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? Shani Darden, 45, celebrity esthetician and founder of Shani Darden Skin Care, from Los Angeles, California. Her grand total? $49,758
Shani Darden has incredible self-restraint. “I get sent a lot of skin-care products to try,” says the esthetician. “But I tend to stick with my usual lineup.” Darden’s controlled approach stems from years of watching her clients’ skin suffer as they added unnecessary steps and frivolous products into their routines. “If you use really effective products, you don’t need a lot of them,” she says.
Darden stays true to that same philosophy when curating retail products for her Beverly Hills skin studio, where she stocks science-driven brands like Furtuna Skin—for which she serves as an ambassador—and Dr. Dennis Gross in addition to her own line, Shani Darden Skin Care.
Although running the latter could be its own full-time job, Darden still makes time to perform custom facials for VIP clients like Jessica Alba and January Jones. Here, the products, treatments, and tools that help her look and feel her best through it all.
My shower routine: $88
I’m really lazy in the shower, to be honest. I’m not into scrubs or anything like that. I’m in there for maybe six minutes, tops. Everything I do use is by Ouai—shampoo, conditioner, and Body Cleanser ($28). I love the smell of it all; it’s just good and clean. I like their Clean Shampoo ($28), but I actually use their Treatment Masque ($32) in place of conditioner. I just have so much hair that I have to use an even thicker formula.
My post-shower body routine: $184
While my body is still wet from the shower, I like to use The Honest Company Organic Body Oil ($10). It absorbs really quickly, so sometimes I’ll do Ouai Body Crème ($38) moisturizer over that. I’m obsessed. But I do like to switch it up. I use Environ Body Vitamin Treatment ($136) quite a bit, especially on my arms. It’s two oils: one has lactic acid and the other has vitamins A, C, and E. It’s hydrating, but it also treats crepey skin and pigmentation.
My hair-styling routine: $202
I don’t wash my hair every single day, but if I have, I’ll use Ouai Hair Oil ($28) on damp hair. If I haven’t washed my hair, I’ll usually just apply a dry shampoo—Kristin Ess Style Reviving Dry Shampoo ($14) doesn’t leave a film—and add some curl with my T3 Professional Ceramic Curling Iron ($160).
My daytime skin-care routine: free because of my job (but if I paid it would be $2,360)
If I get up early, after I wash my face with my super-gentle Daily Cleansing Serum ($38), I’ll do an LED light treatment for about 20 minutes. I use the Déesse Pro Mask Next Generation ($1,900), usually on the red-light setting. It helps with antiaging by boosting collagen production in your skin. I’ve been using it for years and years now, and it makes such a big difference.
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