3-7 January 2019
Welcome back fearless readers!
This is coming to you late Monday because I have been so busy getting anything done outside dancing and eating hasn’t happened at all. I haven’t picked up to much make up this month and I felt under prepared as I hadn’t bought any fancy fun stuff to play with this month but my friend and I did go to Sephora the last weekend in December and I grabbed the Fenty diamond bomb (we will talk about that another day!) new lashes, a new lippy from Huda and more importantly some skin care.
I am admittedly *the worst* at doing skin care. I take my makeup off religiously and moisturize 2-3 times a week. I am absolutely fanatical about SPF but I don’t really have a skin care routine other than those three basic things. Like-nothing-at all. And I could stand to drink more water across the board- but who couldn’t.
So when we went to Sephora I ponied up for a skin care kit to get myself started on something I could stick with long term and that was low maintenance. And honestly this isn’t about *my* new products- because what works for me- may or may not work for you but I did want to talk about it- because YAY FOR A PLAN!
One of the ladies helped me out and I got a First Aid Beauty Kit– it includes a face wash, 28 disposable exfoliating pads and a moisturizer and the kit retails for 25$. I also got a generous sample of their 5 in 1 eye cream to try it out. All of this is a great price for full size products. The full size moisturizer is 24$ at Sephora (although it looks like Walmart carries it for about 13.49)- so for 25$ it’s a great price for all the full sized product you get! And you know I’m all about a great price.
The packaging is simple and effective- and it sort of looks like stuff you’d see in a blue/red/white first aid kit (which- you know- is kind of the point).
The kit is a 3 step process of wash, exfoliate, rinse- moisturize. I don’t use the exfoliating pads as much? Like 1 or 2 a week verses every day- I feel exfoliating daily isn’t necessary for me at this point and I don’t want to overly abuse my skin, but the pads are quiet gentle and I have been appreciating the ease of use in the shower with them- it’s not an entire extra process to exfoliate- it’s just there- I take one out and do some face circles for a mini massage and then throw it away. You could easily use these daily if you wanted- I just chose not to because I wanted to extend the life of the product and I didn’t think I needed to be scrubbing (albeit gently) every day.
The focus on this product is gentle cleaning with no harsh irritants. it’s really geared for sensitive skin, bonus- vegan and cruelty free! It has a high rating of “this made me happy and did what I wanted” and an even higher rating of “this didn’t irritate my skin.”
I’ve been using these for about almost 10 days. I wouldn’t say the difference is night and day, but my skin feels soft and hasn’t broken out at all, and doesn’t impact my make up routine with heavy moisturizers.
The face wash took me a little bit to get used to. I’m *so* used so many aggressive drying soaps- it was unusual to have such a gentle soap. I feel guilty of consumer belief in what soapy harsh products should do. Foam- tingle- do something so I feel fresh faced and sparkling. BUT- I’ve been very pleased over all as long as I remove most of my make up before I shower it works as expected.
The exfoliating pads are wonderful- soft- sort of self primed and toning- I used them post shower wash and they are just little scrubby pads- super gentle and disposable. I’ve been using them two times a week to get the last of my make up and grim off. They are NOT super aggressive. If you like a more aggressive cleaning braillo pad exfoilater- these are not for you. But I’m really hard on my body and skin and everything else- so this was a pleasant trade in from my usual “harder is better” approach. They are also not super soapy or foamy or harsh and drying. I never get out of the shower feeling like my face is dry and tight.
Final step is moisturizer! The moisturizer is- soft- that’s the best way to put it. It’s not quite as dense as some other ones I’ve used- it has a distinct slip feel that settles into the skin without being tacky or clammy like lotions usually do. So it’s fresh feeling- and I don’t mind wearing it at night or before make up in the morning. The eye cream is just a thick eye cream with no chemical “tightening” claims- it’s nice and thick and a little dab covers both eyes and it’s very cooling- not chemically but soft and relaxing. You can see the difference in thickness between my Aveeno moisturizer and the first aide beauty moisturizer.
The eye cream is the same brand 5- 1 eye cream. It has a ton of claims- but honestly I think any good eye cream that you use regularly will probably do much the same- but again- nice and soft- not aggressive or chemical.
I’ve been doing my best to drink more water and get more sleep to maximize my skin care efforts! I think my skin is softer and a bit brighter, buuuuuuut I wouldn’t say it’s a life changing difference. Ultimately more for the long term of my skin care health using gentle but consistent products will be good. So I’ll keep you posted on how I feel it goes long term and what I keep or replace.
Ultimately whatever you use will depend on your skin and your life style and your budget. the long and short of it is as long as you are using SOMETHING you’re already ahead of the game. I’m 34 years old and am just getting into skin care, so a little behind the 8 ball, but better late than never!
Hopefully this helps inspire you to jump back on your skin care routine if you had one, and if you don’t, look into getting one! As regularly performing dancers the constant application of make up and removing can be hard on your skin, taking steps to keep up with it is pretty much as essential as a good highlighter.
Till next time fearless readers!
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