Hi Lovecats! I hope you had a nice Valentine’s Day and thanks to everyone who entered my Coach heart bag giveaway on Instagram! I always wish I could give away one to everyone, but I guess there can only be one winner 🤔 …I have to say that for my first Insta giveaway, I kind of liked it and maybe even preferred it to the blog giveaways using Rafflecopter, which just feel old fashioned at this point, I guess. However, it’s slightly easier going through the entries and often are far more via rafflecopter, so maybe I should do BOTH! I guess I’m just thinking out loud again… anyway, do you have a preference? Which is more fun/easier to enter, blog or Instagram?
Moving on… a few days ago I realized that I’ve been using a few new beauty products that I’m really LOVING and thought I’d share. So, if you’re looking for something to fill any of your beauty needs, maybe my little recommendations may suffice.
I have to admit that I will try any and all beauty products that are sent to me and the ones I love, I use (sometimes forever) and share… the ones I don’t, quietly sit in my cabinet until they expire and then end up in the trash, which I really don’t like (I cannot stand waste!) so often I’ll include duplicate products in my giveaways so you can try them too!
I am very loyal if the products REALLY make a difference and/or do what they claim to, if not, I’ll try the next option that might arrive in my mailbox 🙊 . I really liked the last night serum I was using by MIAGE, but when I went to re-order, it was a bit out of the range I wanted to pay and so I finally tried these two moisturizers by FARMACY that had been sitting patiently waiting for me to fall in love with and WOW, did I fall in LOVE!
Generally in a nighttime moisturizer or serum, I’m looking for something that isn’t too thick, REALLY hydrates my skin, improves my complexion, and doesn’t cause breakouts.
These two are winning right now, like seriously, and I will 100% purchase them when they are gone because they’re doing all the things I want them to and more AND they aren’t WILDLY expensive. They’re not necessarily INexpensive, but I do like their price point for what they’re offering my skin. Details below…
I use Honeymoon Glow 2-3 nights a week, alternating… Perfect for all skin types. Hyaluronic acid, along with our proprietary honey blend, deliver intense yet gentle hydration to ensure skin is never dry or over-stripped…. Resurfaces dull skin, exfoliates dead skin cells, promotes cell renewal, targets hyperpigmentation and helps reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles… Refines pores and helps visibly diminish pore size… Gently exfoliates and clarifies skin… And I feel like it does ALL of this.
On alternating nights, I use Honey Drop Light Weight Moisturizer
Honey Drop Moisturizer hydrates with honey. Pure and sourced from U.S. farms, special honey blend delivers skin-loving moisture, nourishment and antioxidants… Replenishes moisture + plumps skin… Hyaluronic acid complex (aka nature’s moisture magnet) holds up to 1,000 times its weight in water. The three molecular weights in this honey moisturizer replenish your skin’s moisture reservoir at different levels to make sure skin is plumped with hydration… Nourishes with six superfoods. Royal jelly, propolis, fermented soy and cupuaçu butter naturally lock in moisture, replenish nutrients and deliver amino acids to maintain skin’s elasticity… Golden cupuaçu butter beads from the Amazon melt into skin and disappear as they’re absorbed, releasing long-lasting hydration!
Neither have intense scents, which I love because if a moisturizer is overpowering at bedtime, I won’t be able to sleep! These absorb very quickly and feel luxurious on my face. I love the little metal spatula to apply lotion to my hand before applying on my face. It keeps from getting lotion under my nails and then magnetizes to the wooden screw-on lid. I love it! I will 100% be buying both of these products again and using for a lifetime as long as they keep producing these wonderful results (AND remain in the price point I like)!
Sometime in the middle of December my mom sent me an Insta-reel talking about all the horrifying ingredients in lip balm that might be cancer-causing and that very day I decided I was going ditch my ALL-TIME FAVORITE, Blistex Lip Medex and try to go chemical, petroleum and phenol free. I tossed a few near-empty tubs in the trash, but saved the rest, as I am the woman who has a lip balm in every nook and cranny of her house and in every jacket pocket, car console, nightstand, bathroom, coffee table… E V E R Y W H E R E. A few Christmases ago, I got 42 in my stocking. If we want to talk addictions, this is my main chick.
I have a thing about dry lips. I HATE THEM and then I lick them AND THEN THEY GET WORSE. So anyway, I did some research and bought about 6 new “safe” lip balms and hated all of them… but two. I TOLERATED TWO. This Beauty Counter Lip Conditioner and Aquaphor Lip Repair. All the others I tried leave a waxy residue I despise, create a film in my mouth I cannot stand and then make me feel like I have bad breath ON TOP OF WHICH, never do what I need them to do, which is moisturize my lips to a level I feel like I do not need to lick them to keep them MOIST. Yes, I’m yelling, it’s a problem. Anyway, I’ve been using Blistex Lip Medex since I found it to be the ONLY balm that works and now it’s been over twenty years and I got a little scared about that. And so I gave it up. And Beauty Counter’s lip conditioner has been a favorite ever since.
I will say that after about a month and half, especially deep into winter, I couldn’t take it any longer and went back to my Blistex addiction, which is also MUCH less expensive than the Beauty Counter alternative, but still, probably killing me just a tiny bit every day 🙃
The other tube, Lip Treatment by MIAGE, which I wrote about in my last favorite beauty products post, I still have and use and love. It also has ingredients that I probably shouldn’t’ be slathering on my lips but it’s dreamy and smells so good. I only use it on occasion, which is why I still have some left.
Last but certainly not least, my new favorite hair product, Amika hydro rush intense moisture leave-in conditioner.
My hair stylist and friend, Shannon has used this on my hair after my wash and before my blow dry, for probably YEARS. And I always found that for about a week, YES, AN ENTIRE WEEK, after I get my hair done, it feels silky smooth, and then my texture kind of returns and I always thought it had to do with the dying process. But recently, with what I can only imagine is a LOT of new grey hair growth, my texture has gotten even thicker and more coarse AND I get a bit of a kinky curl in the front when sleep on wet hair, which NEVER used to happen. My hair is STRAIGHT STRAIGHT STRAIGHT. Anyway, it finally occurred to me last month when I got my hair done that it might be the spray she uses and so I asked her about it and then bought it from her and WOW. It does the trick! I use it only about once a week, after I get out of the shower and towel dry my hair and flip it upside down and give it a few spritzes. I can let it air dry or blow it dry and either way, when it’s dry it is so glorious. Though… I have noticed that on the same day and day after use, my hair doesn’t hold a curl as well as it does when it’s a little dryer, aka. has more texture, which is why I don’t use it every time I wash my hair, but you certainly could if you’re looking for a smoother overall texture.
ANYWAY, those are my current favorite beauty products… what are yours? Anything amazing I have to try??? Tell me on Instagram (since I have my comments closed here).
Happy Friday Lovecats!
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Black Friday I’m In Love // A Few of My New Favorite Things…
