These days it's nearly impossible to know what women are spending on the way they look. Someone with Instagram-flawless contouring might have honed her craft using the finest from the drugstore aisles, and the utterly makeup-free type might be spending thousands on laser treatments and serums. Enter our series What It Costs to Be Me, in which we're asking interesting women for radical transparency.
Next up? Lori Taylor Davis, 52, global pro lead artist for Smashbox, from Los Angeles. Her grand total? $9,091
If you’ve ever admired that bronzy, sun-kissed California makeup look celebrated by, well, basically everyone, chances are you’ve got Lori Taylor Davis to thank. The global pro artist for Los Angeles–based Smashbox (and a born and raised Angeleno herself), Davis has been creating her signature glowy, natural looks all around the world for over two decades. She’s also a beauty enthusiast to the core and has been since childhood. “My entrée into makeup was through my two grandmothers. They were my personal beauty influencers,” says Davis. “They both had trays of perfumes, Avon lipsticks…. They were full-on glamazons. One of my grandmothers would wear incredible lashes and wigs, like a little Diana Ross. My first makeup came from her. Of course, it was makeup designed for someone much older than me and the colors weren’t right, but I would literally go to school in a full beat.” That beauty curiosity and infectious enthusiasm is instantly apparent when Davis runs through her regimen, whether she’s detailing her handmade Ayurvedic hair oil recipe, her latest Smashbox loves, her treatment splurges, or her “seven layer dip” skin-care routine.
My shower routine: $295
My poor husband has no room for his things in the shower. We have five tiers of products in the shower, and I fill up every shelf! For my body, I use a neem oil soap ($5) that’s super natural and really moisturizing. For shower gel, I go between Dr. Bronner’s Almond Castile Soap ($11) and a body wash from that new brand Nécessaire ($25). It smells so good: like eucalyptus but not overpowering, and also somehow very fresh and citrusy. I love that scent. Sometimes I use a scrub from Mario Badescu ($26) to exfoliate, and I also like to wash with a natural sea sponge ($10) or a scrubby mitt—I always see the ladies at the Korean spa using them, and I can get a bunch for something like $1 each on eBay.
Because I have naturally curly hair, I don’t necessarily shampoo that often, but I do always work in some kind of conditioner every time I shower. For natural hair you want to have the right amount of moisture, and you want to get a good curl pattern after you wash. My friend is into Ayurvedic skin care, so I have a special custom oil blend that I mix up myself and put into all my conditioners (read my recipe for it below). I add it into every conditioner I own, and sometimes I’ll just apply some of the oil mixture directly onto my roots. That’s my one little secret-secret potion—that oil is like my superhero costume for my hair, and it makes my hair a lot healthier. The conditioner I currently use is Bumble Bb Curl conditioner ($34). It’s not too heavy, but it still manages to do a lot for my curls. I shampoo twice a week at the absolute most—for my hair, the conditioner plus my oil potion sort of is the wash; it’s a cowash. When I do shampoo every so often, I use Living Proof ($27).
My Ayurvedic hair oil recipe:
5 tbsp. warm coconut oil ($17)
1 tbsp. aloe vera juice ($6)
2 tbsp. cassia powder ($5)
½ tbsp. amla powder ($3.50)
½ tbsp. fenugreek powder ($3.50)
2 tbsp. castor oil ($10)
1 tbsp. amla oil ($9)
1 tbsp. shea oil ($5)
1 tbsp. avocado oil ($8)
1 tbsp. aloe vera oil ($8)
2 tbsp. fenugreek seeds ($5)
10 drops peppermint oil ($5)
20 drops rosemary oil ($4)
20 drops lavender oil ($14)
10 drops rose oil ($39)
10 drops tea tree oil ($15)
Mix everything in a jar and let stand for five to seven days, then strain into a bottle. Blend a little into your conditioner to cowash, or apply along with leave-in conditioner. Use directly on roots and ends of hair to improve hair texture and encourage growth.
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My post-shower hair and body routine: $74
I towel-dry my hair first, then put a little bit of leave-in conditioner on the ends. I’m currently using Camille Rose Coconut Water Leave-In ($14) and I love it. It’s so amazing. My leave-in conditioner does periodically change, depending on where I am and what my hair needs. Sometimes I want it to hold a little more, sometimes less—so occasionally I’ll use Cantu Leave In Conditioning Repair Cream ($6) or Bumble and Bumble ($34). After leave-in, I just let my hair air-dry—I don’t put any heat on it.
The skin on my body tends to be dry, so for moisturizing after the shower I use a combo of oils and lotion. I use the old-school sesame seed Neutrogena Body Oil ($10)—I love the feel of that—and Mario Badescu makes an olive oil lotion ($10) I really like too. I mix them together, because I think that way the oil really sinks in. I don’t like rough skin, so I just slather it on. It’s my own supermodel moment in the mornings: thick, yummy oil and lotion.
My morning skin care: $596
My mantra: I’m all about skin. I spend most of my money on skin care like oils and serums. I’m a seven-layer-dip kind of skin-care person. My husband is always like, “What is all this stuff?” I have all these little vials and droppers, and I generally use whatever’s directly in front of me: two or three serums, two or three oils, and lastly I seal it with a radiant, shimmery moisturizer, and, of course, sunscreen.
