Wedding of the Century!

The wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton was worth staying up all night and catching an hour of sleep!  Being a long time fan of Prince William, I hope that he and Kate have a great life together.  ^_^  Here are some pics I pulled off the internet the day of the wedding.  

Did anyone else stay up all night to watch this beautiful event?

Low Cost Cleanser Removes EVERYTHING

Another Tips to Save Money Post!

Today, I'm featuring Johnson's Head-to-Toe Baby Wash that I've found works on removing foundation, eye makeup - even stubborn mascara!  It's gentle on my skin and doesn't strip away moisture from my skin.  It doesn't have anything targeted to treat acne, but that's okay - I simply dissolve 2 tablets of aspirin and use that as an exfoliator that also treats acne.

Click on the picture to link to Johnson's Baby website.

I want to compare this to one of my favorite cleansers, Purpose Gentle Cleansing Wash, which also is made by Johnson & Johnson.  However, I haven't had the time to really think about the similarities or differences, effects, cost/ounce, etc., etc., etc.  I will say that the baby wash is bigger and costs A LOT less than the Purpose cleanser.

I do want to compare ingredients though.  Below are the ingredients for the baby wash:

Water, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, PEG-80 Sorbitan Laurate, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, PEG-150 Distearate, Tetrasodium EDTA, Sodium Chloride, Polyquaternium-10, Fragrance, Quaternium-15, Citric Acid

And now, below are the ingredients for the Purpose cleanser:

Water , PEG-80 Sorbitan Laurate , Sodium Laureth Sulfate , Cocamidopropyl Betaine , PEG-150 Distearate , Sodium Lauroampho PG-Acetate Phosphate , Fragrance , Quaternium-15 , Tetrasodium EDTA

So, to my untrained alchemist mind, these are almost the same thing!  I forgot if I mentioned the ingredients in my Purpose review, but you can read my thoughts on the Purpose cleanser here.

***I also want to credit Mr. P with introducing me to using this baby wash as a makeup remover and facial cleanser***

Swatch Fest 04: Tarte Jewelry Box Lip Glosses

So, I think these are my favorite lip glosses to date.  They're moisturizing, long-lasting, have great color payoff, and they don't feel thick or sticky on my lips.  The glosses that came with my Tarte Jewelry Box have some colors that are just not my taste (color-wise, I mean), so I like to mix and match a bright color with a neutral color to create a tone down red/pink, or an amped up neutral shade.

I depotted my Tarte products, but you can see the original packaging in this here post.  :-)



All Tarte Lip Glosses kept in this UNII palette.




Glosses are numbered here because they don't have names.




No flash.



With flash.



Gloss 1




Glosses 2 & 3



Glosses 2 & 6



Gloss 4




Gloss 5



Gloss 6



Gloss 8

I don't normally wear glosses 3 and 7 alone because they're too brown for me.  So I like to mix them up with the neighboring brighter colors.

I like these glosses a lot.  I hope the Stila lip glazes are just like these.  ^_^

Product Review: Chanel WHITE ESSENTIEL Light Reflecting Whitening Compact Foundation SPF 25 / PA+++

I bought this on a China Airlines flight a couple years ago and have only just begun to use it.  It's one of the few luxury products I own so I've been using it sparingly to make it last.  But I've lately enjoyed its porcelain effect on my skin that I've started using this every day.  Plus, the SPF is a great thing as we move from Winter to Spring.

Here is the product blurb for the Chanel White Essentiel Light Reflecting Whitening Compact Foundation SPF 25/PA+++.

Specially designed for Asian skin, the new generation WHITE ESSENTIEL range features a formula that is more effective than ever:


Enriched with a whitening active ingredient (a Vitamin C derivative), WHITE ESSENTIEL compact foundation intensely brightens the complexion while leaving it perfectly even. It prevents and reduces the appearance of dark spots and smoothes out the skin texture. The presence of light-reflecting pigments helps capture and diffuse the light: face imperfections are concealed for a lastingly radiant complexion.


As soon as it is applied, the micronized airy texture of WHITE ESSENTIEL caresses the skin and leaves it exceptionally soft to the touch.


The result is immediate: the complexion is discreetly mattified. The presence of silica microbeads (absorbent action) prevents undesired shine on the face. The makeup result is semi-matte and radiant.


All day long, the skin is protected (SPF 25/PA+++).


Skin brightness and purity are protected from harmful sun rays and harsh external conditions.


Tip from the creators
Apply the foundation to entire face with a dry sponge for natural powdery makeup. This practical foundation can be refilled easily

Let the review begin! XD

Brightens complexion
While I wouldn't say that this product has brightened my skin on a molecular level, lightly dusting this powder over my tinted moisturizer has added a slight luminosity to my skin.  I'd call it a porcelain effect, where the skin looks a bit translucent and bright in a healthy way.

Prevents and reduces the appearance of dark spots
I haven't noticed any significant reduction in the appearance of my dark spots.  Since this is a powder foundation, it does offer some light coverage to obscure the pigmentation of the dark spots.  But at the end of the day, the dark spots are still there, looking the same.

