Friday Five: 10/24/14

Hi ladies! Another Friday which means another Friday Five! I hope you enjoy reading about five different products each Friday to give you an idea for a new purchase... or if you already own them, just hear about how awesome they are again :)

This week it has been all about getting my skin back to normal. Traveling and being in that plane with all that stale, recycled air for so long really does a number on my skin. It is either one extreme of the specrtrum to another of either getting extremely oily or extremely dry. I sometimes get slightly shiny/oily in my T-zone from time to time, but never have to worry about being over-oily and likewise with never having to worry about dry skin. The only time I am effected by it is when I am traveling internationally. Last season when traveling to Italy, my skin got SO OILY for about a week. And this year when traveling to France, my skin got SO DRY for about a week. Apparently my skin just freaks out when I travel! So here is what I have been loving this week to get my skin back in shape!

1. Intense Hydration Day Lotion by Burt's Bees
     I got this little sample in a Birchbox months and months ago. I tried it out a couple of times but essentially, it was forgotten about. Then when I was packing that little baggy you can bring on your carry on with 3oz products or less, I saw this in my drawer and thought "I'll throw this in there since it is the perfect size and maybe I might need a little moisturizing on the go". I am SO HAPPY I decided to bring this along. It has made my dry skin disappear! Like it is named, it is an INTENSE hydration. It is a really thick moisturizer and my skin felt like it was taking a drink of water after applying it! It has a very light, fresh scent and a little bit goes a long way. It has anti-aging properties as well, which is a nice little bonus. After only a couple of days of using this, my skin was significantly better and then completely normal by the end of the week. This would be perfect for girls who have dry skin or get dry skin in the winter months!

Intense Hydration Day Lotion by Burt's Bees

2. Foundation Primer - Protect by Laura Mercier
     To give a little extra moisture to my skin, I have been using this primer this week on the days that I am wearing makeup. It is super hydrating and feels exactly like a moisturizer when applying it. It is has definitely been the most moisturizing primer I have tried. It has been perfect for my dry skin and it is also a very long lasting primer! My makeup looked and stayed great! I also got this as a sample, but it is an amazing sample size! To put it into perspective, Baby Face primer by Maybelline is .67oz and this is .50oz. So almost the same size! I know that Laura Mercier is a little on the pricier side so I am happy I got such an awesome sample size. I also would recommend this to girls who have dry skin!

Foundation Primer - Protect by Laura Mericer

3. Mint Julips Lip Scrub by Lush
     I absolutely love this lip scrub. It gets rid of all the gross, dead skin on my lips and makes my lips so smooth and plump after using it! My lips have also been dry and chapped from traveling, so this has been wonderful for my lips. It smells like mint chocolate and gets the job done so fast. I just take a pea-sized amount of the product and scrub my lips for about 20-30 seconds and my lips are left feeling amazing! If you are looking for a good lip scrub at an affordable price, I highly recommend the Lush lip scrubs! They offer it in different flavors (Popcorn, Bubblegum or Santa - which is cola flavored) and are made of natural ingredients!

Mint Julips Lip Scrub by Lush

4. Mongongo Nutrient Dense Anti-Aging Lip Conditioner by Jersey Shore Sun
       To follow up the lip scrub, I have been using this lip conditioner. I got it in my Ipsy bag a couple of months ago. At first I wasn't all that crazy about it. The smell isn't terrible by any means but it just isn't my favorite. The scent is "Mandarin Green Orange Ginger" and I just would prefer something more minty, vanilla or berry (They do offer a coconut vanilla, which I would definitely like). But the scent isn't a deal breaker and this is exactly what my lips have been needing. It is SUPER hydrating and moisturizing and it lasts for a very long time on the lips. I absolutely love how it makes my lips feel! I also like that it is organic and has anti-aging properties. The lip scrub and this lip conditioner have tremendously helped my dry, chapped lips this week!

Mongongo Nutrient Dense Anti-Aging Lip Conditioner by Jersey Shore Sun

5. Therapeutic Sulfur/Acne Treatment Masque by Peter Thomas Roth
     Since I have acne-prone skin, I was really worried that I would break out from traveling. The day of my flight, I used this as a masque to really give my skin a deep cleanse just so I knew I was taking that extra step to make sure I was starting out my travel on a good note. After I was done traveling, I immediately showered when I got to our new home and used this masque again to deep clean all that yucky stuff that accumulated on my face from traveling. I think by doing this really helped my skin. I did end up getting only a few blemishes in the next couple of days, but I just used this as a spot treatment and it helped to clear them right up! I absolutely love this masque and it does wonders for my skin!