The face wash I’m using right now is GlamGlow Galacticleanse ($32)—it’s my newest addition. I also follow it up with a natural olive oil cleanser called Lovluv Olive First Time Foam Cleanser ($11). The GlamGlow is a creamy wash to lift up any makeup I didn’t get off the night before, and the sudsy Loveluv gets it all clean. Then I pat my face dry and spray on a little Mario Badescu Facial Spray ($12) before I start in with my oils and serums. I have an order: Serums go on first to penetrate, then the oils. I start at my neck with serum and work my way up, and then with my oils I go all the way back down again, from my forehead down to my neck. First I use Amore Pacific Moisture Bound Rejuvenating Serum ($100), then a hydrating serum from Mario Badescu ($30). Then it’s onto my oils: the Ordinary Rosehip Oil ($10), and their Marula Oil ($10) too. I also love Akar Desert Rescue Soothe Face Oil ($90)—one of my girlfriends works at Whole Foods and she knows how much I love face oils, so she recommended that one to me. I finish everything off with a lavender spray from Mario Badescu ($7), because it’s soothing and calming. And every once in a while, I’ll use the Photo Finish Primer Oil from Smashbox ($42) at the very, very end.
My sunscreen is one my dermatologist told me to buy called ThinkBaby ($13); it’s for children, SPF 50, no tint. It’s surprising that it works for me—even though my skin is more medium-toned, it sinks in really nicely and there’s not too much whiteness. On top of that I use Tata Harper’s Illuminating Moisturizer ($85), which has a nice little tint and luminescence to it. Tata also makes a shimmery undereye cream ($105) that I love for the daytime. I also recently got the Glamglow Mega Illuminating Glow Moisturizer ($49), yet another glimmery moisturizer, which is also kinda bomb.
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My daytime makeup: free because of my job (but if I paid, it would be $296)
To me, foundation is for special occasions only. I’m more of a concealer/primer girl. I’ll start off first by laying down our classic Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer ($36), cocktailed in with the radiance primer ($39). I like to be shimmery and shiny, that’s my perfect skin. Then I go with my Studio Skin Concealer ($24) in two different shades; I’ll do Light Warm Golden underneath my eyes, Light Medium Warm Olive around my nose area, and then I blend them both in.
Then I do my brows—I’m fanatical about my brows. If I do nothing else for makeup, I’ll do concealer and brow. I fill in with Brow Tech To Go in Brunette ($28), and once I get it to look like they’re my brows, I feather that in. Then I’ll use one of our cream eyeshadows in our Crystallized collection ($24). It’s bronzy gold, a one-wash-and-dash-out-the-door kind of shadow, and I’ll just smooth it on and pat it down with my finger. Then I curl my lashes, and use two different mascaras—I’m a freak about using two. I apply Super Fan ($19) top and bottom to add thickness, then I do another coat of Full Exposure ($23) just on the top, which makes them really big. Then along my bottom lashline I draw on a little of this perfect brown-gold eyeliner, Always Sharp Liner in Penny Lane ($21). I love it because it has that little bit of gold fleck to it.
For my cheeks, I’ll use any one of my Cali Contour palettes—it has contour, highlight, and a little bit of color. The one I’m loving lately is the newest, Cali Kissed ($39). It has a bright pinky blush that looks so great on skin. I put down the matte base first, then create a soft, soft contour for that sculpted look, then dust a little highlighter on cheekbones, and use a bit of that hot pink blush to tie it all in.
I do like to do lips during the day—I’m a super-shiny, glossy type. I tend to lay down one of our liquid lipsticks first so the gloss will stay on longer. The color I love to use is Fair Game ($24), and on top of that I use 72 & Honey gloss ($19). And that’s it—that’s my daytime face.
My nighttime makeup upgrades: free because of my job (but if I paid, it would be $95)
If I have to transition my makeup from day to night, two of my favorite eyeshadows are in our Smashbox Cover Shop Eye Palette in Matte ($29). It’s got a chocolatey brown and a lavender, and I’ll create a lavender-purply-taupey look from my lash line to my natural crease. Then take a mixture of black and brown shadows from the palette and keep them tight at my lash line top and bottom, and finish everything off with a gel black pencil liner ($18) on the inner rim of my eyes. At the very end I take a brush and smudge it all together so it looks kind of messy, like I didn’t try. My night eye makeup is where I usually don’t spend as long—I think partly because I wear glasses. But I do like to play up my lip with something deeper, like Maneater Liquid Lipstick ($24), or Girl Gang ($24). Maneater is kind of a metallic red, and Girl Gang is a deeper grape color—like a dark Bordeaux or wine. If I’m feeling it, maybe I’ll add just a little more warm shimmer highlight from the Cali Contour palette, and then I’m done.
