Summer Line Up

 

I have such a love hate relationship with the sun. There is nothing better than its warm soft rays on bare skin in these summer months, but the lines in my face and the spots on my arms remind me of its ugly side. With not a lot of time each morning, I need easy products to moisturizer, cover and correct easily. Here is my morning routine. 

1. Splash face with cold water. I heard about this from Giada and she looks pretty damn good. 

2. I mix a couple of drops of Vitamin C serum with Kate Sommerville Serum Sunscreen and slather on. This is the lightest, non-greasy sunscreen I have tried. I add a little more Vitamin C because why not? (the Sommerville serum can be hard to find, this Super Goop option is a good one too)

3. Dab on a little Kinerase C8 Peptide Under Eye Treatment. This can be used day and night and seems to have tightened things up a bit. 

4. I squirt one pump of Make Up For Ever HD Foundation into a scoop of Algenist Regenerative Anti-Aging Moisturizer. It gives me just enough coverage to not have to wear anything else and keeps my skin moisturized all day without being oily. The Algenist was a great find I was talked into by a woman at Sephora, I am on my second pot which says a lot because of my product hoarding problem. 

If I am lucky, I have time for my 3 minute make up routine, but most days I skip that. Feeling a bit more confident in my skin these days since the hormonal acne has calmed down after babies and these products seem to actually be doing the work they claim to do. Shocking. ha 

What do you swear by in the summer? Would love to hear. 

xo

Erin 

Retinol Remedy

As someone who is over 30 and well on her way to regretting every minute I spent in the sun (and tanning bed! yuck), I am always searching for the best ways to reverse all the bad I did. Serums and potions line my bathroom counter like soldiers fighting a war on the front line. Or at least my forehead lines. And though I do not know the secret to erasing anything, I have been following the simple advice of sunscreen all day, retinol at night. Have you tried retinol yet? 

I was prescribed it in the form of Ziana for my acne (is there anything worse than trying to fight wrinkles and acne? Somehow it feels super unfair), but have been trying other over the counter formulas. Retinol is a form of Vitamin A that has shown to regenerate cells, smooth lines, fade dark marks, and prevent new ones. 

And because I am such a sucker for a celebrity endorsement, my latest retinol experiment comes straight from the recommendation of Miss Jessica Alba.  Her favorite facialist, Shani Darden, has developed a retinol serum to wear at night. Resurface by Shani Darden. After stalking Alba's perfect skin, I had to try it. 

This product contains lactic acid as well, which helps keep your skin moisturized and makes it more possible for people with sensitive skin to use it. Retinol can be hard on your skin, many experience redness, so you should start using any retinol sparingly and work up to every night. I do not even use it every night, giving my skin a break a couple times a week. 

I highly recommend this retinol. It is pricey, not going to lie, but worth it for the punch it packs. The day after using it things always look a bit better and brighter. 

If you are looking for something from the drugstore, try Neutrogena Rapid Tone Repair Night Moisturizer. Really fantastic, has retinol in it, and works on all your skin problems all at once. 

What retinol products have you used that you love? You know I will go out and buy it immediately. ha

xo

Erin 

Summer Beauty Finds

In the ever endless search for the perfect beauty products, I have come across a few new items that I feel are worth sharing. I have been blessed with much better skin this pregnancy (last time was a full acne catastrophe) and have been testing some new, gentler products with less ingredients that are suspect for the baby. 

From Left: 

Ole Henriksen Truth Creme Advanced Hydration : While this cream gives great hydration, it is not greasy at all. It has kind of a funky smell (orange and vanilla), but there is definitely a brightness to my skin after using this at night. I rotate moisturizers at night, so I slather this on probably three times a week. 

Lancome Artliner Eye Liner: I have used this sporadically for a long time, but recently fell back in love with it. I tend to just use liner, if I wear it at all, on the upper water line (between eye and lashes) and this is really easy to apply and to correct with a cotton swab. 

Make Up for Ever HD Foundation: Searching for the perfect foundation that covers, blends well, and does not look like a mask is super hard. I am really loving this product though and use it with a Beauty Blender for just the right amount of coverage. It has just enough coverage to hide all those imperfections, but your skin still shows through. 

Josie Maran Organic Argan Oil: This has been the best surprise purchase so far. My skin breaks out so easily, so using oil as a moisturizer is scary. But I LOVE this moisturizer. I use it day or night and my skin is so soft and not greasy at all. Which is weird since it is pure oil. 

What have you tried lately that you love? I am such a product junkie, I need to know your secrets. 

xo

Erin  

Skin Recovery

After a skin ravaging nine months of pregnancy and months of hormone levels trying to find some sort of normalcy, I feel like I have my skin back. Although dotted with the remains of acne past and present, I at least feel like I have a handle on it. 

Being in your thirties and fighting acne while also trying to fight wrinkles is a lot of work for one face to handle. From what I can tell from readers and other beauty blogs is that almost every girl out there is having the same problems. 

