Pulling my weight (at last!)

Hey kids, Meagan here. I've had "write post" on my to do list for quite some time. Lately, it's been an increasingly judgmental to do item: "write post, this time for real" and "no seriously, stop being lazy and write something you oaf." So here I am. Finally posting while watching San Andreas for the 15th time (sidenote: if anyone wants to talk pop culture at some point, I am totally in. But you should know that I find The Rock to be an entertainment genius and I'll defend anything he's in with the zeal of a Univision soccer commentator. The Tooth Fairy? Oh yeah, loved those tights. You can visit my room in the middle of the night to leave me gifts any time, pal. Doom? I've seen it at least a dozen times and it is objectively a garbage movie. Don't care. He looks great in cargo pants. Do I have the premiere date of Baywatch on my calendar? You betcha. Dwayne Johnson 4eva.). But I digress. Back to beauty product reviewing...

I really enjoyed Sara's post and her introductory rules to beauty. I was going to shamelessly copy and provide my own, but upon thinking about it, I realized based on consistency, that the best way to describe my beauty regimen is that I take a bit of an Outback approach: no rules. just right. Only it's more like: no rules. lots of trial and error. some results? Clearly, I should never go into marketing. However, I have stumbled on a few products that I really like, I think seem to be working and even if they're not, isn't beauty in the eye of the beholder or something? Without further rambling, here are some of my current favorites:

Foreo Luna Mini

My face decided to completely freak out on me last year and I had a string of break outs of cystic acne along my chin and jawline. Eeeeeek. Some basic googling told me this may be the result of stress. Although I was relieved to finally google health symptoms and not be told that I was definitely dying, probably from cancer, being told that I needed to reduce my stress to help with the symptoms wasn't exactly any more helpful. Therefore, I looked to another solution. I figured if I could deep clean my face on a daily basis, that would help keep my pores unclogged and therefore acne free, stress be damned!

I debated between the Clarisonic and Foreo Luna facial brushes (thanks go to Kyle for alerting me to the existence of the latter when I first began this search). The reviews for both products are fairly similar. They are both highly rated and people seem to credit each with curing all that ails them. More  on what I think it actually does and doesn't do below, but ultimately, I went with the Foreo because I didn't have to bother with replacement heads and it came in more colors. #truthiness.

http://www.sephora.com/luna-mini-P387258?skuId=1633650&browserdefault=true&om_mmc=ppc-GG&mkwid=s6Ou5k4uE&pcrid=50233218639&pdv=c&site=_search&lang=en&gclid=CIyMvNTGp8wCFVhZhgodLJQIyQ

The Luna comes in two sizes, although the mini works perfectly for me. You can use any regular face wash with it, which is nice. I use one of the many Aveeno products, but have been experimenting lately with other face washes. So far the soap itself has made little difference. What I do notice is a difference in how my face looks and feels between when I use the Luna and when I go without. I'm not sure about all the anti-aging claims it makes. I tend to think that impact may be a bit overstated. However, it definitely helps keep my acne under control. I have fewer breakouts when I consistently use this lil' guy, and I can tell you for sure that my stress levels have hardly decreased. I also notice that my skin in general is a little clearer. The pores on and around my nose in particular are clearer. And going back to that eye of the beholder thing, my face just feels clearer and better when I use this product. It's a little expensive (~$100 for the mini), but given that I feel less inclined to buy other fancy face wash products now that I'm using it and I don't have to buy replacement heads, I think the upfront price may be worth it in the long run. In all, it gets a two thumbs up from me.

