Haul and Reviews – CosRX, Daiso, Sephora, and Arome

Hello, interwebz!  Time for another random beauty and skincare haul and my reviews of the products I impulsively bought at great prices!  Let’s dive right in, shall we?

First stop – Daiso.  I really love this place.  I decided to try the Cocoon Balls and DIY Face Masks.  The cocoon balls are supposed to be made of either spider silk or silkworm silk and are collected, dried, and sent to you for to help your beauties.  You soak the cocoon ball in warm water for about 10 minutes and then wipe it around your face.  It both exfoliates and moisturizes.  I was able to use one every day for a week before I finally tossed it, so I thought it was a pretty good investment.  It didn’t make a huge difference on my skin, but it did help remove dry skin while adding some moisture.  Not bad.  I still haven’t tried the DIY face masks.  I’m waiting to use this with my peppermint toner from my June Kira Kira crate.  As far as I can tell, you soak one of the masks in the toner or essence of your choice and then open up the mask to use it the same as any other fabric mask.  I think this was $1.50 for 5 masks, so there’s not much to lose in trying.

I also finally got the soap foamer.  I started using my foaming face washes on my body, but thought that they might go further if I used this.  I tried using a brush and sponge, but they were too rough on my skin.  This foamer has worked on my foaming face washes, regular body washes, and bar soap as well.  You add a bit of soap, a bit of water, and then basically churn the two until bubbles form.  I like to just smear the bubbles on my body, but they also work better as shaving foam this way.  I get more use out of the products and my skin likes this better because it’s lighter and airier than just slathering myself in soap.

CosRX One Step Original Clear Pads – These are the bomb!  I didn’t really start seeing true progress on my face until I started using these.  The acne and dry patches just started disappearing.  Instead of having a bump on my face that turned into a patchy sore, I just started to have skin and some white heads.  That’s not ideal, but it’s improvement that I hadn’t see so rapidly since I started my new eczema – acne skincare journey.  These BHA pads break down gunk in my pores over night.  I go ahead with my normal skincare routine otherwise – essences, lotion, cream, etc.  In the morning, I wash with water and go with my normal skincare routine.  I have seen and felt so much improvement to my skin and its texture!  I’m finally starting to move into the post-acne treatment phase of skincare.  Yay!

Sephora – I ran into the store at the mall while my husband and daughter looked at other things.  I wanted to pick up the Murad acne spot treatment to use during the day, but it had salicylic acid, which bothers my skin a bit.  I used to only use salicylic acid, but I think I may be allergic now.  Next too the Murad area, I found the Peter Thomas Roth Acne Spot and Area Treatment with sulfur and colloidal oatmeal.  Yes!  These are products my skin likes nowadays.  This was also a few dollars cheaper than Murad.  I use this on any blemishes and whiteheads that I see in the morning.  It smells a bit like sulfur (aka farts), but nobody around you can smell it and it works wonderfully.  I’ve smelt worse with less benefit.  I grabbed a Green Tea Sleeping Mask to try because they had been out for over a month.  This was supposed to clean your pores and moisturize while you sleep.  It was okay, but it was way more than a single application.  That means that you have to find a way to seal it each night.  The consistency is of gel rather than the cream that I was expecting.  It did a good job of moisturizing, but I’m not so sure about clearing out my pores.  The Sephora Honey Lip Scrub was a good deal.  I thought it was lip balm, but was pleasantly surprised to see it was a lip scrub, since I have been looking for a cheap lip scrub.  This stuff does the job for a fraction of the price of most lip scrubs.  When I got to the counter, I also had enough points to get a sample size bottle of Supergoop! Setting Mist so I can tote it around California when I’m on vacation.  You spray this on your face over your makeup to reapply sunscreen throughout the day.  Brilliant!  If you haven’t tried any Supergoop! products and you are the type of person who, you know, has ever been outside, then go try this stuff now!  Supergoop! is probably my favorite non-Asian sunscreen maker.

Arome Her Indie Soaps – Roaming around the mall, these girls stopped my husband, my daughter, and me to try to sell us some handmade soaps.  I’m kinda biased towards handmade soaps since one of my BFFs, Cathy, used to make them.  She gave me high expectations for handmade soaps.  Well, this stuff is good for your skin, money goes to help orphanages, yadda, yadda, yadda…I ended up buying the patchouli and charcoal bar for me and the milk and oatmeal bath bomb for Averie.  Holy Moly!  The bar of soap is so wonderful!  I use it on my face and body.  I have used it with the foam maker from Daiso to shave.  It’s amazing.  I even wrapped it up to take on vacation to California because I figured that no matter how my skin may react to all of that sun, sand, and saltwater, this soap would calm down and repair my skin.  Each of these was only $5 too, which is a killer price for anything handmade and sold at a mall kiosk.  This is the next best thing to having a friend who makes quality soap products for you!  The only problem is, I can’t find them online.  So, if that little kiosk in the mall disappears, I won’t be able to get any more of this stuff.

Alrighty, that’s all for now.  Let me know your views on these products, if you’ve tried any.  Have you ever gotten addicted to something that you bought at a mall kiosk?  Have you used anything patchouli since high school?  What’s your favorite sunscreen?  Leave your answers below!

