Join my Beauty Army?

                                                            

I don't know but I've been told,

creams keep skin from looking old!

Wasting money steals my smiles,

love my Beauty Army trials!

Sound off

one, two...

Sound off

three, four...

one, two, three, four... five, six!
Six beauty trials!

O.K. girls, I've found something really cool to share with you. I don't know about you, but I have come across so many products that I would really like to try, but don't want to dish out the money for a full sized item that I'm not even sure if I will like. Then I found my Beauty Army.  This is a service you can sign up with that lets you choose 6 pretty decent sized beauty product trials for $12 a month.  When I first signed up for this service, they had me take a little quiz so they could find out a little more about me, and what beauty products I might like to try.  I then got a pretty big list of items to choose my first 6 samples from.  I had a hard time choosing, there were many that I wanted to try! 

Four days later this box came to my door.

Not gonna lie, I was pretty excited to rip open the box.

Inside the gorgeous black box were my products all wrapped in pink tissue.  It was like a girly Christmas!

These were the the products I selected to try this month.

From left to right in the photo above, I received the following. 

1. Pssssst! Dry Shampoo  

2. Babor Argon Cream  

3. Lift Lab, lift and firm eye cream  

4. Joico Bio-Advanced restorative hair treatment  

5. Cell Ceuticals anti-photoaging SPF 55  

6. Eye Prep fx, anti-age smoothing primer

Out of the six trials I ordered, I love three of them.  The Pssssst! dry shampoo is amazing.  Perfect for the days you don't have time to wash your hair.  It smells amazing, and it's easy to restyle your hair after using it.  I also love the Joico hair treatment.  It's too heavy to use everyday, but it's an amazing monthly hair treatment for dry damaged hair. Finally, I really loved the Cell Ceuticals anti-photoaging SPF. It doesn't smell like sunscreen, and make up goes on smoothly over it.

Two of the items are o.k., but I'm happy I will never spend the money on a full sized product as there are better products out there.  The Babor Argon cream is nice, but it's not quite hydrating enough for me.  The Eye Prep fx primer goes on nicely, but I didn't notice my eye make up staying on any longer by using it.

The last item, I really did not care for at all.  It was the Lift Lab firming eye cream.  It dried the skin around my eyes out terribly, and I didn't notice any lift or firming at all.

I'm so happy to have found this little gem of a service, and I can't wait until next month when I get to try more new products.  If you'd like to try it too, please use the following link:

https://www.beautyarmy.com/account/registration/?referral_id=70e657449e7bf0d9c91a03140d1e1b2e

By recruiting other beauty addicts, I could get special discounts in the future.  Enjoy the rest of your day my glamorous soldiers!  ;)

                                   

I'm no doctor, but maybe I can help.

It's amazing to me how many people confuse my job title, esthetician, with one of an anesthesiologist.  Right away, I am typically asked how long it took me to get my degree.  You should see the look on their faces when I tell them I finished up in about 6 months.  I let them worry for a split second, then explain that I'm an esthetician, which is a skin care specialist, and not a physician.

I have learned a great deal about the skin care industry. I've worked for many years in the spa atmosphere, and now most recently I've moved to the medical side of esthetics, working for a dermatologist.  I have been getting several requests to post good, age defying skin care tips in my blog, so here is some of my best advice. The most important thing I have learned is that your skin care regimen does not have to be complicated, or contain 16 different steps. You will get much better results by being very consistent with a simple, basic regimen like the one I've posted below.

1. Wash your face every night, no exceptions. Use a gentle cleanser, and luke warm water.  Dirt, bacteria, and makeup left on overnight can irritate skin, clog pores, and trigger breakouts. If you are in your 30s or younger, wash your face in the morning as well.  Once in your 40s, oil production dips with hormonal changes, so it may dry out your skin to wash both morning and night.

Avene extremely gentle cleanser for intolerant skin.  Excellent for all skin types.

2. Use a moisturizer with SPF (that block both UVA and UVB rays) every morning, and a good hydrating cream at night. Even 10 minutes of daily exposure to UVA "aging" rays can cause changes that lead to wrinkles and sunspots in as few as 12 weeks.

Perfect for daily moisture and SPF protection.

Pevonia Marine Collagen Cream makes an excellent night cream.

3. Exfoliate twice weekly. There are 2 different kinds to choose from.  You can use a manual exfoliant (like a cleanser with gentle exfoliating beads) or you could choose a chemical exfoliant (like an enzyme that is applied like a mask, and left on for about 10 minutes).

Dermalogica Gentle Cream Exfoliant. Affordable and hydrating.

You don't have to buy the most expensive products, or go under the knife of a plastic surgeon to improve the look and health of your skin.  If you do opt for plastic surgery, please be sure that there is an anesthesiologist, and not an esthetician, on hand to put you under.