Sunday, October 16, 2011

My life without Benzoyl Peroxide

Ok so about a month ago my facialist suggested I went completely off Benzoyl Peroxide, according to her this ingredient used to fight acne and breakouts causes dependance on some people. I almost freaked out when she suggested this, I have been on prescription Benzoyl peroxide for about three years ("Duac" specifically).
However, I decided to give this a try because I have noticed that if I ever let a few days without using my then beloved Duac my face would break out like crazy and I didn't want to depend on prescription stuff.
So instead of using this prescription I started just using two products morning and night, these are the SkinMedica Foaming Wash and SkinMedica Purifying Toner. (The active ingredient on both of these is Salicylic Acid 2%).
The first two weeks were a total nightmare I have to admit, many days I was tempted to go back to my Duac tube, I resisted, I was not about to let two weeks go to waste just to start over again in a few weeks. I was determined to get off Benzoyl peroxide.
By the third week my skin was already showing some improvement, no major blemishes but I was starting to get a lot of little tiny ones around my nose and though I could have picked at them, I really wanted to test the effectiveness of these products so I left them alone.
So now it's been a month on these two products and I have to say that I stopped wearing full coverage foundation, I am now using just pressed powder and my skin is doing better than a couple weeks ago, all the blemishes I had are almost gone (even the tiny ones) and best of all, I am off Benzoyl Peroxide!!!! No more prescription acne stuff for me. I will continue to use these products because even though they may be a little pricey, the ingredients are more natural than any other acne products that I may have tried and have success with.
I LOVE THIS STUFF!!!!!

Disclaimer: I was not paid by SkinMedica or anybody to talk about these products. I purchased them with my own money and paid full price for them.


For makeup tutorials and product reviews check out my youtube channel:

And for cute and affordable accessories check out my lil sister's store:

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Dark brown dye gave me black hair!!!!

So I have naturally dark brown hair, and have highlighted it for a few months, however last time I got my highlights roots done, they came out super blond...the contrast between my dark hair and the blond streaks was too much, not the look I was going for, obviously the new hair colorist I went to missed the point when I said I wanted “subtle highlights” 
Anyway, so I took matters into my own hands and decided to dye my entire hair with a dark brown permanent hair color (I figured the blond streaks will then be subtle highlights) Well, that worked...to and extent, the blond streaks were indeed covered, but now my dark brown hair was completely BLACK, and I mean the darkest shade of black ever! Terrible, I hated it, so after reading about it, a few days after dyeing it and having my hair in buns and pony tails, I did the following:

  • Washed my hair with Head and Shoulders, really used a lot of product and let the shampoo sit in my hair for 20 minutes in a shower cap.
·       Smiled! As I was rinsing the shampoo I could see that the water was coming out dark, the hair dye was coming out!
·       After rinsing the shampoo I deep conditioned my hair with Aussie 3 minute miracle which I left in my hair for another 20 minutes (Head and Shoulders and other alike can be very drying).

The Result?

My black hair was not so deep after all, I would say it got one shade lighter than what it was, my hair is now dark brown with subtle highlights just like I wanted, still looks very dark but not to the point that it doesn’t look natural, I got to say I am very pleased with the color...for now. I am now using a shampoo for color treated hair so the color doesn’t fade any more. Let’s see how it changes in a couple of months.



For makeup tutorials and product reviews check out my youtube channel:

And for cute and affordable accessories check out my lil sister's store:

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Welcome to my blog

Hi everyone,
First of all I want to thank you for visiting me here, I have decided to create this blog to share my take in being beautiful from the inside out. I want to say that we all have what it takes to be a beautiful human being, a beautiful girl, teen or woman, it's all a matter of bringing out and highlighting the best of you and working on the not so great stuff to become a better person each day.
I'd like to start saying that I love Jesus with all of my heart and my goal is to mirror his character each day, though I have to admit it's VERY VERY HARD, and it is easier to beat myself about making mistakes in every area of my life however, I remember that He loves me anyway and there is nothing I can do that can make him love me any less. He is my savior, my everything and His love never fails.
Having said that, I know that having a loving and kind heart is the most important thing that will make someone a beautiful person regardless of how the exterior looks like. Have you ever seen a gorgeous looking woman and then after meeting her and knowing she's not a kind person, or is maybe too conceited start thinking that she was not that beautiful after all? I have and my point is, everything that's inside of your heart and spirit reflects on the outside. And how we feel we portray ourselves, that's why being confident is so important. This blog is my way to share with everyone how we can look our best by taking care of our body, spirit and soul. I hope you enjoy it!

Much love!
Jen :)

PS:

For makeup tutorials and product reviews check out my youtube channel:

And for cute and affordable accessories check out my lil sister's store: