A look at my skin care routine!

Skincare can be a complicated subject. Every person has different needs, and I think each person has products that work best for them. This is a review of what works best for me. I have oily skin which is acne prone and I have tremendously large pores.

This is the Olay Professional Pro X Clear kit. It's a 3 step system (cleanser, skin clearing treatment, and a moisturizing lotion) that I use daily. It's the only thing I've found that really helps control both my pimples and my pores. The lotion (step 3) is a great moisturizer too, which is important with oily skin.

I follow the Olay Pro X Clear kit with Physicians Formula Intensive Wrinkle Corrector Eye Cream. I'm only 25 and hopefully I'm not even close to having wrinkles yet, but it's certainly time to work on preventing them. My mom has amazing skin and she's always advised me to take care of it before it ages. It's much easier to prevent wrinkles and sagging skin than it is to undo it. While I'm on the subject of prevention, I neither smoke nor get sun damage. I always use sun protection and I'm lucky enough to have avoided picking up a cigarette habit.

I use two different masks. I use the Olay Pro X Clear Intensive Refining Sulfur mask twice a week. It works wonders for my oily skin. When I wash it off, my face feels hydrated and I swear it doesn't turn into an oil spill for a day or two. It can be a little drying, so if you have dry patches avoid it. I love this mask for spot treating. The Boscia Luminizing Black Mask I use once a week. It's a peel off mask and it feels amazing. My skin is radiant after I use it. I think Luminizing is a great name for it!
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I use the Dickinson's Witch Hazel Pore Perfecting Toner in the middle of the day as a touch up. If I get sweaty or dirty but don't have the time or motivation to wash my face, I just swipe this toner over my face and it's an instant improvement. It helps clean sweat, dirt, and makeup, and like I said it's a great midday touch up to get your face feeling clean again.

I'm a huge fan of Biore pore strips! They are so great my fiance's started using them with me. Just stick them on for ten to fifteen minutes, peel them off, and check out what's no longer in your pores! Between the Olay system and the Biore Pore Strips, my large pores are actually looking better. There are no quick fixes, but with time I've seen so much improvement.

The final product I use is Burt's Bees Doctor Burt's Herbal Blemish Stick. This is a roller ball filled with an herbal treatment. Spot treat any blemishes and they will disappear overnight. The Burt's Bees is the only product I've found that actually does shrink zits overnight. That's great because it keeps me from picking at them.

It may be a complicated routine I have, but the results speak for themselves.

And here's a video review.

Sally Hansen Salon Effects!

I'm a member of Influenster and last month I received the Spring Beauty VoxBox! VoxBoxes are filled with free goodies to try and talk about and one of the amazing products in this box was Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips. Here's a summary of my thoughts:

• Pros: professional results, easy to use, long lasting (Sally Hansen says up to 10 days, I got 12 days before the first chip)
• Con: the only negative is the price. It's worth it for special occasions, but probably not for everyday use
• Tips: a top coat might extend the life even longer, with the Frock Star design I was able to use the leftover strips to seemlessly patch spots I missed

I want to stress that this product is real nail polish! They aren't nail stickers which means you will get amazing salon quality results! I got to try Frock Star which is an awesome glittery design that would be perfect for parties and festive occasions. I'm looking forward to trying Hear Me Roar, Wishful Pinking, and Fly With Me soon but they have 40 gorgeous styles and eventually I'd love to try them all.

The strips are so easy to use. The first two fingers didn't look that great but I don't have a very steady hand but I was able to use part of an extra strip to patch it up! It probably won't work too well with some of the patterns, but with Frock Star being a random glitter design, even I couldn't tell the difference, so that's something to keep in mind if you end up with any bare spots on the edge of the nail.

The directions are very easy to follow and the package even includes a cuticle pusher and nail file/buffer! The only thing you will need is nail polish remover. I also recommend using a top coat to prolong the manicure, but that's entirely optional and mine didn't chip at all for 12 days (the info says it lasts up to 10 days)

And now for the results:

Visit Sally Hansen's website to learn more about Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips and all the other amazing products they offer and look for them in Walgreen's, RiteAid, Target, and other stores.

