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We are Meredith and Mishelle and together, we are flipping the script on what it means to be an IT girl. Each week we will be discussing topics and questions submitted by YOU, our audience, as we navigate life's challenges together.
Mishelle Kost (00:01)
Hey, fabulous people, I'm Meredith. And I'm Michelle. And together we're here to flip the script on what it truly means to be the It Girl. That's right. Whether you're rocking the runway or embracing the messy bun life, no matter your size, ethnicity, or state of your sweats, you are It. We're diving deep into the realness of life, celebrating the victories, navigating the failures, and sometimes not having a clue while doing it all.
We've got battle scars, heartbreaks, contagious laughs, and an unbreakable bond of love for each other. Join us every week as we unwrap different topics and answer questions brought to us by our amazing audience. That's you. Get ready for a fresh dose of perspective that'll make you think, laugh, and maybe even shed a tear. We're on this journey together, growing, crying, laughing, and fighting for one another, because that's what being an It Girl is all about.
So send us your burning topics and thought provoking questions through our website, itgirllife .com or drop us a line directly at hello at itgirllife .com. Let's make every moment count, embrace the chaos and live our best it girl lives.
Meredith (01:02)
All right, we are back with episode seven here, which we've titled Beauty is Truth. And you know it, Michelle and I, we'll chuckle a little bit about this here because if you know us or see our pictures or have engaged with us, this is gonna be a fun topic. But as always, we can start here with a icebreaker question. Michelle, if you wanna dive into the icebreaker question.
Mishelle (01:13)
Hehehe
Okay, great. So the question today is, where is your happy place? I like this one. You kick us off, Meredith.
Meredith (01:38)
Yeah.
as cheesy as this is going to sound, I don't think there's a specific, like four walls happiest place, but I think I'm the happiest when I am, with my husband, with my dog, having some downtime, conversations with friends, because I find that I'm really fueled and engaged and have a different spark of.
creativity or passion when I engage with like -minded individuals. And then last but not least, it's either and or watching sports and reading a book. So if I'm in any of those settings, being with my husband and family, those are just my happy places. And so not a specific place to be. So.
Mishelle (02:28)
Yeah, it's more of like who you're with and what you're doing.
Meredith (02:31)
my happiest environment, if I could say it that way.
Mishelle (02:33)
Yeah, I agree. I mean, I think most people would answer it that way. Mine, so we, my family and I used to own an Airstream and loved it. After we had Aspen, we sold it because in my mind, I'm like, when are we ever gonna go camping with five dogs and a baby? And now that Aspen is two, I regret selling it. Like, we need it back. But one day we'll buy another one.
Meredith (02:37)
Mm -hmm.
Mishelle (02:59)
I would say that's like my happiest place is being with my family, my husband, my dogs, and then obviously Aspen now, and then camping, like being out in the woods, hanging out in nature.
Those are like my fun things. And now, I mean, we haven't really done that with Aspen, but I think like my new happy place in this like new season of my life is being with Brian and Aspen and doing new things because I love like watching Aspen experience the world. Like right now she's super into escalators.
Meredith (03:19)
Mm -hmm.
Mishelle (03:37)
And she discovered escalators when we were in Vegas and she rode them like up and down and up and down and just wanted to keep doing it. Like we did that for Sweet Brian, like best dad in the world would ride the escalator with her up and down like 10 times in a row. And when we went to Austin this past weekend, she saw the escalators and she was so excited. She was like, escalator! So we rode the escalators.
in I don't know where we were Macy's in Austin because we don't have escalators in Waco we don't have anywhere except for maybe Baylor but we don't have that so anyways we were in Austin we're in Macy's we were riding in escalators up and down and it was just so so sweet to see her face her precious face on the escalator maybe we'll post that on our social media just so y 'all could see her excited face around that but and then later when we had to leave she was like bye escalator see you later
Meredith (04:28)
my gosh.
Mishelle (04:36)
So anyways, that's what brings me joy in this moment. It's just like being with her, experiencing new things is so fun.
Meredith (04:44)
I love the icebreaker questions before you dive in and reveal the question this week, mainly because the more I learn about you, the more I know our souls and our minds connect and our real world lives separate further and further, Michelle, and you're like, Airstream. Out.
Mishelle (04:49)
Yes.
Yeah, in case y 'all don't know, Meredith is an indoorsy person and I'm an outdoorsy person. She loves being indoors, hates the heat. She has this incredible backyard with the perfect spot for a porch and backyard living. Who doesn't wanna live and sit out in their backyard with a fire pit? And she does not want to have anything to do with it.
