Skincare Favorites | Winter 2012-2013

During the winter I tried to make sure my face always has some type of moisturizer on it when going outside. I also recently decided that I need to be taking a lot better care of my face. I have always taken care of my face but it is now time to get serious about it. You only get one face for your whole life and it is the first thing people see. So I am taking the phrase, "put your best face forward" literally. Below are my favorite face products, in no particular order. Some are new favorites and some are old loves. 

Clarisonic Mia 2 | This little gem is somewhat pricey, but well worth it. I could tell a difference in my face after the first time I used it. After washing my makeup off in the shower with the face wash listed below, I used the Clarisonic with the Boscia Purifying Cleansing Gel it came with. I then followed with my normal skincare routine; toner, night-time moisturizer, eye gel. I woke up the next day to the softest my face has felt ever. My makeup went on so much smoother. I have not been using mine for long so I do not know how well they hold up but they look and feel pretty durable. If you have the extra money lying around or if you have to eat out less for a month or two (like me) I would absolutely suggest getting one for yourself. 

First Aid Beauty Detox Eye Roller | I purchased this product without having heard of this brand before. I tried the eye roller one day in Sephora on the back of my hand. My hand felt so smooth the rest of the day. So I ordered it that week off the website. (The closest Sephora to me is in Birmingham which is 45 mins - 1 hour away from me.) The Detox Eye Roller is a light clear/cloudy liquid. I love that you cannot feel it under your eyes. I love a good thick night eye cream but during the day I don't want to feel like I have anything on. I have used this product for a couple of months. I feel like it does reduce the puffiness and darkness under my eyes. Another plus is that it lasts a really long time. I am not even half way through the bottle yet. 

First Aid Beauty Anti-Redness Serum | I will buy pretty much anything with anti-redness in the name. I have always been self-conscious about my red face. I have grown out of most of my redness like my dermatologist said I would but it still shows up sometimes and so I take all of the preventative measures I can. This anti-redness moisturizer is the lightness one I have tried so far. I really like the way it feels on my skin. 

Merle Norman Nighttime Recovery Creme | This is one of those old loves. I fell in love with this product when I was 16 and working at my Aunt's Merle Norman store. The smell, texture, thickness everything is just right for a night cream. In almost 10 years of using this product there have been many nights I have forgotten or not felt like putting it on before bed and I always wake up the next morning wishing I had. My face is always smoother in the mornings after I have used this product. The smell puts me to sleep. This is my all-time favorite skincare product. 

Merle Norman Ultimate Firming Neck Cream | A couple of months ago, my Aunt and cousin were talking about a new neck cream at their store. I felt their necks and they were really soft, smooth and firm. (Yes, I touched their necks, we are a close family haha.) So of course I wanted to give the new neck cream a go. I have noticed my neck ain't what it used to be. Their shop is in Atlanta so I called and asked my Aunt to bring me a jar when she came back. This cream works wonders. My neck was smooth, firmer and softer after the first use.

Blackhead Clearing Scrub | I use this scrub in the shower. I have used all of the brands. I don't discriminate. Usually, I just buy which ever one is cheaper at the store I am at. Here are the ones I have used. Target, Walmart, Clean and Clear.

Apricot Scrub | This is another scrub I like to use in the shower. I don't like using this one every day since it is so abrasive. I rotate between this one and the one listed above. I also buy different brands. These are the ones I have used. Target, Walmart, St. Ives.

In case you were wondering...I was not paid for or given any of the above products. I paid for everything with my own money. All opinions are my own.   

TILN: Fashion Edition

I can’t remember the last time I went shopping before tonight. I was doing so good until Angela wore some cute pants that I just had to have! So I headed over to NY & Co. to try them on and they didn’t have them… So instead of the cute pants I wanted I left with 6 shirts. All of which are either blue, grey, white or black. I love flowy shirts and they weren’t lacking in the selection. They had all colors but after getting home I realized I bought all the same colors. Most everything was buy one get one 50% plus I had a $60 off coupon. I couldn’t resist. The grey sweater/cardigan didn’t get pictured but I promise it’s cute:).



Here are some things that are on my wish list!



Toms Gisele Brown Suede Ballet Flats

I have been wanting a blazer but can’t find one that I like. These would be perfect.



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I would love this dress for Mardi Gras with these shoes.



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Cutest rain boots ever!



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After work today I am going to get my hair done! Just trimmed and I am thinking low lights to darken it up a little. I can't wait. I love getting my hair done. I may not pay $30 for a mani every week but I will shell out the cash for my hair! Hopefully with me darkening it up some I won't have to go as often.

More Things I Love Now:

• Random: November 9, 2011
• App Edition: January 15, 2012

Questions:

• What piece of clothing, shoes or accessories are you loving now?
• Do you wait till what you want goes on sale and/or you have a coupon or do you splurge and just buy it?

TILN: App Edition

Here are some iPad/iPhone Apps I have been using that I absolutely love. They are in no particular order.



1. Evernote –  It is perfect for keeping lists for every aspect of your life. My favorite part is you can add check boxes. There is nothing like the feeling I get when checking things off my to do list!

2. Contacts to Excel – A friend told me about this one. I needed to transfer all of my contacts off of my iPad onto my non-mac laptop. He suggested this app and it worked great. You can use the lite version for free but it will only let you transfer 100 contacts. The paid version is only $0.99 and you can transfer an unlimited amount of contacts.



