anti-aging products - cutest labrat ever

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-22-2006
anti-aging products - cutest labrat ever
23
Thu, 03-20-2008 - 9:40am

Hi!! That's right - I am the labrat.
As you know I started seeing wrinkles and had to come to terms with some. um. weight gain lately. I am at the gym and getting sore all over so I suppose that is a goog sign for things to come. I am proud of myself for getting the gym thing going and hope to lose ten pounds by summer which seems like a reasonable goal. Turns out I have already lost 2 - YAY me. And I still am eating a cookie a day - that's right, you heard me - a cookie. HA.
OK so I also had to admit to myself that I just dont take care of my skin AT ALL. Or OK hardly at all. I kind of go in spurts but in the last year most of the spurt has been, well, a big long spurt in not taking care of my skin. Anyhow, this is very bad of me and I cant afford to treat my skin like that and then complain about wrinkles unless I have some sort of previously undisclosed deal with the devil about aging, right? So I did some research and spent some money and as of today, it will all be in my apartment. I had to order some of it so I have been waiting. It will be my experiment with anti aging stuff and I was planning on sharing it with you guys because I think it might be interesting.
Keep in mind I have been doing nothing really for my skin. Just a plain old cleanser once a day, Cetaphil, and Oil of Olay moisturizer with SPF. Luckily I am a bit of a violin hermit so I dont have a lot of sun in my past but still. I see wrinkles on the forehead and around the eyes when I smile. It is disturbing. I do however naturally have good skin ( thanks Mom) and I read this article the other day about how we tend to ignore our best qualities spending our energy criticizing our least favorites instead and how that ends up giving a bad result for most of us. We should be nurturing and taking preventative care of our best features. Makes sense. So skin care was something I decided I would drop some money on and see how it goes.
Dont lose your breakfast but some of this is expensive. It took me near three weeks to buy the most expensive item because I forced myself to read up on every article or review ever written about it in the last year just to make sure. I am still not positive I am not an idiot but here is the full disclosure on what I bought
Clarisonic Skin Care Brush System
http://www.blissworld.com/category/brands/clarisonic.do?code=028904&googlekwd=clarisonic&kwid=5041597
This is supposed to be kind of the holy grail of skin care right now. It was on Oprah's Fav Things and is getting impossibly great reviews all the way around. It is kind of like those electric toothbrushes but it is for your face. It has three brushes ( delicate, sensitive and regular) two speeds ( sensitive and regular) and it beeps as you are supposed to get done with each zone on your face. It is supposed to take 2 minutes and it times it for you so you dont overdo. It has a charger and it charges for 15 hours at a time and is waterproof so you can take it to the gym or in the shower and can leave the charger at home. It reduces fine lines and wrinkles, smooths the skin surface but gently and apparently just gets your face WAY cleaner than it would ever get. You can use it with other cleansers as long as they arent abrasive or too oily. This thing got ridiculously great reviews on every site I went to. It was kind of crazy and I am looking forward to using it. it is sitting in my bathroom right now. I looked at it this morning and realized I am kind of angry at it because of how much it cost me which is ( get ready) 195. It was a tough call and most of my money went on this so it left me with less for anything else but after what I read I ended up thinking it would be a wise investment. Many of the people reviewing have been using theirs for over a year now and claim to not want to live without one.
I bought two other things from bliss labs. Love this company and I have a few things from them in the past - mostly body washes - I love their lemon sage line. They are a great company IMO and fairly reasonable.
Bliss the Youth as we know it - moisturizer $79
http://www.blissworld.com/product/skin+care/bliss+the+youth+as+we+know+it.do
Bliss Sleeping Peel Serum $60
http://www.blissworld.com/product/bliss+sleeping+peel+serum.do?search=basic&keyword=sleeping+peel&sortby=all&asc=false&page=1
So apparently if I just use my clarisonic cleanser ( came with the brush) or any mild cleanser and the brush I then do the serum and then the moistruizer and I am done.
Three steps is something I can handle so I am feeling fairly confident about it being able to do it right and will of course keep you posted as to whether or not the stuff actually works... The two products from bliss were just simply more reasonably priced than other ones with the same key antiaging ingredients and fab reviews so thats why I chose them over other stuff. I also like the fact that I can click on it buy it and have it delivered. I dont like being at a makeup counter because I think they are going to convince me into something else and it is hard for me to get them to back off!

