Saturday, July 23, 2011
1 Week Challenge Results
I can't believe how fast a week went by. Going all natural was a lot more challenging than I thought it would be, but I got through with it without missing a single night. Since it was only 7 days I can't say I see a huge difference in my skin. Actually that isn't entirely true. Some of my dark spots cleared up but the texture of my skin isn't as soft as it usually is - not that it's the softest skin ever lol. Also, the oatmeal didn't do much to properly exfoliate my skin, so now the skin on my nose feels like it wants to peel but it doesn't. I have to admit that any routine has to be done for longer than a week to take proper effect but I'm not interested in switching to olive oil just yet. I will continue to use lemon juice until the lemons I bought run out. Unfortunately I didn't think to take before and after pictures...sorry! But I will remember to do that next time I decide to go all natural again.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
1 Week All Natural Skin Care Challenge
The title pretty much says it all. I've personally challenged myself to only use natural products in my night skin care regimen for 1 week. I would do this during the day as well but I'm not sure what a natural substitute there is for sunscreen. I'm using lemon juice to whiten and even out my skin tone. For moisturizing I'm using extra virgin olive oil. I know, I know, no big surprise. I needed to see for myself if it really does everything it claims to do plus I'm hoping it reduces some of the redness around my nose. Truth is I started last night and this morning I was already getting compliments on how nice my skin looked.
So this is what I'm doing:
After I wash my face I take a cotton pad and squeeze about 4-5 drops of lemon juice on it and rub it all over my face - avoiding the eye area of course. It stings ever so slightly but nothing unbearable. I let it sit for 10 minutes exactly. Once the 10 minutes have passed I take about a penny or dime sized drop of olive oil rub it between my hands to heat it up and then massage it all over my face for about 2-3 minutes. And that's it. For exfoliating I plan to start using oatmeal again and for a mask I might try honey - we'll see though.
Remember that this is only for the night time. If you expose your face to the sun with lemon juice on it you risk staining your face in a really bad way. Besides, you don't want to go out smelling like a salad dressing in the making.
As for my eyes I'm still using my RoC Retinol Correxion eye cream and Kiehl's Powerful-Strength Line-Reducing Concentrate. This has helped reduce the dark circles I had in a significant way.
A few things you should keep in mind if you decide you want to try this challenge out as well.
1. Don't buy those little lemon shaped containers that come with pre-squeezed lemon juice. Even though they say 100% lemon juice on the front on the back it will say that it has lemon oil and a few other things in it as well (preservatives ruin the juice). You want real lemon juice or even lime juice. Since we are looking for the most vitamin c possible stick with lemons - they have double the amount of vitamin c compared to limes.
2. Good extra virgin olive oil can be expensive at your local supermarket. Consider buying a bulk size container at Costco or other similar store if you can. If you can't, Marshalls sells imported olive oils at really good prices and the bottles are usually pretty big.
3. Try to put the olive oil on your skin a few hours before going to bed. This way you give it time to absorb properly and you don't risk getting grease stains all over your pillow. If you feel like your face is too shiny right before getting into bed take a piece of tissue and remove the excess.
4. Make sure to cleanse your face thoroughly in the morning before going out. As I mentioned above, lemon juice will react badly when exposed to the sun and could cause more spots on your face. Also, you want to make sure you don't have an oily looking complexion.
So this is what I'm doing:
After I wash my face I take a cotton pad and squeeze about 4-5 drops of lemon juice on it and rub it all over my face - avoiding the eye area of course. It stings ever so slightly but nothing unbearable. I let it sit for 10 minutes exactly. Once the 10 minutes have passed I take about a penny or dime sized drop of olive oil rub it between my hands to heat it up and then massage it all over my face for about 2-3 minutes. And that's it. For exfoliating I plan to start using oatmeal again and for a mask I might try honey - we'll see though.
Remember that this is only for the night time. If you expose your face to the sun with lemon juice on it you risk staining your face in a really bad way. Besides, you don't want to go out smelling like a salad dressing in the making.
As for my eyes I'm still using my RoC Retinol Correxion eye cream and Kiehl's Powerful-Strength Line-Reducing Concentrate. This has helped reduce the dark circles I had in a significant way.
A few things you should keep in mind if you decide you want to try this challenge out as well.
1. Don't buy those little lemon shaped containers that come with pre-squeezed lemon juice. Even though they say 100% lemon juice on the front on the back it will say that it has lemon oil and a few other things in it as well (preservatives ruin the juice). You want real lemon juice or even lime juice. Since we are looking for the most vitamin c possible stick with lemons - they have double the amount of vitamin c compared to limes.
2. Good extra virgin olive oil can be expensive at your local supermarket. Consider buying a bulk size container at Costco or other similar store if you can. If you can't, Marshalls sells imported olive oils at really good prices and the bottles are usually pretty big.
3. Try to put the olive oil on your skin a few hours before going to bed. This way you give it time to absorb properly and you don't risk getting grease stains all over your pillow. If you feel like your face is too shiny right before getting into bed take a piece of tissue and remove the excess.
4. Make sure to cleanse your face thoroughly in the morning before going out. As I mentioned above, lemon juice will react badly when exposed to the sun and could cause more spots on your face. Also, you want to make sure you don't have an oily looking complexion.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Kiehl's Complimentary Ground Shopping
From now until Monday July 11th, Kiehl's is offering complimentary shipping for orders of $35 or more. Enter code SUMMERFUN at checkout. I know this isn't as great as completely free shipping on any order but Kiehl's tends to only give free shipping on orders of $50 or more so you are still saving $15 - I totally had to use a calculator to figure that out LOL.
Monday, July 4, 2011
Skin Care Routine Update and Free Deluxe Samples
Hey guys! Just making a quick post to let you know of a small change to my skin care routine. Now, instead of using Purity by Philosophy in the mornings I have started using Naruko's Niaouli & Tea Tree Acne Clay Cleanser. So far I like how it feels on my skin but I will talk about it in-depth after I've used it for a few weeks. I'm also switching over to Kiehl's Acne Blemish Control Daily Skin-Clearing Treatment as my new spot treatment once my Kiehl's Blue Herbal spot treatment runs out - which should be any day now. I will be uploading my first youtube video soon about my day/night routine. I'll make a post about it once it's up.
Now on to the free samples. Below you will find 2 links for coupons of deluxe samples you can redeem at any Sephora located inside JCPENNY. The samples are of Murad's Oil-Control Mattifier SPF 15 which expires on 07/13/2011 and Bare Escentuals bareMinerals Purely Nourishing Moisturizer Combination Skin which expires on 07/25/2011. I already picked up both samples - the Murad sample is 10 ml while the Bare Escentuals sample is 5 ml. I haven't tried either of them yet but I will once some of my other samples run out.
Murad Deluxe Sample
Bare Escentuals Deluxe Sample
Now on to the free samples. Below you will find 2 links for coupons of deluxe samples you can redeem at any Sephora located inside JCPENNY. The samples are of Murad's Oil-Control Mattifier SPF 15 which expires on 07/13/2011 and Bare Escentuals bareMinerals Purely Nourishing Moisturizer Combination Skin which expires on 07/25/2011. I already picked up both samples - the Murad sample is 10 ml while the Bare Escentuals sample is 5 ml. I haven't tried either of them yet but I will once some of my other samples run out.
Murad Deluxe Sample
Bare Escentuals Deluxe Sample
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