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

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iVillage Member
Registered: 11-22-2006
Sat, 03-22-2008 - 2:52pm
No woops just responding in my bashful way - I have had the same thoughts as your post so I was mainly thinking out loud!
Um, I believe I can't stay on Retin A forever because ( and maybe I am wrong) I remember him saying it could cause birth defects if I got pregnant. Since I conceived my son ON birth control I just naturally dont feel safe using it if I am having sex regularly which AHEM, I am currently. I would like more children eventually so it would be a no brainer for me to want to continue with a pregnancy if I got pregnant. Just dont want to take the risk I guess. I know it is the same and maybe lots worse actually for Accutane.
That was a while ago though ( maybe five years) and I wasnt having sex at the time. Maybe there is new info on Retin A where it would be ok. I still have it in my cabinet ( ew?)
Lilypie - Personal picture
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Registered: 11-03-2003
Sat, 03-22-2008 - 3:54pm

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Registered: 11-22-2006
Sat, 03-22-2008 - 4:31pm
Thanks for that info. I will check into it more as you suggested but it really helps to read all of that. I have frequently made the mistake of just trusting one doctor. I mean, really - this is how I got pregnant with my DS. I had a lumpectomy and went home on antibiotics to wait on the cancer results. Was on BC and they put me on painkillers, my xh was being very nurturing and nice ( or at least on painkillers it seemed this way) and made me soup and then we ended up having sex...lol about two weeks later I was sick at the dr's thinking I had the flu and I had to be careful of such things since I was taking care of my Mom full time. They took a pregnancy test to rule it out and BAM, I was shocked. I also had a touch of the flu btw so I dont think that was morning sickness. Well the surgeon from the lumpectomy calls me up the following week as a follow up I guess and asks how I am and when I told him my GP informed me that someone should have told me to double up on birth control while on antibiotics he says " Sorry Ms. *******. To be honest with you, I have never had anyone return to activity quite so quickly" I laughed ( its a good thing I considered getting pregnant to be something I could deal with and wanted the baby!) and said " well Dr, sexual contact doesnt just happen after candlelight dinners you know" Geesh.
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