In addition to this ( and yes, I did just play three big concerts and get paid..lol) I changed my makeup which I havent done in literally a few years. I have always used liquid foundation but I had a friend of mine raving like a lunatic about bare minerals and so I am trying that and have been for the past few days. I had to watch the video to understand how to use it but let me tell you - I LOVE THIS STUFF. I have good skin naturally and this instantly makes me look more natural than liquid makeup and it still covers my tiny imperfections and under eye - it is light and doesnt feel like powder in the least bit to me. You cannot see it on. You just look better and ( I have to say it) younger. I got a starter kit of the stuff and it was 45 dollars. Not bad considering I got the brushes, the minerals in two shades and a bronzer and a finishing mineral veil thing that makes you kind of glow in this very dewy beautiful way - plus the cd showing me how. SYB even noticed something about my complexion yesterday and mentioned it. AHA, right?

OK this is the longest post ever. I just wanted to make sure you all knew I was doing this and hopefully I can give some good info on this stuff. No need for us to ALL go broke to look good, right??

Anyone else have some products they cant live without?

Lilypie - Personal picture
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-22-2006
Thu, 03-20-2008 - 8:20pm

I didnt want SYB using my new stuff so I got him his own to head him off at the pass:) I bought him zirh products which you can find online a few weeks ago and he loves them. I have used them even years ago when I was staying at a Mercer hotel in NYC and they are fantastic. In the long run they were a bit much ( like too harsh) for me but I AM a woman after all! I still enjoyed my sample and they get great reviews.
http://www.zirh.com/?iorb=4764&0

For people who are allergic to chemicals, I would try Cetaphil. It is what my dermatologist recommended years ago when I was overly sensitive to something and broke out all over. I also used it on my son when he was a baby because he was so sensitive to everything. YOu can get cetaphil for combination and oily skin or regular. The regular is not opaque but it is creamy and feels good as you massage it on your skin. The derm guy said while I was really suffering with my breakout not even to rinse it off because it is so good it cleans without rinse. So I would just smooth it on and leave it and it cleared up my problem along with an antiinflammatory. He also put me on Retin A at one point and we used Cetaphil then too because it is so gentle. It cleans really well and wont irritate a baby's skin. Then you need a completely natural moisturizer I would guess but I am not sure which one. You might need to search that one out or maybe the ladies here will have some suggestions. In any case, I know you could use this Clarisonic with Cetaphil and it is like giving yourself a facial - you would be totally clean, pores clean and exfoliated and ready for moisturizer. Let me have the Clarisonic a few more weeks though before you lay down the dough. I want to make sure it is really as great as I suspect it might be. Like I said in my first post - no need for us to all go broke looking good!!
Hope the zirh product thing work out. Getting men to use products is rough but SYB is using them in the shower every day and they do look super manly and cool. :)

Lilypie - Personal picture
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-25-2004
Thu, 03-20-2008 - 8:38pm

I may get him the Reguvinate anti aging cream. Interesting to see the key ingredients:


Key ingredients: Ceramides, Ethlene/Acryline Acid Copolymer, Hydrolyzed Wheat Gluten, Licorice Derivatives, Rice Peptides, Soybean Protein, Tomato and Barley Extract


Since I am allergetic to many chemicals I do some home treatments once in a while like making masks for retaining elasticity.. I do use tomato juice sometime on my face and wash off after 15 minutes ( Dont say Yuck..lol) ..It makes skin feel very smooth. lol..But I cant get Biker to do this.


iVillage Member
Registered: 09-25-2004
Sat, 03-22-2008 - 8:39am

Just ordered the Zirh anti-aging kit for Biker.. 89$ But I am excited.Yay!!.


I didnt see many reviews. But what is out there says it is good.


I has agreed to try it. I just told him that since he didnt take care of his skin for many years, we can try and see if this does anything. His skin is not bad at all considering that he has done nothing for it. He is a total rough and tough guy.


