Welcome to my Ask Sabrina series Part 2! This week I’d love for you to share your answers to these questions in the comments so I can learn more about you as well!
1. What are your holy grail hair care items? Hair care routine?
My most recent Current Haircare Routine is rounded up here. If I had to pick my top 5 brands they would be: Oribe, Hair Rituel by Sisley, Olaplex, Living Proof and Dyson Hair.
Hair care depends so much on hair type, thickness and whether or not you have color-treated hair. I’m still in the process of growing out my highlights. You can see the first time I color-treated my hair in this post. Now that I’m growing out the bleached ends I would say my absolute top 5 must-haves are the Olaplex No. 4 Bond Maintenance Shampoo, Olaplex No 5 Conditioner, Sisley Hair Oil, Oribe Detangling Spray, Moroccanoil Treatment.
For hair tools I just got the Dyson Airwrap Styler for Christmas and am absolutely obsessed. I think it’s the best hair dryer and curler in one that I have ever used. Working on a review + demo for you and hoping it restocks soon!
2. What’s your educational background?
I have a BBA from the University of San Diego and an MBA from San Diego State University. I studied business administration and political science in undergraduate school. For some time I had considered going to art school for photography or graphic design and I spent my freshman year attending 2 schools: one for my business degree, the other at a local community college for art classes to build my portfolio. My parents encouraged me to pursue my passion for the arts but I felt like it would not be an easy career. I decided to go the business school route instead.
I worked in the corporate world for 2 ½ years before applying for grad school. I went to San Diego State for my MBA and it was one of the most valuable experiences I’ve ever had!
3. What did you do in your career before you blogged full time?
I’ve worked as a financial analyst in a number of different industries. My first job out of college was at JP Morgan Chase – I worked in auto finance. Over the next several years I also worked in the mortgage industry, pharmaceutical world and also in commercial aerospace. Early in my career the best way to advance was to find new opportunities every few years at different companies that were either looking to grow or start new divisions.
Another thing many of you don’t know is that while I was in grad school, I worked part time in retail at Williams-Sonoma. It was a great experience and I had so much fun there so I kept working there after I graduated. Even after I found a full-time corporate job I stayed on for a couple more years. For several years I had a full-time corporate job, a part-time job and was trying to grow my blog. These were definitely some of my most stressful years but I know I was not alone. I worked alongside many others working multiple jobs while going to school as well.
Eventually realized I couldn’t do it all and keep my sanity, so I focused on my corporate job with blogging on the side. I learned a lot in that time – developed valuable relationships and friendships too. Different experiences both good and bad help you develop and grow.
4. Are APLs worth it? Can we see your collection?
Above wearing APL TechLoom Breeze (color is Beach), Lululemon Align 25 Length Leggings, Cotton Citizen Hoodie, Charlotte Tilbury Lip Lustre in Pillow Talk
Yes I think they are 100% worth it! My bestie and a number of readers had been raving about them and finally convinced me to try them. I love them for everyday wear, for weight training, and long extended walks. I am not a runner so I can’t really say how they hold up for runs. (I’ve never liked running no matter how much I’ve tried). My favorite style is the Techloom Breeze for comfort. Quick rundown of my favorites:
- TechLoom Breeze is the most comfortable for my feet
- TechLoom Pro has the most support, the shoe is more structured and has a more cushioned/stiffer sole
- TechLoom Wave is more roomy in the front compared to the other two, the back is more elastic on the heel/ankle portion
- TechLoom Tracer is the most structured and has a tighter fit around the top area of the foot – opening is smaller than the other styles so it hugs the foot/ankle more closely
For the other styles my bestie has the TechLoom Bliss and says they are like walking on clouds! My hubby says the TechLoom Phantom is his favorite style for the fit (they stretch nicely according to him) and he likes the look.