Meredith (05:07)
Mm -hmm.
I absolutely do not. Like, I just let the dog in and out and then throw the ball maybe a handful of times. However, I keep trying to convince Ben for us to get a pool and I don't know why. I don't know why. I won't use it.
Mishelle (05:40)
Yes! Yeah, that's interesting. Why do you want a pool? Although a pool would be great. I would come over all the time. I think you all should do that for sure. But yeah, I don't know why. As someone that's an indoorsy person, you for sure do not want to be at the pool.
Meredith (05:47)
Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm. Thanks.
Well, I think that I need it just for that one time, one day in the summer where I want to be in it for 15 minutes. That's reasonable in my mind to request for a pool.
Mishelle (06:01)
Well, but maybe you could set up a TV out there, watch your sports, read your book, and then maybe that becomes your new happy place.
Meredith (06:12)
I would do that in November. You're right. I would not do that any other time. So, okay. I got us on a tangent, but.
Mishelle (06:19)
Okay, all right, all right, moving on, moving on to the question. So today's question is all about our beauty routine. So what is your beauty routine? Do you like specific makeup or skincare product? Like, here we go, all about it. So love this question. Also, I also like kind of chuckled at this question because I'm like, beauty routine? Do I even have a beauty routine?
Meredith (06:44)
I have the biggest smile on my face right now trying to figure out how I'm going to give someone a different perspective on this topic. But I love it because We're here to be authentically ourselves and be vulnerable and be open and share with folks the ins and outs of what we know of this. And so I would tackle this question twofold. I think.
Mishelle (07:00)
Yeah!
Meredith (07:11)
I think I speak for Michelle and I, but I'll let her say hers. I tend to lean more towards natural beauty and makeup application. And so I am also under the impression that everything I buy at 40 from a wrinkle routine or, or, you know, skincare will instantaneously fix all of the problems.
Mishelle (07:19)
Yeah. huh. huh.
Meredith (07:38)
So that's the level of life I'm at right now is that I'm a sucker. You say it's going to take away my eye dark circles under my eye. Sold. Sold. It's going to reduce the like sagginess in my neck. 100%. So I'm the sucker right now where it comes to skincare routine. But I do regularly and have recently in the last five years fallen in love with facials, which was not a thing I'd ever done before.
Mishelle (07:45)
You're buying it.
Yes!
Meredith (08:07)
But my beauty can't live without is probably eyeliner and mascara. I can live without foundation every day. I could live with all of those things. But if I'm in a meeting, if I'm doing a consultation, if I'm going to speak, then I'll do full face concealer, foundation, you know, the whole, I think that that's it, some blush. Wait, I think that's it.
Mishelle (08:29)
Yeah, you're like, wait, I think that's it. Wait, but tell us about the facials because you've done like some interesting ones, like the vampire facial, I think, where like your face is all red. Yeah, what's all that about?
Meredith (08:35)
Yes. huh.
Yes. Yeah. So for those who also who know me in this episode, it's going to laugh. But I have been in some situations where, you know, the facial is just a regular cleanse your skin, hydrate it and all those things. I feel amazing afterwards. I feel like the most beautiful after that. I have since dipped my toe into hydrofacials and the like you were saying, where they like
prick your skin and then a whole layer of your skin peels off. The name is escaping me right now. So I've done both of those. The Hydrofacial, I have never felt like the most disgusting human in the world because I clean my face. But what this Hydrofacial does is it injects water into your pores and then immediately vacuum sucks everything out of your pores afterwards. Why the person who was doing this?
Mishelle (09:34)
Ahhhh
Meredith (09:38)
elected to show me the water afterwards?
Mishelle (09:40)
I would be 100 % want to see the water after.
Meredith (09:44)
I judged myself so hard. I was like, did I even shower for two months? Like that's how bad the water was. Was it was just so cool. I mean, it was so bad, but I loved it and my face and my skin felt really good. And the other one. Maybe the other one's like microderming. I don't I can't I don't know what it was called, but it was three sessions.
Mishelle (09:55)
Interesting.
You might have to try that one.
I don't know, I feel like it was like a vampire facial. Your face was red.
Meredith (10:14)
Yeah, it was legitimately doing a tattoo needle all over my face without ink and essentially piercing the top layer of skin on my face. I felt so youthful, so glowing. They had to put a local, like topical numbing cream on my face for me not to feel completely wrecked afterwards.
