What It Costs to Be Me

I Tossed $2,500 Worth of Makeup and Started Over With All Women-Owned Brands

Image may contain Human Person Electrical Device Microphone Advertisement Poster Paper Brochure Flyer and Crowd
Courtesy of brand; design by Aimee Sy

All products are independently selected by our editors. If you buy something, we may earn an affiliate commission.

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 or face serums. Enter our series "What It Costs to Be Me," where we're asking interesting women for radical transparency.

Up this week: Erin Gibson, 39-year-old author of Feminasty and cohost of the podcast Throwing Shade, who lives in Los Angeles. Her annual total? $11,732.

As half of Throwing Shade, the podcast on politics and pop culture that she puts out with cohost Bryan Safi, Erin Gibson is well versed in the art of couching awful news in humor. The same goes for her new book, in which she mercilessly takes that skill to the next level. Feminasty is cathartic, hilarious, enlightening, and rage provoking. Along with discussing the lack of period pain relievers and the regulation of woman's clothing choices, Gibson opens up about her decision to start using only women-owned cosmetic brands. "It felt like something I needed to do, and now I’m telling everyone I know," she says. "I want anyone who's into makeup to be educated so they can help other women." After tossing out $2,500 worth of beauty products that didn't meet her new criteria, this is her best-ever, woman-dominated routine.

My Morning Skin-Care Routine: $130

I love Marie Veronique. She's an ex high school science teacher, and her daughter is a chemist. So I like to think of them in a basement laboratory, putting drops of oil in vials and bonding over that. Their stuff is super natural—so much so that I have to shake up the Replenishing Oil Cleanser ($40) every time I use it, because it separates.

Then I use the Marie Veronique Protective Day Oil ($65), and I put on a sunscreen. Beautycounter's face sunscreen, Countersun Mineral Sunscreen Lotion SPF 30 ($25), is fantastic.

My Nighttime Skin Fixes: $87

I oil-cleanse at night, and then I use Thayers Witch Hazel Toner ($7), which I’m pretty sure is female-owned. If more companies bragged about it, I think it would be a lot easier to find women-owned brands. I don’t want to see International Women’s Day on McDonald’s Twitter account, but I do want to see companies that are run by women bragging about it.

After that, I put on the Rejuvenating Night Oil ($80) from Marie Veronique, which doubles as my moisturizer. Being in my bathroom depresses me, so I try to keep my routine quick. Every time I'm in there, I feel like I’m in the scene in Poltergeist when he looks in the mirror and turns into a skeleton. I put a good lightbulb in, and it didn't help.

My Skin-Care Secret Weapon: $11

I think every woman should invest in black washcloths. I don’t hang mine up to dry—I get a clean washcloth every time. You can put mascara on it and you won’t even care. Anything that just sits there wet in your shower, hanging off of your shower head, has gross stuff on it, IMO.

My Go-to Makeup: $265

I really like the Juice Beauty Tinted Mineral Moisturizer ($30). It's so beautiful and dewy. The coverage isn't great, but I mix it with a little bit of RMS Beauty Un Cover‑Up Concealer ($36) if I need to and call it a day. I like RMS's Lip2Cheek creamy blushes ($36) and their creamy Eye Polish ($28) too.

I'm also really into Sugarpill Cosmetics Pressed Eyeshadow ($12). I discovered the brand because of Trixie Mattel—I love Trixie. She’s been on Throwing Shade a bunch of times. I actually met the woman who runs Sugarpill at one of her shows, and she’s just the most colorful human being in the world. Meanwhile, Dose of Color has this amazing Block Party Single Eyeshadow ($20) that’s good if you want some shimmer but you don’t want to look like a fairy. Like a Shakespearean wood nymph.

Instagram content

This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.

Then for lips, I like The Lip Bar. Melissa Butler is a woman of color who makes really pigmented lipsticks. Her website reads like a feminist studies manifesto. Her lip gloss called Party Girl ($14) is the perfect pink.

For my lashes, I love Nudestix’s vegan Lash Lengthening Mascara ($24). The brand is run by two young sisters. They also make Lip and Cheek Pencils ($24) that are super creamy. For foundation, I really like Beautycounter’s Dew Skin ($45). It’s got good coverage, and it makes your skin look like there’s a glow to it. And I'm also on the Glossier Boy Brow ($16) bandwagon.

