I'm Not Getting Any Younger...

Time to talk about one of my favorite things - make up!!!!! More specifically, It Cosmetics.

Let's face it, I'm not getting any younger. I'm much wiser about my skin now than I was years ago. From many years spent laying out - sans SPF - and many years in the tanning bed - all of which now make me cringe - I've got some skin damage & pre-mature wrinkles. And next to my wrinkles, there's zits. My skin isn't sure if it's 13 or 35. It's oily in most places & dry in others. So, finding products that work with my aging, yet acne prone skin, are hard to come by.

About 2 years ago, I happened upon a make up artist on Instagram by the name of Tiffany Lee Bymaster - you may know her as Coach Glitter (www.coachglitter.com). Tiffany KNOWS HER STUFF!!! 

She had posted about a product that peaked my interest. The Vitality Face Disc. It's an anti-aging matte bronzer, luminating powder and blush - all in one big compact!!! I love multi-tasking products, so I decided to make my first It Cosmetics purchase.

Vitality Face Disc

This thing is amazing!!! First, the disc itself is HUGE. The bronzer is a matte bronzer - which is fantastic for contouring. The blush is a beautiful peachy pink color that will flatter any skin tone & the luminating powder is a great highlighter. I've been using this product for 2 years now and I absolutely LOVE it. 5 out of 5 stars!

Since that first purchase, I've been starting to incorporate more and more It Cosmetics into my make up kit. First and foremost - because they're anti-aging - and I need all the help I can get in that department!!! Second - the quality of the products is so high. Rarely do I purchase a cosmetic product, use it up and then purchase the same thing again, but I've found myself doing that with the It line because the products are that good. 

Next up are a few products that came in a kit that I got off QVC last summer: Bye Bye Under Eye Anti-Aging Concealer, Vitality Lip Blush Hydrating Gloss Stain, Hello Light Anti-Aging Creme Radiance Illuminator & Your Brows But Better Brow Power Skinny Pencil.

Bye Bye Under Eye Anti-Aging Concealer - what I love about this product is that it's truly a full coverage concealer. It will cover under eye circles, acne scars, tattoos, you name it. It also stays put all day. And, it's another multi-tasking product as it can also be used as foundation. Oh yeah, and it's waterproof & sweatproof - so ideal in the humid summer weather. What I don't love about it is that it sometimes feels tacky on my skin. You know those lip glosses that feel tacky and gross on your lips & your hair gets stuck in them...sadly, this kind of reminds me of that. It never feels dry on my skin - even after setting it with powder. But when I really need the extra coverage - I break it out because it beats anything I've ever used in the coverage department. 

Bye Bye Under Eye

Vitality Lip Blush Hydrating Gloss Stain - ok, so you know that gross tacky gloss that your hair gets stuck in that I was just talking about??? This is the exact opposite!!! The Vitality Lip Blush Hydrating Gloss Stains feel amazing on your lips. It's a stain and gloss - all in one!!! Once again, packed with anti-aging properties - this is like a lip color & lip treatment all in one. In the same family are the Vitality Lip Flush Butter Glosses. They feel just as amazing on your lips - just without the stain! I'm a lip gloss junkie - I probably have hundreds. But these are always in my purse as they're my favorites!!! 

Vitality Lip Flutter Butter Gloss & Hydrating Gloss Stains

Don't adjust the color on your screen. Yes, the top gloss is blue. News Anchor Blue to be specific. The gloss goes on completely clear on your lips but it’s infused with blue micro-crystals that counteract yellow in your teeth and give you a brighter, whiter smile! It’s derived from an old news anchor secret where they used to mix blue eyeshadow with clear gloss and wore it over lipstick for a whiter looking smile on air. Below the blue Butter Gloss are the Gloss Stains (in Sweet Rose & Je Ne Sais Quoi). Don't let that light gloss on the bottom fool you. That one packs a punch!!! It's got self-adjusting color that pops up as a beautiful bright pink once you put it on. 

Hello Light Anti-Aging Creme Radiance Illuminator - ahhhhhhh - this stuff is so amazing. It's one of those products that I purchased, used it up & purchased it again. This is a fantastic product for highlighting - and it actually looks natural on. It doesn't have those huge flecks of glitter like a lot of highlighting products have. Its so creamy, it glides on easily, blends beautifully & makes your face glow in all the right places.

