Valentine's Day: An Ode to Ryan Reynolds

Dear Readers,

Valentine's Day is my absolute favorite holiday. It involves pink, candy confections, and love...what more could I ask for? Ryan Reynolds even stopped by my office today and left a card. OK, my lovely co-worker left it, but it had this smoldering picture of him on the front. Delicious. Don't you just love him? I don't care who the "Sexiest Man Alive" was this year, because 2008 will always reign in my book. Unless they choose him again. I'm sure he'll get better with age. And speaking of Ryan Reynolds (who my friends know will someday realize he's meant to be with me...that doesn't stalkerish or crazy at all), I must share the following story:

Three years ago, when I was living in California, I left my house in La Jolla 6:15 a.m. (teachers work early) and walked toward the street where my car was parked. This greeted me on the back of my car.


                                         

And this was on my sunroof(yes, it's upside down because the perpetrators wanted me to be able to see it properly from inside the car):


My first thought was, "WHAT THE...?!" Then, as I more closely examined the other windows (which are not featured here because that would take an entire additional post to explain), I realized two of my best friends had played a hilarious prank on me. For the life of me though, I couldn't figure out who RR was (E stands for my full first name). I thought, "I don't even really like anyone currently..." After I had considered the initials of nearly every cute guy I knew, it dawned on my that RR stood for "Ryan Reynolds." Duh, my one true love! I didn't wash the car until the end of the day, and that's when my second favorite moment of the day occurred. The car wash attendant, as he got my information, said, "Congratulations!" I looked at him, slightly perplexed, and replied, "For what?" 

"Getting married!!"

Ah yes...

Happy Valentine's Day! 

Where I get my glow...

Hey y'all!

I often say, “If I had a $1 for every time…” Well, this applies to a lot of situations for me. One is people asking me about what skincare I use (evidently my skin is insanely soft and has a glow. . . ok, not evidently. It is. But I have a hard time bragging.), and another is for makeup recommendations. Honestly, I love playing with makeup and trying the latest skincare inventions. However, I definitely have some tried and true choices that I always go back to, regardless. Today you get to read about my top skincare picks:

CLEANSER

On the bottle it says that Peter Thomas Roth Anti-Aging Cleansing Gel is great for every skin type except sensitive. However, I have somewhat sensitive skin, and I have never experienced any irritation from it. That’s one of the many things I love about this, my favorite cleanser of all time. I’ve been using it for years, and will always keep a bottle handy. A small amount goes a long way, it smells great, and although mild, it’s surprisingly effective at lightly exfoliating and keeping my skin smooth and clear. If you do have extremely sensitive skin, check out First Aid Beauty's Face Cleanser. You can’t go wrong with their products if you have sensitive skin.

SERUM

If you’re looking for a great anti-aging serum, you’ve struck gold with MaryKay’s Timewise Repair Volu-Firm Lifting Serum. Wow. Wow! There are lot of claims on Mary Kay’s Web site about what this product can do, and based upon my experience with it, they are true. I started using this about a month and a half ago, and my fine lines/wrinkles have noticeably smoothed out. I’m only 31, so not that they are THAT bad, but I definitely have started to get the 11 lines between my eyebrows, and some light lines on my forehead. This serum literally feels like liquid velvet. I have never felt another product with this consistency. While it is somewhat pricey at $70 (I’ll give lower cost recommendations on another post), you’ll be glad you bought it.                                       

MOISTURIZER

I am intensely picky about my moisturizer. I cannot stand moisturizers that leave a film and suddenly start flaking off like dead skin when you apply foundation. Ick. Truthfully, I haven’t found a moisturizer that is THE moisturizer in my skincare hall of fame. There are several I like and continue to use, but I still find myself trying to find the perfect, do it all moisturizer. Additionally, I am a bit sensitive to sunscreen, so I don‘t like a moisturizer that has a lot of SPF in it. I’d prefer to (and do) use a separate sunscreen product. Now that I’m done with all the caveats, here is one I like: Korres Quercetin and Oak Antiageing and Antiwrinkle Day Cream SPF 4. The SPF in this is low enough that it doesn’t irritate my skin. The Sephora Web site features the fact that it’s doesn’t contain the following: parabens, sulfates, synthetic dyes, petrochemicals, phthalates, GMOs, or triclosan.

EXFOLIATOR

Here’s a warning for the next product I am about to feature: this stuff is intense! If you are not ok with a slight tingling/burning sensation, just stop reading. If you are OK with amazingly smooth, blackhead-free, baby-soft skin, then prepare to be delighted. Kate Somerville’s Exfolikate is seriously incredible. Yes, it’s incredibly expensive, but you also only need to use it once a week—at the most. Once you spread on a thin layer of the seaweed-green paste, it begins to nibble away at all the gross dead skin that’s making your face dull and lifeless. The key with this product is timing. Sephora says to leave it on for 20-30 seconds. However, a salesperson at another well-known store told me to leave it on for about 2 minutes. Because I’m brave, I have experimented. For me, 20-30 seconds was not enough. Initially though, a full 2 minutes left me a bit burned. After my skin recovered from the initial burn, I stuck with 1 minute and progressively added time. I can leave the glorious potion on for 2 minutes now with no problems—just skin that begs to be touched. Ok, that sounded a bit cheesy. But really, you’ll want to keep feeling your face!