Will keep you posted on before and after zirh ;-)


iVillage Member
Registered: 08-23-2006
Sat, 03-22-2008 - 10:47am
That sounds great!
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-22-2006
Sat, 03-22-2008 - 11:04am
UPDATE!
OK I have been using the Clarisonic for a few days now, twice a day and I LOVE this thing. My skin looks really different to me - more radiant and just plain younger to my eyes. It feels wonderful and my skin is very smooth afterwards. I dont see much difference in the fine lines yet but it could be that I have to use it for more than a few days. STILL dont have my new moisturizer/serum products but am hoping they arrive today. I have been just using my Olay until then and it really does sink it differently. I am still using the Bare Minerals and it is hard to tell whether my better looking skin has to do with this or the Clarisonic but I thought the Bare Minerals looked great before I bought the Clarisonic so I have to think it is now a combination. I love the mineral stuff though and am getting better at it. I am finding I have to use so little of it to get coverage so I love that part too because it looks like it is going to last a long time. I am thinking about getting the eye makeup starter too. ONe other thing I wondered is - could it be that the new brushes are contributing as well. I havent been great at keeping brushes and the ones I were using were very old. I just havent changed makeup or brushes in SO long that I think this had to make a difference. I am so pleased!
So I will keep you posted on how things progress but so far 5 stars coming from me. I guess we will know even MORE as the weeks go on....
Also, dance - I will look for your reviews. There were a lot of magazine reviews I saw. I will collect them and send your way for you to peruse when I get a break today!
Lilypie - Personal picture
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-03-2003
Sat, 03-22-2008 - 11:33am

I don't moisturize because my skin is SO oily, that I can't.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-22-2006
Sat, 03-22-2008 - 2:24pm

I cant say I have nbeen able to dodge the hype lately! Maybe I have fallen prey but really the products I chose were based on some of the reading I did and talking to some people that have been where I am right now and made good choices. I think my concentration was more on getting the dullness out of my skin and trying to find the radiance I had in pics I have from even five years ago. I definitely need to be cleaning and exfoliating more effectively and then the moisturizer ( which I need) works better and my makeup goes on better too. I concentrated on products with vitamin C and/or A and a mixture of peptides, acids to refine my skin and smooth it so that the wrinkles I HAVE are less noticable. I dont expect them to go away. I would like to hide them more effectively though. I was on Retin A for a while and my MD said all I needed at the time was to just use the Retin A and the Cetaphil and wear sunscreen. But you cant stay on Retin A forever and I guess after I went off it I stopped taking care of my skin - something I regret. I want to make sure I am getting real about being better to my body and skin in general and wearing sunscreen - I should have been doing it all along!
Hopefully I wont get dragged too deep in hype but if I do feel free to shake me!
These are two of the things I read that I could still locate on my internet history. There were several but these represent the info I kept reading. It was useful and I took it to heart in choosing what I did. Still waiting on those products though. For now, I am still just using Clarisonic with my regular stuff. I have to say that it has helped me realize how much I just wasnt cleaning my face enough or properly - I had some pretty skin hiding under there- yay:)

http://skincare.simplyantiaging.com/anti-aging-skin-care-ingredients/
http://www.skincareresourcecenter.com/anti-aging-treatment.html

Lilypie - Personal picture
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-22-2006
Sat, 03-22-2008 - 2:27pm
http://www.shavingstuff.com/archives/007205.php
http://www.smartskincare.com/reviews/product/brandidx/zirh/
http://www.askmen.com/fashion/product_guide/17_product_review.html
http://www.amazon.com/review/product/B00027S61G
Here are just a few. I dont know whether the magazine ones are as trustworthy although one would hope they are and arent getting a huge kickback from a company by reviewing them. Not sure....In any case, this was just from looking for a minute. There are many more on google if you search "zirh reviews"
Lilypie - Personal picture
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-22-2006
Sat, 03-22-2008 - 2:46pm
OKOK I was thinking - and this is drastic. But I think it is worth it. It will be good for me too in a while when I have to decide whether to buy more of these products or go in another direction. I have decided ( drum roll) to take pics of myself and post them every week. So today's pic ( and if you are squeamish maybe this pic isnt for you you know?) is of me, today, clean face to show you what we are starting with. I have had just the Clarisonic for about two days of use now. I didnt just moisturize because I figure that would be cheating. In fact I havent done anything since last night. I wanted to wait until I had a teaching break to shower and wash hair, etc. So with the exception of a splash of water this morning before I taught two violin lessons, no products. And yes, these were young children I taught from 11- 1:30 or 2. They dont care if I look like my picture!!
Anyhow, here it is....sorry if this is going overboard but it seemed like a good idea about twenty minutes ago:) We can all watch me turn into a fairy princess. Because that is what the back of the product box said would happen. HA!
Lilypie - Personal picture
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-03-2003
Sat, 03-22-2008 - 2:46pm

Whoops - that's what I get for not finishing before I click "post".


No dings to you or your choices - only to the marketing departments of the cosmetic industries for their pseudo-science tactics.


But you cant stay on Retin-A forever