favorite face wash: neutrogena acne stress control power-cream wash

you might have noticed that my posts have been less than sporadic lately. i have a super good reason for my flakiness too: my skin went haywire this summer! you don't exactly feel like taking pictures of yourself and putting them out there for the world to see when you have a sudden bout of acne all over your face.... you ladies with acne know what i mean, right?


i don't really know what happened to my face.... as a teenager i never really struggled very much with acne.... just a couple little blemishes every now and then. i think i remember having a huge monster zit only once in high school.... so why did my skin wait until i was almost graduated from college to freak out on me?? who knows. i had painful, monster zits everywhere. and i hadn't really changed my routine at all. i was so excited when my husband bought me my clarisonic mia for graduation, hoping that it would solve all of my problems. it definitely makes my face smooth, but didn't really clear up (or prevent) the random acne. that st. ives green tea scrub felt nice, but i guess the 1% salicylic acid wasn't cutting it.


then one day a little over a month ago, i saw an ad in a magazine for neutrogena's acne stress control face wash (with 2% salicylic acid), which claims to prevent most acne from even surfacing! i was too curious not to try it. so i did.

about $6 or $7, depending on where you buy it

last month around the time of my period my skin was awful. it took me like 30 min. every day to cover up all of the red spots with makeup.... but when i started using this cleanser, i noticed that slowly, my spots started disappearing. the redness started fading too. i was using less concealer. and you know, the big nasty zips have never come back! it's almost magical. it really keeps big zits from popping up! i still have the occasional little bump that's not really a zit, but that's what my skin in high school looked like anyway. glad to have you back, old skin.

i couldn't be happier with this face wash. the actual product is mint green, like the packaging, smells clean and awesome, and has a great tingle. i use it once in the morning and once at night with my clarisonic. i know skincare is very personal, in that what works for me may not work for you, but you may want to try it if you have frustrating acne like i did!

i actually just found a coupon for $1 off a neutrogena cleanser, so i'm gonna go buy another tube today!!

walgreens alpha-hydroxy face cream

i have stumbled across a hidden drugstore gem. i never would've found out about this product were i not an obsessive beauty blog reader. but someone (now i don't know who!) said that this face cream was cheap and amazing, which meant that i had to track it down because cheap and amazing are two of my favorite things. in fact, when my husband first met me he called me cheap and amazing. 


not really. 


are you curious yet? it's not even a name brand product! it's a walgreens brand cream spiked with alpha-hydroxy acid (or AHAs.... you know how i feel about AHA).

i call this a hidden gem because it's not available at every walgreens.... first i could only find it at one like 20 miles away from my house.... so i snatched it up! now i've seen it in multiple locations. but it's only $5.99!

because this cream has such a high level of AHAs, it works wonderfully for me. as i've said, i have "chicken skin" on the backs of my arms, and AHA is the only ingredient that helps. my old lotion (lubriderm) did ok at keeping the chicken skin at bay, but this stuff is on a whole different level! i apply it at night before bed, and wake up with smooth, silky arms! never in my life have i had smooth, silky arms. don't you love it when your old favorite is discontinued, only to find a new, better favorite? i do now.


yeah, i know, this is supposed to be a face cream. have i tried it on my face? yup, every night. has it made a noticeable difference in my skin? i think so. i don't really see any flakes on my face by the end of the day anymore (unless i use an acne spot treatment, which is a whole different story). so am i happy with this stuff? yes! will i take it with me on all of my little trips this summer? yes! will i cry if i can't find anymore? most definitely YES!

exciting beauty news: i have a new fancy gismo!

sorry i've been MIA lately. i've been busy with, you know, graduating from colllege!!! woooo~!

in celebration of my being awesome, my husband bought me a ridiculously awesome present:

a clarisonic!! how excited am i? very. i've never even said i really wanted one. he just did some research and thought this sounded like something i would like. what a good husband :P haha. he even bought the brand-new yellow clarisonic mia and had it engraved for me! i guess he really wants me to stay pretty, huh? ha.

daniel's pretty cute, huh?

i always imagined the brush to be kind of stiff to get all that crap out your pores, but it's surprisingly soft!

the box i keep it in, with a trial-size clarisonic cleanser and a replacement brush head. oh yeah, it also came with a full-size (big!) cleanser called gentle hydro cleanser, which is pretty cool. it retails on its own for $25 online :S. eep.

my clarisonic box, heehee

well, i've been using this for about a week and a half so far, only at night. has it made a big difference? definitely! i guess from the stress of trying to get all my schoolwork done, my face went crazy a few weeks ago. i've never broken out that bad in my entire life, not even during puberty. i had several big pimples, plus the delightful mt. vesuvius on my chin. nice for all those grad pictures, huh? thankfully, i did a good job of concealing all of it. but still! having tons of zits lurking under your makeup does nothing for anyone's self-esteem!

my little clarisonic friend has cleared all of that mess up. in just a few days. and now my face feels like velvet.... or suede.... or something that's not human skin. awesome! and i haven't broken out since. i still have some little tiny bumps (i get those all the time), so maybe when i switch from the sensitive brush head to the normal, that will clear up too? who knows. all i know is i love this guy. 

