No cutting edge journalism here folks - but I did find myself thinking about this little blog tonight while cleaning my face, which led me here. Honesty. That's what you get late on a Thursday night.
So it's no secret that Pink Granite posting is sparse at best these days, but the truth of the matter is that I think of something to post at some point in the day every single day. I just (lately) rarely sit down to write it all out. Sometimes that is because I am afraid that whatever idea seemed interesting in the shower is now no good, or even (gulp) too girly, too frivolous or I just happen to also be thinking about another bagillion things at the same time and it gets moved to the back burner.
Here lately I am trying to be smarter with my various commitments. So for Pink Granite that is going to mean reserving time each day to try to post something - following through on all those ideas that pop into my head, and may not seem "worth it." If people keep reading it then I'll keep writing it.
So tonight, in an effort to maintain some level of content - I give you the stuff I put on my face every night in hopes of looking 28 again. Would love to hear your recommended products in the comments area as well.
And as always, none of this is paid, perked or sponsored. I buy this stuff with my real hard-earned American dollars and hide the receipts from my husband.
Makeup Removal
Just to warn you, these makeup remover wipes from Neutrogena are probably the cheapest thing on the list but I NEVER leave town without them. I have bought boxes or travel sized packs of these in almost every major US city because I love them that much and need them when I'm traveling. I'm a wipe girl, generally in life. Household cleaning, kid cleaning, car cleaning - if there's a wipe to do the job I want it. No cotton balls in my house and these do the trick just right.
Cleanser
Around Christmas I finally got around to using a gift card to milk + honey salon that had been burning a hole in my pocket since the previous March. At the time I was using this Laura Mercier face polish that I paid a pretty penny for and saw on a blog - had to be good for my skin right? Plus it smelled great.
But my face kept breaking out in a big way and I couldn't figure out why. I was spending tons of money on skincare products for my face only to make my skin worse. Then, a lovely gal at the salon mentioned (during my facial) that I was clearly over-exfoliating. I had sensitive skin and didn't even know it. Enter CosMedix benefit clean and the foundation of all the other gunk I throw on my face has been better than ever. Clean, but not scrubbed raw by an overzealous product. It was called face polish afterall - I should have known!
Exfoliation
Cleanser switched - happy me. But after a few days it still feels good to just really scrub my face a little extra you know? So enter Rodan + Fields Microdermabrasion Paste. I'm not sure what all is in this stuff, some combination of chemicals and salt and sugar I think - but you start scrubbing with a dry face but afterwards are left with nothing but "magic town" as my sales rep calls it. BUT it doesn't dry my skin out like the old cleanser did. I haven't been using it long but so far it's a score. I use it about three times a week IN PLACE of my cleanser.
Anti-Aging
At 36 I feel like there are just some things I need and a retinol product is one of them. The jury will decide if it was worth it in about 10-15 Years. Here's the one I use, I buy it locally at Westlake Dermatology. They say don't use it if you're trying to have a kid. No worries here.
Night Cream
I can't stress enough the importance of going into a Sephora or somewhere else and testing out night creams, or talking to someone that works there about what you need. There are 539,834 on the market now and there is no way to know what may work best for your skin without help. I did that when purchasing this cream and it's been exactly what I needed. Plus, it's from some company I'd never heard of and likely wouldn't have picked up on my own in Sephora - I used to be a die hard Clinique girl. Look at me now. Belif The True Cream - Aqua Bomb. As a side note, I'm a big fan of Kiehl's products and this is a very good face cream as well.
Eye Cream
Another nice inexpensive product, CeraVe's night eye cream does the trick - I think. I assume all it is supposed to do is keep your eye area super hydrated while you sleep and it does that. Plus it doesn't smell like anything so it doesn't irritate my super-sensitive eyes. I also just purchased this one from Rodan + Fields but haven't tried it long enough to give any feedback yet. Plus it costs the same as about 5 CeraVe's so we'll see if it stays in rotation.
Lashes
Don't judge me folks, this list just keeps going.
I was super skeptical about over-the-counter lash serums as being trendy and silly. But childbearing does weird things to your body and for some reason my formerly "okay" eyelashes were now totally non-existent. So I bought Lash Boost on a pretty expensive whim - but guys I'm now hooked. You really have to use it every day but it works. I apply mine before I go to bed easy peasy and didn't see much difference until about 45 days in - and then all of a sudden these crazy long lashes just appeared from nowhere. They are real and spectacular.
So that's it friends. Just a million products that I put on my face about 5 nights a week - the other two I probably just didn't wear make up that day and figured "what's the use." And because I'm too into this stuff I'd love to know what your favorite products are!