Korres Night Cream

Last winter seemed to go on forever and by the end I felt like the skin on my face was taking on a bit of a Walking Dead look: dry, sallow, somewhat horrifying all around. At the time I was using an all-purpose day/night face lotion that I didn't think was cutting it anymore. After looking around and asking for recommendations, I decided to switch to different products for day and night. L'oreal Revitalift Day Lotion for the day - you can find it at pretty much any drugstore and it has served me well. Light, has SPF in it, provides decent daily moisture for my face and works well under my makeup. For the evenings, I went with Korres Quercetin & Oak Antiaging & Antiwrinkle Night Cream. What a mouthful. It has a bit of a an oaky smell, but I don't find that it's overpowering. It is definitely a heavier cream, but it absorbs well into my skin and doesn't feel too heavy. I've used it for almost a year now and it worked equally well in the summer as it did this winter. My skin looks and feels better this year after using this in combo with the Luna. I spend less time in the morning lamenting the state of my skin and trying to cover it up with makeup. It's a bit expensive (I am totally breaking Sara's No. 1 rule right and left thus far, although you can get both of these products on Amazon so at least I have that going for me!), but the one tub has lasted me a year.

http://www.korresusa.com/quercetin-and-oak-antiageing-and-antiwrinkle-night-cream

Co-sign on products Kyle has previously mentioned

Prior to purchasing the Luna, I tried the Japanese (Korean?) "Natural Aqua Gel" that Kyle posted about. It's the stuff that you put on your newly washed face and then roll off in little balls. Aside from just being good old fun, I found that the gel made my skin feel clean and fresh. Basically, the same feeling I get from the Luna these days. After washing my face with the Luna, I tried the Aqua Gel and noticed that I had a lot less skin to slough off, so I tend to think that you can do one or the other, but both aren't necessary (Kyle, I think you made this observation as well). However, if you don't want to go in on the Luna and want to try other exfoliating face washes, I really like this one.

St. Tropez Gradual Tan Everday Body Moisturizer. Y'all. I love this stuff. I haven't tried the mousse or the more aggressive tanning products this line produces, but the daily moisturizer is fantastic. It really does spread evenly, smells great and dries faster than some of the other products I've tried. If you're looking to get a big color difference in one application, this isn't the stuff for you. However, if you're just looking to even out last year's still visible tan lines or want some color on your legs during the annual spring transition from tights to bare legs, I highly recommend.

And with that, I think I'll sign off on my inaugural post and finally scratch this one off the list! Cue me mentally (and perhaps literally) doing this:

Later gators! M

Sara's First Post! (posted by Kyle because apparently Blogger is tricky to use)

Hey guys! It’s Sara. Per Kyle’s request, I thought I would tell you about some of my current experiences with beauty products. Before we get started, I think it’s important to tell you a little bit about myself. Let’s get started.

First of all, I am cheap. Like, really cheap. I think any beauty products that cost more than 20$ better be made of gold. Then they literally started making beauty products with gold in them, and I thought that was pretty silly too. That brings us to my first rule of shopping:

1. Products should be cheap.

The second thing you should know about me is that there are very limited places I am willing to get beauty products from. This is not because I am snobby, it’s because I am about one step away from being a full blown recluse. Malls are awful, parking garages are awful, stores with too many options and woman with perfect eyebrows are scary. That brings us to my second rule:

2. Products have to come from amazon or target… with a few exceptions. About once a year I will get off my butt and go to Ulta or M.A.C. I am usually upset that I am going, and I spend way too much money.

Another thing you should know is that I don’t really enjoy wearing makeup. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the way I LOOK in makeup. I just find the whole experience of rubbing mystery chemicals on my face to be a little strange. None the less, I do it. More importantly, I regret when I DON’T do it. I am less likely to be mistaken for a 6^th grader at work when I dedicate time each morning for putting on mascara or blush. I look like a straight up adult on the days I get around to doing both. Consequently, my next rule is such:

3. Products have to be easy to apply. 

One last thing. My skin. Oh my skin. My skin is crazy. My skin is incredibly dry. It is basically a sandstorm on my face. It is also extremely prone to acne. Probably because it is so dry. I don’t really know, I am not a dermatologist. I am also very sensitive to fragrance, so if something is going to applied daily, it has to be unscented. Which is basically the last rule.

