice coverage and texture and comes in a wide range of colors. It kind of melts into my skin and looks very natural. Then I use Westman Atelier’s cream blush stick in petal and their highlighter on my cheekbones. I curl my lashes using Saie’s lash curler and then apply their mascara, which is one of the best mascaras I’ve ever used, regardless of it being clean. Some days I line my eyes with brown liner. No matter what day it is, I brush my brows into place. I’m very into a full feathery brow and I see the lovely Jimena Garcia (@jimenabrows) to tame these wild things.

What products do you keep on your person to use throughout the day?

Lately I always keep Grown Alchemist Persian Rose hand cream in my purse. I love anything rose scented, this one is super moisturizing in the harsh New York winter and is made of all clean ingredients. I also sometimes carry a little roll-on of pure peppermint oil because I suffer from migraines and this helps alleviate them. And I usually have some kind of lip balm and 1 lipstick with me. The lip balm I’ve been loving lately is the Biossance Squalane+ Rose Vegan Lip Balm. As for lipsticks, I’m a fan of Kosas’ and I tend to favor reddish or berry tones. I never fully apply them, I put a little on, then dab blot so it looks more muted.

What is your evening beauty routine?

Sometimes I drink Moon Juice magnesi-OM to wind down. If I have time, I’ll take a detoxifying Epsom or magnesium bath. I always take a prenatal vitamin – I obviously took it while I was pregnant and breastfeeding, but I continued it in place of a multivitamin after. I like the ones by Ritual, they use clean, plant based ingredients backed by science. I like to gua sha and jade roll before I go to bed. I am personally not a fan of Botox and fillers, so I’ll try anything that tones and tightens the skin naturally.

Do you have a secret beauty trick?

This is a weird one that I learned from one of my mom’s friends growing up… if you have food stuck in your teeth and no floss, you can use a couple of strands of your own hair. Obviously only do this in the bathroom where no one can see you!

How do you define beauty?

I truly believe that beauty is a reflection of the inner state of mind and body. We have all been around people who vibrate positive energy and make us feel good – those are the people we remember and want to be around. Those people radiate beauty. Embracing one’s insecurities is easier said than done, but I do feel like becoming a mother taught me to embrace my body and imperfections. I hope to be a good example to my daughter, and so I made a vow to never discuss my weight, talk about how much food I’m consuming, what I’m not eating, etc., especially in front of her. I don’t view beauty in terms of restriction, which unfortunately I feel we have been conditioned to associate beauty with from a young age because of the incessant talk of diets and losing weight, painful beauty treatments, the fear of aging, etc. Beauty is nourishing your body with food that’s good for you because it makes you feel good. Beauty is prioritizing one’s mental health. Beauty is working out because you feel good after and it makes you feel strong, not because you need to fit into a pair of pants. Beauty is prioritizing body, mind and soul over how we look in the mirror.