Beauty Product Reviews

Well last week was a bust, sickness hit our house HARD!  My poor husband was out of town and had to come home, it was all hands on deck. We called in all reinforcement, even Grandpa Deckrow had to change a diaper! I’m not sure the last time that ever happened…it might have been a first.

Onward and upward, sickness is over, Thanksgiving is coming. All my Christmas decorations are out! The earliest I have ever decorated, I was really in the spirit because Michigan has had some record snow for November…and then it all melted. The day after I decorated it rained, all day.

So here are some things that make me happy, because we all need a little positivity.

My favorite item from all the BirchBox’s I’ve received.

Beauty Protector: Protect and Detangle

I will be totally honest, no matter what shampoo and conditioner I use I will always get dry scalp. Generally speaking I use Head & Shoulders, even salon grade shampoo dries me out. This might be why my kids have ezcema…Anyway, Beauty Protector is wonderful, it makes my hair so smooth and easy to comb. It has a built in protector which is great for those of us who style our hair with some kind of heat. Plus it smells like vanilla, so good.

I am turning 30 next year and for the last few years I have been trying lots of different skin care products to try and combat my age. I know I’m not old nor do I have many facial woes, but I’d rather be preventative than reactionary. What I loved about Cuppa Cuppa Firming Tea Mask was that it has lots of antioxidants and natural ingredients, and didn’t have a bunch of things I couldn’t pronounce. You put the mask on, it sets and then you use a little water to wash it away. It really is dual action though because when you scrub it off it has micro beads that exfoliate and leave your skin feeling smooth.

I have been using the same mascara for the last three years, not the same bottle you sicko. My absolute favorite is Lashgasm by Too Faced. When I receive mascara samples, which happens with way too much frequency, I’m usually pretty unimpressed. Laura Mercier Full Blown Volume gives my old standby a run for its money. The brush looks pretty traditional, doesn’t have a crazy shape to it, but it really does the job of separating each lash. Two coats and my lashes are long, dark, and not all clumped together. No one wants spider eyes (where you lashes looks like spider legs, its gross).

And to be clear that I am not simply here to promote BirchBox, I throughly dislike their Shave Cream. Whish Shave Cream will not be getting a link, because you should not buy it. The worst part is that they market it as moisturizing…I was honestly looking forward to a more enjoyable shaving experience. It felt like I used an Irish Spring soap bar to lather my legs, even my hands had that terrible dry feeling immediately after washing the soap off.

That is all I have for now! Happy Thanksgiving week!!

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Friday Fashion Rewind

Its Friday!!! I’m in Chicago with my beautiful sister-in-law Kate, we are currently working from an amazing restaurant called The Blue Door Farm Stand (Pics to come). She has a ‘real job’ in sales, she just moved to Chicago this summer and I’m listening to her make a sales call and can’t believe how mature she is! Okay that’s cheesy, but its the truth. I’m next to her on a rustic blue bench working on my new ‘job’, my blog. So thanks for joining with me today.

ITS FRIDAY! I’m headed home later today, with Kate in tow, and my husband gets home from being in South Carolina all week. Insert contented sigh Life is good.

Friday Fashion Rewind: A few of my favorite outfits from this last week

Shoes: Target, Jeans: Gap, Sweater: JCrew, Scarf and Jewelry: Stella & Dot

The whole back of this shirt is the plaid fabric and really soft.

Shirt: TJMaxx, Seven 7, Leggings: Lululemon, Jewelry: Stella & Dot

Shirt: TJMaxx, Jewelry: Stella & Dot

Shirt: Macy’s Jewelry: Stella & Dot

Tank and Pants: Lululemon, Sweatshirt: TJMaxx Jewelry: Come on, you know the answer…

Have an amazing weekend! Here is a preview of my brief, but wonderful trip to Chicago

I know, she’s adorable 🙂

Nerium Trial

A friend gave me a bottle of the Nerium day and night cream to try for a week. Nerium is derived from the Nerium Olieander plant and from what I can tell from a little googling is that the scientist behind it thought they could use the plant to fight cancer as it is a toxic plant. It couldnt, BUT they found it had some anti-aging properties. For better info you can contact my friends Heather Tichelaar heathertichelaar@gmail.com and just to clarify Heather asked me if I’d be interested in trying a sample, she did not ask me to review.

Please don’t judge my makeup free, un-photoshoped pics, that wouldn’t be nice. The before pics are ones where I look naked, you’re welcome.

You leave your face damp after washing it at night and then use four pumps of the night cream all over your face neck and chest, rub any leftovers onto the back of your hands. The night cream feels like a face mask drying, kind of tightening. Then it dries and feels very hydrating.

The day cream seems pretty regular…and I was disappointed to learn that it doesn’t have any SPF in it. So in addition to the day cream you’re going to have to add a sunscreen on top. I at least feel like the best thing I can do for skin is to wear sunscreen. My friend did explain that Nerium left the SPF out because some people are sensitive to it, I suppose this is just a point of preference.

I don’t have problem skin, It’s really neither oily or dry and I only really break out during my period. I have a few wrinkles on my forehead that I don’t mind, but would love to take better care of my skin to keep it looking young. You can see in the above pics that I have a red dot on cheek (right below those lovely dark circles), my dermatologist had a fancy name for it, but basically its a tiny red mole. I will say it appeared slightly less noticeable after a week of the Nerium.

Overall I’d say that I liked the night cream, my skin felt hydrated and smooth. The day cream didn’t seem to be any different that anything else I’ve used. I feel like the things Nerium claims to do are for people trying to reverse the aging process and I’m just not there yet. My mom took samples to Florida and will be using them for the next 10 days and I will post her pics in the next week or so to see what her results look like.

Again, you can see more facts on Nerium at http://www.tichelaar.nerium.com This is just my personal experience with Nerium.