4. Products should be unscented and nondrying. 

Wow that was a lot of information guys! I am impressed you stayed with me through that. Now let’s get to some of the stuff I have tried recently. I have tried every face wash and lotion on the face of the earth. I just want one that comforts my dry face without turning me into an oil slick. Here’s what I’ve found out so far.

One day I tried cleansing oil because it seemed to be the answer to all my problems. Also I read an article online about how Zooey Deschanel uses it. Well, this one was no good. It smelled lovely, but I found myself wanting to wash my face with Cetaphil after using it. Wanting to wash your face after washing your face? That seems redundant.

Glorious Cetaphil. I return to this product year after year. It gets makeup off my face, it’s unscented. You can buy it everywhere. Don’t make the mistake of buying the daily cleanser. You HAVE to buy the gentle cleanser. The difference is everything. The only problem with this stuff is that it leaves my skin pretty dry, so I have to pack on the lotion afterwards.

Coconut oil is the answer to everything. It is my moisturizer, face wash, conditioner, and make up remover. Slick this stuff all over your face in the shower to remove all your makeup, then slick it all over your face when you get out to stay hydrated. Bonus points: your dogs will not stop following you around. The only problem with this stuff is it is great at removing makeup. What that means, is you cannot use it in the morning before work. Unless you want all of your hard work applying makeup to slide right off your face (been there, done that). Save this routine for night.

I tried argan oil, honestly, because it was more expensive than coconut oil and assumed that meant it would be better. Turns out I was wrong. It’s hydrating, but not AS hydrating as coconut oil. I do, however, use this stuff on the dry ends of my hair. It’s not as heavy as coconut oil, so you can apply it to your face or hair without looking greasy. 

This stuff is THE BOMB. I don’t have eczema, but the lotion is everything my face is looking for. It is super hydrating without being too greasy.  It doesn’t smell great, but let’s not be picky people. When something soothes your cracked and pained face, you embrace its bizarre medicated smell.

People on the internet keep talking about this First aid beauty ultra repair cream. I’m not sure why. It is a good moisturizer, but for how much it cost, I am not sure I get it. Stick with the Aveeno eczema, its better worth your hard earned cash.

Ok guys I think that’s it for now. The episode of The Walking Dead I’m watching right now is ending and I have to go feed myself. If you have any ideas on what I should be using on my weird, weird face, let me know. I would love to hear!!!!

Sara

What Have I Put On My Face Lately?

Erm. 

We need to discuss something.

Look, I'll put bees and snails on my face. We've gone over this. I drew the line at placenta, right? Remember this? Well, I found another product sample I won't put on my face.

For some reason, this freaks me out even more than the placenta, which doesn't make any sense, considering I couldn't even determine where the placenta came from. At least I know this is horse derived. I mean, I don't know which horse, but that's still more information than some nebulous placenta. According to some very official internet source, the horse isn't harmed in the making of horse oil products, but it still really skeeves me. I mean, did they have to put horses on the actual package?

Speaking of, at some point it occurred to me that I didn't know how the snail or bee products are made either. Granted, snails and bees are not exactly companion animals, but I still started to stress that bees were dying by the bushel in order for me to be ideally moisturized, so I wrote to one of the vendors. She reassured me that neither bees nor snails were harmed: "The snail secretion is collected via mechanical agitation, filtered, and then purified. Experts collect bee venom by placing a pane of glass alongside a hive and running a weak electrical current through it, which encourages the insects to sting the surface." So while it sounds like these little guys might be slightly annoyed by the process, at least they're not injured! Which leads to my next question: How does one become an expert bee venom collector?

Another sample that I did try was a bubble mask. I don't remember the brand, but these things are pretty ubiquitous. Basically you rub it on like a normal mask and then over the next ten minutes it starts bubbling into a foam. It was horrible! Yeah, speaking of snails and bees, this stuff actually felt like there were snails and bees futzing around on my face. 

