Podcast Host Jourdan Ash Says This Simple Skincare Routine Is Her Secret Weapon
In About Face, xoNecole gets the 411 on IGers who give us #skincaregoals on the daily. Here they break down their beauty routines on the inside and out, as well as the highly coveted products that grace their shelves and their skin.
"On fleek" is an egregious understatement when it comes to NY creative Jourdan Ash's flawless skin. When Jourdan isn't discussing the trials and tribulations of love, sex, and dating with other creatives of color on her podcast, Dating In NYC, this 27-year-old melanated media maven spends her time blessing the streets of Harlem with her glow.
When it comes to all things beauty, Jourdan's mantra is "less is more". While many beauty gurus may emphasize the importance of having a plethora of products, Jourdan says sticking to a simple routine has allowed her to keep her glow-on-go at all times. She told xoNecole, "My relationship with beauty and skincare strengthened when I stopped looking to YouTube gurus and started using what worked for me." She continued, "I've played around with long, drawn-out routines, but that's not realistic for my skin. My skin likes simple routines — cleanser, moisturizer, sunscreen and done."
"I've played around with long, drawn-out routines, but that's not realistic for my skin. My skin likes simple routines — cleanser, moisturizer, sunscreen and done."
Jourdan may keep it simple when it comes to her beauty routine, but she is no stranger to bold makeup trends. Using brightly-colored eyeliners and shadows, this creative holds nothing back and uses as her eyelids as canvases to create true masterpieces, but Jourdan says her sense of beauty hasn't always been this bold. Jourdan explained, "I started to play around with my beauty looks after being depressed last year. It was a way of using color to make myself happier. I've worn glasses every day since 6th grade, so I never showed my eyes much love until last year. Now, I love a bold eyeliner for a pop of color."
Along with staying hydrated and remembering to eat your veggies, Jourdan spilled all the details on how to put a simple skincare routine all the way together. Here's what what learned:
My earliest beauty memory...
"My earliest beauty memory was a super glossy (and sticky) lip with some cherry red lipgloss from the 99 cent store— I'm still a glossy lip girl to this day. My current go-to is Glossier's lipgloss in Cherry and Clear."
My morning routine looks like...
"A typical morning for me means I'm up at 4:40 am and need to be on my way to work by 5:30 am! I wash my face in the shower. I'm usually in braids, but if not I do my hair the night before and tie it DOWN so it's ready in the morning. I moisturize, then apply sunscreen. Makeup-wise: I fill in my brows and put on a lip gloss, then I'm out the door. I don't get cute for work, they don't deserve me like that (laughs)."
For my skincare routine...
"During the day? I wash my face with Drunk Elephant's Jelly Cleanser, moisturize with Base Butter's Radiant Jelly made from aloe (which is Black Woman-Owned!), and use SuperGoop's Glowstick for sunscreen. For my brows, I use Glossier's Brow Flick in Brown and if I feel like it, I clean them up with L.A. Girl Concealer in Fawn."
At night?
"If I'm going out to support my friend's parties, my look depends on how I'm feeling. If I don't really want to do too much, I might wear a bright liner from NYX or Suva Beauty, a highlighter (I wear three at once: the Highlighter Concentrate from Glossier Play and Fenty Beauty's Diamond Ball with a purple highlighter from Justine Skye's collab with MAC years ago that I can't let go of), my mascara is Milk's Kush Lash and I top it off with Urban Decay's All Night Long Setting Spray. I don't always do a foundation [because] number one, I sweat A LOT; two, I'm not the best blender and three, If I'm having a really good skin day, I don't really need to."
How the seasons change my skin and routine...
"I've noticed my skin is drier in fall/winter and oily in spring/summer. I try to stay consistent, but I need a little bit more moisturizing. So, I add The Ordinary's Squalane to Base Butter's Radiate Face Jelly and go to town!"
How I approach beauty inside-out...
"I've noticed my attitude is horrible if I haven't had enough water or eaten well. So, I try to eat or drink my greens and drink water before I say I'm in a bad mood, sleepy or have an attitude."
How I like to unwind...
"I've been taking classes (barre, belly-dancing, yoga etc) to unwind after work. I've built a community with the women there and I feel safe/comfortable, plus it's fun and doesn't involve me needing to monetize it!"
How travel affects her skincare game...
"It doesn't, I just downsize everything! Travel-size, baby!"
To keep up with Jourdan, make sure to follow her on Instagram @lifewithjrdn!
Featured image courtesy of Instagram/@lifewithjrdn.
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Taylor "Pretty" Honore is a spiritually centered and equally provocative rapper from Baton Rouge, Louisiana with a love for people and storytelling. You can probably find me planting herbs in your local community garden, blasting "Back That Thang Up" from my mini speaker. Let's get to know each other: @prettyhonore.
Smile, Sis! These Five Improvements Can Upgrade Your Oral Hygiene Instantly
This article is in partnership with Sensodyne.
Our teeth are connected to so many things - our nutrition, our confidence, and our overall mood. We often take for granted how important healthy teeth are, until issues like tooth sensitivity or gum recession come to remind us. Like most things related to our bodies, prevention is the best medicine. Here are five things you can do immediately to improve your oral hygiene, prevent tooth sensitivity, and avoid dental issues down the road.
1) Go Easy On the Rough Brushing: Brushing your teeth is and always will be priority number one in the oral hygiene department. No surprises there! However, there is such a thing as applying too much pressure when brushing…and that can lead to problems over time. Use a toothbrush with soft bristles and brush in smooth, circular motions. It may seem counterintuitive, but a gentle approach to brushing is the most effective way to clean those pearly whites without wearing away enamel and exposing sensitive areas of the teeth.
