Beauty blogger Nicole Rodger
What does a person who tests beauty products use daily?
WHEN NICOLE RODGER heads to the mall to shop for a new outfit, more often than not she’ll return home with a bagful of beauty products instead.
She admits to being a Sephora addict. And she is so passionate about proper skin care and cosmetics, she has devoted a good chunk of her life to helping the rest of us navigate the dizzying world of creams, potions, serums, sticks, highlighters and contouring powders on her lifestyle blog: NicoleRae.ca.
It all started several years ago, says Rodger, now 28 and a web designer at IMP, a digital marketing agency in Burlington. After escaping her teen years unblemished by acne, she found herself facing down what she refers to as “little face demons” in her early twenties — not quite acne, but definitely problematic patches. So she began experimenting with skin care products, with makeup, and yes, with what she ate to try to remedy the situation.
“I am lactose intolerant so when you put something in your body, your skin reacts to it,” says Rodger. “Anything you put in your body that does not react with your system well takes a toll on the inside and the outside.”
Rodger’s determination to discover and share with others the key to clear skin led her to start a blog four years ago, which she now updates once or twice a week. It’s focused on all things lifestyle-related, including reviews of new beauty products, the occasional Outfit Of The Day, and reviews of new cocktail recipes thrown in for good measure.
So what does a person who tests beauty products choose to use on a daily basis?
“On a normal workday, on a perfect day I do nothing — I just go with moisturizer, serum, not in that order. The order would be cleanse, serum, moisturizer, go about my day. No foundation, nothing, let my skin breathe. But if my face isn’t looking so well, it’s looking dull, if it’s having too many of those face demons, I’m going to go with a foundation, concealer and sometimes I get a little too carried away and I’ll do full eye makeup, put on lipstick, regret putting on lipstick, wipe it off, and out the door.”
For this feature Rodger wears YSL All Hours Full Coverage Matte Foundation mixed with Dr. Jart+ Black Label Detox BB Beauty Balm, Tarte Shape Tape Concealer, Fenty Beauty by Rihanna Match Stix Matte Skinstick in Amber, Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush in Paaarty, Laura Mercier Matte Radiance Baked Powder Compact Highlight, Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Definer, Kat Von D Tattoo Liner in Trooper, and a combination of eyeshadows from the Lorac Pro, Huda Beauty Mauve Obsessions, and Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance palettes.
Her outfit consists of her mainstay black skinny jeans (these are from American Eagle Outfitters), an olive Aerie coldshoulder cable knit sweater and a camo jacket from Stradivarius. A confessed homebody, Rodger accessorizes with a cherry garnish pin from Stay Home Club, a COACH X Selena Gomez Collection wristlet and Moroccan crochet style shoes in “Natural” from Toms. Most eye-catching piece: It’s a pleated skirt but it alternates between gold and a slate blue silver, so when the light hits it, it definitely gives off some shimmery vibes. It’s metallic-y … I bought it from a store in Toronto called Zumel & Co. Quirkiest wardrobe item: I have this … cardigan with a hood on it but it’s actually from the ’70s. It was gifted to my mom in the ’70s and she passed it on to me and I actually saw Mila Kunis wearing it on an interview for “That ’70s Show.” It’s a mishmash of patterns: it’s like a burgundy, burnt orange, then there are some green bits thrown in. Wardrobe must-have: Black skinny jeans. All day, every day. I usually get mine at American Eagle Oufitters and they usually have deals on all the time so I take advantage when I can. Best purchase: This camouflage jacket. Because my happiness when I actually had it in my hand and owned it, I don’t think quite matches anything else. I was in Italy and I saw this in a store (Stradivarius) that is not in North America and they did not have it in my size and I was crushed. But I saw it on their website and found a locator and knew a friend was visiting somewhere in the UK where they also had the store, and I asked my friend to pick it up and bring it back from the UK and she did. Regrets buying: Too many band T-shirts from concerts … I like to commemorate going to a concert and I feel like it’s a physical piece of evidence. I have way too many. Loves to shop at: Lately I try not to do online shopping so much; I like to see things in person, try them on. Because I’ve had a lot of unfortunate events when I buy things online and they do not fit me and it costs way too much to return them, so I’m stuck with them. Lately I’ve been going to this place on Locke Street called Kitsu …
Yes and Sephora … there’s a website out of Toronto that sells Korean skin care and I will buy skin care products online from them. They’re called TakeGoodCare.ca. Ridding her closet of: Ill-fitting clothes and things I have not worn in over a year to make room for, hopefully, new items. Old (summer) dresses that I bought that really don’t do anything for me … I have one dress that I will never get rid of. It’s just a black, nothing-special dress, but it has a cat print all over it of cat faces. People call it my Miss Frizzle dress, from “Magic School Bus” … that dress is very me; summer dresses not so much. Splurges on: Clearly, makeup. Makeup, skin care, Toms … I have at least three pair of Toms in rotation all the time … a lot of shoes will hurt my feet ... but Toms will always work for me. Beauty item she can’t live without: Lip balm. I would say lip products in general — I have a box, or possibly boxes, of lipsticks, lip stains, liquid lipsticks, that I don’t use that much anymore. I used to wear lipstick on a daily basis but over the past half a year, only lip balms … mint lip balm, clear or (one that) has a small tint to it for days when you want to dress it up a bit.