Skin Care Challange Day 19

Today I realized that I keep forgetting to mention the most important step in my skin care regimen HYDRATION! Before I started my own personal challenge (or war) on my skin I had made it a point to start drinking more water. I used to be notorious for drinking tons of soda and tea, and not enough water. Then my Brita water bottle with a built in filter became my new best friend, the top opened making it large enough to put ice in. That was a HUGE plus for me because I hate room temperature water. I drink anywhere from 2 to 3 bottles a day which usually gives me at least my minimum daily water intake. So hopefully my skin is benefiting from the regular hydration. I used to be notorious for drinking tons of soda and tea

Also I have added my Mary Kay Acne Treatment Gel to my daily routine. Even with two acne medicines in my regimen my skin is still getting oily. Even though the packaging warns that using them too much or with other acne treatments will dry out your skin and cause peeling. So far drying out my skin is not a problem. I do plan to up the use of my toner whenever I need to get the oil under control during the day, so I don't have to deal with the oily feel.

Atelier Cologne Orange Sanguine Review

Atelier Cologne Orange Sanguine Cologne Absolue 

 

This came in my April Birchbox and I figured I could always try out new fragrances. At first I thought that the citrus scent was okay then I tried it on and asked my husband what he thought (this is always an important step) His response was "it smells like soap." So I smelled it again, and sure enough it smelled like a citrus soap that I have used in the past. I am not one to trash things unless they cause allergic reactions or smell extremely bad. So this is going to stick around for whenever we travel just in case I need a pick me up while at the airport or if I can't pack my full sized fragrances.

Final opinion: Will not buy full size.

May Birchbox

So I was fairly disappointed in this box compared to my last one. But I did find a few things in it that I am happy with. Here is what I got:

TRESemme Split Remedy Review

After trying to get my massive amount of long, thick, straight, damaged hair under control I contemplated cutting it all off. I thought twice about it and decided that it just needed some TLC. Just a little background on my hair and my hair care: I used to use the same 2-in-1 anti-dandruff shampoo as my husband to save money. I never conditioned my hair because my scalp would get really oily if I did. I rarely had the time to blow dry my hair so I would brush it a tiny bit and throw it up in a bun. I haven't cut my hair in over a year. I neglected my hair so much that at one time I started getting natural dreadlocks, this scared me a lot.

So I switched back to using my TRESemme Anti-Breakage Shampoo and a spray leave-in conditioner, but I ran out of my leave-in conditioner and I was on the look out for a new one. The next day I saw the TRESemme Split Remedy commercial and it was another sign telling me not to give up on my hair. The next outing out to grocery store I grab a bottle of TRESemme Split End Conditioning Treatment, not realizing it wasn't a spray (I found out later that my store didn't even carry the spray). That must have been one of the best mistakes I could have ever done for my hair.

 

 

I have used this leave-in conditioner now about 4 times now and the bottle claims that it reduces up to 80% of split ends after 3 uses. I am not sure how well it is working on the split ends but it is really helping make my hair soft and it is reducing the frizz that the I have from not cutting my hair. I have noticed that this leave-in conditioner does not weigh down my hair and there is no extra build up that I have to wash out. This is the longest I have ever had my hair and I am now really comfortable leaving my hair down and I try not to put it up in a bun as much. I am completely happy with this product and I am scared that when we move I won't be able to find it again. I am not sure how long this one bottle will last me because I use about 3 to 4 pumps in my hair verses the 2 to 3 pumps that the bottle recommends but once I figure it out I will stock up on enough to last our 2 to 3 years while we are overseas. Once I finish my current bottle of shampoo I plan on buying the Split Remedy Shampoo.

Julep Maven May Box

Yesterday I received my first Julep Maven box, I only subscribed to this new subscription because with the coupon code COLOR2012 you get your first box for only $0.01! Normally the monthly subscription costs $19.99 so going off the normal price I'll calculate how much everything is worth.  On the website they say that every box is worth at least $40 so it already makes it a good deal.

April BirchBox

So I signed up for BirchBox last month since I decided that I need to buy something for myself every once in a little while. My first box came this month and I was soo excited to go through it and discovered a few interesting surprises.
 
After reading a few other blogs about beauty sample boxes I figured it would be good to figure out if I am getting my $10 worth of samples.

So first off I received:

Three Things I Hate About Apartment Living

1. No yard or hose.

We went to the beach earlier this month and decided to camp on the beach well not having a yard made it so we couldn't set up the new tent to make sure everything was included. We got to the beach and started to set up the tent and noticed that the elastic in one of the poles was broken in not one but two places. If we had a yard we would have known this before we were at the beach and could have returned it.

Not having a yard or a hose makes it hard to clean up after a weekend at the beach. We are like little kids at the beach and we bring home sand covered beach toys as well as all of our camping gear. Trying to clean all this stuff on our tiny patio is hard because I have to bring buckets of water outside just to rinse everything off and then I don't even have the room to let everything dry... don't even get me started on cleaning the tent. That is something we will have to tackle inside the apartment.

2. Neighbors too close

We currently live on the first floor in a corner apartment which means we only have to share our walkway with the upstairs neighbors. This proves to be problematic instead of nice, especially when your upstairs neighbor has 3 children and they are friends with every child in the apartment complex. On many occasions we have had to tell the kids to move while carrying in grocery or trying to take the dog out. Not to mention the fact that they always leave trash, food, candy wrappers everywhere. Just yesterday they threw a metal hanger into our patio area striking the sliding glass door, when confronted just minutes later they claim they heard nothing (there was a loud crashing sound that scared both me and my husband) and they saw nothing...right.

3. Can't paint or remodel

I understand that some people won't find this a problem but I do. I would love to redo the cabinets because they are basically particle wood covered with contact paper and they are falling apart. I hate white/beige walls, I would love to paint the living room a nice meadow green, the bedroom a warm shade of brown, the kitchen would be red and white, bathrooms shades of blue, and the guest bedroom/office/craft room would have to be three different shades of purple. We would also love to have ceiling fans in the bedrooms as well as lights our current apartment doesn't have any overhead lights in the bedrooms.