Haul and Review – Gifts From Christina

Hello, interwebz!  Today, I want to share some thoughts and reviews on products that one of my BFFs, Christina, has given me.  She is much more knowledgeable about beauty than I am and has been really supportive of my efforts to find beauty and skincare products to help my “new” skin.  Also, I found out that her mom has eczema.  So, I’ve been swapping stories and suggestions with her mom as well.  Hooray for supportive friends and family!

Christina was kind enough to share some Kat Von D products with me.  I have never tried the brand, but have heard alot of good things about them.  I immediately smothered my mouth with the Studded Kiss Ultra Violet lipstick and loved it!  I had never worn a purple lipstick as an adult, but it looked better on me than I thought it would.  I tried the red a few weeks later and it was VERY red.  I liked it, but definitely need to do a full face of makeup to balance out the VERY red lipstick.  The third color was a nude that worked whether I wore makeup or just sunscreen.  Christina also gave me a Tattoo Liner that I tried a few times before washing my face.  I am not very skilled at eyeliner, so I mostly use it just before washing my face because I’m trying to get better at applying it.  I wore it once in public and kinda messed it up, but I managed to mostly remove and cover the mistake with alot of eye shadow.  Mostly.  Either way, I love this eyeliner because it’s a very smooth application, the brush is fine tip, and the color is rich.  It stayed through puddles of sweat in the Texas heat, and that’s the highest compliment for any eyeliner!  These products are also vegan and not tested on animals.  Wearing this makeup made me feel a bit more glamorous than normal because I knew they were designed and approved by Kat Von D, who is a completely badass!

At a time when I was using foaming face washes that burned the sore spots on my skin, Christina gifted me with Pacifica Quinoa Sensitive Super Gentle Face Wash.  Guess what!  This stuff actually works!  It calmed my skin while also cleaning it.  There is a scent, but it’s not strong or perfumey and has not bothered my skin or sinuses.  I started using the other foaming face washes on my back and chest and I use this on my face.  Since switching, the eczema on my face has calmed down quite a bit.  Yay!

In my late teens – early twenties, I used Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Lotion like it was going out of style.  I was self-conscious about stretch marks all over my body from gaining and losing weight all the time.  I figured that if Palmer’s worked for pregnant women, it could work for me, and it did, but it was too rich to use in the summer.  (I don’t think they even sell it now because they have so many specially formulated products, but this may be it.)  However, they recently came out with coconut oil products.  Christina’s mom gave me a bottle of Palmer’s Coconut Oil Body Lotion to try and I love it!  I use it every night on my hands, legs, and feet.  My heels are so dry right now, even during this sweaty summer.  This lotion keeps them pretty well exfoliated and smooth and has taken care of some cracked areas around my fingernails as well.  This is definitely a must try for anyone needing deep moisturization in high-humidity areas.

Christina also gave me some Acure Ultra-Hydrating Shampoo to try on my eczema-ridden scalp.  It doesn’t irritate my scalp, but it doesn’t work quite as well as the Korean stuff that I have been using (post on that to come!)  That being said, since this shampoo is organic, sulfate free, and paraben free, it works better on my hair after I have used hair dye than the Korean stuff.  The Korean stuff I have just heals your scalp and prevents hair loss.  This stuff heals your scalp (a bit more slowly than the Korean stuff), makes your hair smell nice (light almond scent), and protects your hair (and any dye on it).  So, I’m alternating it with my Korean stuff as needed and am very grateful to have just the right arsenal of hair products at my disposal in the shower.

Those are not all of the things Christina has given me over the past few months, but those are all of the beauty products!  Thank you for reading this post and let me know if you’ve tried any of these products.  Are you as in love with Kat Von D makeup as I am now?  What do you use on your dry heels?  Any other suggestions for gentle face washes?  Let me know in the comments below!

Haul and Reviews – a.c. care

Hello interwebz! First off, go enter my giveaway if you haven’t already. There are still a few days to enter to win a page of XOXO Prints penguin stickers! Now, I wanna tell you about my second trip to Little Korea for skincare products.

I wanted to get full size bottles of a.c. care Bee Venom Serum and the BB Cream. I picked up more of the Ekel masks that I love in different varieties (20 for $10!!!) and got some sample size bottles of the a.c. care Lotion and Pure Skin Toner. Everything was about $100 and I nearly passed out, but I remembered that it was for my skin that is painfully falling off my face. I already tried some cheaper stuff and this worked better. Skin is the largest organ of the body, so you have to take good care of it! That being said, the full size serum ended up being completely different from what I got in the sample container and the sample stuff worked better. The sample I had said it was specifically for acne and the full size bottle didn’t, but there is only one bee venom line, so I don’t really know what’s what. I am on the lookout for a better way to treat this acne since the full size serum was disappointing. The b.b. cream is different too, but in a good way. It actually looks better after it sits on your skin than the samples did. So, I will likely be buying more of this b.b. cream, but not the serum.

