Month: May 2017

The skinny, well sticky, on blackheads…

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If you are on social media you surely have seen several new wild tools or masks to pull out those pesky blackheads and clear pores.  If you wear makeup, you know the struggle.  Those icky little holes just full of yucky dirt, oil, makeup and typical grossness are a thorn in our sides, or actually our noses!  So it’s completely natural to be drawn to the magical devices and products promising to pull them right out!  It’s like a train wreck, you don’t want to see it, but you can’t look away!  You need to know if your eyes deceive you and you want to get the skinny on the situation.  And like so many of us, you may be quick to pull out that credit card and grab yourself the newest trend in hopes it works like they say.  While some products are fabulous and worth the money, not all are.  And unfortunately in this day and age, it’s easy to buy counterfeit products that may end up doing more harm than good.  Some even won’t have any ingredients listed upon arrival.  Little word of advice, if you don’t know what’s in it, maybe don’t put it somewhere like your most exposed area of skin and that which makes you familiar to others.  There is also the horror stories of paying for something on a site that shows up on your FB news feed only later to realize your card was overcharged and you never get anything!

I tend to lean more toward wrinkle eradication for my skincare needs.  But since we have a product that claims to pull out blackheads, I felt like I needed to take it for a test drive and see if it was worth recommending since you can get it from a reputable company and even connect with a real representative about it before making a purchase.  The Clearskin Professional Liquid Extraction Strip arrived in my last order for this research.

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I knew from the reading I did this was not a black mask for the full face, but a sticky looking substance you rub mostly on the T zone and chin.  The consistency was much like glue and definitely sticky.

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The instructions indicated to rub some down either side of your nose onto your cheek to create a tab to pull when it was completely dry.  I will say an even application of the sticky goo is important for the drying!  I rubbed it on and then got on FB to pass the time, a little over 20 minutes as I got trapped in the FB rabbit hole!  I also got interrogated by a five year old and a ten year old as to what in the world was shining on my face.  I tried to explain, but the dead stares of the little berries lead me to believe they either didn’t get it, or didn’t really care.

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When I realized the 20 minutes was up, I headed back to the bathroom and lifted the tab on one side of my nose and slowly pulled the strip off.  It wasn’t painful, but obviously was clinging to the skin.  I didn’t have any tears or flinching, but I wouldn’t recommended ripping it off like a band-aide.  When I looked I closely at the strip I was excited, and a little grossed out, to see little sticky-icky blackheads standing up at me!  Eureka!  IT WORKED!

So, for the $9, minus my discount, plus about 25 minutes of my life, I cleaned out the icky little holes just full of yucky dirt, oil, makeup and typical grossness!  When you’re a grown woman, it’s the little things that excite you!  Now, I don’t have much of an acne issue and love the Anew line, but if you want to check this product out or any of the Clearskin line if acne or extreme oil is a personal woe, click here to browse!  Don’t forget, online shoppers can use the one-time code WELCOME10 for a 10% discount!  For an even better discount, click here to pay the one-time membership fee of only $25 and enjoy even more savings!

Schools out for summer!

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The school year is officially over for the little Berries!  The past few weeks were so hectic and full of activity I feel like I haven’t sat down until today!! Today marks the official first day of my first summer vacation with the little Berries as a mompreneur. I have some work to do, a webinar to prep for early next week, and some mailings to send off. But, for now, I am taking full advantage of being my own boss and enjoying some fun in the sun with the kids!!  Have a safe Memorial Day and don’t forget what it’s really about!

Check out how you can enjoy days like this by clicking here!!

Ready to face the summer?

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Winter can do a number on your skin, particularly your face’s sensitive but exposed skin.  While we all hopefully were using our moisturizers in the cooler months, everyone can still do with a little TLC on their face to get it summer ready!

Dry cooler air or even the constant change from cool to warm can create uneven tone and dry patches.  That leads to dull looking skin and very poor foundation application!  If your foundation looks splotchy, uneven, or gritty it’s not the foundation, it’s your skin!  Some gentle exfoliating, treatments, and a good moisturizer can bring that summer glow out and prime skin for the warmer summer foundation shades!