Mishelle (10:21)
Eww.
Ooh, yeah. That's scary. That's like a scary facial. I don't know if I could do that one. Hydrofacial sounds cool though. I'll definitely look into that one. But yeah, a good facial is always good. I don't do those enough.
Meredith (10:44)
Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.
Hmm. So.
I think the tip that everybody gives me is hydrate, drink as much water as you can. And I don't do that. And so that's why I fall sucker to all those other like, it will fix it immediately, 45 minutes and your saggy skin is no longer saggy. Okay, and now what about you, Michelle? Let's hear more.
Mishelle (11:02)
Yeah. Mmm.
You're like, as long as I don't have to drink water every day.
Give me the cream! Okay, well so for me I'm not like a super frilly like girly girl. I wouldn't describe myself as like a girly girl. Not that I'm like Not feminine. I just am NOT a girly girl So But I do have my things like I do like my things so I don't ever get my nails done I know there's lots of people who on the regular get
Meredith (11:36)
Mm.
Mishelle (11:47)
a manicure or a pedicure, but I rarely do that. Almost never. I keep my nails really short and they're never painted and I just, I don't know, I just don't have any desire to do that. But what I will spend my money on is eyebrows. Well, first I just have to say that I think I like doing these things because it reduces the amount of time it takes me to get ready in the morning. So right now,
Meredith (11:51)
Mm -hmm.
Mishelle (12:14)
I'm all about like a five minute makeup routine. Like I can get ready, if I don't have to do my hair, like curl my hair, then I can get ready in 10 minutes. And it's amazing. If I have to curl my hair, then it takes me like another like 15 minutes to get ready, because I have to, you know, curl every hair. But I get my eyebrows microbladed, which is like where they tattoo your, it's like a semi -permanent tattoo of your eyebrow. And then,
What I'm into lately is brow lamination where they straight perm your brow hair so that it looks like it's been microbladed but it's actually just your real hair. And that lasts for about six weeks but I love that new process. So I do that now about every two months -ish, two and a half months. And then I get my eyelashes put on. It's like eyelash crack to me. I feel like I've done this for...
I don't know, maybe 10 years, but once you put your eyelashes on, you really can't go back because they're just so great. So I get my eyelashes done every three weeks and then I don't have to worry about eyebrow makeup or eyelashes like ever. So I don't wear any eye makeup. I don't put eyeliner on. I don't do mascara. Like I don't have to worry about that. So the only thing I do in the morning to get ready or to like for my beauty routine is or makeup wise as I wear the makeup that I like to use is called Illya and it's a clean,
Meredith (13:21)
Mm -hmm.
Mishelle (13:38)
makeup formula, but it has hyaluronic acid in it, it's got sunscreen in it, and it's just like a really light foundation slash sunscreen tint that I like to put on as a base because it just evens out my skin tone and covers minor blemishes. So I'll do that. And then I use this, I just found Merit Products, and I love Merit Products, and they really pump the five minute makeup routine, but it's like a stick.
Meredith (13:56)
Mm -hmm.
Mishelle (14:06)
like foundation situation and you just like one, two, three, one, two, three, and then you use a makeup brush to blend it in. And then there's like a blush, like a flush balm is what it's called, and you stick that on your cheeks and then you blend that in and then boom, you're done. And so that's all I do. I will say my toxic habit or toxic trait is that I really, I like, so I like lipstick.
Meredith (14:22)
Mm -hmm.
Mishelle (14:35)
I like to buy lipstick and I never wear it. So I own probably like maybe 10 tubes of lipstick of the exact same color from different brands, because I'm so attracted to that like nude lip and I'm always looking for the perfect nude lipstick and then I never wear them. So I just have all these tubes of lipstick that are in a nude shade.
Meredith (14:44)
Mm -hmm.
Mishelle (15:00)
in my makeup bag and they've never been worn. So I don't know why I keep trying to buy more, but it'll be like, ooh, I love that nude colored lipstick, I'm gonna buy it. And then guess what? I don't wear it. But I'm addicted to buying these nude lipstick shades. And that's the general, that's it for my beauty routine. That's truly it. I don't do anything else. I may start this whole facial routine situation that you're talking about, but in terms of my everyday.
Meredith (15:07)
-huh.
Mm.
I did it once a month. Yeah, once a month I do it. Mm -hmm.