We went by Tony Moly for the first time. So much cute stuff! They also had some fancier products that I hadn’t seen before. I grabbed a few cheap things for $1 – an eyebrow trimmer (for Ben), an eyeliner pencil sharpener, and lip tint. When I got home, I realized that the lip tint said it was not for resale, which made me wonder if that was directed at me or the store since none of the other products had that warning. *shrugs* I found a cheap container to use my witch hazel toner in so that I didn’t have to use the giant bottle on my bathroom counter. I also grabbed some single use pimple extractors. I used a few of them, but the pimples left terrible sores that healed more slowly than the ones I do with my fingers. It was also more painful, so I was sure that I did something wrong and have stopped using the extractors until I can figure out how to use them correctly. My favorite purchase there was The Chok Chok Green Tea Essential Soothing Gel. The sales lady at the store asked if she could put some on the store areas of my back and I accepted her offer. Immediately, my back felt cooler and less painful. I’ve been using this magic potion on my face, neck, and back ever since. It is made with green tea instead of water and is just wonderfully soothing to the skin.

We finally made it to The Face Shop this time! Since I had already loaded up on my skin supplies for the next month, I didn’t need anything. I did get some face cream for Ben. He has very sensitive skin too and his skin stays red and irritated after shaving. He hasn’t used it yet, but he did take it out of the box after a couple of weeks. We got some samples of other face products for both Ben and me. The Dr. Belmeur Lotion has panthenol. So, if Ben doesn’t use the cream by the time I need more, I will be trying Dr. Belmeur for myself! We also got some various product samples. I tried the Daily Repair Ato Salt Cream and it was literally life changing. When I have some more money, I am going back to get some more. It cleared up almost my entire back in one use while I was in the countryside! Normally, I have to use my steroid creams to get results like that after visiting the countryside. The Salt Cream has no steroids and no side effects that steroid creams have. If you have eczema , this is more than worth the money- no redness, no dry skin, no desensitizing. You just get soft, healthy skin.

Thanks for reading! Let me know if you’ve tried any of these products and what you thought of them. Don’t forget to enter my giveaway while you still have time!

Haul and Review – Marshall’s, Ipsy, and Pimple Patches

Hello, interwebz! Today, I’m going over a few products from a few different places. I got these products in May and have had plenty of time review and test most of it.

First up, was my trip to Marshall’s. As I said in a previous post, I got a crappy brush for my hair the last time I went to Marshall’s. So, I tried a new one. The Swissco Pro Vent Brush works very well on my hair. I only brush my hair before I wash it (2-3 times per week) and have no idea how it works as an actual vent brush since I don’t blow dry my hair. It does remove tangles easily, pulls stray hairs from my head, and massages my scalp as I brush.

The Skinfix Gentle Lotion was intended for babies with eczema. (That’s me!) In all seriousness, I absolutely love this lotion! It soothed my skin right away. My back is slowly improving from using this. I tried using it on my face, but it healed eczema while creating pimples. So, that was a bit disappointing. This lotion has helped me stop scratching my back in my sleep, and for that I am grateful.

I bought the Alba Fast Fix for Undereye Circles after using their fast fix tinted moisturizer spot treatment. This did work well as a concealer, but didn’t last all day. However, it didn’t bother my skin. So, I still like it. If you have sensitive skin and are looking for a concealer, try this one.

Ipsy is an online subscription service that offers five full size beauty and skincare products for $10/month. If you want your products sooner or want to know which products you’ll be getting, then you have to hassle friends on social media to get them to sign up too. If you’re patient, you can get the goods and keep your friends. For every dollar you spend on the site, you get one point that you can use towards ordering other items on the site. If you like the products in a specific bag, you can order more of them on the site, often at a discount. Leaving reviews on things helps specialize the items that you get each month. May’s glam bag had a super cool travel-themed makeup bag, NYX Soft Matte Lip Créme, Elizabeth Mott Pop! Goes the Shadow eyeshadow, Grace & Stella Dead Sea Mud Mask, Eyeko Eye Do Liquid Eyeliner, and a SLMISSGLAM eyeshadow brush. (I thought that the eyeshadow brush wasn’t included in my set, but I found it in the bag the stuff shipped in after I wrote and edited this post. I edited the post again, but didn’t retake pics.)

I loved the bag because I love all things travel. The eyeshadow and lip créme match and are both colors that I use, but I didn’t try the eyeshadow yet. The lip créme was soft, but I didn’t see much of a change to the color of my lips. I have never been able to put on my own eyeliner, but I tried the Eyeko eyeliner a few times before washing my face at night and really liked how smoothly it went on, even over the dry patches on my right eye. I can’t speak to it’s staying power since I immediately washed it off my face. The mud mask is great! I loved how clean my face felt afterwards without feeling too dry. I will say that any open sores on my face stung a bit, but that was to be expected. Otherwise, it felt like the mask did a decent job at both cleaning and shrinking my pores. If you’d like to try Ipsy, you can use my referral link. I get 250 points, but I’m not sure what you get. Maybe a discount? I wish the site were clearer on that.

Now, the part I have been waiting for *drumroll please*. Medca M Universal Acne Patches vs CosRX Acne Pimple Master Patch. I tried CosRX first and was pleasantly surprised at how well they stuck to my face and how much junk they pulled from my pores. I tried the Medca patches because they were a bit cheaper and I knew I’d be going through lots of acne patches. The Medca patches were nowhere near as sticky as the CosRX patches were. If you got them to stay in place, then they would pull a decent amount of gunk from your pores. However, you couldn’t touch any part of the patch without losing both the stickiness and the effectiveness of the gunk pulling. Since you apply the patches with your hands, I couldn’t figure out a way to guarantee that the Medca patches didn’t fall off my face before I even made it to bed. I am now on my third package of CosRX patches and am leery about trying any other brands for fear of disappointment.

