Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a Latin-American woman member of the House of Representatives of the United States for the congressional district of New York. She is an activist and is well known for her work raising the voice in favor of the Latino community. It is a role model for the generation of young women since she shows us that we can be whatever we want if we are determined.
Apart from fulfilling her important position, she has always been recognized for her transparency and for the genuineness shown to her followers. She runs two Instagram accounts in which she shares her day to day with each of us. One is a bit more professional about matters within the Congress and the other is a more intimate account where she does stuff like live streams of her talking to us while cooking.
I was recently swiping on the Instagram stories and saw some of Alexandria’s instastories, she was doing some Q & A’s. Someone asked, “How do you stay stress-free and how do you keep your skin so clear?” And there I thought, it’s true, I had not paid attention to how beautiful and well-groomed Alexandria’s skin is. Maybe because when I think about her I think about more serious matters, but she proves that she can totally rock at both topics.
Alexandria answered the question by clarifying that she is not exempt from stress. She gives advice on how she handles her stress, putting her worries on a scale. As for her skin, she says that the trick that worked for her is not to wear full-coverage makeup, she leans more towards tinted moisturizers and BB creams. This way it is easier to take care of it and keep it clean. She advises that we keep a packet of wipes near our bedside table to at least take off the makeup before going to sleep. Never sleep with makeup!
In the following story, she goes on to go into more detail with her skincare routine. She sums it up in three simple steps. Personally, I try to take care of my skin as much as possible but I never adapted to a routine, because the routines that I have seen on the internet are very rigorous and multi-step. So I always ended up washing my face, moisturizing it (sometimes I used to forgot to do it) and occasionally doing something else like exfoliating, but I knew I had to structure myself to get better results. When I came across the Alexandria routine I became interested immediately. That is? three steps? nothing more? So I took out a pen to take notes.
Here’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Skin Care Routine:
Step 1: Double Cleansing
Ocasio-Cortez recommends that you do cleansing at least twice, especially if you use makeup. This way you make sure to remove all the dirt and makeup from our face. She suggests that we first use an oil-based product that helps to remove all traces of makeup. She goes on to make the excellent point to never use products that contain alcohol as its terrible for our face. In my skin-care routine, I use micellar water. However, some people swear by coconut oil or even jojoba oil.. After removing the thickness, use a regular cleanser. You need to find one that works best for your skin. (Pro tip: never use a cleanser that makes your skin feel super tight!).
Step 2: Toner & Actives
She again warns us about products with alcohol and says that our toner should be like water, but more nourished. She recommends Witch Hazel known in Spanish as agua maravilla or any other toner from any brand that doesn’t contain alcohol. Actives can be serums that contain ingredients such as vitamin C. For this one I did buy a bottle of agua maravilla and the results are incredible.
Step 3: Moisturizers & Sunscreen
Here she says that this is the most personal step and that we should find that moisturizer that works best for us. She is right, all skins are different and not all need the same. I found one that works very well for me and includes as an ingredient sunscreen. She emphasizes sunscreen, says it is one of the most important things for skin care.
Additional Notes
Alexandria shared that from time to time she experiments with additional things like face masks, brushes, and tools. She tells us the story of how her mother was the one who taught her to take care of her skin since she was little. As additional advice says that lowering our lactose intake can help the skin.
I have followed this routine for a while now and let me tell you that my skin looks spectacular. I have never had problems with breakouts or anything like that, but I knew that my skin could improve and it did. My skin changed for good and it shows. The only step that I added to customize my routine is to apply castor oil on my eyelashes to strengthen them and help them grow, but other than that, what has helped me is to be consistent with this three-step routine and from time to time I apply some face masks.
As a bonus, Alexandria shares with us the list of make-up she uses when she decides to use it. This list of the products are: tinted moisturizers or BB creams, concealer, mascara, blush, stick highlighter, brow gel, and lip color. She uses her fingers or makeup sponges to apply her make-up and on fancy days she adds some more products to her lists like contour, powder, eyeliner, and eyeshadow.
I really liked that she shared this with her followers. It gives us that feeling of sisterhood, I felt it as if it were our older sister teaching us things about skin care and makeup. She proves us that you can be both, a serious person of politics and that you can also talk about things like these; that is not all or nothing if not a hybrid.
One of his followers wrote that he really was not interested in his skincare routine, that he wanted advice on how to run a campaign. Alexandria replied that this was also okay, we all have different interests and goes on to tell her how she manages to give speeches. She revealed that she does not write her speeches but that nobody does it for her either, she just improvises at the moment and manages to do that because she is always reading and learning from speakers who inspire her. She invites the follower concerned about how to give good speeches to read about the authors she recommends in the instant, like Martin Luther King, Dolores Huerta, Angela Davis, and Shakespeare.
Alexandria:
Thank you for teaching us so much and for never stopping to surprise us. You are the inspiration of so many young women. You are the living example that we are powerful and that we can conquer the world at any time. We appreciate you so much, keep making history!