They run similar in sizing to Nike. In most shoes I’m a 6.5 to 7. In sneakers I’m almost always a 7 or 37 – I wear this size in both Nike and APL. I usually buy them from Athletic Propulsion Labs online. I’ve also ordered from Shopbop or Revolve. They’re easy to clean – I throw them in the washer and air dry them.
5. How do you efficiently go through all your products?
The short answer is that I don’t. As a blogger I encounter a lot of products and new launches for testing and reviewing. It is not humanly possible to use up everything before its expiration date. For many years this stressed me out because of the waste. But I started this blog to be a resource whether it’s through a review, swatches or makeup looks. My main goal is to help you and others with the swatches and comparisons so as long I’m still good a resource I’ve achieved my main goal. I don’t review or try everything that is sent my way. I filter out products based on what I find the most interesting or what you’ve asked to see reviewed. I also still purchase product on my own that I don’t receive in PR and sometimes I don’t get to everything in a timely manner. Unused products that haven’t expired are either donated or gifted away to friends and family. Pre-covid times I also gifted away a lot of products to my readers in giveaways.
I do tend to use up a lot more skincare and hair care than I do for makeup. I share a lot of my skincare products with Andrew too so we tend to use them up frequently. Hair care is something I go through a lot of naturally. I’m one who has to wash their hair daily especially with sweating from workouts and Florida humidity. With the cooler weather during the winter though I will sometimes go up to 2 days without washing my hair as long as I don’t have a heavy workout.
6. Has your husband always been into taking care of his skin or did you have to convince him?
I feel lucky that Andrew has always had a really good skincare and grooming routine. I’m especially grateful after hearing from my girl friends who cry about the fact they cannot get their husbands to put moisturizer on their face at all! In more recent years I feel like he has been the one to influence me to take better care of myself in terms of health, strength, having a better diet and more.
7. How do you keep your house so clean? How do you have the discipline to vacuum daily? How do you prevent pets from ruining your furniture?
We clean our house daily because with multiple pets we have to. Lucy is a Jack Russell with a long rough coat and Calvin is a Ragdoll with long hair. They both shed and are pretty active so cleaning daily is essential. Right now we vacuum daily with our Dyson V8 Animal Cordless Vacuum Cleaner. We also give the floors a thorough wet clean around 2x per month which takes hours but I just discovered the Bissell Symphony Vacuum and Steam Mop – I partnered with HSN to show a demo of it on my Instagram stories it’s on sale at a special price at HSN.com 1/17/2020 only – you can see more on stories @beautylookbook before it expires at the 24 hour mark! In case you miss it I will save it to my Instagram HOME highlights for the mini review/demo.
My main secret to a clean house is Andrew. He’s the clean one and meticulous about keeping the house tidy. For our furniture we are lucky our pets are well behaved. Lucy doesn’t bite or dig at the furniture. Our cat only claws his cat tree so we don’t have any issues with our chairs or couches.
8. How do you feel about Botox, fillers, injectables, etc?
Botox is on my list of things to do this year. I’m terribly afraid of needles which is why I haven’t tried it yet but I’ve told myself THIS IS THE YEAR. Many of you have emailed me about Botox with encouragement and support about this. For that I am thankful! I have seen it work wonders on my friends and they have assured me it’s not painful.
I don’t know much about the other kinds of procedures – I have nothing against them, but since I already have full lips and feel like I will pass out at the sight of a needle they aren’t on my list to try yet. One of my friends gets lip injections to plump her lips and she usually has bruising for a couple of days. I think she is beautiful without the fillers but if it makes her feel better and she likes it I’m all for supporting her!
9. How old are you?
I am 39.
10. What’s your next handbag purchase?
I have so many on my wishlist! I’m trying to narrow down my next splurge but I think it will either be something from Celine (I have been eyeing the Pico Belt Bag) or Loewe (love the Mini Gate).
That wraps up round 2 of Ask Sabrina! I’d love to hear your answers to these same questions if you want to leave them in the comments! Also feel free to leave more questions below or you can email me.
