My Current Skincare Routine: January 2015

One of my goals this year is to be more consistent with my skin care. Another is to work through more products, so I'd like to introduce a monthly series: "My Current Skincare." It will include two posts, and introductory post, followed my final thoughts on the products after I've used them consistently for a month. So here's my first introductory post for January! {Product sent for review/feature consideration}

Exclusive Sets and Steals from Jurlique with These Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals!

Jurlique Anti-Aging Set

 I've been a huge fan of Jurlique for a few years now, so I wanted to share Jurlique’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals (Cyber Monday is Jurlique’s biggest sale of the year!), so that y'all can see what all my fuss is about!

Fab Friday Favorites: Hand Creams! (Fall Into Beauty)

My hands have always been notoriously rough. It's just the way they are. But over time I have discovered that the right cream can make them look good and feel smooth {even if not quite soft}. Plus, regular use of hand cream is sort of important if you plan on taking pictures of pretty polishes on your nails from time to time {which I am wont to do about once a week, usually on Mondays :) }. These are a few of my tried and trues - conveniently separated into drugstore and luxury categories, plus two that I'm dying to get my hands on {particularly because I've tried other products from the brands that are just FANTASTIC}! {Products that were sent for consideration will be noted with {c/o} } 

A War of the Roses Where Everybody Wins! AKA: A Gift Guide

Fresh roses are awesome (if you're into that sort of thing), but they're pretty for a while and then they die... and leave a mess. So if you want to give the gift of roses, perhaps ponder something a bit more permanent-like skincare!

My Jurlique Skincare Routine!

I have the pleasure of trying out a lot of skin care products but Jurlique has become one of my favorite brands so far...So much so, that they are sort of my standard. It can be a bit jarring to my skin to change up routines too often, but duty calls, and I find myself swapping out products every 3 to 4 weeks. But now, instead of changing my day time AND night time routine, I just switch my night time products when I need to test something new, and my morning routine (and my skin, for the most part) stays consistent with these products from Jurlique...

5 Skin Care Tips for the Fall

Now is the perfect time to revamp your skincare regimen. After months of fun in the sun (and exposing your skin to harmful UV rays and moisture-sapping summer temps),  here are 5 tips to help prep your skin for the cooler weather ahead:

My Favorite Bedtime Story

I am a wife and a stay at home mommy to 3 daughters, aged 11, 3, and 1. The concept of “me time” (quality “me time” at least) has been nonexistent for over a year now. There was a little pocket of time when the two little ones would take a nap at the same time, while my husband was at work and my oldest daughter was still at school, but I usually used that time to get necessary housework done. By the end of the day, once everyone was clean, fed, happy, and drifting merrily off to slumberland, I was so drop dead exhausted, most days I counted myself lucky if I could muster up the energy to swipe a cleansing cloth over my face. Thus was the  extent of my skincare regimen.

But today is a new day! Yes, I’m still bone weary by the time the house falls silent and everyone else is asleep. Now I manage to stay awake to enjoy one of the best (and one of my absolute favorite) parts of the day, my “me time,” aka my Nighttime Ritual. I spend at least 30 minutes in my little bathroom, removing my makeup, cleansing my face, moisturizing my skin, and pampering my curly tresses. Sometimes I even play a little music and light a candle. It is one of the highlights of my day. It doesn’t matter how tired I am (or how many times my husband wakes up to ask me what I’m doing in there and why I am taking so long), I relish this time and have no idea what took so long for me to do this for myself. I sleep better, I am happier, and my skin looks PHENOMENAL.

The final part of my routine happens once I get back in the bed. Since my hands just spent the better part of 30 minutes immersed in water (and I wash them like 2 times during the course of the whole routine), the last thing I do before I go to sleep is put on a nice hand cream. Not just any old lotion, cream, oil, or butter-it has to be a legit hand cream (my husband has no idea why this makes a bit of difference, but it does to me). And I’m all out…

I really liked my old tube of hand cream (a marvelous concoction from Bath and Body Works), but as a beauty junkie, I love to try new things. So when I ran across this new (to me at least) brand, I had to take a closer look.

Jurlique is a brand being featured in April’s Birchbox. According to them (and experience has inclined me to take their word for it): “Not only do their skincare products feel (and smell) amazing on your skin, they also have an impressive dedication to planet earth. The eco-conscious company’s packaging is already 95 percent recyclable. And now Jurlique has pledged to reduce its energy and water consumption as well as its amount of waste to landfill by 20 percent by 2015.” Color me intrigued!

So I checked out Jurlique’s products on Birchbox’s website and found this lovely…

Jurlique Lavender Hand Cream

LAVENDER hand cream, people! What a perfect goodnight kiss!  This rich hand cream uses safflower seed oil and macadamia oil to restore moisture and protect from future dryness. Carrot root extract and aloe vera soften and soothe, while vitamin E provides antioxidant protection for the skin. It  would be the perfect addition to top off my night time ritual. 

So, what is your definition of "me time?" How do you treat yourself? Does your bedtime routine rival mine? My inquiring mind wants to know. Let me know in the comments below. Until next time...

Ciao, XxO

Q