Hello Light Anti-Aging Creme Radiance Illuminator

Your Brows But Better Brow Power Skinny Pencil - before I critique this product, let me say this: I've never been a fan of brow pencils. I much prefer powder to define and fill in my brows. But, since this came with the kit, I gave it a try. It does go on smoother than any other pencil that I've used. It stays in place & is easy to use. However, it's supposed to be a universal taupe shade. My eyebrows are way to dark to fill in with a taupe colored pencil. So, this looks quite unnatural when I use it. Like I said - I just prefer powder to use on my brows. To each his or her own :)

Your Brows But Better Brow Power Skinny Pencil

Last fall, It Cosmetics had their friends & family discount and if you ordered, you could get 25% off of your order. I had been eyeing up the Your Skin But Better CC Cream with SPF 50+ for some time, but I was nervous to purchase it. As I've mentioned, I've got oily, acne prone skin. CC creams usually don't give me the coverage I need. Also, anytime I've used a foundation that had SPF in it, it makes me break out like a hormonal teenager. But, I'd been so impressed with their products so far, I figure now was a good time to try it - seeing as I could save some money on it. The name of this product says it all. I don't know how they do it. It's full coverage - but it doesn't look like you're wearing any foundation. It just looks like your skin. It's got staying power, too! I used to wear this when I taught TurboKick & at the end of the hour - my makeup was still in place and looked as good as it did when I started class. This is another one of those products that I've bought, used & bought again. It's so good!!!

Your Skin But Better CC Cream with SPF 50+

Celebration Foundation is up next. Coach Glitter RAVES about this product. She uses it on Chalene Johnson - which you'd think that'd be reason enough for me to up & buy it. I have never, ever had luck with powder foundation. It never looks natural on me. My friend Chelsea ended up buying this foundation. She sent me her before & after pics which totally wowed me. I still was nervous to try it, but I finally did. Once again, color me impressed! Another full coverage product - which I love!!! But this goes on differently than some of the other powder/mineral powder foundations I've used. It's not dry and talc-like. It's a powder, but goes on quite creamy. I know, I know...why do I need a powder foundation when I love the CC cream? Different product, different purpose. Some days, I only have a few minutes to get ready. Powder foundations go on in a flash & some days, that's what I need. Also, in the summer, I don't always have the best luck with liquid foundations, so I prefer something like a powder (although I've yet to try the CC cream in the summer, so we will find out how it holds up soon). Celebration Foundation is another waterproof/sweatproof product - so it will stay in place until you're ready for it to come off.

Celebration Foundation

Airbrush Blush Stain is up next! I've got this in the Rose Glow color. I love cheek stains - because of their staying power. But I'm the worlds worst blender of cheek stains for the liquid kind. It always looks like I let my kids paint on my face. This gives you the staying power of a stain, but with the application ease of a powder blush. It goes on beautifully and stays put. It's a very sheer & natural looking color that I LOVE.

Airbrush Blush Stain

Bye Bye Lid Lines - I will admit, I've used, and been happy with, another shadow primer and have used it for years with no problem. I NEED to use a shadow primer, otherwise my eyeshadow creases and doesn't last. My reason for trying this - again, I'm loving all of the anti-aging properties that the It Cosmetics have. This product lives up to it's name and helps keep your shadow looking fresh all day.

Bye Bye Lid Lines

Bye Bye Pores HD Micro Finishing Powder is the perfect setting powder and all over face finishing powder. This powder is infused with hydro collagen to smooth lines, luxurious silk for a poreless finish, and vitamin K to help reduce discoloration. It also contains anti-aging anti-oxidants Vitamins A, C, and E to help ward off free radicals throughout the day. The powder looks really white, but goes on translucent & blends easily for a perfect finish!

Bye Bye Pores HD Micro Finishing Powder

And last, but not least, the Naturally Pretty Eyeshadow Palette. I was really excited when this product came out. I currently have and LOVE the Urban Decay Naked Palette. Their shadows are insanely highly pigmented, they blend beautifully & stay on all day. It's one of the best palettes out there. However, most of the shadows in that palette are shimmery. Which, I like. But, as we age, those shimmery shades don't always look great on our eyes. Plus, I like a matte eye look, too. So, I finally broke down and got this palette. A lot of the colors in the Naturally Pretty Palette are similar in color/shade as the Naked Palette. Where this palette differs is that they're all matte colors. BUT, there's a cool "transforming pearl" shade that can be applied on top of any of the matte shades to give them a very sublte shimmer. So, it's really like you're getting 28 shades of eyeshadows in one palette. The shadows are also highly pigmented, blend easily & have staying power. 

