Sasa Haul!

Lookie what I found in the mail!

My haul from Sasa! Yay!



Here's what I purchased:


1 ISQUEEN hands kit
2 boxes Naris UP Memotia Wrinkle Eye Mask
2 KOSE Coen Rich Q10 White UV Protector SPF 50+ PA++ Smooth Touch (the silver tubes)
1 The Cancer Council Australia Sun Care Cosmetics Moisturising Lip Gloss
2 KOSE Cosmeport CoenRich Q10 White Deep Moisture Hand & Finger (the orange tubes)
1 Silk Whitia Quick Moisture Anti-Oxidation Whitening
1 Silk Whitia Lip Balm Rose Plus Vitamin E Luminous Lip Balm


They sent me some treats too:


1 ISQueen Rice F/G: High Performance Pure Cotton
1 Sasa 100% cotton squares
1 Silk Whitia Quick Moisture Anti-Oxidation Whitening Mask


You read that right, Sasa gave me one full box of the Silk Whitia masks free! I'm giving a total shout out to Fuzkittie here. I, too, am addicted to masks and was excited to give Silk Whitia a try on her recommendation. OH MY . . . WOW! My problem with a lot of masks is that they dry up before I'm done; the problem is mainly my forehead, I have to keep wetting it to keep it on the skin. The Silk Whitia came out so drenched in serum that after 20 minutes, there was enough moisture to apply the same mask to my neck for 10 minutes, then 5 minutes on each arm! These are totally worth every penny, my skin was soft and well moisturized without being oily.



I like the hand mask in the hand kit, but I can't use the lotion (the smell makes me sneeze). The mask is nice and thick and I'll pull on my bumble bee cotton gloves so that I can keep doing things during the 15 minutes that the mask is doing it's work. It works pretty well if you can't get in to get a wax hand softening treatment at the salon.


I really like the eye masks. It comes in two separate things: the pads in a container and the serum in a sealed pouch. You combine it after opening the package; it's a good idea because it gives the product longer shelf life. Anyway, I use these on the off days that I'm not using the full face masks. My eyes feel well rested; I don't know if it helps with the lines under my eyes, but I'm not worried about that so much. I've had those eyes since I was little; they are my version of bags, I suppose.


In reference to the lotions, I'm in LOVE! The silver tubes I use on my face; I first apply my principal sunscreen (I'll post on that later), then dab the KOSE on my cheeks, nose, and ears (the places most susceptible to the sun) as well as my neck. It hasn't made me break out, so I'm very happy.


I really wanted to get a before picture of my hands prior to using the Hand & Nail cream. I won't know if it really whitens unless I do. Unfortunately, my camera sucks, so bleh. Anyway, this cream is soooooo thick, I love it! I have one tube at home and one that sits at my desk here at work. I highly recommend it!




Lastly, the lip stuff. I really liked the Silk Whitia; if you like the smell of roses, then this is for you. It doesn't smell as natural as my rosebud salve, but it's not unpleasant, either. It moisturizes beautifully and is great to carry around when you can't carry around the salve. The Australian lip gloss surprised me. It's a peachy color and is rrrrrrreeeeeeeeaaaaaaalllllyyyyy shiny! If you like shiny lips, this is perfect for you. I like it, it feels ok, but I'm not really into shiny lips; I keep the uber shine to the center of my lips to make them look fuller. However, the proceeds went to a good cause, so that's pretty good.

FlyAway Jewlery haul. . .SWEET!

I received some jewelry in the mail a couple of days ago. I've been so excited to get these in; unfortunately my pictures just didn't measure up to theirs. Jheneal & Jheanelle, who make these pieces themselves, gave me permission to post theirs. Trust me, the jewelry looks EXACTLY like the pictures, they are GORGEOUS! I did get pictures of the simple but super cute packaging. I had intended these as gifts. . .they are going to be so difficult to give up!

Simple but so very cute!

These are the three pieces I bought:

La Violeta

Secret Garden (the locket works!)

