First Aid Beauty Facial Radiance Pads

It's happened again. I've stumbled across a product that I have decided I can't simply live without. First Aid Beauty Facial Radiance Pads. I received a free "sample" (28 pads, a month supply!) with my most recent Beauty.com order. At first I thought they were acne treatment pads, which I don't need. Acne products dry out my skin with a quickness, so I was ready to give the pads away. Then I read the words on the container. (always recommended).

They are pads meant to brighten your skin, and leave it glowing. So I tried one out, and I am not kidding you when I say that I noticed a difference IMMEDIATELY. My skin looked brighter and cleaner and simply better.



They didn't dry my face out at all, probably because these pads are formulated without chemicals. The brightening and toning effect comes from cucumber, lemon peel, and licorice root.

The pads are meant to be used after cleansing, before any treatment or moisturizer. So I'll be using them in the morning after my cleanser and before moisturizing. The directions say to use at night too, but I don't need my face to look radiant for my pillow, so I'll be skipping that particular advice.

The retail price is $28 for 50 pads. I would use these once a day, so that works out to about 50 cents per pad. Not the cheapest, but I'll be trying to combine it with a good deal and/or waiting until a good promotion at Sephora, Ulta, or Beauty.com that involves free stuff.

Wish List

I've got my eye on some products....here's a few things that I'd like to try.

For my large pores

OK, maybe I'm obsessed with pores...

Smashbox BB cream

Lancome Eye Stuff

Philosophy Night Cream

I've been using the same blush for 3 years....time for a change?

this looks fun

My Very First Glossybox!

Recently I cancelled my MyGlam/Ipsy membership and signed up with Glossybox instead. It's more expensive ($21/month instead of $12 or $10 or whatever MyGlam was) but from what I saw on the internet, the products that Glossybox offers seemed to be more suited to me. One of the things that I didn't like about MyGlam/Ipsy was that the products seemed to be more for a party lifestyle. For a younger generation. I am 34 years old, a boring geriatric lady, I don't have a use for gold glitter nail stickers or fur-trimmed fake lashes or red lip gloss with chunky glitter in it.

The first awesome thing about the Glossybox is the box it comes in. It's sturdy and heavy duty, perfect for using for wrapping gifts or storage, even. I was getting sick of the flimsy, small cosmetic bags that the monthly MyGlam products came in. You can only have so many cosmetic bags. I was a member for a year, so I had a dozen of them stocked up.


When you open the box, the products are beautifully wrapped. I will be saving the tinsel for wrapping gifts.


Now, on to the products....the first thing we have is this Sebastian Potion 9 Styling Treatment. It's a great sized sample, 1.7 ounces. The full size is 5 ounces. "Style your hair into multiple looks with flexible hold". I am getting a haircut soon, as soon as I recover some of the money I foolishly and violently gambled away in Laughlin this past weekend...but I will probably wait to try this product until I get the haircut. I will report back.



Here we have a full size bottle of the new "Liquid Sand" OPI nail polish. I'm gonna be honest, I don't wear purple on my fingernails. Nor do I like any sort of funky texture on my fingernails. I'll do pretty much anything on my toenails, though, so I'll be sporting this on my feets.



This is Fresh Umbrian Clay Mattifying Serum. It's a tube, and it has .17 oz in it. Probably about 4 uses. I think that's plenty to decide if you like it or not. I recently found out I have large pores (I looked in the mirror one day last week and THERE THEY WERE. Then I realized that they had probably ALWAYS been there, and I was just used to them, and everyone else probably already knew about my large pores and in fact probably have had conversations about them when I leave. Like, "When is she going to realize that we could go swimming in her pores?!?) and so I think that this product will help with that. It says it controls shine, and has 24 hour antioxidant protection. (sorry about the blurry picture. Geez, it makes me dizzy.)


My favorite item in this box is the full size Tarte Natural Beauty lip gloss. I had been wanting to try this anyway, and the retail price is $21, so that paid for my box right there. The applicator is a click-brush style, just like the Stila Lipshine lip glosses, if you are familiar with those. The color is a sheer cherry color, I love it. It's a tad sticky, but I expected that as these types or lip glosses are often sticky. I am not 100% nuts about the taste..or lack of, I should say. I was hoping for a berry or mint taste. It just has a faint makeup-y smell/taste to it. This is supposed to be pretty moisturizing, which is cool. It's also super natural if you care about that kind of thing. I don't. Bring on the chemicals, is what I say.


