What Olive & June Founder Sarah Gibson Tuttle Buys at the Drugstore
Here at the Strategist, we love hearing about everyday stuff that actually works. That line of thinking extends to the drugstore beauty products in our medicine cabinets, shower caddies, and makeup bags. In our series “Beauty Aisle,” we talk to folks in the beauty industry — aestheticians, hairstylists, makeup artists, dermatologists, and the like — about the go-to affordable products they keep stocked. For this installment, Strategist beauty writer Arielle Avila chatted with Olive & June founder Sarah Gibson Tuttle, who just launched her new dip powder system, about the drugstore products she loves.
Her gentle claw clips
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I have gone through this entire hair journey from dyeing my hair platinum to going back to my natural color and growing it out. It’s been a two-to-three-year process of going from bob to lob to long hair. I try to use claw clips as much as possible because they’re so much gentler on your hair than hair ties, and I love the Kitsch ones. I love that they come out with different colors, different finishes, different sizes. I love Cassandra, the founder. I’m a major Kitsch fan. If you’re trying to be gentle on your hair — which I am so that it stays long and pretty — then I really recommend claw clips.
Her hair mask for shiny strands
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I baby my hair so much now. I do a mask at least once a week, and I love Odele. My hair never feels weighed down or oily after using it. It’s just shiny and bouncy afterward. I like all the Odele products, actually, but I do think that this Moisturizing Hair Mask is really quite good. I will say one of my hacks for hair masks, though, and hair products in general, is that I mix them up. I don’t use the same shampoo or mask all the time. I’m so consistent in my beauty routine otherwise, but in hair, I think a hairstylist once told me that I should mix it up, and I’ve never stopped doing that.
A glossy (yet non-sticky) lip gloss
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I’m obsessed with lip glosses. This one’s super glossy, but not sticky, which is big for me. I can’t stand if a lip gloss is too sticky. I go with the Sugar Poppy. It’s a lighter shade. I don’t like a lot of color, since my lips are really red. I also love this because my daughter steals all of my lip glosses and lip balms. At this price point it’s not so annoying that she’s stealing and making me buy another one.
Her eye patches that stay put
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I’m all about little beauty rituals to make you feel good. I think eye patches are the most fun way to feel good but are also hydrating. I’m 46, and so I have to really hydrate. I wear eye patches on team calls, at workouts, on hikes. I don’t believe you can ever get too much hydration under your eyes. I love the Clearstem ones. They smell good. They feel good. They stay put.
Drops for instant white eyes
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I get my makeup done every time I’m presenting or I have a professional appearance. I normally do my own makeup otherwise. When I was getting my makeup done once for my first keynote, I had really bloodshot eyes. I remember I was really stressed out about it. Daniele Piersons, who is an incredible makeup artist, was like, “I have something. Are you going to be okay with eye drops?” And I was like, “Yeah, sure, whatever.” These Lumify eye drops make the whites of your eyes so white, and that really makes your eyes pop, too. It saved my keynote. I walked on, and I did not have bloodshot eyes. I felt much more confident. You can’t use them all the time, but they are definitely a really fun hack for when you need that.
Her SPF that doubles as makeup
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I have had skin cancer — I had basal cell — and so I’m incredibly proactive about wearing SPF every single day. I’m also big on no-makeup makeup on days I’m just hanging around the house or running errands. I really try to wear makeup only when I have an event or something going on. I find that if you use an SPF that has a little bit of a glow in it, it can make you look like you have makeup on when you don’t. That’s how I use this Supergoop Glowscreen. It’s lightweight and hydrating. It makes my skin look very, very dewy. I like that it’s protecting me but also makes me look like I put on some makeup.
The headband she wears between wash days
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Again, in my hair-babying journey, I try not to wash my hair every day. I have a lot of hair, but it’s really fine. It gets greasy pretty quickly. Sometimes I’ll apply baby powder or dry shampoo, but I like the way these headbands separate my hair. They make it look like it’s meant to be a slicked-back vibe, so it looks more put together even if you have second-, third-, fourth-day hair. I just think it makes me look presentable and on trend.
Her hack for an instant manicure
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I wasn’t always a press-on person, but I have become a complete stan. They are a hack for lazy-nail nail peeps. If you don’t want to paint, dip, or do a lot of work, but you want the look of a $150 salon manicure, that’s where press-ons come into play. I have become obsessed with them. I think they look better than most because of all the sizing options. They look so real.
I do have some tips on applying them. First, I don’t wash my hands for an hour before because I want them to be as dehydrated as possible. Then I put on our nail strengthener so that it kind of spot-dehydrates my nails while it still strengthens. Then, I always use our brush-on glue. It’s just easier for me to manage and get full coverage than the tube that comes in the pack. It’s just personal preference. I also prefer to do them at night so that I’m not rushing off or bumping them. They just sit and stay as I sleep, since it takes a little while for the glue to dry. Removal-wise, my hack is to take a bath. I basically let my nails soak under the water for a few minutes, and then I use a flossing stick. I just put it in between the natural nail and the press-on nail, and I slide it through to break the seal of the glue. Then I just buff the rest of the glue off.
More expert drugstore picks
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“It’s reliable, and it gives me just enough definition without looking overly done for daytime.”
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“It’s a gentle formulation that’s good even for people with sensitive skin.”
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“When the twists come out, they stay. When I use it, I feel like my hair has a softness to it.”
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“I look awake and a little prettier in two minutes.”
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“What it does is it flashes back at the camera. It has this glass, almost a latexlike finish.”
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“The best thing about it is it doesn’t feather. It doesn’t smudge.”
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The Strategist is designed to surface useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Every product is independently selected by our team of editors, whom you can read about here. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.