Why I use retinol/retinoid treatments

Guys. I’m getting age spots on my hands. I’m getting old.

I have always looked younger than my age, whether or not I was into skincare and now I’m simply slowing the aging process with some beauty products. If in fact it works in the long run. Only time will tell. Since I’m in my thirties, I feel as if I know a lot about skincare than I ever did before. I’m forever researching the products I plan to buy to keep my skin looking youthful.

My biggest thing is, to always hydrate and drink as much water as you can in the run of a day. Water is my primary source of drink, and to keep me drinking it throughout the day, I keep 5+ water bottles in the fridge at all times. When one gets emptied, fill’er back up, place in the fridge and grab another cool one. It’s been working since we’ve moved to California. So that’s good, right?

 Philosophy is a trusted skin care brand that I keep going back to.

philosophyClearly.

I’ve been using Philosophy Retinoid pads and I have just started my second jar of it — the first one was complimentary thanks to Philosophy, but I’ve loved the product so much I bought it.

miracle workerPhilosophy Miracle Worker Anti-aging Retinoid Pads and solution:  $74USD / $98CDN

One side of the pad is more exfoliating than the other. I tend to use the rougher side on my face, and the other side the excess goes to the backs of my hands.  I was hesitant that the retinod pads would still be soaked by the end of the jar in 60 days, but they were.

philosophy with retinoid padsI use it at night after washing my face with Purity Made Simple cleanser. I apply a pad of the retinoid on right after using the cleanser before I put anything else on my skin so it’s the first thing to soak in.

This is a time in my blog-life that I wish I took before and after pictures. I didn’t know I’d enjoy the product so much. My skin feels rejuvenated, my cheeks are much less red, and I feel more comfortable wearing not a stitch of makeup, outside the house. As one should!

Benefits of using retinol/retinoid treatments:

  • To achieve radiant skin, use a product with retinoid in it as it will help get rid of any dry, dead skin cells on the surface
  • Retinoids also stimulates the skin to produce more collagen and hyaluronic acid, which prevents wrinkles or fine lines that haven’t appeared
  • Retinoid helps speed up the skin’s natural cell turnover. As it did with me, it helps fade pigmentation on the skin (my rosy cheeks)

Look at the packaging of your skin care products to make sure it has a retinoid in the product towards the beginning of the ingredient list. Over the counter, you will not receive more than 1% retinoid, as it’s pretty powerful. So look for something with 0.5% or higher of retinoid for best results.

 

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Dior Addict It-Lash Review

Dior-It-Lash-collectionI am a blogger cliché, photographing beauty products on a fur rug. Hand me some peonies, and macaroons and we’ll be set for a typical filtered instagram shot. I still think it’s beautiful, even if it’s on my $9.99 faux fur rug from Ikea.

Dior has launched the Dior Addict It-Lash collection that plays up the magic in your eyes with some bold bright colours that can easily be tamed down for an every day look. Dior-It-Line-PurpleCheck it out, I’m wearing the Dior It-Line in purple to show you how it’s done. Subtle but POW-POW it’s there. Am I right?

Pink too! Dior-It-Line-Pink

Side-by-side comparison of the two colours. (Click the images to enlarge)Dior-It-Liners

Dior-It-LineWhen I opened the packaging, I could definitely see myself stepping out of my comfort zone in playing with these fun colours. I wanted to make them work.

The It-Liners are a gel formula, which means that the colours are daring, bright, and as bold as you’d expect them to be, when swiped onto the skin. I swatched them on my hands before going for a sweaty 5km run on the treadmill, and they stayed put — of course, until after I smooshed them with my hand to see if they’d budge. Ha.

Dior-ItLash-ItLineDior Addict It-Lash has been marketed as Dior’s “do-it-all” mascara. But I have to disagree on their part. It supposedly gives both volume and length. I never seem to have a problem with mascaras since I’ve told you many times I am blessed with naturally long lashes. And, while I agree it gives a tremendous amount of length, it only gave a hint of volume. The formulation of the mascara was a little too liquidy for my liking, and is most likely prone to spider-lashes (clumping) if you’re not careful with the application. I much prefer Dior’s DiorShow mascara which has a big fat wand.

I have heard on other reviews that the It-Lash is comparable to the Benefit They’re Real mascara, as they have similar wands. I wouldn’t be able to compare those two for you, since I haven’t used the Benefit mascara.

I received the blue, pink, and black It-Lash mascara. Here’s a super close up of the blue mascara applied just at the tips of my lashes. The rest of my lashes was using one coat of Dior It-Lash in black.Dior-It-Lash-Blue-mascara

I also received some pretty fantastic monoshadows from Dior. Look at those colours. As a conservative make-up wearer, I’d either apply this with a small eye liner brush just above the lashes as a powder eye liner, or a smidge of colour in the crease to give a bit of a wow-effect. Dior-It-Lash-eyeshadows

And the swatches, can’t forget the swatches. Dior-Monoshadow-swatches

The Dior Addict It-Line ($32CDN / $31USD) and Dior Addict It-Lash mascara ($32CDN / $26USD) are all available in four colours: black, blue, purple, and pink. Then the Dior Mono eyeshadow ($32CDN / $29USD), is available in yellow, pink, purple and khol (black). This collection is now available at Dior counters nationwide and thebay.com

Dior-It-Lash-collectionDoes anything pique your interest? Thinking of picking up any of the items I showed today?

Disclaimer: The Dior Addict line was sent to me by the PR team. I never do paid posts/ads in exchange for product review. That is not honest. Opinions are my own, I’d like to keep it that way, since I like tellin’ ya how it is. I know not everyone can afford luxury beauty products, such as Dior. Perhaps you can splurge on one or two products from their collection if you enjoy the photos and swatches of what I have to say. I am lucky enough to work with Dior’s PR. As you know, I only work with companies who I 100% believe in. My opinion is never biased towards a brand, and always my own.

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