Tuesday, April 2, 2013

My Morning/Night Routine Featuring Olay Fresh Effects


So I've been planning on doing this blog for literally a month now. And I am so happy that I've finally gotten the time to actually sit down and write this. I can't believe its taken me a month to get this all together but one of the reasons why it took me so long was that I changed some things in my routine and I wanted to make sure that there were no bad effects from them. I am happy to say that I have never loved my day/night routine more than I love it now. So let's get this blog started shall we? I will also be including prices and such information about each product and where I buy them.

Okay this is the first product I use during my night routine. I only use this at night because it just works better that way for me. But you can use it anytime. This is an Apricot Scrub and I use it nightly when I take a shower. I use this in the shower cause it tends to be a bit messy when rinsing it off and I prefer it not to get on my clothes. I use only a pea sized amount and I work it into my face for about 5-7 minutes. This is an off brand of the St. Ives Apricot Scrub that I buy from a local store, Dollar General. Now I have tried both of them and to be completely honest I really can't tell a difference. They both do the same thing and both do a great job. I love that it is oil-free, cause my skin itself is oily enough so it doesn't need any help with oils. :) The product itself is sort of thick and contains small beads that get down deep into the skin to not only get rid of the dirt but the oil as well. The price of this also makes me love the product even more. While the St. Ives Apricot Scrub cost about $4-$5, I pay $2.50 for this product at my local Dollar General. So if anyone uses, or has thought about using, an Apricot Scrub then I highly recommend this one. It really does work fantastic and plus it comes at such a cheap price. Also I should mention that its not just a facial scrub but it can also be used as a body scrub. But I prefer to use it solely for a facial scrub myself.

Next, I use my Crest 3D White Arctic Fresh Toothpaste and of course I use this in both my day and night routine. I usually brush my teeth for about 2-5 minutes every day and every night. Gotta keep those teeth clean. :) I prefer this 3D White toothpaste in comparison to the others because it does not have an overpowering mint flavor to it. The others that I have tried were too strong for me to handle so I was very happy when Crest came out with this one and even more happy that it was not as strong as the others have been. It still does the same wonderful job of whitening my teeth to a shine and getting rid of stains that I used to only been able to get rid of when I went to the dentist. And another thing that I love is that even though it is a whitening toothpaste, it is completely safe for enamel and will not damage it at all. When I purchase this toothpaste, I purchase it from Target in the twin-pack that runs a little over $5. I find this not only saves me money but also cuts down on my trips back and forth to Target which saves me on gas usage.

This is one the newest products that I have recently began using about a month ago. This is the Crest Pro-Health Complete Mouthwash. I use this product every morning and night for about 1 to 3 minutes. Now, I used to use the Listerine mouthwash as it was the easiest one that I could get to at the time but I found that I did not like it at all. It was WAY to strong for me. I mentioned it to a friend of mine and she suggest this as her dentist suggested it to her. And I found that I loved it. It has Fluoride and is alcohol free, which means that it doesn't have that harsh burn that many mouthwashes do. Now I know that I have some of you wondering why I use the 3D White Toothpaste but I don't use the 3D White Mouthwash. The answer is very simple...the price. I simply cannot afford the 3D White Mouthwash as I admit I am kinda frugal with my money and I don't feel that I need to spend $7-$8 on mouthwash. This mouthwash works wonderfully and has 6 benefits to using this. The benefits are: rebuilds teeth enamel, helps prevent cavities, cleans teeth and gums, kills bad breath germs, freshens breath and no burn of alcohol. I purchase this product at Target as well and it costs me about $3-$4, it depends on if there is a sale or if I have a coupon for it.

