I'm not seeing spots any more..

Hello and Happy Friday from me, Beckie!

So if you are a daily reader, you've probably caught on that we have been discussing skin brightners and such this week. I have to admit that being a sun goddess does come with a price and sometimes it's not just tan lines. I do take relatively good care of my skin, but it seems that I'm always a step behind. Take for instance, I get a blemish. Instead of maintaining my stress levels and eating right, I just slap on some zit cream and pray it goes away. Well I kinda have that same problem with skin discoloration too. Don't get me wrong, I wear my daily sunscreen but it doesn't seem to be enough. So enter Plan B... skin brightners.

Recently I had seen a bunch of ads for Garnier's Skin Renew Dark Spot Corrector. So I thought, hey I'll try that. It's not too expensive and it's had ALOT of press with great reviews. Well it's been 2 weeks since I started using it and if I can be honest, I haven't seen much of a change. Now I don't have dark hyper-pigmentation, but I do have a couple spots on either side of my forehead from hormones and some slight discoloration on my cheeks from the sun. Garnier experts recommend using for 8 weeks for optimum results so the jury is still out on the outcome of this product. In 4 weeks, Garnier states that you should see some change. Well Friends, my fingers are crossed and I'll keep you posted.

If I had a choice of products to brag about though, it would be my old BFF Dr. Dennis Gross's Daily Alpha Beta Peel. This easy two step process has amazing results. I can always tell when I haven't been using it. My skin is dull and the pores on my cheeks are like craters. Even better? My dark spots diminish. Dr. Gross's team made this product so user friendly. It comes in a dual packet, easily marked with Step 1 and Step 2. Step 1, simply exfoliates your skin and takes away all the dead skin and Step 2 brightens, clears and smooths the appearance of fine lines. If you wanted to, you can travel with these too. It's not like 2 huge bottles you have to lug around and then pack cotton balls to apply. Just simple, small compact packets.

I will say you will get what you pay for... RESULTS!

So there's my recommendations for the week.

Keep this in mind this weekend, you never know who's life you'll change with a simple gesture of kindness.

Cheers!
Beckie

to all the baby boomers

Greeting Grayce here!!!

I am from the class of “Baby Boomers” & have found as I travel thru this journey of the aging process have noticed subtle changes to my skin. Sometimes it can look dull & lifeless (not a pretty picture) I have had many procedures & injections to stave off the unwanted lines & wrinkles (they have all helped but can be very costly to maintain on a regular basis).

Therefore, my quest for products to help in the in between times has been rather successful. I have found quite a few products on the market to help grayce get back the glow!!! I love products with Vitamin C & natural ingredients.

Brighter By Nature™
High-potency brightening peel with fruit acids
Origins Brighter By Nature peel pads are fabulous so easy to use just swipe on 2 to 3 times a week. The 30% glycolic is not for the faint of face but it does restore that radiance without the down time & redness of other brightening peels. The pads contain glycolic & fruit acids my skin tone improved it is brighter and smoother. New Brighter by Nature High-potency Brightening Peel can deliver the restoring benefits of a professional 30% glycolic peel and instantly exfoliatedead surface cells to restore radiance.

enjoy the journey!!!

Dead Skin Cells Be GONE!

Happy Wednesday Readers,

Jessica here. I hope you are managing to get through this week. At our office we are still without phones or the Internet and it is driving me crazy! How did we live before this technology existed?! HA.

Anyway, I am not here to complain about my disconnection from the world, I am here to talk to you about skin brighteners.

Lately I have been researching (not surprising because that’s what I LOVE to do…especially before I purchase ANYTHING) how to brighten my skin and even out tone and texture. I’m pretty rough on my skin and I have suffered the consequences and now have obvious hyper pigmentation that seems impossible to get rid of. (Hyper Pigmentation definition: unusual darkening of the skin from exposure to light, chemicals or other substances). I am very self conscious about it and have always looked for ways to perfect my skin tone. A lot of products that come up when I research the topic are skin whiteners, which only bleach out the skin and perhaps seem more harmful than helpful. I won’t lie, I have tried them and it honestly didn’t help that much. I might have not been patient enough or gave it enough time, but even so, I was not too keen on the idea of using them at all anyway.

Back to the drawing board and my endless researching and web browsing. Without resorting to the ever popular search results of chemical peels, (I really was considering it) I went to amazon.com and searched a bunch of words relating to my issues. When a product page came up I immediately narrow it down by customer ratings, 4 stars (out of 5) or higher. Products with a common ingredient kept popping up with huge ratings...Glycolic Acid. This is also something I have seen used in chemical peels and I was instantly interested in finding at home peels that I could do for less money and in my own home!

At the mention of this to Sara (I run all of my ingredient/chemistry questions through her since she is our office expert and it’s our business to know this stuff) she harshly told me to stay away. Mostly because of the products I wanted to buy involved 40%-70% Glycolic Acid and the main purpose (as described) was to burn the layers of my skin off through, what one customer commented was “quite a traumatic process”. Despite Sara’s warnings...the customer ratings were high and everyone said it helped with their hyper pigmentation…after the scary, gross peeling skin went away. After much debate I finally convinced myself to at least try a product with Glycolic Acid, but only 10%.