2) Use A Desensitizing Toothpaste: As everyone knows, mouth pain can be highly uncomfortable; but tooth sensitivity is a whole different beast. Hot weather favorites like ice cream and popsicles have the ability to trigger tooth sensitivity, which might make you want to stay away from icy foods altogether. But as always, prevention is the best medicine here. Switching to a toothpaste like Sensodyne’s Sensitivity & Gum toothpaste specifically designed for sensitive teeth will help build a protective layer over sensitive areas of the tooth. Over time, those sharp sensations that occur with extremely cold foods will subside, and you’ll be back to treating yourself to your icy faves like this one!
3) Floss, Rinse, Brush. (And In That Order!): Have you ever heard the saying, “It’s not what you do, but how you do it”? Well, the same thing applies to taking care of your teeth. Even if you are flossing and brushing religiously, you could be missing out on some of the benefits simply because you aren’t doing so in the right order. Flossing is best to do before brushing because it removes food particles and plaque from places your toothbrush can’t reach. After a proper flossing sesh, it is important to rinse out your mouth with water after. Finally, you can whip out your toothbrush and get to brushing. Though many of us commonly rinse with water after brushing to remove excess toothpaste, it may not be the best thing for our teeth. That’s because fluoride, the active ingredient in toothpaste that protects your enamel, works best when it gets to sit on the teeth and continue working its magic. Rinsing with water after brushing doesn’t let the toothpaste go to work like it really can. Changing up your order may take some getting used to, but over time, you’ll see the difference.
4) Stay Hydrated: Upping your water supply is a no-fail way to level up your health overall, and your teeth are no exception to this rule. Drinking water not only helps maintain a healthy pH balance in your mouth, but it also washes away residue and acids that can cause enamel erosion. It also helps you steer clear of dry mouth, which is a gateway to bad breath. And who needs that?
5) Show Your Gums Some Love: When it comes to improving your smile, you may be laser-focused on getting your teeth whiter, straighter, and overall healthier. Rightfully so, as these are all attributes of a megawatt smile; but you certainly don’t want to leave gum health out of the equation. If you neglect your gums, you’ll start to notice the effects of plaque buildup, which can irritate the gums and cause gingivitis, the earliest stage of gum disease. Seeing blood while brushing and flossing is a tell-tale sign that your gums are suffering. You may also experience gum recession — a condition where the gum tissue surrounding your teeth pulls back, exposing more of your tooth. Brushing at least twice a day with a gum-protecting toothpaste like Sensodyne Sensitivity and Gum, coupled with regular dentist visits, will keep your gums shining as bright as those pearly whites.
Why Do Millennials & Gen-Zers Still Feel Like Teenagers? The Pandemic Might Be The Reason.
There’s nothing quite as humbling as navigating adulthood with no instruction manual. Since the turn of the decade, it seems like everything in our society that could go wrong has, inevitably, gone wrong. From the global pandemic, our crippling student debt problem, the loneliness crisis, layoffs, global warming, recession, and not to mention figuring out what to eat for dinner every night. This constant state of uncertainty has many of us wondering, when are the grown-ups coming to fix all of this?
But the catch is, we are the new grown-ups.
As if it happened without our permission, we became the new adults. We are the members of society who are paying taxes, having children, getting married, and keeping our communities afloat, one iced latte at a time. Still, there’s something about doing all these grown-up duties that feel unnaturally grown-up. Enter the #teenagegirlinher20s.
If there’s one hashtag to give you the state of the next cohort of adults, it’s this one. Of the videos that have garnered over 3.9M views, you’ll find a collection of users who are overwhelmed by life’s pressing existential responsibilities, clung to nostalgia, and reminiscent of the days when their mom and dad took care of their insurance plans.
@charlies444ngel no like i cant explain to her why i had to buy multiple tank air dupes from aritzia #teenagegirlinher20s #fyp
The concept of being a 20-something or 30-something teenager is linked to the sentiment of not feeling “grown up enough” to do grown-up things while feeling underprepared and even nihilistic about whether that preparation even matters.
It’s our generation’s version of when we ask our grandmothers how old they are and they simply reply with, “I still feel 45,” all while being every bit of 76 years old. In this, we share a warped concept of time while clinging to a desire for infantilization.
Granted, the pandemic did a number on our concept of time. Many of us who started the pandemic in our early or mid-20s missed out on three fundamental years of socialization, career development, and personal milestones that traditionally help to mark our growth.
Our time to figure out and plan our next steps through fumbling yet active participation was put on pause indefinitely and then resumed provisionally. This in turn has left many of us hanging in the balance of uncertainty as we try to make sense of the disconnect between our minds and bodies in this missing gap of time.
Because we’re all still figuring out what the ramifications of being locked away and frozen in time by a global pandemic will have on us as a society, there really is no “right” way of making up for lost time. Feeling unprepared for any new chapter of life is a natural rite of passage, pandemic or not. However, it’s important to not stay stuck in the last age or period of life that made sense to us because self-growth is the truest evidence of personal progress.
So whether you’re leaning on your inner child, teenager, or 20-something for guidance as you fill the gap between your real age and pandemic age, know that it’s okay to grieve the person you thought you would be and the milestones you thought you’d hit before you ever knew what a pandemic was. If there’s anything that the pandemic taught us, it’s that we have the power to reimagine a better world and life for ourselves. And if we tap into our inner teenager as a compass, we can piece together our next chapter with a fresh outlook.
Sure, we’ve lost a couple of years, but there are still some really amazing ones ahead.
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Featured image by Stephen Zeigler/Getty Images
