In My Shower At The Moment...

Today, I thought I'd give you a peek at what products are most often used in my shower. My routine is quite simple, and I tend to stick to the very basics.

Pantene Pro-V Everlasting Engs Shampoo & Conditioner* - My new favorite shampoo/conditioner combo. I know I shouldn't be using hair products that are not for colored hair, but I can help it! The smell is amazing and it makes my hair incredibly soft! And I find my hair is less greasy on the second day when I use these. Plus, you only need a small amount of shampoo for a good lather!

Aveeno Calming Body Wash - My favorite body wash... probably ever! I've been using this consistently for a few years now (switching scents here and there - I LOVE the Fig one) and it's become so important in my shower routine. First off, the smell is so soothing and calming, it honestly makes me happy! It's also quite moisturizing and it leaves my skin soft after using it. Definitely a winter staple!

Avène Cleanance Gel - I've been using this cleanser for a really long time now, and I have to say, it's one of my favorite. It does a great job a thoroughly cleaning any residue of makeup and a little goes a long way. It's a joy to use with my Clarisonic as it does foam up a bit, but not too much.

What are your shower staples?

*Disclosure: I am a #BeautyUnited blogger. As part of my affiliation with this group I receive products and special access to P&G events. The opinions on this blog are my own.

Used up in May!

A little late but here we are! I've been really trying to finish products this past month because I'll be moving in about two weeks! I don't want to drag along bottles that are half empty to the new place so I've been concentrating my efforts on the following products. 

I'm happy to say that I loved most products I've finished!

First off, I finished my bottle of Neutrogena Body Clear Body Wash. This is a go to for me as I do get a bit of body acne once in a while. This helps it stay under control. I usually use this every couple days as it doesn't smell especially good and is a bit drying. Still, I've already repurchased the grapefruit version.

The Body Shop Lychee Blossom Shower Gel has been so-so for me. I love the body wash itself, but the smell is a bit too fruity/flowery for me. It's a nice smell but I'm more into earthy, natural scents. I can't repurchase this because it has been discontinued at The Body Shop. Oh well!

I absolutely loved my Infusium 23 Color Defender Conditioner. It was amazing at detangling my hair, moisturizing it, and keeping my hair color fresh. Plus, it smells AMAZING. I seriously can't think of a better smelling conditioner - it smells fresh and lingers in the hair. Mmmm. I definitely will repurchase this conditioner in the future, but I'm currently finishing up some other bottles.

Ugh, the Avene Cold Creme Hand Cream has given me some grief. To sum up this hand cream, I think I'm just going to say simply that it sucks hard. It doesn't moisturize at all - it actually leaves my hands feeling drier than before I've applied it. Do not buy this, there are much much better hand creams out there on the market, namely, The Body Shop Almond hand cream.

I randomly picked up this EOS Vanilla Bliss Shaving Cream at Shoppers Drug Mart because it was on clearance for something like $3 and I had read about it on makeupandbeautyblog.com. I thought I'd give it a go. And guys, I am not joking, this is the best shaving cream EVER. I'm very very sensitive to shaving. Every time I shave, my skin gets very itchy and irritated. This shaving cream moisturized my legs while shaving and didn't leave mt skin irritated. I wish I could repurchase but I'm not sure my local Shoppers carries this anymore. Plus, I have a crappy shaving cream to use to up. I miss this product so much already!

Lastly, I finished my Aveda Madder Root Color Conditioner. At $18 (I think!), this isn't cheap, but for any redheads that keep losing their color, this is amazing. First off, I must say, this isn't a very good conditioner. I always use a secondary conditioner after using this to make my hair a bit softer. But the color depositing properties of this is amazing - it always leaves my hair much much redder and brighter. I love it. I wish I could find an equivalent for this on the market that is a bit cheaper but I can't seem to find anything! If I don't find anything, I will most likely repurchase this product. I think it's worth the price but I'm also open to cheaper options since this isn't particularly conditioning.

That is it! I didn't use up any makeup products sadly... but honestly, that rarely happens! Oh, the life of a beauty blogger!

Hope you all had a great weekend! 

Skincare - my new goal for the year

I readily admit that I was never one for a strict skincare regime. I have mostly used Cetaphil and Spectro Jel for the past few years and Bioderma for makeup removal. No "real" exfoliants or moisturizers, the bare minimum.

I've come to realize that my skin doesn't really bode well with the bare minimum. I therefore decided to give myself the 2012 goal of refining my skincare regime and getting rid of my problem areas on my face. They include acne, blemishes, redness around the cheeks, blackheads and bumpy skin/discoloration. It sounds like a lot but these are all things that I notice when I look very very closely at my skin. And it has begun to bother me. I also have some scars from chicken pox that I would like to see minimized.

So, this new goal has been started by Avene Diacneal. This was an idea I got from Sandra from 15 steps then a beauty blog who constantly raves about this product. It is a combination of retinol and glycolic acid which is supposed to rid your skin of acne and discolorations caused by it. I must say, this was a great product to start my regime with. I use it on my skin every few nights in order to give my skin a bit of a break from the treatment. So far, so good. My skin is much clearer (after having gone through a bit of a purge, I'm assuming from the Diacneal) and much much smoother. In two weeks and a half, I can see a big difference. It has definitely encouraged my skin's cell turnover and has helped my skin have a more unified tone - by this I mean that my dark spots from acne scarring are either gone or slowly making their way out. Even my boyfriend has said that my skin has looked clearer. However, one thing it has not cure is the redness on my cheeks. I'm not sure what this redness is stemming from but it is there and looks like a bad acne rash.

 

My next skincare goal will be to tone the redness on my cheeks. This redness doesn't seem to be rosacea or anything similar but might be from lack of moisturization. The red skin isn't bumpy and doesn't seem to have any acne associated to it. It's just patchy and red. We'll see with time but I'll try to keep my skin as moisturized as possible without being a grease ball. 

I'm looking forward to the new collections coming out soon so you can expect some reviews of that stuff. I'm specially looking forward to the OPI Spring 2012 collection. Should be exciting!