CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser REVIEW!!

I personally love this cleanser. I use this morning and night unless I'm trying some new products. This is meant for dry and aged skin. This is a creamy cleanser that has a silky silicone feel to it. The key ingredients are ceramides and hyaluronic acid. The ceramides are good for the skin because it helps to repair the skins barrier. The hyaluronic acid is moisturizing. This helps moisture stay in the skin and it makes skin more plump. This also has glycerin in it which is an emollient. Emollients are good for people with dry skin because we have a lack of oil. This doesn't take my makeup off very good, so I use olive oil to take my makeup off. The packaging is great. It comes with 8 or 12 ounces of cleanser and it has a pump. This is $12. You can find this at Walmart, Ulta, target,etc. This is a drugstore product. I give this a 10/10. It is perfect for my skin.

Alpha Hydrox's Spot Light Skin Lightener Fade Cream REVIEW!!

This is the cheapest but one of the best skin lighteners out there. This has 10% glycolic acid in it along with 2% hydroquinone. This improves the skins texture and appearance as well as lightens dark spots. The glycolic acid helps to exfoliate the skin and treats deeper layers. The Hydroquinone blocks the melanin production which helps lightenen the spot. Along with the great ingredients. The air tight package helps to keep the product stable. It is a tube with a tip on the end that you screw a cap on. This is $10 and you can find it at Ulta or walgreens.

Stila's Stay All Day Foundation and Concealer REVIEW!!

Hey guys, welcome to another review. Today the review is Stila's Stay All Day Foundation and Concealer. This is a nice size foundation and its pretty interesting how they put a concealer on the top of the foundation. The packaging on this is not good. The foundation is not a pump, It had a scooper in the lid so you can get the product out and place it directly on your hand, face, palette, or brush. This came with a brush, I would rather use my own but for someone who's starting out it wouldn't be bad. That is something I don't like. I want my foundation to come in a pump. As far as the coverage goes, its a medium coverage.There are 15 shades. I tried the lightest shade in this. This foundation has a yellow undertone to it. My skin has a neutral undertone to it. This product is not super liquidy but its not so thick. This is great for people with dry skin. My skin feels tight after I use my foundation and this hasn't felt dry. This product really lasted all day. I tried it with two different face primers. It has a nice texture to it, it feels very smooth and it glides on and spreads  very nicely. This is $44. You can find this at stilacosmetics.com, sephora, and Ulta. Overall this foundation is pretty good. I would give it a 7/10. The only reason why it got a low rating was the packaging. If this was a pump one, I would give it a 9/10. The coverage is great, the feeling of it on my skin was fantastic. The fact that it comes with a concealer is terrific. I feel like this product is perfect for someone who looks to get a good value for their money. This is an excellent choice.

All about retinol

Retinol is the go to ingredient for antiaging. But what is it? Retinol is a derivative of vitamin A. Since its an antioxidant, it helps to neutralize the free radical damage in the skin. Which means you can prevent and help treat aged skin. It's a cell communicating ingredient, this means it tells the skin cells to act like newer, healthier, and younger cells. Retinol is also proven to help with acne, age spots, and wrinkles.

There are Retinoids, and tretinoids. The retinoids are the kind that you can get over the counter. You do not have to have a prescription for these. However these are not as strong as the kind that you get a prescription, so you will see results after around 4 weeks of continual use. Some people might not see a difference in their skin with the retinoids because not every over the counter retinol is a good product, alot of them are not strong enough to do anything. Tretinoids are prescription only. These are more strong, but more effective. These ones are definitely going to help with acne, age spots, and wrinkles

The biggest misconception that many people have is that retinol is an exfoliant. It does NOT exfoliate the skin. You can combine retinol, glycolic acid and vitamin c together. Using retinol by itself is not going to benefit your skin as much as a combination of different products would. One product can't change your skin, its the right products used in conjunction with one another that give the skin the best results. The best ingredients to combine with retinol is sunscreen, vitamin c, and glycolic/lactic/salicylic acid.

Some important things when buying a retinol are the packaging. The packaging of retinol has to be in a dark packaging that allows as little air as possible to enter. If you are using a jar, I recommend that you find a new product, because the air breaks down the beneficial ingredients. Another thing is to only apply retinol at night. If you apply it during the day, it becomes unstable. I recommend applying it at night and you must wear a sunscreen every day. This prevents the new cells from getting damage caused by the sun.

Boscia's Bright White Mask REVIEW!!

The fact that this product is a peeloff mask, it instantly made me want to try it. This is suppose to be a antiaging, brightening, hydrating and smoothing mask. This mask doesn't do any of that. Some people might not like the texture of this mask. It's thick, and when you peel it off it hurts. The brightening that people think there seeing is actually the titanium Dioxide. This might leave a whitish cast on the skin when it is removed, which is just temporary. There is also bitter orange extract and polyvinyl alcohol, these ingredients are common irritants for the skin. This mask has almost no ingredients that help lighten dark spots. So there really is no point of putting it on your face. Even if it did have the ingredients that lighten, it won't do much if you only use it 1-2 times a week. This mask is $35. You can get it from Sephora, or Boscia.net.
Overall I give this mask a 1/10. It gets a 1 just for the idea of a peel off mask. But everything else is a fail.