Mishelle (15:29)
Yeah, once a month is great. Yeah. And then in terms of like facial care, like washing my face, I'm really into using these oil products. It's called Primally Pure. And you wash your face with oil, which is weird, but the oil I guess breaks down the dirt in the makeup. And so you like rub it into your face and you take a hot towel and like wipe it off. And then you just put on more oil as a moisturizer and that's it.
Meredith (15:40)
Mm -hmm.
I think that you and I really have like a simplistic beauty routine. I like that you shared your toxic trait. I gotta tell you mine. Mine's chapstick. I love it. But to the point where I had a friend and this is one of my best friends and she was like, please stop making eye contact as you're applying your chapstick. Cause you do it like a maniac. Cause apparently you only are like supposed to do two, two like swipes, like one, two.
Mishelle (16:04)
...
Meredith (16:23)
and I would go like round and round a couple of times and she's like, and you're making eye contact, this got weird.
Mishelle (16:29)
Yeah, like it's too intense. Your chapstick application is very intense.
Meredith (16:34)
and intimate, apparently. And so that's my toxic. I have so many chapsticks in my purse at any given point in time, I probably have five. But I always forget to apply it. So.
Mishelle (16:43)
That's crazy. But your lips will always be moisturized.
Okay, okay, so it's like you're always prepared, but you never need it.
Meredith (16:54)
Yeah, I will say I have such an appreciation and I love to watch. I watch a show glow up on Netflix, hopefully other people do too. And it is all about makeup application, but it's makeup application of if you were in a movie set or if you were like just trying to tell a story through art. So but what I'm boiling that down to is the people that can contour the people that can transform. If you guys want to sign up and transform Michelle and I.
I couldn't imagine and they look so flawless and beautiful. And I, in my mind, feel so limited in my skill and knowledge. Like my hair, I don't know how people even do hair. I either have it straightened or I have it in a bun and it's wet.
Mishelle (17:27)
Yeah.
very, it's like simple. You have your one or two things that you do and like that's it. huh. Yeah. Yeah.
Meredith (17:43)
Yes, yeah. And then similar to you or I put a ball cap on and then I really don't have to worry about like 75 % of the stuff, but I will always choose mascara and weirdly I do two separate mascaras. I'll do one base layer that's one mascara and it's like it brand or like the next brand is Stella. And then I do like the...
Mishelle (17:49)
huh.
Meredith (18:08)
eyelash curler in between, like before in between, and then do a second layer with a different brand. And in my mind, I'm like, yeah, that's making it more voluminous. But I don't know if that's really like a scientific fact. I don't know. Yeah.
Mishelle (18:12)
Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.
interesting so it's just like a two -step process that you created on your own. Have you seen... go ahead what?
Meredith (18:27)
But I had any, yeah. I was gonna say, but at any time I have at like nine different brands of mascara as well. It's so weird. It's so weird.
Mishelle (18:35)
okay, I love that. I'd love it. Have you seen and tried like the latest thing that I've seen, which almost made me want to take my eyelash extensions off just so I could try this, but then I was like, no, is it's like a metal mascara brush and there's not like bristles, it's just metal and it's supposed to really separate your lashes really well. Have you seen that?
Meredith (19:02)
One, I haven't seen it, and two, that sounds like a nightmare.
Mishelle (19:06)
But I feel like you gotta try it. You've gotta try it for me and the listeners now. Since you're the mascara wearer and you have so many different styles, like try it and let me know. I'm gonna send you a link.
Meredith (19:08)
Hmm. Okay, okay.
One of my insecurities my entire life is I have bigger eyes, like my eyes are bigger, And so I have to be really mindful of how big and how much, because if I blink, my eyelashes get stuck on my sunglasses, my eyeglasses, and then I feel like my eyes are just stuck and it's weird in some fashion, but I know adding a line of, of...
Mishelle (19:21)
Mm
Mmm.
So you're like trying to downplay your eyes.
Meredith (19:42)
I, what am I trying to say, eyeliner underneath like I do makes my eye, I feel is supposed to make your eyes smaller. And then I still add a layer of mascara on both the top and bottom lashes. But then I wear glasses and I don't hardly ever wear sunglasses, but I do take a lot of consideration into the moisturizers that I put on my face. One that has SPF, some that are tinted. It just, that's...
Mishelle (19:56)
Okay, so interesting.
I think that's important. Yeah. Yeah.
Meredith (20:11)
I think as I'm approaching 40 and different lines are appearing and I mean, do you get the same response where people don't believe you're 40? And I always say it's cause I'm Asian. Okay. Okay. I know.