I lasted about three minutes before I washed it all off, and felt itchy all day. Can't you tell how thrilled I am? I feel itchy now just thinking about it! Plus the next few days my face was so angry with me. Thumbs down! On the plus side I'd just gotten my eyebrows threaded and DON'T THEY LOOK AMAZING?

What else?

Oh, total bummer. I got super excited about a "gel-like" (don't know who I'm quoting) nail polish and it was just as bad if not worse than Sally Hansen. I refuse to believe that there is no product out there similar to gel manicures. I have come to terms with the fact that there won't be anything AS GOOD AS a salon gel manicure, but I still have hope there is something decent out there! The one I tried this time is called Nails, Inc., which in hindsight seems like a really good clue that it wasn't going to be any good. "Let's make a nail polish!" "We totally should! What should we call it?" *long silence* "Nails ... Inc...?" "BRILLIANT!" I will say that the color was pure perfection. It's this grayish, nudish, pinkish:

STOP MAKING FUN OF MY NAIL-PAINTING SKILLZ! You can see, though, it's a great color, I'd say a smidge shinier than regular polish, but it lasted unchipped exactly one day. 

Lighting was hard to replicate of course, but you can see several chips. Boo. But I'll keep looking! Sheryl sent me this article, and I also found this one on Buzzfeed, so chip away at the list (hahaha omg I didn't, I totally did). 

Lipstick! Is anyone else all over this liquid lipstick trend? That makes zero sense because none of them are liquid? They're all more like mushy lipstick. Like when it melts and you have to mush it back into the tube. Or drop it behind the toilet and squash the whole thing, not that I know anyone who has done that. But anyway, I bought this one in Copenhagen because I'm sure I saw someone wear something like it on TV and wanted to pretend I had somewhere fancy to wear it. 

It's really matte, really dark, and really highly pigmented. I just love it! NYX products have totally proven themselves to me. They are notoriously cheap but I've been really pleasantly surprised by most of their stuff. The only things I really didn't like where a lavender tinted concealer and a little gel liner pot. The concealer made my skin look even more sallow, but then I think it was less that it was a bad product and more that I just wasn't using it for the right purpose. The gel liner, however, just smudged way too easily. But anyway, I even tested the lip cream (their term, not might) by having a snack, to see if it wore off. I was psyched to find it hadn't worn off at all, but then I realized I'd snacked on a big bowl of cherries, so ... data compromised.

Ok last one. New face stuff. I swear, I am using up old face stuff before I buy new face stuff (80% true). I read this review about these two Sunday Riley products you can use in tandem, and waited a few days, read a little more, and bit the bullet. Why do I always try to justify myself? Is it for you guys or for me? This time is probably more for me, because it is pricey. AND I LOVE IT. Worth it. Luna is a nighttime oil with retinol, and potent enough that you are not supposed to wear it in the sun (thus, nighttime), and there is actually a warning not to use it if you're pregnant. Yeah I'm not an expert but that sounds pretty potent. The Good Genes is essentially lactic acid. Not sure what any of this means but I like them a lot. 

HOWEVER!

They smell SO BAD. OMG so bad. Like the Good Genes is bad, like a bathroom cleaner they tried to mask with citrus. But the Night Oil. I don't even have words. Wait, no, I don't even have the smell capabilities. Taste buds for the nose. Nose buds? What I mean is it smells so bad, and yet I can't think of anything to compare it to. It's not like your every day, run of the mill, rotten egg smell or something. It's not even like it's this horrible smell that I just can't place. It's a brand new horrible smell. There's nothing else like it. My entire world has changed. I thought about it for a couple weeks and the best analogy I could come up with is if you took play dough, mixed it with strong black tea, packed it away in a damp cellar for three years, then opened it back up and swirled it in cough syrup. That's the best I can do. Of course once you use that you're dying for some of the citrus bathroom cleaner smell to cover it up. Oh, also it's blue. Blue oil that smells like musty mushroom trolls and can harm a fetus? ABSOLUTELY. But no horse oil. 

AAAAND end scene.