SOYJOY Review

 

I tried my SOYJOY bar that was in my Influenster Spring Beauty Voxbox this morning. I got the strawberry flavor (which is awesome because strawberry is my favorite!) and it didn't disappoint. As soon as I unwrapped it I could smell the strawberry and it looked as delicious as it smelled. I was pleasantly surprised at how moist it was and the fruity flavor was amazing. My only complaint is the coconut but that's a matter of personal preference and even though I don't like coconut at all it didn't stop me from eating and enjoying the SOYJOY bar. The size is perfect too; it's a great on the go snack. I absolutely love that it's made with all natural ingredients- real fruit and whole soy- so it's a yummy but healthy treat. I haven't decided whether I want to try the banana or blueberry next but I'm sure I'll end up trying them all soon. Check out the SOYJOY website to see all the delicious looking flavors, read more about nutritional benefits, and check out the store locator to find them near you or order right from the site. Thank you Influenster for giving me the opportunity to try and review SOYJOY and many other great products! Be sure to sign up and have a chance to receive the next amazing VoxBox and be sure to check back for more reviews coming soon!

Influenster Spring Beauty VoxBox Overview

I'm a member of an amazing website called Influenster. Members earn badges that relate to their lifestyle and demographics and when you're a match for an upcoming VoxBox Influenster will send an opt-in survey and send you a free box of goodies to try and talk about! This is my second VoxBox from them and as always it was filled with amazing products!

Even my cat was impressed. I'll be doing individual reviews as I try each item, so stay tuned for plenty of blog posts and videos! Click each product name for more info.

Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Body Wash

Bath and Body Works Fine Fragrance Mist in Moonlight Path

ChapStick Lip SHIELD 365

Dr. Scholl's For Her Ball of Foot Cushions

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips in Frock Star

Sheer Cover Duo Concealer in Light/Medium

SOYJOY bar- Strawberry

As you can see this is an amazing box and I can't wait to try everything. If you haven't already, sign up with Influenster today so you're one step closer to qualifying for your own VoxBox!

Here's the unboxing video!

Crowdtap/Old Navy Bottoms Bonanza Party!

Well it's been a long time, but things have been busy then I forgot I wanted to start blogging until I had a great opportunity from Old Navy and Crowdtap! If you don't know what Crowdtap is, I'll explain. It's a website you sign up with through Facebook and you get to do different things like answer daily quickhits and join discussions for points. Those points can be converted to Amazon gift cards and other rewards. Crowdtap is also partnered with brands to send samples and coupons, and they have so many from Old Navy! Just in the last several months I got a coat, two tank tops, and now pants and shoes too! You can join here and get started!

This particular opportunity was for a Bottoms Bonanza Party at Old Navy. I got to invite three friends to meet me at the store and try on all kinds of bottoms. We tried skirts, shorts, capris, jeans, etc. Then we picked out a pair of shoes! Two of my partiers bought tops to complete the outfit, but the bottoms and shoes were completely free! All we had to do was show up, take pictures and have a blast. I chose the linen cargo pants and I've been wearing them almost nonstop. The floral ballet flats I got are my new favorite shoes too.

What are you waiting for? Sign up now!

First post is a good one!

I have several awesome things to kick off this blog! I'm not quite sure how I'll end up formatting, so the first several posts will pretty much be experimental to figure out what works best.

• Victoria's Secret fashion show panties and Pink Nation panties (in-store freebie). I'm not really a fan of their bras, but the panties are always high quality and very comfortable. The Pink Nation ones are huge though! I definitely recommend going a size or two down.
• .85 ounce Aveda hand relief cream (in-store freebie). I'm on their email list so I occasionally get coupons for lotions and other generous samples! It's gonna be very handy for winter travel, if it lasts long enough. I'm using it constantly.
• Gap panties (paid 27 cents!) Love that store, very comfy clothes.
• 5 pack Larabar Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip from Target (clearance, paid 2.62). I couldn't resist, Larabars are delicious, and I like to keep them in my bag for those times I need an easy snack.
• Victoria's Secret reward card. They're giving them out on their Facebook page daily at 9AM eastern through December 15. I was able to get cute panties and some Pink fresh and clean sparkling body mist. It smelled so much better in the store, but when I got it home and sniffed it again, it's really bad. I'll have to go exchange it sometime; it smells like the female equivalent of Axe spray. The glitter is very nice though and looks more grown up than I expected.
• 2 ounce Be Enchanted body lotion from Bath and Body works (in-store freebie). It's lightly fruity and it'll be a perfect scent for wintertime. I'll probably have to return and buy the shower gel and body mist since I'm a big fan of layering a scent.
• Wella travel kit (mail- from totalbeauty.com) shampoo, conditioner, and hair treatment in a great travel case. Haven't tried it yet, because I'm gonna save it for my trip in a few weeks. I like to travel prepared, because if I do get stuck somewhere overnight I will look and feel fabulous while I do it. I learned the hard way in Detroit when I missed the last flight to my final destination.

 (And for some strange reason, Blogger decided to flip my picture upside down and will not let me rotate)