Mishelle (20:22)
Yes, yes, yeah, we've been blessed with that Asian skin. Yeah, a lot of people think I'm in my 30s and then when I was in my 30s, people thought I was in my 20s and so I'm great with it. I'll take it. I will take it for as long as possible. So I'm trying to take care of my skin in the best way I can, but also I have to keep it simple. I don't want to do a bunch of stuff. As part of my beauty routine, I don't want to go crazy with that. So.
Meredith (20:32)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, but again...
Mishelle (20:51)
I feel like I'm doing enough. It's working. It works for me.
Meredith (20:55)
And I think too, I have such an appreciation and would love to hear how other people do it. I never grew up in a household where doing your hair, doing your makeup was something that I was ever trained or educated to do. And then I played sports. I'm sure if I was in some other athletic where you did have to get ready. I mean, I did show choir and like chamber choir, but my hair was, is naturally curly.
I just wish I was better at it, but then I also like that I don't care.
Mishelle (21:23)
Mm -hmm.
Yeah, yeah. I will say though, I wish I did know how to do the contouring, you know, and the lines on your face and all of that and have a really put together face, but yeah, like you said, at the same time, I don't care. So.
Meredith (21:32)
Yes.
Mm -hmm.
Mm -hmm. What I don't care even more is where I tell people, like, I'm not wearing makeup. And they're like, you look exactly the same. Or I'm like, I just stepped out of the shower and I didn't do my hair. And they're like, it looks wonderful. And then the days where I really intentionally curl every strand or do something and nobody comments on it, I've just learned, OK, minimal effort achieved.
Mishelle (21:59)
Yeah.
Yeah, minimal effort is the best way, at least for you and me it sounds like, and I just at the end of the day want to be comfortable. That's it for me, is I want it to be easy, I want it to be comfortable, and I don't want to spend a lot of time getting ready in the morning. So like I don't even blow dry my hair, because my hair is pretty long, and so what I'll do is I used to blow dry my hair, like, and that would take forever, and so now I'm just, take a shower at night,
Meredith (22:10)
Mm -hmm.
Yes.
Mm -hmm.
Mishelle (22:35)
sleep on it with it wet, which I've heard is bad for your hair, but I literally don't care because of the convenience of it, so then it'll dry overnight, and then I'll curl it in the morning, and it takes like 10 minutes. So even like when it comes to hair, I'm not trying to do all that extra. So, mm -hmm.
Meredith (22:46)
Mm -hmm.
Yeah. I mean, I really, I enjoyed that someone submitted this question because it puts us out of our comfort zone and has us talk in a really fun way about something that I don't think either of us know too deep or have a really big knowledge on makeup. But I think similar to everybody and maybe just some wrap up thoughts around what it is, it's you're learning who you are in the process.
Mishelle (22:59)
Mm -hmm.
Meredith (23:19)
And whatever makes you feel good is the type of makeup routine you should have. But definitely coming into 40 and if anybody younger is listening, protect your skin as much as you can. That's probably my biggest thing. And apparently drink water. I don't know. I'm learning that if you drink a ton of water, that helps with your skin, your nails, your hair, being really diligent and keeping hydrated and putting the most natural products that you can.
Mishelle (23:24)
Yeah.
Meredith (23:48)
on your body, in your body, would be a tip. I wouldn't tell you that I practice that tip all the time, but I'm assuming someone's gonna wanna give you that tip.
Mishelle (23:50)
Yeah.
Yeah, no, I think those are all good tips. A thousand percent, yes.
Meredith (24:04)
So this was probably a shorter episode, but a lot more fun for us to break us out of the other episodes that we've had so far. Michelle, this was really fun and funny. And I feel really ill -equipped to provide feedback on this topic, but keep them coming and please share all of yours, all of your beauty care tips, hacks, most loved products, beauty products. Michelle has a lot to share. And...
Mishelle (24:15)
I know it is.
Meredith (24:33)
Apparently I'm gonna give you guys feedback on some metal mascara application. And do you have any other thoughts or anything else you wanna close out with?
Mishelle (24:37)
Mascara? Yes.
No, that's it. That's it. Just find something that works for you and stick with it. I think, yeah, just be comfortable in your own skin and whatever that means to you, go do that.
Meredith (24:53)
Yeah. And lastly, just submit your burning questions if you have them or topics at our website at girl life .com or send it directly to our email. Hello at it girl life .com. You can find us on social media and DMS there. So thank you. Bye.
Mishelle (25:13)
Bye.