3. Bible – This app does not only give you the entire Bible at your fingertips, it has 27 translations in English, a lot of other languages to choose from, audio Bible, 200+ reading plans and devotionals. You can login to this app on your iPad or iPhone and pick up where you left off reading on a different device. 



4. Pinterest – This one is a no brainer. I am sure everyone knows about this app. You can follow me here:  http://pinterest.com/bray87/



5. Bejeweled 2 – Trey downloaded this for me on my iPad. I love this game.



6. Words With Friends – This is my all time favorite game on my phone! My username is BrittRay87. I would love to play a game with you!



7. Fandango – This is my favorite way to look up movie times. You can store your favorite theaters and watch movie trailers from this app.



8. Instagram – I love looking at pictures. The effects you can use on pictures are really neat and can make a bad photo look good. Feel free to follow me if you’d like. My username is @brittray



9. Kindle – In a perfect world I would have all of my ebooks stored in one location on my iPad, preferably iBooks. I am a neat freak and like everything organized and in one place. Unfortunately, not all books are available on every ebook app. The Hunger Games trilogy in particular is not available on iBooks but are available on the Kindle app. They are cheaper too. 



10. urbanspoon – I like this app to look up nearby restaurants or restaurants in specific locations. I like that you can read others reviews and see menus for most restaurants. You can read my reviews on urbanspoon here.

*Click on photos for source


Another TILN Post:

• Random: November 9, 2011

Question:

• What apps are you loving now?

Obsessed with Planning

With this year coming to an end I am sure everyone is looking for a new planner/calendar for the new year. I, however, bought one during the summer so I am not allowed to buy a new one. For a long time I would go through 3 – 4 planners a year. I won’t let myself by a new one anymore after I purchase the first one. But that doesn’t mean I can’t look right? I mean you carry this thing around with you for a whole year or longer. You have to find one you love.

Here are the planners I am in love with. I would buy all of them if I had more than one person’s life to plan….

1. Gallery Leather Desk Planner



First is my Gallery Leather planner that I will be using. I love the pages of maps in the back. For me to day dream of all the places I want to go one day. This calendar goes from July 2011 – June 2013. It is the perfect size to fit in your purse but not too small so you can still read it.

2. Erin Condren’s Life Planner

This is one of the many designs and you can personalize it.



3. Sarah Pinto

These planners are cute and for a great cause. Read Sarah’s story here. 

4.  Jonathon Adler

I love all of the patterns and bright colors.



5. Letter C Designs


I love the girly pastels. So pretty!

Ok I must start on my to do list for today and stop googling planners. I have to finish cleaning up after the party (post to come about this) and get ready for an afternoon wedding today!

Happy Saturday everyone!

Questions:

• Do you already have a planner/agenda for the new year?

Things I Love Now

Here are some random things I am loving now that you might like too! I was going to wait and do a November Favorites but I have new favorites all of the time so I just couldn't wait.

I am not being paid for telling you about any of these products and I paid for them all with my own hard earned moolah!

1. Click Mocha All Natural - I drank one yesterday around 3pm when I was getting really tired at work. At 5 it was time to get off work and I had a ton of energy. I worked out and was still not tired. Also, it is a great snack and kept me full for a few hours. So far I really like this drink. I ordered a jar of the Vanilla Latte last night from Amazon.com (it cost less on Amazon and if you spend $25 you get free shipping).

2. P90X - I bought this program and all the equipment needed to do it a few years ago. I did it for a week or two then quit. I have started doing the workouts again and using the nutrition guide. I am not strictly following it to the T as I am sure you can see on my exercise log. It is looking pretty bad. Anyways back to why it is on my favorites list. You pick any of the disks and put it in your DVD player and you are guaranteed to be sore when it is over. Last night for instance, (on the schedule I am not strictly following) it was legs and back night. I put in the disk and it said I needed the pull up bar along with some other items. I tried to put the pull up bar I have on every door in my apartment (closets and all) all of my doors are too wide. Not sure why every door in my apartment is huge! So instead of giving up I did all of the parts of the disk that you could do without the pull up bar and I still got a great workout. How do I know you may ask? When it was over I was sweating and sore. The good kind of sore.

3. Lose It iPhone App - Easy way to keep track of how many calories you eat, how many calories you burn and your overall progress to your goal. I love the new barcode feature.

4. Birchbox - I got my first Birchbox last month. So this is only my second box to get but I have not been disappointed. I love getting samples and a "present" full of surprises each month. Also the company is very put together and honest. I was accidentally charged twice this month. I emailed them and showed them where I was charged twice and they immediately emailed me back apologizing and credited my bank account. That's what I call great customer service! Accidents happen all the time it is how a company reacts to them and fixes it that matters.

October Birchbox

November Birchbox

5. Once Upon A Time - Not much to say about this show except it is amazing and you need to watch it.

6. John Frieda Full Repair Touch-Up Flyaway Tamer - While I was at my friend Perry's house for Halloween, we were getting ready and my cowlick was acting up as always. Perry handed me this wand thing and told me to try it. It worked great. Plus it wasn't sticky like hairspray and didn't leave my hair hard.

Question:

• What are you loving right now?