Get Ready With @GoCleanCo For a Photoshoot

Hands up if you’ve been here since the days when I wouldn’t show my face. 🙋‍♀️ Yep, that was me. I was perfectly happy scrubbing toilets behind the scenes, thank you very much. Fast forward a few years and now I’m over here getting ready for photoshoots and YouTube videos, don’t ask me how this happened, I just do whatever floats my boat. 

Whenever I do share what I’m using, my DMs light up with questions: “What’s on your lips?” “How do you curl your hair like that?” “What’s your skincare routine?” So, to make things easy-peasy, I’m sharing my complete get ready with me (GRWM) routine. I’ve rounded up all my favorite products for my simple skincare routine and my go-to dewy makeup look, all in one place.

Disclosure before we dive in: I try new products all the time and this is not a paid ad, it’s just the stuff I love right now and am happy to share, but like all beauty routines, I will switch it up every once in awhile and try new stuff in my ongoing search for the fountain of youth! (That said, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)

Hair

I like my hair the same way I like my house: clean, but not fussy.

• Aveda Nutraplenish Leave-In Conditioner (USA | Canada) → ride-or-die product. It makes my hair feel soft and detangled, and smells expensive (because… it is).
• Sometimes I swap in Aveda Botanical Repair Strengthening Leave-In Treatment  (USA | Canada) if my hair’s feeling fried.
• For wavy days when I want to look “effortlessly chic” (aka lazy), I grab Marc Anthony Nourishing Curl Cream (USA | Canada).

Here’s my system: I blast my hair with the Shark FlexStyle (USA | Canada) on blow-dry mode until it’s about 80% dry. Then I swap in the round brush attachment and curl the ends slightly away from my face. Just enough to look polished, not pageant-y. Finish with a spritz of Aveda Medium Hold Hairspray (USA | Canada), and if flyaways are acting up, I smooth a tiny bit of Aveda Hair Oil (USA | Canada) on the ends.

Skincare

I thought I was low-maintenance… then I wrote this list and realized I have a small Sephora in my bathroom. Do I use all of these every single day? Absolutely not. But these are my go-to’s that live in rotation:

Cleansers & Makeup Removers:

• Tula Face Wash (USA | Canada) → dependable, does the job.
• Garnier Micellar Water (USA | Canada) → great for taking the day off without drama.
• Clinique Mascara Remover (USA | Canada) → when my lashes are holding onto mascara like it’s their life’s mission.
• Enhance Super Clean Spray (USA) (Coming soon to Canada) → my “forgot to wash my face” insurance. Kills bacteria, calms redness, and resets my skin in one mist.

Exfoliators & Treatments:

• e.l.f. SKIN Gentle Peeling Exfoliant Cleanser (USA | Canada) → budget-friendly and surprisingly effective.
• Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Peel Extra Strength (USA | Canada) → basically new skin in a packet (I love anything that eats my face).
• Fenty Cherry Exfoliating Mask (USA | Canada) → bougie, smells like a treat, leaves me glowy.

Moisturizers & Serums:

• Enhanse Moisturizer (USA | Canada) → my #1.
• Tula Daily Moisturizer (USA | Canada) → alternate fave, depends on the day.
• Tula Vitamin C Serum (USA | Canada) → my dull-skin day brightener.

Primers:

• Merit Primer (USA | Canada) → nice dewy finish.
• NYX Marshmallow Primer (USA | Canada) → for extra hold when I need my face to survive long shoot days.

Makeup

My philosophy: I don’t have time for 27 layers of contouring. I want to look alive, not like a different person. Here’s my lineup:

Base & Coverage:

• Merit The Minimalist Stick (shade Oak) (USA | Canada) → swipe under and around my eyes and on redness/blemishes. Boom, even skin without looking caked.
• Gucci Bronzing Powder #2 (USA | Canada) → gives me a little glow so I don’t look like I’ve been living under a rock. Yes, Gucci. Don’t ask me how I ended up bougie in this department, but it’s worth it.

Cheeks:

• Merit Flush Balm (Apres) (USA | Canada) → my “just came in from the cold” blush. Honestly, if I could only bring one makeup item to a desert island, this would be it. Zero effort, instant life.

Brows:

• Merit Brow 1990 Pencil (Light Brown) (USA | Canada) → super thin, so you can fake real brow hairs, which is a blessing because my eyebrows and I have been through some things.

Eyes:

• Tweezerman Eyelash Curler (USA | Canada) → opens things up fast.
• CoverGirl Clump Crusher Mascara (USA | Canada) → no clumps, no flakes, and it survives a full cleaning day.

Lips:

• Merit Shade Slick (Maraschino) (USA | Canada) → glossy but not sticky. Coffee-cup safe, which is a non-negotiable.

Jewelry

I keep it simple here too. My everyday MVPs are:

• Amazon huggie earrings (USA | Canada)
• Amazon ring (USA | Canada)

They’re comfy, don’t irritate my sensitive ears, and they haven’t tarnished. Plus, I literally never take them off (shower, gym, scrubbing toilets, all of it), and they still look new.

And that’s it. My full GRWM routine for when I need to look pulled together for a shoot (or, you know, school pickup where I might run into everyone I know).

Nothing fancy, nothing wild. Just a lineup of products that make me look alive and like I actually slept more than four hours.

Should I make this a regular series and do a “Get Unready With Me”? Spoiler: it involves sweatpants, pimple patches, and a Costco-sized bag of Miss Vickie’s chips.

Sarah