 Therapeutic Sulfur/Acne Treatment Masque by Peter Thomas Roth

Have a fabulous weekend, lovelies!

xoxo Kayla

Find the products I mentioned here:

Intense Hydration Day Lotion by Burt's Bees

Foundation Primer - Protect by Laura Mercier 

Mint Julips Lip Scrub by Lush

Mongongo Nutrient Dense Anti-Aging Lip Conditioner by Jersey Shore Sun

Therapeutic Sulfur/Acne Treatment Masque by Peter Thomas Roth

Skincare For My Acne-Prone Skin

Hi Beauties!

I wanted to do a skincare post and share what my must-have, essential products are for my acne-prone skin. It is more of a personal post as I share about my acne struggle so it might get a little long! I will start by saying that just as I have stated about how one makeup product might work for one person and not for another, I believe that ten times more when it comes to skincare. Everyone's skin is different and everyone has their own requirements for what their skin needs. This is just what I have found to work for me and wanted to share it with you!

Just for a little background... for about a year now I have been struggling with adult acne. It has been a frustrating and embarrassing year. Ever since high school, I was blessed with only dealing with typical, minimal acne. I never had more than a pimple or two, here and there, and it was never something I worried about. Then last fall, I started getting terrible acne on my back. It literally covered my entire back and it was this dry, itchy acne that just seemed to get worse and worse. Then this past spring, I started getting it on my face. I could at least tolerate the back acne since no one would see it, but then it went to my face and I was devastated. It started on my chin and then just went all over my face, especially impacting my chin and cheeks. It is such a defeating feeling to know that you are trying so hard to take good care of your skin and nothing is working to make it better. But finally, I have found a skincare routine that works for me and I am so thankful. My back acne has completely cleared up (have only minimal scarring left) and my face is finally clearing up (I still get a few blemishes and have some scarring still). I have tried sooo many different skincare products over the past year and constantly looking on YouTube/blogs to see what other girls have used to help their acne. I have finally found some products that are really, truly working for me and I wanted to share what those products are. My routine does not match anyone's I have seen through YouTube/blogs but maybe one or two of the products that I use might work for you as well! (As a side note - I have been visiting a doctor about my acne and I do take an antibiotic that has helped my skin tremendously as well.)

These are six skincare products that I use daily and don't know what I would do without them!:

Paula's Choice Clear Pore Normalizing Cleanser
     I absolutely love Paula's Choice. Amazing skincare line. Everything is fragrance free with no added dyes. I love using this cleanser as my makeup remover (I usually only use this at night). It is a great cleanser targeted for blemish-prone skin to remove dirt, oil and makeup. It doesn't cause dryness and it reduces the redness of my post-acne marks and active acne that I have. It also helps to minimize the appearance of my pores which is really why I love it so much. I can really tell a difference in the look of my pores after using this cleanser. It is just a great cleanser to get rid of all the dirt, makeup and gross stuff from the day! My skin already feels so much better after just this first step at night.

Paula's Choice Clear Pore Normalizing Cleanser

Murad Clarifying Cleanser
    This is the cleanser I use to treat my acne and I use it morning and night. My skin reacts really well to salicylic acid and this cleanser has 1.5%. I must say though, when I first started trying it, I didn't think I was going to like it. It smells exactly like a lime margarita and I didn't really want my facial cleanser to smell like that! I have gotten past the scent though and don't even notice it anymore. I am glad I decided to continue to use it because it is an amazing cleanser. It is a gel cleanser that is clinically proven to reduce 99.9% of surface bacteria in less than a minute. It also claims that it "treats and prevents acne breakouts with time-released medication that remains active for hours, even after rinsing". It has Green Tea Extract to provide anti-redness and Menthol to provide cooling and soothing. It feels so refreshing. My skin has never become dry or irritated while using this cleanser. This cleanser helped my back acne dramatically. After a couple of weeks of use, my back was starting to clear up rapidly and after a couple of months, it was completely gone! My face has taken a little longer than my back to clear up, but I truly believe that this cleanser has helped my face as well. It continues to get better and better and I wouldn't want to use a different cleanser!

Murad Clarifying Cleanser

Clean and Clear Deep Cleaning Toner
     For quite a while I was not using a toner. I found that whenever I tried one out, they would really dry out my skin and have a burning sensation. I decided to give this toner a try because it is a formula for sensitive skin. It is so gentle. I use it morning and night and it has never dried out my skin. I love it because it is an extra step after cleansing that gets any extra dirt/oil that may be left in my pores. I also like it because it has a little bit of salicylic acid (0.5%) so it is also treating my acne as well. It just feels so deep-cleaning and refreshing. I really recommend trying this affordable toner out if you have sensitive, acne-prone skin.

