Do You Believe In Magic?

I sure do! That is, I believe in L’Oreal Studio Secrets Magic Perfecting Base. I put this on before foundation (obviously, that’s what you do with primers after all) and it makes my skin feel like silk, or in the words of Ak, a baby’s behind. It evens out my skin tone and makes my pores look smaller. Its like a magic! Guess that’s where they got the name…

Scarred

I’ve been fairly lucky in this pregnancy and haven’t experienced a lot of the normal woes that you hear about. One thing I did not escape? I have the skin of a 14 year-old boy that eats chocolate all day and bathes in a vat of grease!

Well, it’s probably not THAT bad, but it’s does suck. I am also starting to notice that not only do I have these blemishes, but I’m also dealing with some scars, which to me is double suck. So does anyone have any solutions for acne/blemish scars? From my research, I’ve found that the following works, but I want some other people’s opinions before I dive in.

  1. Murad Post-acne Spot Lightenin Gel
  2. Neutrogena Rapid Clear 2-in-1 Fight & Fade Gel
  3. Vitamin E (My waxer recommended using pure Vitamin E.)

Girly Stocking Stuffers

I definitely wouldn’t mind any of these showing up in my stocking this year!!

  1. Pinwheel Hairpins, It’s Beaded Bliss Etsy Shop-I’ve been loving on hairpins lately and I’m loving on these turquoise ones.
  2. Ped Egg, Amazon-I’ve always wanted to try this thing!!
  3. Japanese Decoration Tape, Uncommon Goods-I think this would be super cute to have when you wrap something in just brown kraft paper.
  4. Leather Keyring, Exposures-I need a new key ring and what better than to carry around a pic of the kiddo.
  5. OPI Cuticle Oil to Go, Amazon-I always leave cuticle oil in my car so I can do a mini mani at a stop light.  This would make things super easy.
  6. Round Pill Box, Target-I need a pill box to keep vitamins and tylenol in my purse.
  7. Shea Butter Lip Balm Stick, L ‘Occitane-my all time favorite lip balm.
  8. Oxo Good Grips Travel Mug, Amazon-the most amazing travel mug ever.  Never leaks, ever.  My husband generally fight over who uses this mug because we only have one.

Preventing Marks

Stretch marks that is. I am growing by the day, and although I have been using a stretch mark prevention cream, I’m curious if there’s anything out that that I HAVE to use….

What did you use when you were preggers, and, did it work?

  1. Bella B Tummy Honey Butter
  2. Revitol Stretch Mark Prevention Cream (This is what I have been using.)
  3. Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Stretch Mark Cream
  4. Clinique CX Stretch Mark Cream
  5. Mederma Cream Stretch Mark Therapy

5 Things I Never Leave Home Without

Last week Susan at The Working Closet did a post entitled “5 Things I Never Leave Home Without“.  These are things that no matter where she’s going she never leaves home without them.  So it got me thinking…what would that be for me?  Some of the things she had on her list were on my list but some were also different.

  1. Hobo International Lauren Wallet-I think this is probably a given for most people but no matter what I am taking this with me because it houses a lot of the items below.  Mine isn’t yellow, it’s turquoise but alas I could not find that picture to show you.
  2. Bobbi Brown Cosmetics Lip Color in Slopes-I come from a long line of ladies that without a doubt never go out without lipstick on.  Even my grandma at 88 would always have her lipstick on at all times.  We seem a little crazy don’t we?  We aren’t, I promise…we only have a slight case of the crazies.  So anyway, this is my fall/winter color that I wear.  I get sorta attached to lipshades and tend to stick with one color for a long long time.
  3. My iPhone-Because I will never forget the time when I ran out of gas and didn’t have my cell phone with me and I had to ask the person in the car next to me if I could use their cell to call my husband.  Awful, on so many levels.  At this point, with an iPhone it is also a great toddler distractor as well.
  4. Patemm Pad-Because I have a toddler, I can’t ever leave home without diaper equipment.  This changing pad is the best changing pad ever and I’ve told you about it before. I love that this pad can also hold my diapers and wipes and has a handle for carrying.  The best part about this changing pad is that its round and no matter where your kiddo is flailing, the changing pad will generally guard them from the scariness that is public restrooms.  My particular style of Patemm is called the “Deke” which I don’t think they make anymore, but you can definitely find some cuteness on their site.
  5. Aquaphor Lip Balm-I can never put lipstick on without first putting a lip balm on and while I have been a devotee of the L’Occitane Shea Butter Lip Balm, it’s just too easy to pick up this Aquaphor Lip Balm at the grocery store or drug store.  It also works well in a mini manicure situation on your cuticles.