like i said, it's only been a week and half-ish, so i'll update you on any further progress. but i'm guessing that things will only get better from here.

review: st. ives green tea scrub

well, i totally caved on this the other day. i saw it at a drugstore, saw that it had green tea (i'm such a sucker for green tea anything- beverages, skin care, anything.... i did grow up in japan, after all!), and that the product itself was bright green! had to buy it.

it's a little pricier than the regular st. ives apricot scrub (a little over $5 at walmart) for a smaller amount of product. but hey, i like trying new things. is there anything worse than being stuck in a rut? i think not.

i really like it! it feels kind of weird for a scrub, but in a good way. it has smaller granules than the apricot scrub, but they aren't sharp like a microderm abrasion product. it feels more like a washcloth. just slightly rough. 

like i said, it's bright green (love!) and the smell is awesome. fresh and pretty, but not old lady at all. and it makes my face feel very smooth. but i don't really worry about using it 2x a day, because it feels gentler than the apricot scrub. i don't think it's as stripping of my skin.

i've been using it for a couple weeks now, and i think i like it. but of course, i'm fickle, so i may change my mind. in which case, i'll let you know!

DON'T try this at home: honey on your face

i read on bellasugar.com the other day that washing your face with honey is good for dry, flaky skin. they also said it was antimicrobial, so it wouldn't cause you to break out! sounds perfect, right?

ha! not even close. i felt pretty good about it at first. i mixed some honey with warm water, and rubbed it all over my face. it wasn't as sticky as i thought. and my skin felt smooth and soft. but the next day? i realized i had some honey stuck in my hair (yuck!) and tiny little bumps all over my face.

darn. i was hoping it'd be awesome.
 
BUT, i did read a tip in seventeen (hey, i was waiting in an eternal line at walmart) that you can dye your hair darker with coffee. since i'm apparently such a glutton for punishment, i might try that too.

but i think i'll wait until after graduation next week....

review: olay age defying daily renewal cleanser

well, i ran out of my st. ives scrub a while ago, and even though it's been working great for me, i decided to try something new. i was also slightly scared that i'm exfoliating my face way too much. for whatever reason, this cleanser looked appealing to me:

actually, i bought the generic "equate" version, but we don't need to get into whether we think generics are the same or not. all the ingredients are the same, so i say the generic is just as good. plus i only payed $3. woot.

you can't tell from the picture, but the label says it has small microbeads and beta-hydroxy complex. which means it will chemically exfoliate my face, and the microbeads won't be too harsh. when you pump out the cleanser, it kind of looks and feels like lotion. and it totally has an old-lady smell. but i'm not opposed to old-ladylike things (case in point: pond's dry skin cream!), so that doesn't really bother me too badly. 

i've been using this cleanser day and night for a couple weeks now, and i think i like it. nothing dramatic has happened, but i haven't broken out, i have less flakiness on my face by the end of the day, and i think it's getting rid of some red splotches. i still have some little bumps that aren't acne (i don't know what they are, but i deeply dislike them). my face just looks more.... even. yesterday i didn't even wear foundation, just some concealer. but of course, i wouldn't be me if i didn't change my mind incessantly, so now i'm craving this new facial "cleanser":

holy moly! i read some reviews about this "jane iredale magic mitt" on beauty.com, and basically you just get this mitt wet with warm water, and something about the fibers cleans your face really thoroughly! you can wash it whenever, take it on a plane, and even stop buying face wash. i'm just curious enough that i really wanna try this....

bad idea?

things i'm not supposed to do that i do anyway

1. sleep in my eye makeup
really, what is it gonna do? my eyes never get infected. i wash all the other junk off.
 

2. put q-tips in my ears

um, how else do they get clean? you just gotta be careful, that's all.

3. pick at my face
hey, you just gotta do it sometimes. this is the only item on the list that i would want to change. sometimes it leaves little red marks for a couple weeks..... yes, weeks.
 

4. use a scrub almost every day

i've tried to cut back, but my skin just never looks as good. i say, if it looks good, do it!

5. sleep on wet hair

can i help it that it looks wavier and better that way?

6. never use conditioner

when i use, my locks go as limp as an over-cooked spaghetti noodle.

7. twirl my hair.... constantly

it supposedly weakens your hair and makes it more susceptible to breakage. the good news is i don't bite my nails anymore.

there are probably more.... i'm just too braindead right now to think of any. 

weird things to put on your face

seriously, i've tried all of these and they're great when your face really needs something.


1. apirin- get rid of acne
you've probably heard of this one before- it's been passed around a lot of blogs lately. you take an aspirin tablet (which is salicylic acid in solid form), crush it up, mix with water, apply to face! let it dry, then wash it off. your face will be clearer the next day!


2. elmer's glue- get rid of blackheads on your nose!
my little sister told me about this one.... we were highly curious, so we ran to walmart, bought a butt-cheap bottle of elmer's glue, spread the smelly gunk on our (clean!) noses, waited for it to dry, and then peeled it off. weird and smelly, yes, but highly effective!


