Face Masks

I've always done face masks with either my sisters or a group of friends just to be girly and have fun. I've never used them in my skin care routine, nor felt a need to be incorporate them. However, after hearing/reading about quite a few beauty professionals relying on face masks as part of their own routine, I thought I'd try some out to see what the buzz was about.

I had an order coming from Sephora a while ago and thought that would be a good time to find one. And while I waited for my order I picked up a few cheap ones from Walmart. It turned out that the inexpensive masks made a bigger difference than the Sephora one. The picture below is the Mint and Lemon Facial Clay Mask, made by Freeman. The "travel" size (the only size I've seen sold in stores) lasted three uses and that was enough to see a difference. The picture below is the full size container (5 fl. oz.) and it's only $3.99. It's such a good deal and it actually made my skin feel better and look clearer.

Product Review

I recently got a small sample bottle of Josie Maran argan oil. I had heard a lot of wonderful things about it and wanted to try it out for myself.

First of all, I love it for my hair. I use just 2 drops and work it in starting at my ends and go up. I put it in while my hair is still wet and let it air dry, the result is really beautiful shiny hair. I may have split ends, but no one would be able to tell.

I know you can also use argan oil on your skin, but I have not been so impressed with this. I either put too much on and wind up with an oily looking face or I use a small amount and can't tell a difference. Perhaps I need to try it longer to notice a difference, but I'm plenty happy with what it does for my hair. 

This little bottle is $14.99 at Sephora and I've barely made a dent in it after two weeks. I might continue buying the smaller bottle, partially because $50.00 for the full size is a little hard to swallow; but also because this size can travel easily and if it were to break I wouldn't be as big of a loss.

How to Survive an All-Nighter Part 1

It's been a while since I posted anything and that is because my weeks have been busy with school - so busy that I've had to stay up reaaally late. On one of these late nights it occurred to me that after a few years in college I've learned some great tips and tricks to feel and look better the next morning. Hopefully I can save you from learning the hard way!

 As soon as your know it's going to be a late night head to the bathroom to wash your face! I start by taking off my makeup, I use either Soap & Glory wipes or Neutragena wipes. Then wash your face, I use the Mary Kay cleanser from their TimeWise line with my Clarisonic. Then I follow up with an exfoliator; I'm currently using Burt's Bees Deep Pore Scrub and I surprisingly really like it. After that I top it all off with toner. It's a long process, but you really will feel the difference in the morning.

Make sure you finish with a moisturizer. This last step is extremely important because when you sleep your body is working hard to refresh your skin cells and move out the dead ones. Since you're not going to get the sleep, you have to fake it! Also, I'd recommend using an eye cream as well. This is another step I often forget, but it will help for the same reasons as the moisturizer. I use Mary Kay's moisturizer, also from the TimeWise line, and a sample of Origins eye cream which I received with another purchase.

There are more tips to come! Good luck with all of your late nights!

Making a Change for the Better

I recently made a reeeally big purchase for myself and I'm super excited to start using it. I got the Clarisonic Mia, and it just came today!!

I'm not going to say much because I've only used it once, but trust me that first time was amazing! I never would have thought about getting one before, but in the last couple of years my acne has gotten a lot worse and it's showing no signs of changing. I'm also starting to scar a lot more, so on top of new breakouts I have reminders of old ones. :( After some long thoughts of how much money I've spent on trying different mid-level skin care treatments and considering how my skin is only getting worse, I decided it was time to make the investment. I'm also considering higher end cleansers, but that's going to require a lot more research...

This is the brush that I got - it's the acne head. The descriptions says, "Extra-plush bristle gradation helps to provide ultra-gentle cleansing for sensitive and acne-prone skin." The Clarisonic does come with a normal brush head, but this one clearly fits my needs better.

When I made my order there was a special gift included in any purchase of a new Clarisonic. So this gift included a mesh bag and a full size Gentle Hydro Cleanser. The mesh bag actually turned out to be the perfect size to hold everything, I definitley expected to toss it in the pile with all of the MyGlam bags.

And here it is! As you can see I bought the fuscia one, which I LOVE! Plus you get a travel size cleanser with it. Truthfully, I wanted the coral one, but it's been sold out for a while. 

The only downside is that I told myself I wasn't going to buy any beauty products for two months to help balance out such a big purchase... This is going to be a rough couple of months! I already have a growing mental list of things I want. Uhoh.

Hehe, even Nemu was excited for it to come.