I’m forever indebted to makeup artist Ashleigh Ciucci for testing and trying the veritable metric ton of lash lengtheners I’ve given her over the last EIGHT YEARS. She’s dutifully reported on all of them, in addition to giving me some spectacular editorial makeup tips for my clients and is just generally the best. I recruited her to be Rouge18’s Official Mascara Correspondent at a Sunsilk (RIP) hair event in 2009 when she did my makeup and I was delighted with my shocking pink lip and subtle cat-eye combo. I was just getting addicted (the addiction continues, FYI) to lash extensions courtesy of Courtney Akai and needed to keep up on the mascara beat without donning the stuff myself. Ashleigh’s honesty and thorough reviews keep you guys in the know about the next best thing and I don’t have to ruin Courtney’s handiwork testing that shit myself. Ashleigh is wise AF, so I tapped her to share her Five Rules For Life. Here they are, in her words.

It’s ok to be be excited. We live in a world of cynicism and passé too-cool-for-school attitudes, but there is nothing wrong with showing enthusiasm and genuine excitement.  Happiness is contagious and if you’re having a day when you’re especially feeling yourself or feeling your life, show it and others will take note.

Always wear sunscreen. I don’t care if you’re 15 or 75, sunscreen is essential.  You can go full organic or not (sorry i like chemicals), but protecting your skin is an A1 health priority. I had a crazy mole years back that turned out to be malignant melanoma.  While E had surgery to get it removed and everything is fine now, it’s a scary thing to see what the sun can do to you.  Not to mention, the cosmetic side: tan skin=cooked skin=dry skin=wrinkles=Magda from “There’s Something About Mary.” SPF is a simple habit with lifelong benefits.

The gym is all about sanity + vanity. It took me nearly 35 years to finally connect with the advantages of working out.  I was the kid who used to make up sprained ankle stories in elementary school so I didn’t have to run that teeny tiny elementary school track.  But after years of force-feeding myself workouts, I began to notice my head was clearer, my body felt stronger and I was taking control of my genetics (obesity runs in my family.)  I try not to miss more than two days off at a time not only for my vanity — I wanna look good, but for my sanity — I wanna feel good.

Wear lipstick. Or eyebrows. or winged liner.  Or any beauty moment that feels like you.  Mmakeup can be free-form and freeing because it’s temporary and experimental.  As a makeup artist, I obviously have strong opinions about how makeup can “make the woman.” By focusing on your favorite feature, you can find strength in your individual beauty.

Eat butter. And I mean this literally (sorry vegans) and figuratively.  Literally, a little butter here, a dab of butter there isn’t going to kill you.  iI would rather eat some delicious organic salted butter than the vegetable oil stuff in the tub that has who-knows-what in it. Figuratively, eat butter because it’s good for your psyche.  If we’re constantly shunning the rich, fatty, delicious but bad for us stuff, are we really living our best life? yes, I eat healthy 75% of the time, but by allowing myself the freedom to “eat the butter,” I’m not so neurotic about everything that goes into my mouth.

Thanks, Ashleigh! Stay tuned for more Five Rules installments. 

“Five Rules” is a series on Rouge18 in which I ask others to share their five rules for life about anything and everything. You can learn a lot about a person by reading which five things govern their actions, no?