{ Karen’s CC Skin Perfector }

When I don’t want to look like I ate a Shake Shack cheeseburger, cheese fries and a peanut butter chocolate milkshake at 10pm last night (which I totally did, and do more often than I would like to admit), I reach for Karen’s CC Skin Perfector. This is not an ad. I paid full price for the bottle you see in my hand. And I am obsessed. I didn’t technically discover this product through a sample, a friend actually gave it to me… But gifts of make-up are close enough to a sample, because you don’t really know if you’ll love it enough to buy it again. And I LOVE IT. (I should have known, my friend is an esthetician, so she knows the best stuff for your skin.)

I love it for a variety of reasons: First and foremost, it is SPF 50, which is super rare for tinted moisturizers and foundations and the like (I usually don’t see higher than SPF 30). Obviously you know SPF is important because tans and sunburns cause skin cancer and kill you. But if that’s not enough of a deterrent, I appeal to your vanity: SPF/sun protection is also the best anti-aging choice you can make (and a lot cheaper than Botox).

I also love that it is full coverage, while also being light-weight – and because it’s CC (vs. foundation), it ups the radiance factor, so you look well-rested and glowing, not bloated from the salty fries you (I) shoved into your (my) face last night. Instead of looking like a caked-on face of make-up, it makes me look like I got eight hours of sleep and made intelligent nutritional choices.

Plus, it’s made locally here in SoCal with non-toxic, all-natural ingredients, so you’re not smearing chemicals into your face. I’m categorizing this one as a WIN.

{ Wearing it at a Memorial Day BBQ this weekend }