Naturally Pretty Eyeshadow Palette

Needless to say, I've been thoroughly impressed with a majority of the It Cosmetics that I've tried. I don't work for them, I just really love their products & when I love something this much, I like to share!!! This post has been a long time in the making, but it's perfect timing if you've been thinking of trying their products. Now through April 8, 2014, you can get 25% off of your It Cosmetics purchases with their Friends & Family discount! Just type the code CELEBRATE when you checkout at www.itcosmetics.com and the discount will be applied!!!

Happy Shopping fellow It Girls!!!

Beauty Buzz - Glam Glow

For months, I've been hearing from friends & other beauty guru's on how awesome this Glam Glow mask was. I am a skin care junkie & love trying new things.

But before we get to my review, let's back up to summer of 2013. I've always had skin on the oily/acne prone side. As I'm now in my mid thirties, I'm now having to deal still with acne and now wrinkles??? My skin can't seem to decide what age it wants to be. So, yes, while I've always had acne, my skin has never been so bad that I've been embarrassed to go out in public...until last summer. IT. GOT. BAD. Really bad. And the weirdest part - it wasn't on my face...but mostly my chin & neck. In all my years dealing with acne, I've never once had any of it spread to my neck. I knew something was up. I was being diligent with washing my face, especially right after working out. I never slept in my makeup. But each week it was getting worse and worse. I spent hundreds on different skin care products trying to find something to make it go away. A few things helped a bit, but nothing made it go away completely.

I knew it wasn't my skin care routine - or lack thereof - that was causing it. So, I started looking at my diet. I thought back to when I started seeing the acne on my neck. It was May. From there, I had to figure out what did I start eating that could have caused this? I was prepping for a trip to Las Vegas for Beachbody's Coach Summit, so I knew my diet was on point. I was eating very clean and was just baffled. But then I thought a little more. I have my protein shakes every day. I've been doing that for years and never had a problem. But in the April/May timeframe, I started making them a different way. With pineapple and orange juice. Every single day. I kind of dismissed the thought thinking that there was no way a healthy food could be causing these nasty breakouts. I was wrong. Yes, pineapple is a fruit & fruit is healthy. But, blood sugar can trigger acne. This means that fruits that are loaded with fructose, a form of sugar, can elevate the glucose level in your blood thus causing pimples. Fructose can easily make the glucose in your system shoot up fast. And what's one of the fruits with the highest levels of fructose? Pineapple. And while oranges themselves are low on the GI index - meaning low sugar - orange juice is high in sugar.

So, to test my theory, I gave up making my shakes like that for 2 weeks. Low and behold, my skin started to clear up. I was excited and disappointed all at the same time. My shake, made that way, was my favorite thing I ate/drank all day. I'd have to eliminate, or at least, cut back on it. But I was excited to finally figure out what was contributing to this awful acne.

Even after basically eliminating the pineapple and orange juice, I was still having minor breakouts on my neck. Compared to how bad it was over the summer, these small breakouts were nothing...but still annoying. 

Then a few weeks ago, a friend of mine sent me a package in the mail containing a bunch of goodies - she knows how much I love makeup and skincare products. In it, a sample of Glam Glow. So, I figured I'd give it a try.

When you first put it on, it's a brownish color - kind of like mud. There are also small chunks of tea leaves in it. It does have a strong smell, but I like the smell of it. It also tingles when you put it on.

Once it starts to dry, it turns to a light green shade.

After you've left it on for 10 minutes, you're supposed to wet it slightly and massage into your skin. It's also an exfoliant, so this part is like a scrub for your face. Once I rinsed my face, I was kind of shocked at the immediate results. Every single blackhead was GONE. My pores were practically invisible (and I have very large pores). I was sold. I ordered a jar right away. I've been using it for almost 2 weeks (about 2-3 times a week) & am so impressed with the results. My acne on my neck is all but gone & the scars are finally fading. The skin on my face is smoother and my makeup looks even better on.

I give this mask a 5 out of 5 stars. It delivers on it's promises and delivers fast. If you're thinking of trying this product - GO FOR IT. It is worth every penny!