So tell me, what 5 things do you never leave home without?

My Little Cocoon Baby

My son has mild eczema here and there and we’ve used several different lotions and soaps and cremes along with a visit to a dermatologist.  When he has flare ups, we use a creme that the dermatologist gave us but lately we haven’t had any flare ups and we’ve been using Cocoon Baby Body Wash.  My mom first heard about this body wash in our local paper where it mentioned it was designed to treat eczema, so we picked some up at the grocery store. This body wash is phthalate free, paraben free and is in BPA free bottles along with it being cruelty free and vegan.  So good stuff basically. Try it, you might like it!

Mosquito Killer

I’m not a huge fan of bug spray; however, I’ve been encountering mosquitoes the size of birds here lately so I think I’m going to have to give in….

  1. Off! Clip-on: Does anyone know if this works? I would LOVE to not have to spray goop on me!
  2. Off! Smooth & Dry: Of all the bug repellents I’ve found, this one is the most tolerable and it’s doesn’t have that strong odor.

Zit Zapper

Aquaphor is I swear a miracle product. I use this stuff on my chapped lips, on my cuticles, on anything really and I’m aways happy with the results. However, I JUST NOW realized that you can put these on your unsightly blemishes and it cuts the healing time in half!!! (I found this out after my skin decided to revert back to its 14 year old self..)

Look out, my legs may blind you…

It’s time to break out those cute skirts and shorts; however, you need a good pair of shades to look at my legs!

Here are a few of my favorite sunless tanning solutions. (You know, for those of us whom avoid UV rays like the plague…)

  1. Jergens Natural Glow (This is my favorite because of both price and quality.)
  2. Clarins Self Tanning Instant Gel
  3. L’Oreal Sublime Bronze
  4. Tan Towel (I’ve never tried these, but they look REALLY cool.)
  5. L’Oreal Sublime Glow

Tipsy Favs: Moisturizers

We are back with another Tipsy Favs Edition!  This week we are tackling moisturizers.  Not surprisingly none of us use the same moisturizer.  Some of us are using one, some of us are using two, some of us are just downright confused.

  1. Der: Clean & Clear Dual Action Moisturizer-I like it because it’s equally moisturizing and zit fighting and cheap too! I’ve used the same facewash and moisturizer for probably 10 years…. if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
  2. Court: Cetaphil Moisturizing Lotion-Very mild so doesn’t break me out with my acne prone complexion.  The face wash is great too.
  3. Sarah: Beauticontrol Skin Logics Clear Oil Control Moisturizer and Beauticontrol SPF Booster 30+-The one on the left is for night-time. I like it because it helps keep my acne-prone skin clear while I sleep.  The one on the right is for day-time. I like it because I have all day SPF protection, but it’s not greasy and doesn’t break me out like other moisturizers w/ sunscreen that I’ve tried.
  4. AK: Neutrogena Oil Free Moisture for Sensitive Skin and Aveeno Positively Ageless Daily Moisturizer SPF 30-I was using a more expensive moisturizer and wanted to go a little cheaper so I am sort of in an experimental phase of cheaper moisturizers right now.  I’m using both of these and am liking both of them.  I like that the Neutrogena one is really light but I like that the Aveeno one is going after that premature aging.