Skin Care Necessities

Hello fellow interweb friends!

So being a girl, I have a whole lot of skin issues and body image problems, which is never fun, but thank goodness, there are products out there that an help/improve my problems and issues! First is my face! My main problem is the black heads on my face. I have quite a bit of black heads, which automatically darkens my face and make it look not as bright as it is. My black heads mainly gather around my nose and chin. Those areas not only darken, but it leaves some kind of a shadow on my face, making other areas look darker than what it actually is. I started using Origins "Clear Improvement" charcoal mask. I usually put this on 2-3 times a week, depending how much make-up I wear during the week. The more I wear, the more I'll use the mask just because it does a very good job unclogging my pores and clearing up my skin. 

Usually, after I use this, I will use Origins' "GinZing" moisturizer as well.The GinZing moisturizer has all natural ingredients, just like all other Origins products. The one thing I really appreciate about this one is it does not leave my skin feeling oily or heavy at all! To me, it's like I slathered loads of water on it. My face feels nice and fresh when I put it on after the mask, and when I wake up in the morning, my face just feels nice and smooth! So right now, I'm only using a mini sample pot just because I wasn't sure if my skin will react well to the moisturizer, but now that I know my skin loves it, I will be going back soon to get a full sized one. And of course, who can forget about the lips, definitely not me! So after I put on my moisturizer, I also put a bit of my Dior "Creme De Rose" on and leave it over night. This lip balm, though expensive, really does the job! It leaves my lips feeling soft an smooth all day long! I usually only need to put it on once a day and my lips already feel amazing, so imagine the wonderful results after masking it all night?!?!

Another one of Origins' mask that I thoroughly enjoy is the "Drink Up Intensive Mask." This one, in spring and summer, I will only use once a week just to replenish the moisture in my skin since I am out in the sun a lot and probably use a lot of make up. If you read my previous post, you know I have a bit of oily skin, but still, there are dry spots and after I use a lot of make up during the week, I definitely feel my skin getting a little weird. This mask is perfect to use once a week just to get the nutrients and natural oils back in my skin to replenish it. I use it once a week because I have oilier skin, but for those who have drier skin, I would suggest doing it twice a week. You definitely feel a difference when you wake up in the morning, especially since this is a leave-on mask and you can just wipe it off in the morning when you get ready. Once again, I'm using a small sample pot to try it out on my skin, but I am for sure getting this in a full sized one to use at home but also a travel sized one for when I go to Vietnam. I definitely do not enjoy the gross, dried-out feeling of my skin when I'm sitting on the plane for 18 hours straight, so this shall keep my skin feeling nice and smooth and moist!

So besides bad facial skin, I also have bad body skin! Even though I've never had kids or gain major amounts of weight, I deal with stretch mark problems. It is definitely not the most pleasant problem to deal with, especially since I'm barely 20 something with no kids and all the girls my age are looking nice and smooth in their two-pieced bathing suits! I've learned to embrace my stretch-marks, or my "life-stripes" as I'd like to call them, making it sound ferocious like tiger stripes. Still, I want to minimize the stripes appearance, so I use Palmer's "Tummy Butter" and then also later on lotion specialized for stretch marks. I usually put these one everyday after I shower, but before doing so, I make sure I exfoliate my tummy area well so that all the moisture and cocoa/shea butter and vitamin E can soak in to give me the best results possible! These products aren't like MIRACLE WORKERS, so I'm not expecting all my stripes to go away, but I definitely see improvements. All I can ask for is to lighten my stripes, so I don't feel like a complete fatty next to all these smoothed-skin-skinny girls in the summer! Since I know my body and my issues, you will rarely catch me in a two-pieced bathing suit because of this, but I still enjoy one-piecers that have a little cut-out and what not, so I am definitely appreciating these Palmer products that are making my skin look a little better in my bathing suits!

So of course, it is important to keep your body completely moisturized, so I never miss a day of lotioning my skin after I shower! And hand creme and foot creme are a must too just because no one wants flaky/cracked/dried out hands and feet, especially during the summer time when we're all out and about in our sandals and flip flops!

That's pretty much how I deal with my body issues, still working on the mental issues, but hey, a girl can only do so much at a time right?!?! If you guys have any other suggestions for stretch marks or my "life-stripes" please do share!

Until next time,

With love,

Uyen

Things I Cannot Live Without

Hello fellow interweb friends!

So I thought I'd start a thread about different things that I completely love and can pretty much not live without! This is going to be a wide range of things that I've been introduced to and fell in love with and I think it is only best to share things I love! It can be from random apps, school supplies, beauty products, skin care shizz nizz, etc. 

For my first "Things I Cannot Live Without", I would like to share to you guys this magical bottle of lotion that I purchased from Bath and Body Works that I pretty much use everyday. As you can  see, it is the Sensual Amber scent from their Signature Collection. I decided to take a picture of this bottle of lotion in this very sad and empty condition just to show you guys how much I really use it and how horribly in love with it that I have to tip it over to fully use up every little once that is in this bottle (sadly, I realized I can't literally use every drop or else I would). 

The scent, to me, is super therapeutic. It is definitely a very feminine yet kind of musky smell. It is not super strong or florally even though there's a small hint of flower in it. I can't describe it very well, so I thought I'd just look up Bath and Body Works' description of their product! 

Based on the scent descriptions from Bath and Body, Sensual Amber is a mix of: vanilla, creamy sandalwood, patchouli, a little bit musky. Mixed in with all the spice-like aromas, there's a hint of: white roses, orange flower, lotus, iris, bergamot, wild berries, and succulent plum.

Since I am using it as a lotion, I thought I'd also talk about some of the ingredients that is in it. So the main purpose of lotions is to keep our skin moisturize, which this lotion does very well, same goes for the majority of the Bath and Body Works products. The main ingredients in this, like all other lotions, are: shea butter, jojoba oil, and vitamin E. Here are the functions/uses of these ingredients:

1. Shea butter: helps restore skin elasticity, reduce scarring, helps eliminate dry spots, relieves symptoms for rosacia, eczema, and psoriasis.
2. Jojoba oil: prevents clogging in hair follicles, helps with acne, psoriasis, sunburn, and chapped skin.
3. Vitamin E: treat scars, acne, and wrinkles by speeding up cell regeneration, retain natural skin moisture, freshens up dry skin to make your skin look less dull and discolored.

Hopefully, you guys will give this scent a try! It is wonderful after a nice bath, maybe even before bed since the earthy-spicey scents are usually very therapeutic and warm, perfect sensations to have as you dry to fall asleep. Not only that, the smell is so amazing that it will make all your clothes smell wonderful as well as your bed sheets!

Until next time,

With love, 

Uyen