5 Beauty Secrets to Keep it Nice & Youthful Featuring Sivan Ayla

Sivan Ayla is the blogger behind Lux Unfiltered. I first met Sivan at my The Skinny Confidential x Casetify party & immediately started following her on Instagram. After following her for the last couple years, I noticed that she’s a bright light & definitely an influencer to watch.

Personally, I like influencers who have a strong opinion & don’t give a fuck what anyone else thinks. Sivan embodies that. It’s been really fun to watch her & her husband become parents, & to watch her flourish as an influencer in this industry. ( Sidenote: she just launched a swim line called Tan Lines. It’s super cute & you guys should definitely check it out. )

Hopefully she’ll come back on TSC to talk about mommy-hood, but for now I wanted to pick Sivan’s brain about honest blogging, how she discovered her blogging voice, & beauty tricks.

Without further ado, meet Sivan.

Hi TSC readers! This is Sivan Ayla, taking over for Lauryn today.

I, myself, have been a huge fan of The Skinny Confidential for years. I discovered her blog about 5 years ago and immediately had crippling FOMO that I hadn’t been following her longer. She impacted my life in so many ways without even knowing it. Lauryn was the first blogger I followed that actually told the TRUTH! She wasn’t / isn’t afraid of oversharing or getting into the taboo subjects that we all secretly wish people would talk about ( ie: plastic surgery, sex, money, relationships, etc. ). Lauryn’s posts are everything that is going on in my brain, written out in a hilarious, candid, to-the-point, easy-to-follow, conversation-style blog post.

I launched my blog back in 2011 but struggled to find my thing. I tested out all the typical blogger-esque content–outfits, flat-lays, coffee, travel, wedding, dogs, etc. Nothing stuck or seemed even slightly ME. I am a very laid back, organized, home decor-obsessed, casual, vulgar, sarcastic, sassy, motivated, slightly [ always ] buzzed, creative person who truly cannot pretend to be anyone else. Once I stopped giving a shit about fitting into the “blogger” mold, that is when my blog started to gain traction and things took a turn for the better.

Something I identified with in Lauryn is her ability to clearly not care what others think about her. She is putting her [ personal ] life out there for the sake of educating others on topics that we all love, and she’s okay with the reality that not everyone will like her. THAT really resonates with me. I find her banter with Michael to be a breath of fresh air–like, who is always just kissing and smiling with their husband?! NOT ME. Paul aka Richard, has me waving knife emojis left and right every damn day but I obviously still love the guy. Everyone’s relationship is different and Lauryn was one of the first people to make me feel OKAY about that. Especially when your life is public and judgment is inevitable.

As a fellow blogger, I find the most important part of writing and sharing content to be the value you give others. Why should anyone follow you or TRUST you if you aren’t providing them with value?! I personally buy into, literally, anything Lauryn promotes because 1) I trust her and 2) she has an impeccable track record of sharing products that enhance my life and add, you guessed it, value. My goal with any post ( Blog, Instagram, YouTube ) is to provide some type of value for my audience. If you’ve been a long-time follower of The Skinny Confidential I’m sure you agree with me here.

On my blog you will find many posts talking about my life experiences. Things that I wish they taught us in school but don’t. Things like buying your first house, tips on kicking a shopping addiction, how to properly burn candles ( it’s a real thing! ), styling your house on a budget, blogging tips, transitioning into motherhood, not settling in your relationship,  my favorite beauty hacks ( which I’m sharing in this post! ), and many many more.

I would love to connect with more TSC readers, as I feel like we are all one giant community that loves the same shit and could really benefit from each other. You guys truly know SO much and I’m sure Lauryn would agree that a lot of the time we turn to you guys for advice, just like you turn to us. Looking forward to connecting with you guys via my blog, Facebook group, and Instagram!

TOP 5 BEAUTY HACKS

Be psycho about your nails.

I get them done 1x a week and have a very specific ask list:

♡ Waterless (no soaking). Your nails expand in water and then shrink back down when they dry. Aka, we don’t want them shrinking after the paint is dry because that’s when you chip.

♡ Round shape for less breaking and a longer-lasting paint job. Trust me, after years of going square I’m fully converted to the round side.

♡ Glass nail file ONLY. Old school nail files are so cringey and abrasive on your nails. I like to keep a glass dagger nail file in my purse at all times in case of emergencies.

♡ Do NOT cut my cuticles but instead push them back with oil. Cutting your cuticles is 90’s and not in a good way. We need our cuticles, they protect our nail beds. Just gently have them pushed down with a cuticle file instead. Don’t forget the oil to keep them super hydrated.

♡ Regular polish only to keep up nail health, and typically neutral colors so if they do chip, it’s less noticeable. Gel is such a bitch to take off, who has the time?!

Lauryn here. Find out how I make my mani last here.

Eye cream on the upper lip.

Huh? Yeah, you read that right. A few years back I had a facial with a Russian woman who absolutely knew her shit and that was her piece of advice to me. The skin under your eyes is super delicate and thin, which is why we have specialized eye creams for this sensitive area. The same goes for your upper lip – the skin in that area is super delicate. And to be honest, no one takes any special measures to protect that part of their face. I like to use the residue from my eye cream application for my upper lip at night.

Such a great tip! Scope the lip mask/balm I have on me at all times.

Keep your face out of the sun.

I’m obsessed with the sun and laying out by my pool but you’ll rarely find my face in direct sunlight. This visor is very Handmaid’s Tale but I’m into it for avoiding sun spots, wrinkles, etc. on my face. Call me crazy, but I love me a little Vitamin D, you know?!

You guys know I avoid the sun like the plague. Scope my tips for reapply spf over makeup here.

Everyone needs a beauty fridge.

No longer are my eye patches next to the eggs, and it feels equal parts bougie and genius. Get yourself a cutie beauty fridge like this and keep your eye patches, rollers, and certain face masks in it. The coldness helps debloat and wakes you the f*ck up. And for all my tips on using rollers, read this post.

A skin fridge is such a staple. You no longer need to find room for your eye masks & rollers in the crisper.

Have a monthly ‘detox’ day.

Don’t worry, this doesn’t involve skipping vino, but I like to give my hair and skin a detox 1x a month. I’ll slather on this hair mask then let my hair air dry and won’t heat style it for 24 hours. I’ll also let my skin completely breath without any product or makeup. If I’m feeling super au naturel, I’ll let my nails breathe sans polish, too.

Makeup free days are a must.

XO

Sivan Ayla
www.sivanayla.com

Hope you guys are having the most productive Friday ever. Be sure to follow Sivan on Instagram. Would love to know what your beauty secret is to keep it youthful. You know we like things tight & dewy over here.

x, lauryn

+ if you like this post, you have to check out my skin fridge.

++ scope the top coat every girl needs to own.

SHOP THE POST