My nighttime skin care: $74
I don’t like to do too much in the way of suds at night; I use just a tissue or wipe to towel off my makeup. I like having that oily residue, and in the morning is when I get it all clean with foaming washes. When I’m taking off my makeup, I’m really in love with using a baby wipe (I get the ones for sensitive skin from Target, $2) with Smashbox’s dual-phase makeup remover ($20), which I’ll pour into the baby wipe. That’s one really good way to take everything off. My other strategy is to use Neutrogena wipes ($5) to get my makeup halfway off, then I go to the oilier Glamglow Galacticleanse cleanser to lift off the rest of my makeup.
Once everything’s clean, I press my face with the Mario Badescu rose water again, tissue that off, and start in with my various night oils, which are often The Ordinary Marula again, or The Ordinary Argan Oil ($7). One thing I do really focus on at night is applying my Mario Badescu Hydro-Emollient Cream ($18) and Mario Badescu Olive Oil eye cream ($18), which are both superrich and super-creamy. By the time I’m finished with my skin routine, it’s like my face could stick to the pillow! But I think nighttime is when you need it most.
Sometimes I’ll put all that on and also use one of my Korean beauty masks on top, and fall asleep in it. I’ll start the night out with that on two or three times a week, and it’ll usually fall off in the night when I’m sleeping. I generally get my sheet masks from Koreatown at the Korean spas—they’re so inexpensive, and I’ll pick up whatever they have in the $4 bin. Right now I’m liking Mustaev Moisture Pleasure Sheet Mask ($4). I keep a stack of them in the drawer next to my bed, and just sock them on.
My woodsy scents: $501
I’m so in love with Acqua di Parma. They make a particular scent called Mirra ($245), and it’s one of my favorites. It reminds me of incense—it’s almost masculine, but perfumey at the same time. It’s so amazing. The other one I love is Jo Malone Myrrh & Tonka ($185), which is also really deep and rich and woodsy.
For home scents, the Tocca Cleopatra candle ($42) is my favorite—it’s my everything. Again, it’s a little woodsy. It reminds me of walking through one of the souks in Dubai—very beautiful and Middle Eastern. That’s like my house’s fragrance. I also love to burn that classic nag champa incense ($11) every other day, and sometimes also palo santo ($18) to keep the energy good.
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My longtime hair team: approximately $1,200 a year
The person in charge of my hair color is Tanya Abriol—she’s incredible, and I go to her two to three times a year to keep the grays at bay and the color popping. It’s about $200 each time, but I don’t need a lot of highlights. Since I have such curly hair, I can sort of get away with murder with my color. Tanya’s husband, Neeko, is my hair cutter; he’s the person who did Halle Berry’s first big chop. He’s amazing at cuts—it’s also about $200 each time. It’s not cheap but it’s well worth it, especially because my hair’s curly and he really knows how to cut naturally curly hair, which is a science all to itself. I’m a two-for-one kind of scheduler, so I see both of them when I’m there. They’ve been doing my hair for a long, long time.
My periodic beauty and wellness treatments: approximately $5,000 a year
I’m super fanatical about getting facials. I go to Joanna Vargas Salon, and I see Thora there. She just basically tells me whatever I’m doing for my skin that week—sometimes it’s a microcurrent facial or a lactic acid peel. I don’t even pick; I just let her tell me what I need. I just love her so much, and I go every four to six weeks. I don’t want to overdo it, so that tends to be the right amount. It’s usually about $200, and it’s worth every penny—it’s a lot cheaper than Botox.
My brow woman is Kelley Baker of Kelley Baker Brows (approximately $150). She’s fully in charge of my brows. I’ve been going to her for the past 10 years, and go maybe every six weeks, or whenever she can fit me in.
I get mani-pedis at Polish and Paint, my local nail spot. I’m there usually once every two or three weeks, and it costs about $45 total. I keep my fingernails clear, and my pedi is some exciting color. I always bring in my own polish, so it could range from a super-crazy Nars deep, dark green ($20) or a Chanel gold ($28), or sometimes Essie Ballet Slippers ($9). I can have my fun with the toes, but for the hands I don’t want to scare anybody when I’m coming at their face with a makeup brush.
I do like to spend a good moment at an all-day Korean spa a couple times a year. It’s amazing: I’m in the Jade Room, or I’ll have a body exfoliating moment (approximately $55). We have a huge Koreatown in Los Angeles, which is incredible, so I’ll usually go to Olympic Spa ($30 for all day) or Wi Spa ($30 for all day). We also have a massage bar called The Now here, which I love to go to for a once-a-month deep-deep-tissue massage ($105). I like to go in for an hour and a half if I can.
Lastly, I have an amazing acupuncturist I see every few weeks at 3 Angels Health Center—because of my company insurance, I get 25 sessions for free a year. Can you believe that? I have the best insurance. That could only happen in California. We’re so hippy-dippy here.
My exercise routine: approximately $960 a year
I am a Classpass user, so I get to do cycling classes, boxing, anything. It’s $60 a month for that, and it also works for me whenever I’m traveling. When I’m at home I go to Prevail Boxing, and Cyclebar is my cycling studio—sometimes I make it there a couple times a week, but my exercise schedule with travel is so terrible. I’m also a member of Planet Fitness just for a good old treadmill—that’s $20 a month—and I like to hike Runyon Canyon. And there’s always something to be said for a solid hotel gym.