The product that now has me hooked and wanting more…c.booth, derma 36, Glycolic Acid Skin Resurfacing Solution. They claim it will “exfoliate deeper than scrubs and cleansers, sloughing off dead skin cells more thoroughly. This resurfacer instantly smooths away the appearance of fine lines, blemishes, and age spots, visibly improving skin texture, tone and clarity”. Let me tell you...they have lived up to the claims! Although it hasn’t evened out my skin tone 100% it still has shown dramatic improvement and it will probably continue showing improvement as I keep using it!

I am very impressed by this solution and it is SO easy to use. Just wash your face as usual and then apply the solution with a cotton ball, leaving it on like a serum. I put this on every night before bed as my overnight repair treatment. There is no dramatic peeling of my skin and it has never been drying, just amazing results when I wake up in the morning. I have been using it for about a month now and I have no complaints, I would love it if they made a stronger one though…with maybe 20% glycolic acid. I might try and find a product that is a step up from 10% glycolic acid and see how much more my skin improves, but for now I am happy with my c.booth solution!

If anyone wants to share their chemical peel stories or has an amazing peel-alternative product they use and love please comment and let me know!

Until next week…Keep on being beautiful you!

Brightening the Dull Skin Doldrums

Hi, everyone. It’s Tara here, writing about skin brighteners—our final topic for the entire summer (gasp!). We chose skin brighteners for this topic due to the unanimous opinion within the office and amongst friends that three months of sun can leave skin looking a bit sallow and dull. Each of us has a favorite product or process to correct this damaged look. Mine is Kate Somerville’s Cytocell Dermal Energizing Treatment.

So there are a few funny things about me using this product. First off, I never would’ve purchased it on my own. It’s a self-described anti-aging product (I’m in my mid twenties), and it has a very high tech look and ingredient deck—two features that usually deter me from a product. We received a sample in one of New Beauty’s Test Tubes, and when I couldn’t find any hand cream at my desk (you can’t believe how lazy I was being…hand creams are all over our office!) I used a small amount. The immediate softening effect was hard to miss. Then I began using it on my face, and…WOW! Interestingly enough, the company website indicates that the product can be used to restore skin with scarring. Okay, that is pretty serious. And it works. When my skin is looking extra dull, and I want that little extra glow, I always come back to this. My trick is to wash my face with a very gentle cleanser; exfoliate; then, while the bathroom is still steamy, tone; then apply Kate Somerville’s Cytocell; then apply a light balancing oil on top. That’s all I need. Your routine might vary, but I bet this product will have a similar effect on your skin. If you do try it, please let us know what you think!

With September approaching, that means cleansers are on their way. Many apologies to those of you who got a sneak peek at my face cleanser post today…clearly I'm already in the fall state of mind here at school. Until next week, this is Tara, wishing you a Happy transition into your new season and routine!

Okay, Let’s Face It...

*Hey Everyone, Jessica here with a weekly update due to the weather that occurred this weekend. Hurricane Irene came through our office in Maine with minimal damage but half of the staff did lose power...including Sara. So instead of her going out of her way to find a power source, we have on our team of awesome woman, another Becky (spelled different). Our very own East Coast, Maine office Becky Blake that has opted out of blogging weekly ONLY because she has such sensitive skin. This week, however, she had an opinion on the topic...and from time to time she will have opinions of the weekly topics and will share with you her thoughts from the perspective of a person with VERY sensitive skin. Maybe she will even help some of you out there with the same problems. Here in her first blog she gets all "best friend type" of personal with us as we conclude the discussions on hair removal...enjoy :)*

Hi Folks,

Blake here to talk about a rather taboo topic: the removal of unwanted facial hair. Okay let’s face it (pardon the pun….) how many women out there want their facial hair? It’s all unwanted!!!!!

So I’m just going to say this out loud. I have facial hair. I’m not sure why this topic is one that many choose to avoid. When I realized that I need to do “something” about my facial hair I started asking my friends what they used. They all replied with “I have no idea what to tell you as I don’t have that problem.” My immediate thoughts were yah right – just look in the mirror – you have the problem. Good thing I keep my thoughts to myself. Speaking those thoughts out loud could cause me to lose friends!

I have extremely sensitive skin which makes it hard to find the right product. I experimented with several different brands and styles of products before I finally found Sally Hansen Cream Hair Remover Kit for the Face. This works like magic.
I apply the cream with a light touch. No rubbing! I wait for 4 minutes (I set a timer) and gently remove with a wet cloth. I rinse well with water and apply the conditioner while my face is still wet. This helps me spread the conditioner smoothly. I leave the conditioner to dry on its own. The conditioner works superbly – it takes the “sting” out. Due to the sensitivity of my skin I don’t wash my face again till the next morning. I follow these steps once every two weeks. I will admit that I need to pluck stray hairs that appear between treatments.

Just feel the need to share a few tips: I wear a shower cap while I use this product as I definitely want to keep the hair on my head from falling onto my face. I don’t let my cats in the bathroom while I’m going through this ritual (they don’t need to remove their facial hair!) I make sure to wash out the cloth I used to remove the product, the sink, and the counter top very thoroughly as any product left on any surface may possibly harm a pet.

Remember take time to enjoy life!