Now this product, oh this wonderful product. This I got for free from Influenster in the SweetHeart VoxBox and I literally want to hug not only Influenster but also Olay themselves. This product started out as just a morning routine product but it quickly worked its way into my night routine as well. My skin is very sensitive that I thought I would have negative effects from introducing this product to my routine but I am happy to say that my skin absolutely LOVES this product. I literally have not felt my face feel this smooth, clean and so oil-free since I was a child. I get so many compliments about how my skin looks now from my family all the time now. They tell me that my skin now has such a healthy glow to it that it just brightens their day. The cleanser itself can be used alone but I use it with the power brush. The brush itself is triangle which works wonders for using around the nose area and the T-zone. As I said, I use this every morning and night now, especially now since I live in the south and its starting to get a lot warmer during the day. I place the cleanser, which I use the Shine Shine Go Away Cleanser, directly onto the brush after I wet both the brush and my face thoroughly. Oh I should mention that I use luke-warm water so that my pores become open for a much deeper cleanse. I then turn on the brush, as it does vibrate which helps to cleanse then skin on an even deeper level. I start first by working the cleanser into my T-zone and then working in circular motions I work it all over my face. I keep doing this for about 5-10 minutes. I literally love doing this part of my routine and one day I found that I had been doing it for about 20 minutes it felt so good. It really is one of the best products that I have used in a long time and I am happy to say that I will be continuing using this product in the long run. I did not have to purchase the cleansing power brush but I did do a bit of research on where it can be found. And since the brush itself comes with a 20 mL tube of this cleanser, which I used up so I had to go out and purchase a full sized one. I found this system at Target for the best price. The whole system, which is the brush and the 20 mL tube of the cleanser, keep in mind that they make different cleansers as well as a BB Cream, will cost about $13, which is not bad at all. The full size of the cleanser, which is 150 mL; which is a lot of product costs about $6. Which compared to other facial cleansers is not bad at all. I highly recommend this product and I give many kudos to Olay for coming out with this product. I just have one thing to ask of Olay. Can you guys come out with a travel-sized tube of the cleanser? Basically the one that comes with the whole system but is sold by itself. That would be totally awesome cause that way, instead of taking the full cleanser on trips and vacations; one can take the travel-sized one. And if they already have a travel-sized one, then please can someone let me know where I can find it! Thanks! Also as a side-note, I think that the whole cleansing system would make a great gift for any occasion, whether it be Christmas, Birthdays, etc. For example, my sister is graduating high school next month and I'm going to get her the cleansing system to take with her when she goes to college to live in the dorms. So I mean they really do make great gifts.

The next product that I use, but I should mention that I use this before I do the Olay Fresh Effects is the Simple Cleansing Facial Wipes from Simple. I love Simple products and these facial wipes are by far my favorite. I use these nightly after a long day and they are just a way to just let my skin relax and cool down after a stressful day. The wipes themselves are not rough at all but are very smooth and soft to the touch. Another reason why I love Simple products is that there is no chemical smell to them at all, which my skin is so sensitive that it hates anything with harsh chemicals in it. ((Not the Olay Fresh Effects System though. My skin LOVES it)) I just wipe my face down with this before I use my Olay Fresh Effects System for a deeper clean. I get this product from Target or Wal-Mart, depending on which one I find it at first as they tend to get sold out quickly. The price for this runs about $4-$5 which is not bad as you get 25 wipes. And since I use mine once a day, mine lasts me about a month.

 The next products I use are all by Simple, cause as I said my skin is very sensitive and these work really well for me. I use the Simple Revitalizing Eye Roll On every morning and night, in order to treat my dark under eyes. Yes, I am cursed with the same dark under eyes that many of us women suffer from. I must say though, that this product has helped my lighten them up over the past few months that I have been using it. I am very satisfied with this product and while it does cost around $10 at Wal-Mart and Target it is well worth the price to me. Cause you don't need to use a lot of product in order for it to work for you. Next in the Simple line that I use is the Vital Vitamin Day Cream SPF 15. Now this product runs about $10 at Wal-Mart and Target as well but let me tell you a little of this goes a long way. I don't use that much at all when I use it in the mornings. I literally just quickly dab my finger on the top of the cream and that is all the product I need. It covers my entire face and my neck perfectly and smoothly. It does not make my face feel oily or make it shiny at all. I also use the Simple Vital Vitamin Night Cream as well before I go to bed. Now this is the exact same price as the day cream and it goes a long way as well. It really doesn't take much at all for it to get the job done and I know for a fact that my skin is loving this just as much as the Fresh Effects. I should mention that I use both creams after I have used the Fresh Effects cause my pores are still open so it allows the product to work better.

And the last two products that I use are from LUSH. They are the Sweet Lips Lip Scrub and the None of Your Beeswax Vegan Lip Balm. Now I have never tried LUSH products until last December when I was in New Orleans for a few days. This is mostly due to the fact that the LUSH I went to was literally the closest one to me. But I am so glad that I found these products. The Sweet Lips Lip Scrub is just amazing and tastes like chocolate. It helps gets rid of my chapped lips, so I use this every morning and night. Now I will admit that the price itself is a bit pricey, $10. Which I must admit almost put me off of this product cause it is such a small container but it really is worth it. The product itself lasts about a year and since I use it twice a day I am pretty sure that I can use this product in a year. Now onto the None of Your Beeswax Vegan Lip Balm. Now they do have different flavors and some that are tinted as well but I preferred this one myself as it seemed to be the most moisturizing for my lips. The cost of this product is about $8, again a bit pricey but totally worth it. As again with this product, it does last a year so you don't have to repurchase it as much. But if you use it more often than I do, which is only 2x a day you might need to repurchase it more often.

Well that's it for this blog. I hope you all enjoyed reading about my morning/night routine. I am happy to announce that I will be posting another blog within the next week or so about The Taste Specialty VoxBox that I was lucky enough to receive from Influenster. So be on the lookout for that! And thank you Influenster!








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