My Hair Products: $274

I don’t have any female-owned shampoo or conditioners yet, and I’m looking out for them. Right now, I use Hairstory Hair Balm ($36) and New Wash ($40). I pretty much use all Hairstory stuff, except for Oribe Dry Texturizing Spray ($46). If you're a fan of big, big hair, this is the way to do it.

You know what else is good? The smell of R+Co Death Valley Dry Shampoo ($30). Again, not owned by women, but it's good. I'm also into Drybar’s Detox Dry Shampoo For Brunettes ($23) that’s tinted for root coverage.

In terms of styling, I started crimping my hair for events, so I bought the Hot Tools 1" Micro Crimper ($32). I was like, I gotta be able to do this all the time. Crimping works better on day-two hair, when it's just a bit dirty. Also, it works better if you’ve blown out your hair with product in it. I use the R+Co Chiffon Styling Mousse on wet hair, blow dry it, then crimp it ($28).

Instagram content

This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.

Also, this is definitely not female-owned, but Shu Uemura makes the best hair oil that I’ve ever smelled or used. I'm Depression Era Grandma-ing this stuff, because I heard they’re not making it anymore. It’s called Shu Uemura Essence Absolue ($69)—Jonathan Van Ness [from Queer Eye] told me about it.

My Hair Maintenance: $1,780

I think whatever you can do to enhance what your hair is naturally, you should go in that direction. And that means getting a really good stylist who likes what you like and understands your hair, especially if you have curly and wavy hair. JVN used to do mine. He’s got wavy hair, so he knows how to work with it. You need someone who’s on the same wavelength as you about how your hair should fall. I would say my color is about $90 for roots, and I have to do that every three to four weeks.

Cuts run me around $250, but I only get my hair cut once a year, maybe twice. I don’t really need to. My hair grows so long, because I take a crazy amount of vitamins. My favorites are the Ritual ones ($30).

My Perfume Exception: $305

I buy Le Labo Poivre 23 ($305). I will never not buy Le Labo, even though its parent company isn't woman-owned. I spray it like it’s going out of style.

My Learned Necessity: $12

No Mo-Stache ($12) is a savior. It’s a tin of wax strips that you heat up with your hand, put on your mustache, and rip off. It hurts like waxing hurts; you’ve got to get some gusto to do it. I used to wax my face myself in college, with a full, plug-it-in-the-wall wax warmer. It was disgusting, and one day I remember we ran out of muslin strips, so we cut up a T-shirt. A word of advice: You cannot wax your face with a T-shirt because it gives too much. It was so painful.

Instagram content

This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.

My Special Occasion Body Oil: $100

I love Jao's Hand Refresher ($40) and Goe Oil ($60). Whenever my shoulders are exposed, I slap that on all over. The woman who owns the brand started the company with her dad, who's a chemist. No shade on that. Female-owned, family-run, I'm into it.

My Exercise Routine: $8,768

I do this bonkers class called Training Mate in Los Angeles. It’s circuit training and run by Australians, and I'm so addicted to how nice everybody is who works there. People can be a little closed off in L.A., and it totally gets dropped in this class. I do that three times a week and I have an unlimited pass, which costs $225 per month, but I go so much. I used to take yoga at Wanderlust, and my body felt so good, but I don't go as much now. It's typically $24 a class, but it might have been a little less because I got unlimited ($115). And then I have a personal trainer I work out with three times a week. He starts from $85 a session, and I try to see him once a week at least.

I know my workout routine is expensive. This makes it sound like I exercise all the time. But I really only workout two or three times a week, and I still feel like I’m not exercising enough. I have a weird guilt about it, but I try to remind myself there’s no dude out there who's got 16 pairs of Nikes who's feeling bad about it. I feel self-conscious about how self-conscious I am about working out. I’m trying to be better about saying, 'Yeah, I take care of myself, and I spend money because it helps me with my anxiety.' When you read as much sad lady news as I do, for hours on end during the day and into the night, I don’t think I'd be mentally able to handle it if I didn’t work out. But I'd like to think that wouldn’t be happening if more women were in charge.

Related Stories:
-I'm a Makeup Minimalist, But Spend $720 a Year on Manicures
-I've Been Using the Same $8 Moisturizer for 10 Years-Why Spending Over $15,000 a Year on My Self-Care Routine Is Actually a Bargain

This interview has been edited and condensed.