Now we have a vial of Narciso Rodriquez For Her perfume. I was actually already familiar with this perfume and I like it, so I was happy to have a travel size now. When I saw this little box, I thought that it would be bigger than a vial. I got tricked, however. Just a vial.


This is a mini mascara. Lancome Sumptous Extreme Multiplying Volume mascara. I like to try new mascaras but I don't like paying for them, so this is good. It's in Extreme Black.



The last product is a packet of Le Metier de Beaute Replenishing Daily Solution moisturizer, SPF 30. I am a little bit afraid to try this because the retail of the full size (1.2 oz) is $225. What if I love it?!? How will I ever live without it?? (picture above, with the vial of perfume)

Overall, I'm pretty happy with this box. yes, there was a packet and a vial, but the two full size products and the generous samples of the other products made up for it. I'm looking forward to getting my next Glossybox!

Sephora Smoothing Body Scrub

The last time I ordered from Sephora, I needed an item $10 or less to hit the $50 free shipping mark. I chose the Smoothing Body Scrub.



I got the Monoi scent.

The size is pretty decent, 4.7 ounces. The scrub itself is orange and the tube is also tinted orange. The scrub is pretty grainy, I wouldn't use it on my face. (you aren't supposed to, anyway. FYI. You shouldn't use a scrub on your face unless the label specifically says it's for facial use. Body scrubs are often full of oils that wouldn't be so great on your face.) It's the perfect amount of graininess for a body scrub, in my opinion. It feels like it works. The scent is lovely, it smells like tropical flowers, and just a hint remains after you wash the product off. The scrub leaves behind enough moisturizing oils so that your skin feels soft and smooth for the rest of the day.

I'll be taking this on vacation with me next week.

This was $10 and it comes in 6 different varieties. Monoi, Coconut, Lemon Verbena, Vanilla, Lagoon, and Mango.

Drugstore Finds

I picked up a few things at Walgreens last week that I'm really digging.

Green Apple Chapstick - this stuff was only a dollar. The apple flavor is light and refreshing, and the formula is much more moisturizing and much less waxy than original Chapstick. I noticed that they also had Apple Cider and Strawberry flavors.

Cover Girl TruBlend Foundation - I have been on the hunt for a new foundation for awhile now. My favorite foundation has been discontinued. (Cover Girl Whipped Foundation, in the jar. I don't know if that was it's exact name. But it was whipped, and it was in a jar, and it was awesome.) I do like Loreal True Match quite a bit, but for some reason I decided to expand my search. I tried the new Revlon Naked foundation first. I really, really wanted to like that. And to be fair, I DO like it. I love the way my skin looks when I'm wearing it. The downside is that it's really, really hard to blend. You have to be quick, and you have to be thorough with a blending sponge. It's just too work intensive for an average day. So back to the CG TruBlend, which I bought last week in my trusty Buff Beige. It's pretty nice...the formula is light and it blends easily. The coverage is medium. The label doesn't say anything about sunscreen, but since my daily moisturizer has sunscreen, that's not a concern. The color matches my skin well. I think that's why I keep going back to Cover Girl, because I KNOW that Buff Beige will work. It's a pain in the ass trying to find the right foundation color.

Cover Girl Lip Perfection Jumbo Gloss Balm - I'm all about the giant chunky lip pencils these days. I love this because the coverage is light and sheer, therefore I can put it on without a mirror, which is important. I got a color that's a little outside my comfort zone...there doesn't appear to be a color name, it's number 245. It's a bright coral. I really like it, I wear it with a bit of blush, skin-toned eyeshadow, and mascara.


P.S. I just used my Kate Somerville "Exfolikate". I've said it before and I'll say it again, THIS SHIT IS AWESOME. There's a reason it costs about a zillion dollars, and it's because it works. My skin is all glowy and soft and awesome looking.