Those are a few things that have been helping my eczema, acne, and desire to try new things. Have you ever tried Ipsy? What was your experience like? Do you recommend any other brands of pimple patches? Let me know in the comments what kind of shopping and skin experiences you’ve been having! Thanks for reading!

Unboxing – Love With Food May

Hello, Interwebz! As I type this, I am listening to The Indicator episode about delayed gratification and am trying to figure out if I will be successful in life. I used to tear into these Love With Food boxes immediately, but now that I write about them, I wait for weeks to open them. If you’ve ever wanted to try the snack box that also donates meals to food banks, then now is a great time. The semi-annual snack sale is going on through June 30, 2018!

This month’s theme is Thrive. It’s a reminder to “not just live, but thrive!” The box flyer also reminds us to be thankful to the people who help us thrive.

As for the contents of the box:

• (TRUWOMEN) You’re Mocha Me Cocoa Protein Powder – Haven’t tried this yet, but you mix it with water for a chocolately protein drink.
• (You Love Fruit) Fruit Leather – Yummy, but hard to eat.  They are multiple thin slices of fruit (mine was mango) that you peel off a piece of paper and eat separately.  They were so thin that I couldn’t really chew them and they stuck to my teeth.  Delicious, though!
• (Stoneridge Orchards) Montmorency Cherries – These cherries are huge!  They are dried and taste like cherries instead of sugar, so that’s good.  I like them alone, in a homemade mixture of dried fruit and almonds, or added to my yogurt.  They would probably be good added in anything and everything.  Chocolate chip cherry cookies, anyone?

• (MadeGood) Vanilla Crispy Square – I was most surprised by this item.  It is a big puffed rice cereal square with no gelatin/marshmallow in sight.  Seeing as I looooove marshmallows, but I do not eat gelatin, these are absolute heaven for me!  Not as sweet as a typical puffed rice treat either.
• (Ruger) XOXO Mini Wafer – Kinda like having a shot of cookie instead of a shot of vodka
• (Salty Road) Passion Fruit Salt Water Taffy – Haven’t tried this yet, but I have had this company’s other taffy flavors in other boxes and they were soft and tasty!

• (Bacon’s Heir) Pork Clouds – I’m vegetarian and did not eat these.  I’ve had them in boxes before and gave them to my husband, who though they were good and interesting.  This time, I gave them to a coworker who has yet to eat them.

So, that’s it for my May snacking box.  Maybe I’ll be extra motivated and review my June snacking box in June!  As mentioned earlier, the Semi-Annual Snack Sale is going on right now at Love With Food.  If you use code “SASS18” when you buy a plan for at least six months, you can get $10 off and a free box worth $20!

***I am not affiliated with Love With Food and will not get anything from this promotion.  I just enjoy the company’s items and what they support.***

Let me know if you do try Love With Food and what you think about the subscription boxes.  Let me know what you think of any of the snacks you buy on the site too.  Do you subscribe to any other subscription snack boxes?  Would you recommend them?

If you love free stuff, make sure not to miss any of my upcoming blogs.  I will be announcing a giveaway soon from another company that I love.  In the meantime, thanks for reading!

Review – a.c. care Bee’s Skin Care 2pcs Set

Hello, interwebz! In the last part of my skincare saga, I began a skincare routine to deal with severe acne, pimples, irritation, eczema. After about four days, I switched out products to an even more gentle routine.

This was when I tried the horse oil toner that worked so well. I also used CosRX Acne Pimple Master Patches, which is what really started making a difference on my cystic acne around my nose and chin. Afterwards, I realized that my problem was less of a pimple issue and more of an irritation issue.

I went to the Shiseido store and picked up some cotton squares that don’t fall apart the way the dollar brands do. They didn’t have anything to treat acne or eczema, but I got some samples of products to help with moisture and color spots. I also got an Esfolio Banana Mask to see if it would help. It was amazing! The mask immediately calmed my skin and took away the redness from anything that wasn’t a scab or sore. It smelled like a banana milkshake and the fragrance didn’t bother my skin or nose. Shiseido sunscreen has also been the only sunscreen that I’ve tried so far that hasn’t caused breakouts, has no scent, and withstood my constant sweating in this Texas heat. I used a sample, but will be buying a full size container soon.

Near Shiseido was another Asian beauty store that sold a brand I had never heard of before – a.c. care. I was told that this is what all the teenagers with acne buy because it’s on sale often, whereas Dr. Jart never goes on sale at that store. a.c. care products are supposed to be made with bee venom and other natural ingredients. Buying the treatment set meant that I also got the face cleanser, trial kit, and samples for free. Along with the “buy 10, get 7” masks deal, I believe everything came to a little less than $94. I had never spent that much money on beauty products in my life! I have always tried to stick to the $5 and under range, but I was desperate. Ben ended up buying it all for me as my Mother’s Day gift and we joked about me getting a new face for Mother’s Day.

Now, you may be thinking, “Hey idiot! How is bee venom any better than horse oil?!” It’s not. When the sales woman said, “bee venom”, I thought, “bee spit”. It might be a little gross, but that’s basically honey, and I knew that honey was good for my skin. Stupidity is no excuse, though.