First, toss out any facial cleanser that has soap in it.  Soap is drying and will strip away all the good oils on your face.  Even if you have oily skin, you don’t want to damage and dry out your skin.  The chart above shows the different cleansers we offer, but anything that is soap free will do just fine!  My favorite is the Rich Foaming Cleanser because it’s light but leaves a great clean feel with a soft fragrance that isn’t overpowering!  Click here to read the details on it!  We also have a Daily Scrub that is great for a gentle exfoliation, but I recommend that only every other day or every third day.  If you notice a lot of dry patches or unevenness, I would recommend adding the Retexturizing Peels.  This was a Redbook MVP for skincare in 2016!  The complete details are on the site, but it gives a professional-like resurfacing treatment at home and you will see a difference even on the first one!  Better, brighter tone and more even skin surface can be seen after the first treatment and only gets better as you continue using it!  This is strong, though, and does contain several acids so you do not use it daily!  If you use any acids on your facial skin, be sure to use a good moisturizer with an SPF during the day to prevent any redness or irritation.  I have switched to a lighter strength moisturizer to prep my skin for the season change since I am doing more treatments.  The Vitale Day Cream has SPF 25, is a bit less oily as it is for more youthful skin, and has a light pleasant fragrance unlike some strong skincare regimens!  I will switch back to my normal one after I finish this jar.  If you’re not sure which regimen is best for you, click here to use our Skincare Advisor to help you!  It’s a short but fun quiz!  However, I am also always happy to do a skincare consult so feel free to reach to me!  Skincare is my favorite!  I hope you find the best regimen to get your ready to face the summer!

An ending is a start to a new beginning…

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This morning my five year old daughter had her Kindergarten Graduation Ceremony.  It may have very well been the cutest thing I have ever seen!  The teacher put together a wonderful presentation and the kids stood so tall and proud stating their lines they rehearsed for a couple of weeks now and singing the songs they chose about learning.  We started in the cafeteria with the kids on stage and then moved to their classroom to enjoy some refreshments and watch a slide show the teacher had put together to highlight their wonderful first year of “Big Kid” school.  As I watched the slide show, I noticed myself in so many pictures along with all the smiling faces, and of course my favorite, my daughter’s smiling face.  As I kept watching, I began to get choked up.  Not because I was sad the year was coming to a close, but because for the first time in my children’s lives, I was there.  I was there for the field trips.  I was there to help make banners.  I was there to help decorate cookies in the class.  I was there to lend a hand to the room moms when needed.  I was there to volunteer at the school.  I was there for field day.  I was even there for my son’s Wax Museum presentation for his AIM class that he practiced so hard for.  And none of those times was I guilted about missing work or scrambling to make-up time or beg to leave an office.  None.  I was in control of my calendar, my schedule, my life.  I answered only to customers and team members and they are always so understanding and willing to work with me so that I can be the best mom and wife I can be while also meeting their needs.  So, while I am so proud of my daughter moving to her next grade level and looking forward to enjoying the same program for my son next week, I am even more excited for our first summer together with me as a nothing more than a wife, mom, and boss.

If you are tired of missing everything like I was, click here so that I may help you enjoy this amazing feeling.  I hope that every mom can enjoy this before it’s too late…

momwifeboss

 

Is Matte Where It’s At?

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I am a southern girl, Georgia Girl to be precise.  I was taught at a young age that you don’t do up your eyes and your lips at the same time unless you want to be mistaken for a “Lady of the Night…”  True story, I can’t make this stuff up!  As a blonde, I have always opted for the eye because I have short, light lashes and almost no eyebrows to speak of.  If I don’t wear mascara and color my brows a bit, I look dead!  Normally I wear just a lip balm, sometimes a little gloss, and occasionally I would apply just a tad of mauve lip stick for a hint of color, but only for business events or special occasions.

