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Wednesday, August 27, 2014

My Skin Saviors


I have really gotten into taking care of my skin and just getting it in tip top shape lately. In my efforts I have started exploring the world of serums and I think I am in love. But what made me fall even more in love with them is adding an astringent to my daily routine as well. I swear that since adding a toner to my daily routine it has improved my skin dramatically. I bruise and scar like a peach so getting rid of my monthly blemishes caused by hormones is a challenge. I started out using the La Niege Serum and liked it and then felt like it plateaued after a few weeks. I never quite got the same results as when I started. 

I then decided to start using The Sea Breeze Sensitive Skin Astringent because I remember I really liked stealing it from my mom's stash when I was a teenager but never bought it for myself. I have used the regular formula and remember liking this one better because even though I do not have sensitive skin I do like how strong yet gentle this formula was compared to the other. Plus it's a really pretty blue color. Sue me. 



As soon As I started using this with the rest of my routine it made such a big difference it wasn't even funny. The dark scar on my forehead that has not budged for over 6 months started to fade and fast and to top it off my pores looked smaller. I also loved that my skin started to break out even less and not as severe as before. It just really takes off all the left over dirt and grime leftover even after washing my face. Yes, there was still dirt and buildup on my face after washing it and using a face scrub. What am I doing wrong?!! Do I really have that much dirt on my face? Am I cursed to never have really clean skin? All very good questions with no real answer. It usually takes about 5 cotton pads for both face and neck to get clean but is worth the extra time and effort. Without that layer of grime the serums had a clear highway to permeate the skin and work its magic. 

Since my discovery I have been even more into trying new serums, all of which I have yet to review here but those are posts for another time. For now I sing the praises of the miracles toner has brought me. It seriously is my new favorite re-discovery and has made strides in making my skin look pretty for once. But is there something else out there I am missing out on? It feels like there can be something more I can do to help my skin say blemish free, be rid of dark acne scars and prevent early signs of aging. As my skin evolves I will have to adapt to meet it's needs but for now, I can say I am happy with my routine. 

So how about a post on my routine? That's for another day....

XOX
Veritypretty

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Treseme Keratin Smooth Serum Review


Oh wow, look at me! I'm back from my blog hiatus which was totally unplanned and sort of unnecessary but nice to have at the same time. It's just that I had so many side projects that I had to put this whole thing on the back burner but now I have the focus to get started again. I really haven't gotten anything new except for hair products and one of hem happened to be the TRESemme Keratin Smooth Serum. Since I have been washing my hair every other day to preserve the health of my hair I notice that after I release my shower bun my ends are sort of frizzy looking. Since then I have been looking for a hair oil of some sort to tame the frizz without giving me greasy looking hair and wouldn't interact badly with my dry shampoo at the same time. 


I had passed over this product for awhile and almost passed over it again due to the Allure stamp of approval because I feel I normally get sucked into hype products that just don't work for me but at $4.99 at Target I thought it wouldn't hurt to try this. I got to try this out the next day as luck would have it and honestly I didn't expect to like it but was pleasantly surprised that I did. I had this giant poof of dry ends after my shower and greasy roots to boot and honestly don't know why I didn't just wash it and be done with my first world pain.

 I stuck it out and dry shampooed my roots then prayed I wouldn't get any funky mix of serum/powder film at the ends of my hair. My hair almost instantly became tamed and like I just had freshly washed and dried hair. It felt lightweight and had the signature TRESemme scent going on. All TRESemme products have that scent to it but I really don't know what to describe the smell as. Just open up a bottle and see what I mean. My hair felt very smooth and shiny and just overall gave a nice healthy glow. 


I dispense two pumps, rub it between my palms, and then smooth it over the ends of my hair and add more if I need it. I have thin hair that is very straight but a lot of it so if you have thicker hair or thinner hair do however many pumps it takes to make your hair happy. Overall I was super pleased that my initial gut feeling was wrong. This has to be one of my new favorite products in my low maintenance morning routine. I will note that I didn't like using it on my wet/damp hair and prefer it on my second day ends. I feel it made my hair look a bit on the greasy because it was hard to get it absorbed into my wet hair without it looking stringy. But yes, I will be using this every time my hair needs a pick me up at the ends and if nothing changes I would definitely repurchase it because it is not only one of the best budget smoothing serums I have found but on of the best hair serums period and it really does deserve the Best of Beauty title. 

XOX
Veritypretty