When I read the ingredients lists, most of the products had bee’s venom at the end of the ingredients list. That made me feel better because we were basically paying for the words on the box and not the actual venom. However, I did decide to write up the first five ingredients in every product and link them to reports on how good or bad the ingredients are (see the end of my post). Some of the links provided are easier to read and understand than the actual research papers I read on them. Most of the ingredients actually weren’t very natural and has questionable side effects. I didn’t want horse meat on my face, but I was willing to try butylene flycol and denatured alcohol to see if they might give me some relief.

***None of the photos of myself have been edited in any way other than cropping.  This is me in all of my inflamed skin glory.***

After three weeks of using this stuff, I do think it’s helping. Pimples aren’t really an issue anymore, just the inflammation, texture, and sores. The eczema is all over my neck, chest, and back too. I even have spots of it on my fingers. So, I think the heat is aggravating my eczema all over. I have seen improvements on my face and neck in terms of calming new irritations. I have no new cystic acne and have slow improvement on parts of the eczema. I have a bad habit of picking at my skin during the day and don’t even realize what I’m doing until my hands are bloody. So, that is not helping. Mostly, I am trying to be consistent and patient. Surprisingly enough, my new skincare routine seems to be working.

***I only researched the first five ingredients on each list because they will be the most concentrated. Afterwards, you’re usually looking at ingredients in the 1% or less range. That is a negligible amount unless you are highly allergic to a specific ingredient.***

Two Piece Set plus free Cleanser

a.c. care Bee’s Pure Skin Ingredients: Water, Butylene Glycol, Propanediol, Alcohol Denat., Glycereth-26

a.c. care Bee’s Moist Lotion Ingredients: Water, Butylene Glycol, Hydrogenated Polydecene, Glycerin, Cabbage Rose Flower Water

a.c. care Bee’s Foaming Cleanser Ingredients: Water, Stearic Acid, Butylene Glycol, Glycerin, Lauric Acid

a.c. care Bee’s Trial Set

Contents of set: Bee’s Foam Cleanser, Bee’s Water Essence, Bee’s Spot Serum, Bee’s Control Cream, Bee’s Shield B.B. Cream

Bee’s Water Essence Ingredients: Water, Butylene Glycol, Alcohol Denat, Propanediol, Glycereth-26

Bee’s Spot Serum Ingredients: Water, Alcohol Denat, Butylene Glycol, Portulaca Oleracea Extract, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer

Bee’s Control Cream Ingredients: Water, Dimethicone, Cyclopentasiloxane, Butylene Glycol, Glycerin

Bee’s Shield B.B. Cream Ingredients: Water, Cyclopentasiloxane, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Dimethicone Copolyol, Titanium Dioxide

Beauty Haul and Reviews – Sephora, Target, Daiso, and Marshall’s

Hello, interwebs! Let me begin this post by saying that I do not have a lot of money and did not get all of these things at the same time. This is stuff that I got over the course of about two months from various stores. Also, I got all of this stuff before I went to Daiso the last time, but the pics were originally lost. With my sensitive skin, there is a lot of trial and error, mostly error, so I thought this post would still be beneficial to anyone wondering where to find skincare products for sensitive skin, how much they cost, and if they work.

This Caudalie set was actually my free birthday gift from Sephora last year, but I never used it. I still haven’t tried it, but will soon because it fits into the Korean skincare routine. I only add one new product to my skin regime at a time, so I may try these in a few weeks.

Christina gave me this gift set of Soap & Glory Heel Genius and Hand Food. The foot cream has urea, so the smell bugs me. I slather it on my feet before bed and put on socks, though, so I don’t really smell it. I really like the hand cream, even if the grape seed oil bothers my nose. It doesn’t help the eczema on my thumb and forefinger, but it doesn’t make the eczema worse either. As far as softening your skin, both products do a pretty good job. These do contain parabens and sulfates in addition to the urea, so I won’t be buying them when I finish these. I am grateful for the quick relief on my sore skin, though. They are available at Sephora, Ulta, Target, and Amazon for under $10.

After deciding to try the Korean Skincare Routine, I figured that I should stop at Daiso. Why start with the expensive stuff if the cheap products will work? I got a beauty blender because I wanted to try it when I start working with liquid makeup. I thought it might only take a few weeks to heal my skin and then I’d move on to finding the right makeup for my skin, but I was wrong. The first thing I tried was the coconut mask and it was amazing! It soothed my skin, healed some sores, and moisturized. It didn’t remove the giant pimples even though it brought them closer to the surface, making them easier to treat with other products. I use the charcoal wipes when I get home from work or any other time that my skin is itching and hurting. I start picking at my skin if I can’t soothe it, and the wipes have been good for calming my skin between washes. The concealer stick was okay. It’s the exact same color as my skin and blends easily. It doesn’t make blemishes or the circles under my eyes disappear, but it doesn’t settle in wrinkles, lines, or pores either. Most importantly, it does not break out my skin. I’ll keep using it for now, but will need to find something better later. I haven’t tried the vitamin E mask or charcoal blotting papers yet , but I’m sure they will be fine. Overall, I was surprised with how well these Daiso products worked, considering none of them was more than $3.

