Ms. Healthy Face

At this very moment, my adult acne is under control. It feels strange to say because I never thought I would get here. I am almost nervous to post this article  because I do not want to jinx myself.

Since I have sworn off exfoliating scrubs a la Lisa Eldridge,  my skin has been looking a bit dull. Earlier today, I had a small window for a quick pick me up.  The boys had just gone down for their nap. I had 30 minutes to mask, shower, and get ready. To be honest, this Alba Botanica Hawaiian face mask has been sitting in my medicine cabinet for a minute. I was skeptical about it when Health Designs sent it to me a few months ago. The first time I read the directions, "Apply for 5 minutes", I shrugged it off....and I am so sad I waited this long....   

I had never used an aerosol-free shaving cream...have you?   Well, that is why I was so stoked when  Alba Botanica's Very Emollient Shaving Foam  was sent to me from healthdesigns.com (they carry almost the entire Alba Botanica line) because I am never going back to Gillette shaving foam/cream/gel, etc.!

Hooray! Pop the champs! Light the firecrackers!!!  This mama is finally going back to law school!!! My husband works hard to provide our family with the luxury of me being able to stay at home with our two boys, but I do miss interacting with adults, and working (somewhat, lolz).  Now, my eldest son is going to start preschool, and I am stoked to be able to do me (at least for a couple days a week.)  Believe me, my skin NEEDS me to do me. After going on 10+ preschool tours, back-to-school  shopping, etc.,  #MasqueSundays fell on my priority list, and consequently my chin (my worst problem area) is breaking out like crazy with lots of little bumps and one deep cystic pimple. So I am busting out  JustNeem's Neem Clay Mask , which is made with French clay, neem oil, and other beneficial oils, to hopefully calm my current breakouts, and stop any future ones. What is a Neem Tree and Neem Oil? Neem oil comes from the neem tree, which has been used for centuries in Ayurvedic med

About a month ago, my husband and I whisked our kids away for a mini-vacation. We stayed in the Casitas (which were so nice and relaxing away from the main hotel) at Morongo, about an hour away from South Orange County. Morongo is about 30 minutes from Palm Springs, so it's desert weather and extremely tough on anyone's skin because of the dry 100+ degree heat and super strong winds (there are sand storms on the regular!). Luckily, before we left for Morongo, Neocell sent me a bunch of press samples, including this dry weather essential, "On the Go Moisture Complex: Refreshing Herbal Mist".  Any moment my face felt hot and tight under the sun, or while walking through the strong winds to the main pool from our casitas, I'd spritz a couple pumps on my face and my skin felt immediately refreshed and less tight.  After I came home from our little vacay, I liked to use a couple sprays after applying my ELF translucent powder. I love how the mis

Serums, to me, are an absolute necessity -- like taking your daily multivitamin. Essentially, serums are multi-vitamins for your face, and trust me, your face needs all the nutrients it can get after being exposed to the sun and pollution. So, when I look for a serum, I make sure that it has at least Vitamin C and E, and any other antioxidants or anti-aging ingredients are a plus.  Vitamin C and E are important anti-aging antioxidants that prevent and reduce oxidative damage from UV exposure, pollutants, and intrinsic aging.  Serums are powerful and quick to absorb because they are extremely concentrated. More specifically, serums leave out emulsifiers and hydrating-agents that most moisturizers include. Thus, you only need a small pea-sized amount, but keep in mind, that serums must be applied before moisturizing so that it has the best chance to absorb. Now, while serums are powerful with all their super ingredients, religious topical application will not give you

My mother-in-law introduced me to Neocell a little over a year ago when she began using the  Super Collagen Type 1 and 3 Powder . She drinks it everyday and raves about it (along with a bunch of other beauty bloggers). So when, Neocell reached out to me to test some of their beauty products, I was super stoked! The summer heat has been drying out my skin like crazy. So for a recent #MasqueSundays, I applied Neocell's Collagen Moisturizing Treatment Masque. Now, I know that this mask is called a "Collagen" mask, because it does contain collagen an other skin reviltalizers that have short-term skin firming and plumping benefits (ingesting collagen will probably get you more noticeable results), but the really obvious results I got from applying this mask was smoother, brighter, and more hydrated skin. As you can tell in the pictures, the formula is a creamy, and rich. The consistency kind of reminds me of a thick cocoa butter, especially, because it is super opaque and

Confession: I've been too big of a sissy to try face oils. I am acne-prone, and have combo skin, so initially I believed using face oils would cause me to become overly oily in my t-zone and cause pimples. BUT then, Arya Essentials sent me this delightful little box, and I could not resist playing with those vials filled with their face and body oils! You can smell both the face and body oils without even having to open the vials, and let me tell you, your first whiff is absolute decadence. The Face Oil harmoniously blends Vitamin 'E' and  over 10 essential oils, including, argan oil, jojoba oil, almond oil, gotu-kola oil, rose hip seed oil, sandalwood oil, indian gooseberry oil, holy basil oil, neem oil, ylang-ylang seed oil, and rose geranium oil. I love rose hips and argan oil for their hydrating features, and neem  for its anti-bacterial principles! The Body Oil is packed with a bunch of heavenly essential oils, as well, like sesame oil, coconut oil, bit