Philosophy Help Me retinol night treatment REVIEW!!

The Philosophy Help Me is a retinol treatment. The packaging of this product is good. it comes in a squeeze tube which is good for preserving the retinol and the other beneficial ingredients in it. This is also fragrance free. This is meant for people with normal to dry skin. If you have acne prone skin, I don't recommend you use this. The downside to this product is the amount of money you spend on this. There are a couple of drugstore retinols that have the same amount of retinol in it for less money. Retinol is the 11 ingredient in the list. Glycerin is the 2nd which is a good ingredient for people who need hydration. This product contains cholesterol which is why it is bad for people with oily or acneic skin. On the skin it feels like a moisturizer. In the morning my skin does feel noticeably softer. I have noticed that i get a couple if any small whiteheads the morning after. And I am not acne prone! This is not an exfoliant like many people think, this helps speed up the skins cell turnover. It tells cells to act more youthful and more plump.  This is $47. Overall, this is a good retinol for me, due to the fact I have dry skin. I have tried better, however this is a good choice.

My skincare Routine for dry skin

I personally have dry skin. Dry skin means that you lack oil. I also don't have large pores and my face feels tight if I don't moisturize it. A couple big things about a good skin regimen are moisturizing, exfoliation, and using skincare products appropriate to the skin type and condition. I don't have dehydrated skin, so my products are more directed towards the lack of oil. First lets begin with the nighttime routine.

Nighttime Routine

1. Remove makeup. I have mentioned in a previous post to use olive oil. It works great at removing makeup and dirt, as well as giving more hydration into my skin. Olive oil is very beneficial for your heath but it is also beneficial for your skin and hair. It has vitamins E and K. Some people with dark circles under there eyes might find that a vitamin K deficiency is the cause for them.

2. Cleanser. The purpose of the cleanser is to remove excess makeup, and remove dirt. The cleanser that I use is Cerave's Hydrating Cleanser. This can be found at Ulta, Walmart, and target. This is only $12.99. This has hyaluronic acid in it. Which binds moisture. This is helpful with the hydration in the skin as well as plumping the skin. This also have glycerin in it, which moisturizes the skin and makes this cleanser feel a little more of a greasy feel, but it doesn't feel greasy when you rinse it off. This cleanser also has ceramides in it which is a cell communicating ingredient. Its telling the skin to act more young, and to help with the cell turnover rate. It's fragrance free, noncomedogenic and it's not irritating.

3. Glycolic Acid. This is a chemical exfoliant, which means you let this product sit on the skin and it helps exfoliate the dead skin cells. I prefer this to manual exfoliation because this helps effect the other layers of the skin. This will help get rid of fine lines and wrinkles and it will help lighten age spots. I use Alpha Hydrox Enhanced lotion 10% Glycolic AHA. This product is pretty basic. It doesn't contain any antioxidants, but this is a good product. This is $12.99. you can find this at Ulta, or Alpha Hydrox's website.

4. Retinol. This is not an exfoliant like most people are confused with. Retinol is a cell communicating ingredient that helps the cell turnover rate. This product tells your skin to act younger, therefore making the skin cells appear more plump. I have been taking home a couple of samples from my work. The ones I like so far are: Algenist Retinol Firming and lifting serum. $98. And  Peter Thomas Roth's Retinol Fusion PM. $65. I recently bought Alpha Hydrox's Retinol ResQ. This is $14.99.

5. Moisturizer. Moisturizer is important because it helps with the hydration in your skin. If your skin is flaky then it is most likely dehydrated. I use Ceraves Facial Moisturizing Lotion PM. This is a great moisturizer. It contains hyaluronic acid, which again helps with hydration. This helps plump the skin. It also contains ceramides and niacinamide. These are great for the skin because they are cell communicating ingredients. They help the skins cell turnover rate, and they help make the cells act more younger.

6. Skin Lightener. This is important if you have age spots. I have a freckle that I absolutely hate. The skin lightener I have has 2% hydroquinone and it has 10% Glycolic acid. I use Alpha Hydrox's Spotlight Skin lightener.$10. I use this only at night and I put a dot on my spots but I don't rub it in. I find it works faster if i let it sit there rather than rubbing it. Over time you will find that the spots will seem flaky, that is suppose to happen. You should expect to see results in 4-6 weeks.

7. Vitamin E oil. this is beneficial because it is an antioxidant. Antioxidants help neutralize the free radicals found in the skin. Free Radicals are caused from sun exposure, alcohol, smoking, and pollution. The free radicals re what causes fine lines and wrinkles, age spots, and the decrease the production of collagen and elastin. I buy the biggest cheapest bottle of Vitamin E softgels. I break the softgel open and apply it on my face. sometimes I won't do this step but when i want more hydration i will use this.


My Morning Routine.

1. Cleanse. I use my Cerave Hydrating Cleanser again.

2. Moisturize. I use my Cerave facial moisturizer PM

3. Sunscreen. This is a very important product in my skincare routine. The sunscreen helps protect you from the suns rays. It has been proven that 90% of the way your skin looks is due to the sun. Only 10% comes from genetics. the reason why is the sun causes free radicals to be present in the skin. Free Radicals are what causes collagen and elastin breakdown, age spots, and fine lines and wrinkles. I use SPF 50. You should use a minimum of 30.