On a shopping trip at Target, I picked up some Biore Charcoal Pore Strips on sale ( box of 6 for $5.99) and Shea Moisture Smooth and Tame Treatment Masques on clearance. I’ve used Biore pore strips before, but not the charcoal strips. I think the charcoal pore strips I got at Daiso worked better than these. The other kinds of Biore strips worked better for me than these too. The box I got came with a single packet of Biore Charcoal Self-Heating One Minute Mask. I had tried the non-charcoal mask before and liked it, but I’m not sure if the heat was good for my eczema. My face always feels clean, but soft after those masks, though. Using the masks before the strips actually works better. I think the heat opens your pores, making it easier for the strips to grab gunk from them. I haven’t tried the Shea Moisture hair treatments yet because I prefer to use them after dyeing my hair. These were on clearance for $.64 and I couldn’t pass up such a deal! The Shea Moisture packs have no sulfates, parabens, pthalates, don’t test on animals, etc. This is more like the type of beauty products I try to buy when I’m not desperate for solutions to my skin problems.

When Sephora had their VIB sale in April, I went with Christina to check out the deals. I found a Sephora Pink Clay mask that was $8 for 4 treatments. I thought the pink clay might help soothe my skin. Christina ended up buying it for me, along with “the best beauty blender on the market” and a mo fo Glam Glo Glittermask!!! I argued with her about buying all this stuff, but she said that she wanted to treat me. I have only used the pink clay mask so far, but it does a decent job of calming my skin.

For all of the birthdays and holidays in May, I stopped by Marshalls to try to find some nice gifts at low prices. While there, I picked up a few things for myself. I bought the Jeunesse Anti-Aging Treatment ($5.99) and the Mon Amie Rose & Collagen Face Serum ($5.99) as items to try for moisturizing steps in my new skincare routine. Collagen is known for helping your skin retain its elasticity and rose oil is a mild moisturizer. I haven’t tried the Jeunesse moisturizer yet, but the rose & collagen serum works well and doesn’t seem to clog my pores. It also seems to calm my skin well. As much as I have loved that oil, the Earth Therapeutics Bamboo Natural Bristle Paddle Brush ($4.99) was a huge disappointment. That brush is trash! The bristles fell out on the first use and were not able to reach my scalp. I will admit that the brush did not make my hair frizzy, but I only brush my hair before I wash it (2-3 times a week). #CurlyHairGirlRules If it can’t even reach all my hair, who cares about pre-bathing frizz? I’m going to use this one on the cats.

Overall, I spent less than $40 on all of the products above even though they are worth more than that. It helped that Christina bought the most important things, but she also gets to enjoy all the bonus points! Have you bought any new beauty products lately? Do you try multiple new skin products at the same time or do you tend to ease into new items? Let me know in the comments section!

Review – L’oreal True Match Naturale Mineral Foundation Powder & L’oreal Magic Skin Beautifier BB Cream

Hello, interwebz!  First of all, I’m very disappointed as I type this because I lost a boat load of photos for the blog and had 20 minutes of video for my first vlog post.  I did manage to rescue some of the photos, but all of the videos are gone, including one of my son’s spring band concert.  The last two photos on this post were taken last minute on my iPad in crappy lighting because my other photos were lost.  I’m trying to focus on the bright side of things and decided to work with what I have so that I could still put up a post I’ve been working on for awhile.  So, slap on a smile and here we go!

The Short of It:

L’oreal True Match Natural Mineral Foundation Powder worked great with my eczema even while in the humid Texas heat.  L’oreal Magic Skin Beautifier BB Cream tore my skin apart.

The Long of It:

***None of the pics of my face have been touched up in anyway so that you can see the true dorkiness and skin conditions.***

I decided to try some new beauty and skincare products one at a time so that if anything bothered my skin, I would have an easy time figuring out who was the culprit.  So far, Kopari face oil worked well on cleaning my face without breaking me out or bothering my eczema.  I was ready to move on to a foundation since that is what goes under all other makeup.  I had heard good things about L’oreal True Match Naturale Mineral Foundation Powder and was eager to try it.  I tried color Nude Beige (W3) since I have yellow undertones and the color matched pretty well.  The kabuki brush that comes with the powder worked well for a couple of weeks, but hairs started falling out of the brush after that.  I tried a few brushes that my friend, Christina, gave to me and finally found a good one in the Real Techniques brush.  I cannot believe that this brush is so cheap and readily available at Target!

After using the face powder for a couple of weeks with no issues, I was pretty happy.  In fact, just as I had heard and read in many reviews, it actually improved my complexion, helping blemishes and eczema sores heal faster!  What are you oh magical power of mine?!  At this point, I’m feeling pretty good about L’oreal face products and decided to try the BB cream.  (Here’s a good YouTube video about the purpose of  BB and CC creams.)  I went with L’oreal Magic Skin Beautifier BB Cream in Light 812.  I applied the BB cream the way I’d seen so many people do  in video tutorials and was okay with the results.  I mean, I still had blemishes and eczema, but they were blurred out a bit.  It also seemed to even out my skin tone and soften my skin texture.  So far, so good.

After two weeks of using BB cream in the Texas heat, I came to understand that this stuff wasn’t going to be my makeup BFF the way my mineral powder was.  I broke out like crazy.  I saw some new blemishes here and there, but though they were just a result of my oil cleansing pulling things to the surface.  One day, I wore BB cream and spent alot of time outside instead of in the office like usual.  You could see a line of deep and red blemishes every place where my fingers applied the BB cream – my forehead, nose, cheeks, chin, and neck.  From the initial touch zones, the blemishes spread out.  It was a literal map of how I applied the BB cream to my face and neck.