I am on two prescriptions that are very strong and not for everyone. A benzoyl peroxide gel that is mixed in house by my doctor and a retinoid gel that fights acne and wrinkles, Ziana. My skin can take a lot and is not sensitive. I have done some research and testing and there are plenty of OTC alternatives to try if you do not want to see your doctor. 

The key is retinols to fight lines and help turn over skin cell production, salicylic acid to blast bacteria, benzoyl peroxide to clean pores, and hyaluronic acid to keep skin moisturized without being oily. 

Look for products with those ingredients. Luckily there are a few that have a combination of them. 

In addition to my prescriptions, I use Neutrogena Rapid Tone Repair Night as my moisturizer when I go to bed. This has retinols and hyaluronic acid so you wake up with super smooth and moisturized skin. 

An over the counter benzoyl peroxide lotion from Clinque would be a great alternative to a prescription strength. Use on pimples you already have and problem areas that usually break out at night. Apply as your last product. 

Clear Days Ahead from Philosophy is a great cleanser that gets your skin super clean with salicylic acid. 

No one's skin is perfect, but my obsession with it will never die. In a couple of weeks, I will be getting a laser treatment to try and zap some of the acne scars on my face. Before and after pictures will hopefully show some results. Fingers crossed that it will be worth it. 

xo

Erin 

Retinol Remedy

I have been using a form of Retinol for the last three years. Before I was pregnant, I was on a prescription Retinol for acne, Ziana. I loved it and got the benefit of not only clear skin but fading fine lines. 


For those that have never used Retinol, it is a form of Vitamin A that is prescribed to many for the treatment of acne. It also is used to fade age spots, acne scars and as an anti-wrinkle remedy. Obviously, it works in many ways. Retinol is very powerful and can only be used in certain doses with a script from your dermatologist. Many other friends of mine that have tried it have not liked it because it can be very drying and irritate skin easily. If you tough out this period, your skin tends to adapt after a few weeks. 


When I got pregnant and during breastfeeding, I was not allowed to use a retinol and I mourn it every day. My skin is still recovering from the hormones and my appointment is booked to get my prescription back asap. 


Because of I cannot resist any product and it's promises to "fix" everything and anything about my skin, I tried a ton of Retinols over the counter (ok when breastfeeding, but check with your doctor first). My favorite of them is Philosophy Help Me. It has a price tag that is middle of the road, does not irritate as much as others I tried, and works well with other products. I did have to amp up my moisturizer the first two weeks, but eventually my skin came around. 


I am curious if any of you have tried Retinol and what works best for you? Retinol is honestly an aging acne-prone girl's best friend. Don't know about you, but that category includes me and many girls I know. 


xo
Erin 

Get Glowing

People keep talking about something called "Fifty Shades of Grey," and I can only assume they have had a peek at my beyond pale skin.


I wish I had pretty pale skin, like the porcelain faces of Nicole Kidman or Cate Blanchett, but bottom line is this girl looks better with a glow. 


With the lines on my face starting to form from years in the sun, I have to look for other measures. I have been using these wipes from Dr. Dennis Gross for awhile and he recently made them even better by adding Anti-Aging ingredients and Vitamin D. 


Alpha Beta Glow Pads are my favorite way to get some (artificial) sun and look a lot less like I spent the winter in a cave. The best part is they travel very well, so it is the perfect way to swipe some glow on your face that you have been hiding under a hat. 


xo
Erin 

Beauty Secrets from Some Leading Ladies

Curious to what some of the world's most beautiful women (inside and out) had to say about beauty, I went searching for their secrets. What I wanted to find was their fitness regimes, diet,  and skin care routines. What I actually found was so much better than that. The ladies who we can truly call beautiful don't have any special creams or super food secrets. What they do have to share can help us all and should be included in our daily routines.

Elizabeth Taylor: "In the end, it really only matters what you think of your self." "You have to accept yourself for what you are. If what you are includes some gray hairs and a few wrinkles, so what! Remember, self-acceptance is essential to many things."

Catherine Deneuve: "I rest, I sleep, I do exercise very little. I don't run, that's for sure. I go out into the country regularly because I like it. When I'm not working, I try to do things I like with people I like. It's important to be in a nice environment in your own life. "

Meryl Streep: "My daughters had helped me to stop worrying about my appearance over the years. I wasted so many years thinking I wasn't pretty enough and why didn't I have Jessica Lange's body or somebody else's legs? What a waste of time."

Sophia Loren: "Beauty is how you feel inside, and it reflects in your eyes. It is not something physical."

Audrey Hepburn: "For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry. For beautiful hair, let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day. For poise, walk with the knowledge you’ll never walk alone.
People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed. Never throw out anybody. Remember, If you ever need a helping hand, you’ll find one at the end of your arm.
As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others. The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides. The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole, but true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows, and the beauty of a woman with passing years only grows!"

Although I will still search for the perfect creams and mascara, I think as I get older these quotes resonate with me more. Thanks for the advice, ladies! 

xo

Erin