Lately, however, I couldn’t help but notice the bold lip has been everywhere.  I open a magazine, bold lip.  I log into Facebook, bold lip.  I go to a business meeting, bold lip.  Recently my company even challenged us to post a pic with a bold red lip!  Oh my!  I didn’t have any red lipstick to do the challenge which is not acceptable since I should really have a wide variety to try (luckily, we don’t have to keep inventory or make any purchases if we don’t want to).  I have dozens of eye-shadow pallets, nearly every eye liner we sell, and actively go between three different mascaras each week depending on my mood, my favorite is this one, but only three full size lip colors, all of which are extremely subtle and safe colors…

To make matters more complicated, I have never done a matte look.  Every lip color I own has a bit of shimmer or a little shine.  But, I’ve been told matte is where it’s at.  I have had several friends with repeat orders for our matte lips and swear by them.  But it’s so different, it’s flat, it’s bold!  Even on the safest of colors, the pigment is so rich they all just pop.  I knew I had to try, but I was so overwhelmed I took it to Facebook for help from those who know me and surely wouldn’t let me look like a fool!  I asked for advice and was going to go with two colors to start.  I had such an overwhelming response, I got four (our prices are awesome and I get a discount, no judging)!  Here are three of them in order:  Wild Cherry, Adoring Love, and Marvelous Mocha.

Could it be true?  Could this be where it’s at?  It’s bold, it’s flat, but yes, I think matte is where it’s at!  I was very surprised to find that everyone’s favorite on me was the boldest of them all with the Wild Cherry!  It is the most rich, bold color that has ever hit these lips!  I, of course, love the Marvelous Mocha but it’s far from a safe color!  And the best part, my lips are not dry like I expected (the richer the pigment the dryer the lip is common knowledge).  Also, I noticed that my water cup didn’t have any lip marks, I gave my daughter cheek kisses and no evidence was left on her cute face, and I even had a hint on still the next morning!  At the current sale price which you can check out here, I may just invest in a few more colors!  So, to those who were scared of the bold and the matte like I was, take the plunge and try one!  I feel like a new woman and I want every woman in America to feel this way every single day!

Fun in the sun, right?

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One of the many blessings I enjoy now that I couldn’t before in the corporate world was showing up for school functions, almost all of them!  Before, I was working 40 hours in an office if not more, then would have to jump back online once I got home.  I tried to attend school graduations and of course made it to parent teacher conferences, but not without having to figure out when I was catching up on that work!  Now, I can schedule the fun stuff, then schedule my work around it!

Today I enjoyed attending Field Day with my kindergartner.  She of course was very excited to have me there to watch her and her friends work through challenges and have some fun!  Of course, it’s outside activities and even though we had a cold snap recently, today was blistering hot!  I normally use the Expedition Aerosol for sunscreen and bug repellent, but I had some of the Gentle Breeze IR3535 Lotion with SPF 30  and the packaging is more discreet so I decided to try it out on her instead of spraying the aerosol into my hand to then rub on her face.  She would get sweaty playing that hard and while they both work well after water play and sweat, I was afraid the aerosol may run into to her little eyes.  I am very happy to report that she was out there for a little over two hours in full sun and not even a hint of pink!  And she never once complained about anything in her eyes!  I am not sure why I didn’t use this on the kids sooner!  It was very easy to apply and is just as strong as the Expedition.

Fun fact time-A study done last year proved that many sunblocks performed well below the advertised SPF, some as little as SPF 8 when labeled as SPF 50!  What??  Yeah, I read that a few times to be sure.  Here is the article from WebMD for reference.  But, Avon was one of the brands listed that held up to the promises.  Also, we are one of the only brands that has SPF and repellent together.  Check out our name drop on the CDC site for our Skin So Soft Expedition and Picardin here!  That combo of SPF and repellent not only saves you money, it saves you time and precious bag and counter space as well!  Now off I go to catch up on laundry, housework, and business!  Here’s to a long, burn and bite free summer!