I spent the next two nights washing my face with coconut soap, treating with tea tree oil, and calming with thick layers of aloe gel.  The coconut soap is my body wash (Alaffia Everyday Coconut and Coffee Berry Body Wash) and is pretty gentle on skin, but maybe not on my face.  I was just desperate and wasn’t thinking.  I used Aura Cacia tea tree oil from Target (on sale!)  Normally, this stuff is too rough on my face, but these were giant cysts and were painful.  I wanted them gone.  The tea tree oil worked, but dried all the skin around the blemishes.  After a night or two of that, I switched to cleansing with Kopari and doing a Sephora clay mask.  After washing the clay mask off,  I finished each night with a layer of aloe gel to kill the bacteria, calm my skin, and moisturize my skin.  It worked well.

After a few days of that, I switched to washing my face with pure coconut oil.  Coconut oil is the same PH as skin, fights bacteria, and moisturizes.  I always have a jar of Trader Joe’s Organic Virgin coconut oil.  You need something that has barely been processed so that all of the good stuff is still on the oil to help your skin.  First, I scooped out some oil into my hands.  It was solid, but melted as I rubbed it on my skin.  I rubbed it in circles all over my skin and neck, concentrating on the most problematic areas of blemishes and eczema.  Normally, I would place a warm rag on my face and lay down for 10 – 15 minutes, but this time, I didn’t want to lay in the bed with the wet rag on my face.  I repeated this as I made my way around my face and concentrated on the parts with the worst blemishes and eczema.  The goal of this was not to get all of the coconut oil off, but to take some of it off, while easing things out of my pores.  I think you may want to do something to close your pores afterwards, but this time, I wanted my pores open so the coconut oil would soak into my skin overnight.  I went to bed and woke up with a much calmer face.  You could still see plenty of blemishes and eczema, but the redness everywhere else was gone.  I rinsed my face with water and put a thick layer of aloe gel over, adding a bit extra to the problem areas.

I’ve been doing this routine for a few days now and my skin looks much better.  Where all of the blemishes and eczema were are now just spots that are healing.  Your skin heals from the outside in, so it takes time.  Aloe gel and coconut oil also helps brighten skin so that the sore spots fade quicker.

While going through all of this, some other health problems came up and my skin hurt all over my body.  After doing the treatments with coconut oil and the wash rag, my face felt better, even if the rest of my skin and body hurt.  That reminded me why I spent so much time taking care of myself in years past.  I have looked into the Korean skincare routines and decided to give it a whirl.  So, stay tuned for my reviews on that!  Also, I haven’t given up on BB Creams yet.  I may try another kind in another month

Unboxing- Kira Kira Crate April/May 2018

This week, I got my May Kira Kira Crate. They are shipped from Japan to the U.S., so they take a month to get here. I still hadn’t opened my box from April! So, I decided to combine the unboxings.

Kira Kira Crates are subscription boxes from Japan filled with Asian skin, hygiene, and beauty products. Some of these products are available in stores in the U.S., but others are exclusive to Asia. My husband gave me a three-month subscription for Valentine’s Day, so May is my last box. My birthday is coming up, though, so I may request a renewal!

Apparently, the May box itself is different from April. I wonder if that’s because of the change of seasons. Both are pretty and will be put to good use.

April 2018 Box – April’s theme is Head To Toe. The box includes items to use to pamper yourself from head to toe!

https://flic.kr/p/25r954p

Mellsavon Hand Wash – This natural foaming hand wash is made in Japan with natural oils like kudzu and thyme. The scent is supposed to be mellow, so I’m hoping it will be okay on my hands. If not, my husband will gladly use it.

Point Make Up Remover – Designed in Japan and made in China, the box says it is a makeup remover pencil from Art Collection Tokyo. The writing on the package is in Japanese, but the writing on the pen is in English. I believe I saw one of the beauty vloggers on YouTube buy this in a video recently. The pen allows you to spot fix makeup mishaps like smeared mascara or eyeliner smudges. Looks like it’ll be pretty handy.

IE Spa Gold Foil Pack – When I showed this to my husband, he said, “Oh dang! You, too, can become a Hydra officer with this mask!” The mask is Japanese, but was made in Korea. The mask is infused with gold extract (is that a thing???), which is supposed to be good for keeping the collagen and elasticity that naturally occur in skin.

Onset Bath Salt – This was made in Japan and is supposed to contain ingredients you would find naturally in a Japanese hot spring that help with muscle soreness. There are 12 varieties, but I got the pink kind. Based on the picture, it might be a Sakura scent.

Rilakkuma Handcream – This hand cream was made in China. The only bit of English is on the front and says, “I’m always feeling relaxed.” Well, little Chinese bear hand cream, I can definitely use some relaxation! Rilakkuma is pineapple-scented and the other Korilakkuma (the one I didn’t get) has a rose scent. Rilakkuma is the perfect size for my purse, so she will be coming with me while I run errands or go to work!