3. hand soap- moisturize your poor poor winter skin
i discovered this on my own. get a hand soap that has vitamin e or shea butter (or both!), or even that dial cranberry antioxidant stuff and use it as your facial cleanser. they usually smell good, work well, and are very very cheap. i like to use the dial white tea & vitamin e hand soap that i've posted about before.


4. body lotion- chemically exfoliate your poor poor winter skin
i've also posted about this before, but you can use a body lotion with cool ingredients (like AHAs) to seriously help your skin. these will slough off the outer layer of skin and make you look brighter over all.


5. sugar- physically exfoliate
i like to mix this with my usual cleanser to use a very very cheap exfoliator. want to know how to make it even cheaper? snag a small sugar packet from starbucks (or whatever coffee shop.... or even mcdonalds for that matter) and use that! a little bit is all you need.


6. olive oil- hard core moisturizer (or just eye cream)
after you wash your face at night, rub a little bit of olive oil all over your face (or if you're afraid you'll break out or get too greasy, just rub it under your eyes). your skin will be baby soft by morning! also, did you know that olive oil is noncomodogenic? sweet.

The world's most classic skincare routine

Which is mine. And amazingly, it's really been working for me. These are my daily products:

1. Dove Beauty Bar
2. Dickinson's Original Witch Hazel
3. Clearasil Tinted Treatment Acne Cream
4. St. Ives Apricot Scrub- Blemish & Blackhead
5. Neutrogena Ageless Intensives Eye Cream
6. Pond's Dry Skin Cream

Isn't that green little box so cute?? I got it in Japan last time I was there. I use the other compartments to hold my bobby pins, hair ties, Q-tips, and nail clippers. It has successfully kept my bathroom drawer less chaotic. That has nothing to do with my skincare routine, though. Moving on....

In the morning I wash my fave with Dove's Beauty Bar (which I've reviewed before). I really like it. It's cheaper than dirt, cleans, moisturizes, and many claim that it even prevents wrinkles (!). I guess I'll have to let you know in about 25 years about the wrinkles. Except by then there will be no such thing as a "blog." Weird.

Then I swipe witch hazel all over my face. People have been using this toner forever! I started doing this because I saw that huge bottle in the picture on sale at Walgreens for $1.50. I was interested in some kind of deep cleaner because with my extra mild, moisturizing face wash, I'm always worried that I never really get my face clean. This takes care of that. It claims to purify your pores, and lock in moisture. I think it really does that, because it's never caused any crusty spots on my face. Now, I have to confess: The first time I tried this toner (and the second, third, fourth, etc.), the smell almost made me gag. But now I don't even notice it! Weird, huh?

I use cheap-o cotton rounds from Walmart to apply it. But to save even more money, I snip them in half, because you never really use the whole cotton round. So that makes the cost almost negligible:

See? Still plenty big.

After witch hazel, I dab some Clearasil Benzoyl Peroxide acne stuff on, if I happen to have a bump forming. I usually only have like one at a time. I bought this stuff because it was on sale (I used to use the Clean and Clear kind), but I don't like it at all. Only because it's tinted, though. And it would probably help conceal a blemish if you had skin the same tone as Tyra Banks, but I am much much paler than her, so it shows up dark orange on me :S. Not cute. But I kind of blend it away with my next product....

Pond's Dry Skin Cream. Now this is a true classic. It even says "The Caring Classic" on the bottle. This is saving my skin in the winter time. Very moisturizing, and makes my skin kind of shiny, in a good way. (Hey, I said shiny, not oily!). But um, don't try this if you have oily skin. This is only for old ladies, or 21-year-olds with old lady skin, like me.

Then I apply the Neutrogena Eye Cream under my eyes. I just started using this stuff, and I really like it. It's really smooth, and it absorbs super fast! I think it's because of the specific kind of Retinol in the product (or so the package says). The Retinol is supposed to get rid of dark circles, too, which is why I bought it. I don't think I've been using it long enough to tell yet, but I think I can see a small difference. Or it's wishful thinking, we'll see.

At night, I use the Apricot Scrub. This kind has salicylic acid in it, and it keeps my bumps away. I use this at night, because by the end of the day, I usually have some flakes going on. This totally gets rid of those and makes my face smooth. I always read in magazines that you're only supposed to exfoliate your face once a week, or some beauty editor propoganda like that, but how?? I tried to cut back a couple of times, thinking it was damaged my face or something, but my face just looked awful! So now I exfoliate every night. Hey, whatever works, right? Your skin cells turn over while you sleep, so when I wake up, my skin is still smooth for my makeup.

Oh, and Pond's at night too.

Let me also say that all over these are super cheap! (Except for the eye cream. But like I said, I'm trying to get rid of my circles). I truly think you can find things that work for you at the drugstore and make you look beautiful, as long as you know your skin really well. Like how much moisture do you need? Which ingredients are you sensitive to? Figure it out, then find some cheap, reliable products to help your skin's particular issues.