Thursday, October 25, 2012

Diving In Head First! (Bad Puns: Part II)

Salt Lake had it's first snow of the season today!  I'm not going to lie... I really wish the weather would consider my feelings and wait until November.  But hey, it gave me the perfect excuse to nap with my pup (after I worked my little arse off at Xtend Barre... more about that later).  Bear in mind that Guy is a VERY svelte bulldog.  He's on a strict diet (also for flatulence control) and he's really active.  He's also some sort of wizard:


What the what?!  My svelte, little Guy is a fat, ol' jellybean!  And what a glorious sight to wake up to!  Hooray for Naps!  If I ever run for anything, the latter will assuredly be my slogan.  I'll be a shoo-in.

So, today I was going to write about toners keeping with the theme of the face, but I'm not going to anymore.  While the Clarisonic Mia has done wonders for my pores, I still need help.  I've been using a witch hazel toner from the health food store and it doesn't seem to be doing anything either way.  It doesn't even smell good.  I was going to ask for suggestions, but then Lems, my friend and fellow Vassar alumnus, wrote in the comments about retinols and I asked for more info.  I totally got it:

OK, retinols. It's a form of Vitamin A and it's a miracle worker for the skin. There are loads of ways to get it, but my faves right now are:

Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Daily Skin Peel (Sephora, $78)


source


Glow by Dr. Brandt Ruby Crystal Retinol Hydracreme
(Sephora, $65)


source


Both do amazing magical things to my skin, such as: shrink pores, smooth texture, lighten sun spots; calm rosecea and/or acne; tighten things up; make makeup go on smoother...

I can't sing their praises enough. I alternate these - don't use more than one product at once, it's too much for the skin. If you have sensitive skin, start slowly and remember to always use SPF during the day! Retinol makes you extra sensitive to the sun.


 See ya toner (for now at least).  Toner and retinols sounds like too much for one little face to handle.  I looked up both retinol products and I've decided to try the Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Daily Skin Peel.  While it's pricier, I cannot risk testing out a new lotion for a few reasons, but mainly because lotions have proved to be the most risky of all products for causing allergy induced eczema.  While facial eczema is totally IN right now, I'm going to go against the grain and avoid it.  I'm a loner, Dottie.  A REBEL.  Also, the reviews on Sephora were amazing... all 500+ of them.  I'm headed there in a couple hours to get/buy some samples... Thanks, Lems!

Hey Utahns!  Did you know that we have a Sephora at the new City Creek Center?  Did you know that Anthropologie is there now as well?  The Gateway store is closed, sorry.  The new Anthro is amazing!  You need to stop in.  I don't care if you shop.  You need to SEE it.  So, yeah, I'm pimping out my place of part-time employment because, well, because it's the bees knees.

I'll let you know my physical and emotional reaction to retinols soon!  Do you have any advice, stories, experiences with retinols? HOORAY FOR NAPS!!!

xoxox

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