Foot Therapy Sheet (Woody Lavender) – These are a prettier version of the foot pads that you’ve probably seen on t.v. You put them on the soles of your feet and they supposedly remove toxins through your feet. I have seen reports that say they do not really remove toxins, but can help your feet smell better. These are designed specifically to use overnight to improve your feet’s texture and the lavender scent should help me sleep!

May 2018 Box – Now, this is what I’m talkin’ ’bout! Cozy Night In is this month’s themes. Relax and destress before drifting off to sleep. Can do!

https://flic.kr/p/25HbUfJ

Hot Eye Mask – This mask was made in China and should make you look like a polar bear when you wear it. (Instagram, here I come!) This mask smells like lavender and should help my tired eyes look awake 👀

Black & Shiny Eyeliner – This is from Mio Piccolo Tokyo and looks like it was packaged by the same company as April’s makeup remover pencil. I’ve never been able to put on eyeliner so the eraser pencil should come in handy when I bust out this eyeliner pencil. The color is Metallic Black, so I wonder how much shimmer is really in it and how much the eraser will fix.

Honey Lemon Bath Tablets – These are made in Japan and I really thought they were candy. There are tiny tablets that look like candy and some orange sandy stuff that looks like colored sugar. The flyer says this mixture will fight acne and aging while others tightening my pores and refreshing my skin. That makes me think I may need to use this on my face instead of body. I’m looking forward to figuring out how well it works on the pores on my body, ha!

Mosaics Oil Milk – The Japanese oil milk has me the most excited! There are cute animals all over the box. The flyer says it contains cactus oil to hydrate my skin. I am all for opening up this adorable bottle and getting hydrated!

Paper Soap – I haven’t used paper soap since I was a kid. This is what Asians used before hand sanitizer became hip and cool. I got the mint paper soap and am excited to bust out my paper and start lathering up in public instead of slumming it with pink soap.

Organic Mask – From Japan and made in Korea, I have high hopes for this mask. It contains royal jelly, hyaluronic acid, chamomile, and collagen, all of which are great for moisturizing your skin and restoring elasticity. I’m not sure if the hyaluronic acid will bother my eczema. Collagen is the fourth ingredient and aloe gel is the sixth, so, I’m not anticipating any problems.

Have you tried Kira Kira Crate or any of the items listed above? Do you like Asian beauty products? If so, tell me where you buy them so I can hunt for them too. Thanks for reading!

Unboxing – Love With Food April Box

Hey there, friends! You may have recently heard that I was so far behind on material for my blogs that I’m posting more often to catch up a bit. Nowhere is this more applicable than my subscription boxes. Normally, I rip into them and start using everything immediately. Since I started saving the boxes for these posts, I am now two months behind! That is a lot of wasted willpower that I could have used on saving the world or doing laundry or something. So, let’s get to April’s Love With Food box!

April’s box was the Transform Tasting Box and was meant to help you transform into healthier and better eating. The box came with a flyer to explain this, along with a few coupons for the food featured in the box and some other websites.

TRUWOMEN Plant Fueled Chocolate Chunk Cookie Dough Protein Bar – The glazed donut bar was in the March box and was pretty good. It was slightly sweet, but didn’t taste like a glazed donut. I’ll save this one for when my blood sugar suddenly drops (during PMS or extremely hot days). Protein bars tend to make my stomach hurt, leave a bad taste in my mouth, and cause me bathroom problems. Didn’t have any of those issues with the glazed donut bar, so I’m assuming I won’t have any problems with this one either.

Avenue Sweets Apple Caramels – I’ve had these before too and love them! They taste like caramel apples, but are slightly easier to eat.

JanaBanana Banana Bar with Peanut Butter – I’m always hesitant about these healthy banana bars. They usually taste like blackened bananas and are sickly sweet. Since these are made of more than bananas, maybe they won’t be so bad.
Torie & Howard Fruitie Chewies – I’ve had these before and they are good. They taste like a more fruity Starburst and are nice little candy when you want a bit of something sweet.

Watusee Foods Popped Caramel Sea Salt Chickpeatos – I tried these the day that I opened the box and had no idea what to expect. They are the crunchy and airy consistency of puffed cheese balls and have a general savory and salty flavor followed with a hint of caramel and salt flavor. They don’t genuinely taste like caramel, but make you feel like you just finished eating something caramel. A 100 calorie serving has 3 g protein, 3 g fiber, and 4 g fat. I stress ate them for the crunch, but I wouldn’t grab these as a genuine snack. I wouldn’t turn them away if offered, but I won’t be actively seeking them out to buy.

Mrs. Thinster’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Thins – I had the vanilla cookie thins before and they were amazing! So, I’m kinda waiting to eat these when I need a sugary snack at work to either celebrate something exciting or to keep me from yelling profanities at someone. These cookies are thin and buttery and melt in your mouth. The only complaint that I have is the oil they leave on your fingers because it reminds you that there are no more cookies.

Westminster Cracker Co Oyster Crackers – These were the only savory snacks in the box. I tend to eat oyster crackers in soup or salad and haven’t tried these yet. They seem pretty basic with only a few ingredients, which is always a good thing.

The best part of these boxes actually isn’t inside of them. For every purchase, a portion of proceeds go towards helping fight childhood hunger around the world. The company regularly donates to Feeding America and The Global Food Banking Network. If you’d like to try Love With Food to get some tasty treats while helping these lovely organizations, use my referral link to get 50% of your first box!