& Off With Her Head

Seriously, check out their stuff, very cute and my kind of girlie: sweet and pretty without giving you a cavity. Plus, they are on their shipping. My order came in only three days!

I'm seriously considering going back to get Parisian Rose for myself :)

http://byebye-birdie.blogspot.com/

iMomoko haul, YAY!!!

I received some new toys in the mail. . . not many, but new toys.


I purchased two kits of NARIS Up Eggshell + Charcoal Mask. Below are all the samples I received with them! Yay free (the only 4 letter word better than 'sale')!


I tried the mask yesterday; I would have pictures, but my camera is still new and I'm not acquainted with it as of yet. Anyway, I was a little disappointed. I've heard it talked up on all these other sites, but this one didn't do anything more for me than what I've experienced using the Freeman Cucumber peels from Ulta 3 (really inexpensive). I'll have to use it some more to see if maybe it'll help improve my skin in time.

I did notice that I had some temporary pore tightening, but it didn't do much in the way of removing black-heads. Then again, remember I have really oily skin. On the recommendation of Kimoko (read her LiveJournal:Taciturnity Serenity!), I'm going to try Neutrogena's Wave scrubby thing. Maybe using these both in conjunction will provide more results.

Now, what to do with the samples . . . . . .

It's all about the lips!

Sorry to keep anyone waiting! Here’s my awaited lip treatment section. You are going to roll your eyes when you see how easy it is. Background: My sister was on Accutane a year ago. The long and the short of it is that Accutane really dries out one’s skin; my sister was living on lip balm. No exaggeration, she had to apply it between 20 and 30 times a day – her colleagues started to question an ‘addiction’. To prevent her lips from chapping and to allow them to absorb balm better, she started the first step of the routine. After she and I had a chat, we developed all three. Even her doctor complimented her on how healthy her lips looked. I started doing the treatment myself and continue to do it twice a day, every day. Below is everything I use:

Yup! That’s it (minus the cup)!

Step 1: After you brush your teeth, wash off your toothbrush. If you have a batter operated toothbrush (like I do), do not turn it back on. Just gently circulate the bristles around your lips. Make sure the brush is wet and go just beyond the lip line; your lips, neck, and hands are the first to show age and the most difficult to hide. I do a couple of rounds. This does two things: not only does it exfoliate, but it stimulates blood flow. You’ll notice that your lips are just a little puffy for a minute or two. When done, just flush your lips with water to remove the excess skin.

Step 2: Using your ring finger, dab (DAB) eye cream on your lips. Get in the corners and go just beyond your lip line. You want to dab it in because, like your eyes, your lips are actually quite delicate and filled with lines. You want to get the cream all the way in there. You don’t have to dab until it’s completely absorbed. While you wait for it to absorb, you may as well apply eye cream to your eyes at the same time. I have a different eye cream for my eyes and lips; you don’t need the most expensive for your lips because you can apply balms and such. I use Neutrogena Ageless Essentials Continuous Hydration Eye Cream. We decided to use eye cream because it’s meant to be used on the most delicate skin and is meant to be absorbed quickly and completely. Body lotion is just too thick (but can be used in an absolute pinch).

Step 3: After the eye cream has completely been absorbed, I then dab some of my all time favorite salve, Smith’s Rosebud Salve. I’ve been using this stuff since my early teens, it’s fantastic! Keep this tin at home at home; do not carry this stuff with you during the summer. Much like leaving lip sticks in the car or tossing one in the dryer, it will melt. I have one I carry with me; I melted one tin and transferred it to a glass container with a screw top. Never carry it in your pocket! It will melt there too. Anyway, this stuff is awesome and one tin lasts a long time. Your lips will be glossy for about 5 to 10 minutes, then the oil absorbs and you get a pretty semi-gloss finish afterwards. At night I apply this to the rim outside my lips for moisture.

You don’t need expensive $30 exfoliating lip sticks, just a toothbrush, eye cream (which you should already have), and some salve. The eye cream and salve together coast less than those exfoliating sticks, work better, and last longer.