Clean and Clear Deep Cleaning Toner

     

Clean and Clear Dual Action Moisturizer
     I actually got the Clean and Clear moisturizer and toner because my doctor had recommended this moisturizer. She said it would be good for my skin because of that small amount of 0.5% salicylic acid in it. I had been using more higher end moisturizers and just wasn't really impressed with any of them so I decided to give this one a try since it did have the acne treatment in it. I have been using it morning and night and been loving it. The formula is great. It is neither greasy nor drying. It just sinks right into the skin. Like the toner, it is not harsh on my skin whatsoever. I like that even after cleansing, I am still treating my acne with my toner and moisturizer, but it isn't an overwhelming amount of the salicylic acid. I was skeptical about using drugstore acne treatment but I really like these two products from Clean and Clear and they have worked for me.

Clean and Clear Dual Action Moisturizer

BareMinerals Biolucent Mineral Brightening Treatment
     This product has truly saved my skin. One day in July, I didn't have any makeup on and I had to go run a quick errand. When I was in the car, I looked at myself in the rear view mirror and I was shocked at what I saw. I saw how my skin truly looked like in bright, natural light and it was so much worse than I thought it was. It wasn't the acne that I was shocked about, it was all the post-acne scars I had. I knew I had these marks but I truly was able to see how bad they were in the natural light. My face was just covered in red/purple marks. I was so upset and it was probably one of the lowest points for me in this whole acne struggle. Then shortly after, I saw one of my favorite YouTubers, Kayleigh Noelle, talk about this product on her channel. She has been dealing with acne for years and she said this product made her post-acne scars disappear. I knew I had to do something about my post-acne scarring and decided I would see if this would work for me too. And I am so happy that it has. The Biolucent Mineral Brightening Treatment diminishes the appearance of dark spots/discoloration while brightening the skin. I just use one pump of it in the morning and one pump of it at night. I either put it on before moisturizing or mix it in with my moisturizer.. just whatever I am feeling! And the results are amazing! It did take about 4 weeks to start noticing a change and after about 6 weeks, I was amazed! (I have been using it for about 2.5 months now) It just keeps getting better and better as I continue to use it. It has cleared up my skin tremendously and just has made the overall appearance of my complexion look so much brighter and healthier. My makeup goes on so much better and I am not using so much because I am not trying to cover up the scars. I only have some scarring left from recent acne and know that it will be cleared up because of this. I don't even want to know what my face would look like if I had never started using this. I wish I had before and after photos to share with you but check out Kayleigh's video here to see her results and her opinion on it too!

BareMinerals Boilucent Mineral Brightening Treatment

Peter Thomas Roth Therapeutic Sulfur/Acne Treatment Masque
     This is another product that has been a lifesaver. I only started using it about a month ago and it has truly blown me away and I only regret I hadn't discovered it sooner! My friend Katie, who I mentioned in my last post, introduced me to this product. She knows about my struggle with acne and said that I must try this out, that it would really help with my acne and that I was going to love it. And um, yes.. I love it!!! I can't live without it now! Like salicylic acid, my skin reacts really well to sulfur. And this masque has 10%!! (No wonder it works so awesome! I was previously using a sulfur mask that only had 6%) This masque is just incredible. You apply it for 5-10 minutes 2-3 times a week and my skin looks so amazing and healthy after using it. It is deep cleaning, oil absorbing, soothing, and literally CLEARS acne! I love using it as a masque, but I love it even more for spot-treatment. If I have a pimple, I will just put some of this on the blemish at night before bed and the next morning it is gone! I know that sounds way too good to be true but it is really that amazing and really does work! I have used GlamGlow and I would, without a doubt, choose this over GlamGlow any day. GlamGlow never worked as a spot treatment for me and this masque gives me much more of a deeper cleaning. If you couldn't already guess, I highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend this masque! :)

Peter Thomas Roth Therapeutic Sulfur/Acne Treatment Masque

If you are struggling with acne, I feel your pain. I know what it is like to wake up in the morning and the first thing that pops in your mind is "I wonder how bad it is today?" and look in the mirror and see a face full of acne. I know it is hard to stay positive but just keep taking care of your skin and it will get better.. It probably won't happen as fast as you want it to, but just be patient. I still have my issues with it. Some days I wake up and my skin is blemish-free and other days I wake up with 4 new friends on my face. I know that it is something I will have to continue to work at but I am so much more thankful for a clear complexion, don't take for granted having clear skin and take so much better care of it. Even if these product suggestions aren't for you, I hope you were at least able to find someone to relate to!

Have a fabulous rest of your week!

xoxo Kayla

Find the products I mentioned here:

Paula's Choice Clear Pore Normalizing Cleanser

Murad Clarifying Cleanser

Clean and Clear Deep Cleaning Toner

Clean and Clear Dual Action Moisturizer

BareMinerals Biolucent Mineral Brightening Treatment

Peter Thomas Roth Therapeutic Sulfur/Acne Treatment Masque