Review: Aquation Lotion

I am a huge skincare fan. I will buy cleanser, toner, and lotion any day of any week. Good hand and body lotion, however, can be a real pain to find. It's either greasy or it fades away immediately and you need to reply every half hour. Thanks to Influenster and my Twinkle VoxBox which I received for free, I got to try Aquation lotion. The first pump I used caused me to look at my hands in amazement, I'm not even exaggerating. I was just idly taking it out of the box, gave it a squirt, and BOOM. My mind was blown. My hands immediately felt moisturized and even my cuticles looked revitalized. I love that it's packed full of ceramides and hyaluronic acid, but it's still non-comedogenic so that it won't clog pores. Since it didn't feel greasy or like it was sitting "on top" of my skin, I assumed the moisturization wouldnt last long. I was so wrong. Cut through several hours of homeschooling, dish washing, food cooking, dog walking, and laundry, and my hands still looked and felt nice and moisturized. I now keep this beside my bed and it is the first thing I put on when I wake up and the last thing I put on at night before I fall asleep. While I do use this for my legs sometimes, I prefer a thicker cream for them, so this Aquation has become my go-to hand lotion. I liked it so much that even though I received this full sized bottle for free, I quickly purchased another to keep in the bathroom by the sink as well. I will never stop buying skin care, but I think my quest for the perfect hand lotion has been solved.

UPDATE: Ipsy Bags

June and July IPSY Bag reviews will be posted soon - and I'm SO in love with one product in particular that I've already ordered more. Intrigued? Stay tuned...

Review: MAC Cosmetics Lipstick - PLEASE ME

This is my face after using MAC's shade "Please Me" - this is with no filters to distort the shade. I've used their lipsticks in the past, and I'm always pleased with consistency, staying power, and true to shade effectiveness. This time is no different. This is absolutely my new favorite matte "nude" and is easily made into a gloss with a touch of your own favorite shine. I have some new Makeup Monsters that I'm looking forward to using to ombre this shade with, but I think it's quite perfect on it's own. And if you've never bought MAC lipstick? IT. SMELLS. AMAZING.

Review: ETSY EDITION - OliveDeer

Today I'm reviewing my order experience with the Etsy shop OliveDeer.


Oh. My. Goodness.

This has been one of my best Etsy experiences thus far. She and I are currently working on a top secret project that I'll let you know about later, but as it's a present for someone, I can't divulge details. However, for this teeny tiny perfect diamond ring, I could not be more satisfied.

She is kind, quick to respond, and goes above and beyond when it comes to customer service. I can rave all day, but why not take a look for yourself?

Long story short, she is AMAZING. Go support a mama who is making beautiful things at home, naturally - and who happens to do a freakin amazing job at it.

Buy her stuff here :)

RIP Neutrogena Oil Free Stress Control Power Foam Wash

It took me years to find the perfect face wash.

Years.

Not even joking - for years I dealt with ugly, embarrassing and PAINFUL cystic acne on my jawline. I could feel them coming up before I could see them, but I couldn't do anything to stop them. Then they'd last forever, and even after they were gone, the red blotches were still there. It looked awful.

I tried new things and I stuck with them for the recommended periods of time. I'd wait and wait, hoping for results, seeing a little and wondering if it was the change in my routine or just a random coincidence. I tried many different face washes, from $10 drug store finds to $50 specialty brands. Some did give me results, but nothing ever cleared my skin like Neutrogena Oil Free Stress Control Power Foam Wash. Mouthful of a name, but a heck of a product.

I started using that with Neutrogena Oil Free Stress Control Toner and Benefit's Total Moisture twice a day. I also use clariSEA's salt scrub and charcoal mask twice a week. My skin has been clear ever since. I do get a tiny bump here and there around my period, but no more painful cystic acne. I add a dab of Neutrogena Oil Free Stress Control spot treatment to the bump and it never lasts longer than two days. I'm satisfied with my routine and I've stuck with it faithfully. So I was a little worried when my foam wash began getting harder and harder to find. I stocked up on what I could find and sent Neutrogena an email.


This, my friends, was the response:

While it was nice of them to reply and make suggestions, I HAVE the cream wash. I don't like it. It wasn't as effective and I don't like the way my skin feels afterward. So here we are. I'm back at square one and terrified of what's going to happen with my skin.

I have seen bottles of the foam wash for around $25 online, so I know there's a demand for it and people are exploiting that. But even if I bought every bottle I found, it's going to run out or get old and I still have to start over.

For now, I'm going back to purity by philosophy because it was my favorite before I found this. I also like Benefit's Gentle Foaming cleanser, but neither one was as perfect for my skin as Neutrogena's.

So there it is. If you've spent hours on the internet looking for Neutrogena Oil Free Stress Control Power Foam Wash, you can stop. Take that energy and use it to email Neutrogena over and over again, please, and let's convince them to bring back this awesome face wash! I've seen on many forums, on Amazon, on eBay, on other beauty blogs, that this has been a miracle product for many of you. Get in touch with Neutrogena, if you love this product, and convince them they're making a huge mistake.

Or go cry in a corner.

Either way.