If you want an example of the aging lips thing, just watch Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle. I remember seeing it in the movies and everyone going on and on about how great Demi Moore looks. Go to the showdown scene on the top of the observatory (before she shoots the Angels). They do a close up where she says ‘Why be an Angel, when I can be a god?’ They really should’t have done such a close up shot; it’s more obvious on the big screen, but you can see the cracks around her mouth where her lip color has started to bleed. That’s one thing that can’t be lifted or stretched, so take care of your lips! I always keep a stick of either Burt’s Bees original lip balm (the peppermint oil makes your lips feel cool) or Soft Lips in Peppermint nearby.

Oh, and try not to bite your lips.

Skincare routines

I see on a lot of blogs people asking how long it takes before one sees results in their new skincare routine. I suppose it'd different for most people. I am a quadruple threat: very pale, very sensitive, very oily, and prone to acne. Especially if you are prone to acne, the results really take longer. I tend to break out twice a month (at the beginning and end of my Luteal phase). I usually hold off on giving my thumbs up for a beauty product until I've been using it for a month. It could just be that I started to use it during the time where my skin naturally starts to clear up, but then I continue to break out.

Unlike your hair, your skin does not like to continuously change a routine. As anyone who has ever tried Proactive or Accutane; I've never met a person who's tried these things who experienced an immediate improvement. Usually it's quite the opposite, it gets much worse for a few weeks before improvement starts.

My best advice is to be patient. When you try new products, pay attention to how they affect your skin. I'll discuss my current routine and how I figured out what order they should be applied. It's very much a trial and error thing. However, if it burns, stop using it. That's one of the reactions that you shouldn't be patient about. I learned that mistake trying Muriad. Ow.

I won't lie, either. I'm totally jealous of all of you who have 'normal' skin.

The embarassment of Ezcema, the pain of Psoriasis

I was washing my hair last night and thought over the fact that I had not posted this yet. I have patches of Psoriasis at the base of my scalp and some Eczema on my hands. Several years ago, I was talking to a coworker about something completely different and she noticed that I was repeatedly scratching my palm. Being a mother, she didn't ask to see my hands, she just grabbed them.

'Girl, that's Eczema. You need to get that treated.'

Eczema was something I had heard of, but didn't really understand. I went to the doctor's office two days later and was diagnosed. I told her something my coworker suggested to me and the doctor concurred. I went home, did the treatment, and haven't had a problem since.

What did both my coworker and the doctor suggest? Wash with tar coal shampoo. If this doesn't sound familiar, Neutrogena makes one called T-Gel. Here's a list of just how many different types there are: http://www.drugs.com/cons/t-gel-topical.html. I seriously believe you can find it anywhere, which is even better!

It's great because there are many generic forms so it's fairly inexpensive and it really works! I use it 2 to 3 times a week and I haven't had a problem with E or P in about three years. I also have a fragrance allergy and I really rather detest overly flowery smelling products. T-Gel is sort of medicinal, but very clean smelling. Of course, it also has the added benefit of preventing dandruff and contributes to a healthy scalp. A healthy scalp is always a good thing.

Here's to not itching! Yay!

Makeup with Eyeglasses

Fuzkittie had a great article today on doing eye makeup for those with glasses. I suggest you read it!

http://www.fuzkittie.com/2009/06/4-eyes.html

Her tips were spot on; frames bring the focus to your eyes in the first place so one wants to keep the eye makeup clean and simple. One thing not mentioned, though, is that how you do your make-up also depends on your prescription.

If you are near-sighted (like me!), your lenses will tend to make your eyes appear a little smaller. The opposite is true for far-sighted; not a huge leap, it's like a magnifying glass next to your eye. A near-sighted person would want to create a clean eye with an emphasis on opening the appearance. I have a bit of a double edged sword. I'm near-sighted and also have deep set, somewhat small eyes. I'm just all trouble, aren't I?

Diary of a Shopper has inspired me to do a diddy on my lip care suggestions. I'll post that up when I can take pictures of what I can use :). COME ON CAMERA!