Leaves skin exceptionally smoothe to the touch
Yes, it does!  Mr. P has commented that my skin also looks smoother and softer.  Dare I flatter myself by suggesting he may have also been trying to say more radiant?  ???  I believe the smoothness factor is part of the porcelain effect.

Silica microbeads prevent undesired shine
Initially.  There's no getting around that I have some powerful sebaceous glands in my skin and no matter what I use, I will always have a shiny and oily T-zone by 1pm.  That said, this compact works great for those with oily skin because it tones down the shine and turns it more radiant and glowy.  But on dry or overly blotted skin it is a different story - it just looks flat matte with accentuated lines.  *ergh!*

If your skin is:

Shiny-----------Radiant/Glowy-------------Matte--------------Flat Matte

Chanel will tone it down ONE notch to the right.

Final Verdict
I would repurchase this if I had the money.  I like that the pan is deep (est. 0.25 in. deep).  It works for my skin and I would recommend this to those with similar skin types.  ^_^

***Product reviews are 100% my opinion and based on my experiences with the product.***

A little glowly and radiant, not too shiny,
and natural skin still shows through. :-D

Product Review: Olay Definity Color Recapture in Light/Medium

Please find more details about this product here.

CLAIMS:

It will take 8 weeks to correct the look of dullness, discoloration, brown spots, PLUS fine lines and wrinkles.

*************************************************************

EDIT:  Updated 4/1/2011

I've started using this again this Winter/Spring as a tinted moisturizer.  I have to retract some statements from my intial "review" from May of 2010 (see below).  It doesn't feel so sticky on my face anymore, nor does my skin seem to be producing excess oil.  I have to conclude that the difference between my first time using this product and this time is the climate.  My initial "review" took place in Dallas.  My current review takes place in Los Angeles.

SoCal climate:

~Dry

~Current temperature 89 F

Northern Texas climate:

~Humid

~Temperature then 85-95 F

Correct the look of dullness, discoloration, brown spots, fine lines and wrinkles

This is a tinted moisturizer and provides a sheer coverage to even out the skin tone without caking too much color on my face.  I haven't noticed an under-the-surface improvement to my skin.  My sun spots and fine lines are still where they are, but just layering on a pea-sized amount is enough to even out my skin tone.  So, I'd say this is a surface fix rather than molecular or cellular improvement.

Would I repurchase this?

For the convenience of having SPF, a little bit of anti-aging, and tone correction, I would repurchase this product but only use it in a climate like SoCal.  I wouldn't use it in a humid environment.

For my initial "review", keep reading.

*************************************************************

I'm going to do something different with this Product Review entry for Olay Definity.  What I will do with this entry is to provide periodic updates as I go along in my usage of this product.

5/10/2010

Today is the first day of using Olay Definity Color Recapture in light/medium.  I just HAD to write this down right now.  Upon first pumping it out on my skin, I noticed that the product looks very very pigmented.  It looks like a foundation but with gel consistency.  It smells a little like sunblock, but that's to be expected because it has SPF 15 in it.  The smell doesn't bother me as much because it fades over a short period of time.  The packaging is nice because it is an air-powered pump bottle that I believe is more hygienic.

Putting it on my face though, the coverage of the pigments in this moisturizer is very sheer, but it does even out the skin tone just a tiny bit.  Clearly, my spots are still visible, but I don't look as blotchy.  It feels nice and moisturizing.

HOWEVER, my face has been sticky since I put this on.  I layer my DDF sunscreen over my moisturizers so if this Olay Definity product is not absorbing into my skin, it surely will also make my sunscreen even stickier.  So my face has been really sticky all day today.  It was sticky when I put on my bareMinerals matte foundation, which subsequently made my brush sticky as well.  I have been producing a copious amount of grease today.  I've gone through 3 blottings since 7am this morning and the time right now is 4:35pm.  Each of the blottings have used up 5-6 sheets of my e.l.f. Shine Erasers.

I haven't yet determined if it is the product or the heat and humidity that is making my face feel sticky and greasy, but I don't recall having a sticky problem when I was using Olay Regenerist Regenerating Serum.  I especially don't recall having to blot 3 times within the span of 10 hours when I used Olay Regenerist as my moisturizer.  I will keep trying this out and we'll see if the stickiness is just a factor of the climate here rather than the product itself.

One hour to midnight.  I cannot use this product in the summer.  It is this product that is sitting on top of my skin and making my skin feel sticky.  I don't know if this is the "dewey" effect, which I think is beautiful on many people.  However, I'm unfortunate to have such greasy skin, and this product is drawing all the grease out of my skin.  I have never been compelled to wash any product off my face after work as I have been with this product.  I washed my face at 6:30pm this evening, and have just rewashed at 10:45pm.  So much grease from my face that when I splashed water on my face to wet it my hands also came away greasy.  >_<  I am so unhappy!

Of the reviews I've read, this product may be suited for drier skins.  Reviewers with oilier skins agreed that either this product may have broken them out or caused excessive grease.  I will have to save this for my winter skincare routine.  I need to go back to the store and repurchase the Olay Regenerist Regenerating Serum, which at least helped control the oil for longer than this Definity Color Recapture product.

It seems like today is the only day I will use this product.  Sorry, Olay, my skin is not agreeing with this product.