Realistic (and Possibly Boring) Day in My Life
Featuring celebrity beauty products, hyper-specific beverages, wavy hair musings, and more!
I love reading “days in the life” from people so I thought it would be fun to share what a normal day looks like for me. Enjoy this hyper-detailed walk through my day!
6:30am
I have been trying so hard to work out in the mornings before going into the office, but it’s really hard. I find it so hard to get out of bed before 7am. This is completely my fault because most nights I stay up till midnight scrolling on TikTok. Since Daylight Savings Time ended this weekend, my body was miraculously able to get up an hour earlier than normal.
Coffee is the first thing I do every single day, always. I wish I were a girl who could wake up and drink 24 ounces of alkalizing lemon water with a shot of ACV and a side of peptides or whatever, but the minute my eyes open in the morning all I can do is haul my raggedy bleary trash body straight to my beloved Breville espresso machine to immediately make my special morning drink.
I buy blonde espresso beans from this weird brand Lifeboost that has MLM vibes but apparently the beans are organic, 3rd party tested, and “shadegrown.” I don’t remember why it’s important that coffee beans are shadegrown, but I trust the previous me who went down a coffee research K-hole. She had my best interests at heart. Anyway, I love the taste of these beans and I haven’t deviated from them for years.
My special coffee drink is annoyingly complex. It’s sort of a dairy free, creamy, americano latte hybrid. It consists of a double shot of espresso, hot water (from my Drew Barrymore for Walmart kettle, duh), a heaping glug of homemade almond/oat milk, and a splash of Aroy-D coconut milk. I love creamy coffee, and nothing makes coffee creamier than using a splash of thicc Thai coconut milk. I usually add cinnamon and a little stevia. You can read about my favorite nut milk maker in this piece I wrote for the Stratetegist - every week I make a almond/oat blend in my Almond Cow.
I drink my special complicated coffee and scroll through Apple News. It should be noted I have not consumed even ONE SIP OF WATER yet.
7:15am
I recently moved into a new house which has allowed me to use the garage to build a mini gym. It’s mostly full of hand-me-down equipment - a free pilates reformer I got from a dead woman (I tell the story on Esther’s podcast Trash Tuesday), a hand-me-down Climbr Machine (it’s like a Peloton-esque versaclimber with guided lessons), a shitty treadmill, a TRX thing, and some free weights. Since I have a gym less than 20 paces from my bed I feel like I should be working out every day and have Carrie Underwood quads, but alas I am lazy af and do not. And when I do a garage workout, I have absolutely no ability to push myself. I take it super easy knowing there’s no consequences and nobody watching me.
First I hit the Climbr - I’m such a lazy baby that I can only do a 15 minute “easy” class, which is embarrassing. I have the cardiovascular health of Wilford Brimley. Next, I get on my pilates machine and do a guided, 30 minute reformer YouTube video from DezFit.
I listen to Yacht Rock Radio on Sirius XM while I work out because I find it torturous to workout without music playing. I’m OBSESSED with Sirius XM. I initially subscribed because I’m a Howard Stern superfan (hey now), but I’ve become so addicted to having an array of commercial-free highly specialized music stations. I usually rotate between Yacht Rock, The Bridge (dad rock), The Groove, and Studio 54 radio. It makes cooking in the kitchen, working out, and driving so much more fun. I hate having to put any thought into what music to put on and Sirius just takes the guesswork out.
8:30am
I do a quick neck-down body shower and get ready for work. I keep a pretty minimal routine on work days, just sunscreen and some very light makeup if any. This is my current lineup for a light makeup work day.
Sunscreen first, always. I’ve been using this La Roche Posay that I bought in Paris. Next, I do a light skin tint to even out my complexion. I repurchased the Glossier Skin Perfecting Tint during the Sephora sale - it’s cheap and provides the minimal, natural coverage I’m looking for. Can’t go wrong. I always put on some sort of blush product - never leave home without - and I’m down to the last drops of this Flower Beauty Blush Bomb in Cinnamon (second Drew Barrymore product in my day before 9am). It has a lovely gel-like consistency that’s so easy to blend with fingers, and it’s like $10. Love this Kylie Cosmetics glow balm - very natural and weightless and blendable. It was gifted but I genuinely love it. I’m a big fan of swiping on a light layer of a cream eyeshadow in a neutral color - been using the REM Beauty one in BRB. This routine takes me less than 3 minutes. Just realized that almost every product is from a celebrity makeup line.
9:30am
I’m currently working on a big new movie. Can not say what it is because NDA, but it’s been one of the most gratifying, exciting, unexpected experiences of my professional life. The downside is that it’s all consuming, and these days I find myself in an office for long hours Monday-Friday.
Meet my best friend at the office, my space heater.
The office is so unbelievably cold. I usually show up wearing layers like I’m about to go skiing. Most of the time, I keep this space heater absolutely cranked to the max. My shins are dry and crusty from keeping it fully blasted 2 inches away from my skin.
The only thing I’ve found that helps my perma-crusty dry winter shins is spray Aquaphor. I put this on top of whatever body lotion/oil I’m using, and it really seems to help lock in moisture.
11:30
I need a snack between meetings. You know I’m a Proteinnista, so I pound a Turkey Chomp and some more coffee. I’m pretty sure I still haven’t had a full glass of water by this point in the day.
1:00
I quickly grab lunch in the work cafeteria. I’m too lazy to pack my own lunches most days.
4:00pm
I head home early because I have a date and I need to get ready.
5:00pm
My date’s at 6:30 and I start panicking about my hair. It’s… really big. Like a little too big maybe? I don’t have enough time to re-shower it, so I decide to just embrace the bigness and go for it.
Side note, in the past couple months I’ve completely changed my wavy hair routine. This might not sound like a big deal but trust, it’s a HUGE change in my life. Thanks to TikTok, I now do a more comprehensive, multi-step curly hair routine that leaves my 2B waves way more defined and less frizzy. It is as such:
I comb my hair with a wide tooth comb in the shower
Fresh out of the shower, when my hair’s still sopping wet, I rake curl cream through. Sometimes I brush it through with a wet brush to make sure the curl cream evenly distributed. Scrunch.
I scrunch a small amount mousse in the roots and a little bit more throughout the rest of the hair. Scrunch.
I finish by raking a lightweight gel throughout the hair, and do a final scrunch.
Then I let it air dry naturally.
A curly hair routine really makes my hair really looks so much better. This is what it looks like after a few hours of air drying.
I’m still troubleshooting a bit, and trying to find the right products - for now, I use this Not Your Mother’s curl routine set but I’m really open to product suggestions from the curly/wavy girlies out there.
If my hair is too dirty to wear down and I don’t have time for a full hair routine, I slick it back and wear it in a ponytail or bun. Slicking my hair back Sofia Richie style has been the single biggest beauty gamechanger in my 2024. It’s so low effort and immediately makes me look and feel polished. I used to be so stressed about traveling and going to fancy events - I never knew what to do with my hair - and now I just slick my hair back in 5 minutes and I’m done.
For a slick back, there are two important elements. WATER and GEL.
I have one of those continuous spray bottles full of water that I mist on my roots. Then I go in with a gel product to get everything snatched and comb it back until there’s no bumps or lumps.
I find myself reaching for Ultra Glued, a cheap Got 2B product more than my fancier ones. I have a lot of wispy chaotic baby hairs and this stuff REALLY glues them down. It dries a little crunchy but I need that hold! If I need extra baby hair smoothing support, I reach for this Japanese hair wax that went viral a while ago, but I find it to be a bit user-unfriendly and messy.
The hair tie is key for a long lasting slickback, and I swear by these Goody Forever Ouchless Hair Ties. They keep a ponytail up all day and never snag my hair. I keep hundreds of these on hand and I REFUSE to use a normal ponytail tie now, these have ruined me forever. Yes, they look like anal beads. No, I do not care.
Back to my day. For my date tonight I want to look a little sexy, so I pull out this Jacquemus assymetrical red sweater. It’s sort of my dating secret weapon, it just hugs the body and is so structurally interesting and sexy without being too revealing.
True story, I saw Kylie Jenner wearing this sweater once at a dinner and went home and bought it immediately. I paired it with Levi’s Low Loose jeans. It’s time for us to embrace low rise jeans again. They’re comfortable! I love not having a button fly digging into my pancreas after a big meal.
10:00pm
I get back from my date (which was great) and settle in for the night. My nighttime skincare routine is so simple. I double cleanse religiously. These days I’m using this Elf cleansing balm - I love that it’s so cheap and doesn’t break me out. Then I use a basic Cerave foaming cleanser. I finish up with prescription Tretinoin followed by a moisturizer or just put on moisturizer. Some nights I use a chemical exfoliant, some nights I use a serum, but in general I’m sort of over an elaborate skincare routine, I’m just too tired.
I try to use a red light / blue light mask while I read/doomscroll. I have the Dennis Gross red light mask. It’s soothing. I find beauty tools so hard to use consistently, and since this one requires literally zero effort I can do it consistently.
The best part of my wind down routine is reading a book on my kindle. I’m obsessed with using Libby for e-books - it’s an app that links with your library card and lets you check out kindle books for free. There’s always a waitlist for new and/or popular books, but I have so many holds placed at one time I usually have at least one book available to check out. Over the past few years I’ve saved so much money using Libby instead of buying books, which I love.
I’m on such a nonfiction kick - right now I’m devouring Lauren Sherman’s book about the rise and fall of Victoria’s Secret, Selling Sexy. It’s RIVETING. The story of the brand is fascinating, plus the book gets into so much info and tidbits about supermodels, retail/mall culture, the rise of fast fashion, and more. I love!
THAT’S IT!
What curly hair products do you swear by? How do you stay motivated for home workouts?
Also watch the season 3 premiere of The Sex Lives of College Girls on Max this Thursday, 11/21! I wrote on this season and adore this show so much.
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Email me at cgoldfarb@gmail.com!
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it’s allll about the space heater and the unattainable coffee recipe
the libby app!!! caroline i have been using libby since you recommended it on glowing up. also i love pattern beauty and curl smith for curly hair styling <3 xoxo