Switched from Botox to Daxxify

I made the switch this round and overall I like it. It feels lighter, less heavy than Botox, and I didn't get my usual weird eye twitch with it. The one trade-off: I don't feel like it lasts quite as long.

A huge part of any neuromodulator experience comes down to your injector, and mine is amazing — I never get bruising with her, ever. If you're local and looking for someone incredible, follow her on Instagram.

What I read this week.

I'm not reading anything new this week, I'm re-reading. With ACOTAR 6 only 5 weeks out, I needed a full reread of the universe before it drops, plus Crescent City, which is actually new to me. I found this reading order breakdown on TikTok and here's the lineup I'm going with:

A Court of Thorns and Roses trilogy:

1. A Court of Thorns and Roses
2. A Court of Mist and Fury
3. A Court of Wings and Ruin

Throne of Glass series:

1. Throne of Glass (2012)
2. Crown of Midnight (2013)
3. The Assassin's Blade (prequel collection)
4. Heir of Fire (2014)
5. Queen of Shadows (2015)
6. Empire of Storms (2016)
7. Tower of Dawn (2017)
8. Kingdom of Ash (2018)

Then (I won't be doing the tandem read theory, sorry Maas girlies): A Court of Frost and Starlight, A Court of Silver Flames, Crescent City, House of Sky and Breath, and House of Flame and Shadow.

Then... here comes ACOTAR 6!

A few posts I shared on Haute Beauty Guide.

• The Face Mask I'd Give Feyre Archeron — kicking off a new series pairing book characters with the exact face mask I'd send them home with, starting with Feyre.

• Introducing Omni Clear Mist by Face Reality — the stabilized hypochlorous acid spray I keep in the studio and reach for personally.

• Omni Clear vs. Hydrinity Hyacyn vs. HydraFlora: Which Mist Actually Fits Your Skin? — not every face mist solves the same problem, here's how to tell which one your skin needs.

• Experience the Next Level of Skincare with Geneo Glo2Facial — an oxygenating, exfoliating facial that delivers immediate glow and long-term results.

• My Esthetician Skincare Routine After 40 — my actual morning and evening routine, no 12-step routine, no trend-chasing.

Hypochlorous Acid Is Suddenly Everywhere. Do You Actually Need It?What it actually does, who actually needs it, and where the hype outran the science.

Everything I Would Stop Doing to My Skin After 40Twenty years behind the treatment bed taught me that less, done better, beats more, done anxiously.

Your Skin Barrier Is Mad at You. Here's How to Fix It.That specific panic when your toner starts to sting — how to calm redness, tightness, and itchiness.

Between Appointments — Week 3: Resetting the Skin, Nourishing Yourself This week's Between Appointments is all about resetting your skin and nourishing yourself — book recs (or lack thereof this week!), mail club faves, a Susanne Kaufmann soak, and everything I have my eye on for fall.

A couple of studio updates before I let you go: the Aura Reality 3D scans have become a total client fave if you haven't had one done yet, you're missing out on seeing what's really going on under your skin.

Hydrafacial also just got an upgrade, with two new steps: a pre-peel to help with better extractions, and a mask featuring their two top-selling boosters, Pep9 and Hydralock HA.

And on that note, busy season is officially here: only about 

• 6 weeks until Halloween, 
• 9 weeks until Thanksgiving, 
• 13 weeks until Christmas,  
• 14 until New Year's. 

Get on the schedule now!

Until next week!

xo-Doran