The Search for Perfect Skin: Murad, Part 1

I was not blessed with perfect skin. Far from it, my skin is consistently broken out on my nose, chin, forehead, hairline, and even - as embarrassing as it is - my back and chest. As someone who's consumed with thoughts of what I'm wearing, I don't want to have to worry about my complexion on top of that. And, more than anything, I don't want to have to worry about having the skin of a 15 year old while I'm wearing a Celine Spring 2011 inspired outfit; the two worlds just don't mesh.

For years I've tried drugstore products that promise to leave me with clear skin in the blink of an eye, but nothing has worked. So I'm beginning the official Search for Perfect Skin. This search and report entails an overhaul of my sugar-filled diet and a revival of my long dead exercise routine, as well as investment in some high end skincare brands. The first brand I'm going with is Murad and their Acne Complex Introductory Kit:

That's about life size up there

The Murad Acne Complex Intro Kit promises a noticeably different feel in one day, a noticeably different look in three days, and completely clear skin in four weeks. They caution that skin will get worse before it gets better due to the medicine's ability to draw impurities from under the skin. Reviews online are very mixed, about half claiming that the product made their skin worse than ever and another half that it cleared their skin more than they could ever hope.

Currently I'm on day 5, and I've got some mixed reviews myself. The skin on my cheeks and chin, which is usually abnormally soft, feels rough and almost bumpy. Thankfully it doesn't look that way, but it doesn't look clear either. After the first day or so I did notice a difference in the clarity of my skin, but, as the kit promised, it has started to get worse. Small pimples (I hate that word) have begun to pop up here and there, but nothing too embarrassing. The moisturizer, which I have to use more of than the kit recommends, gives my skin a dewy glow, which I appreciate having not gone to the beach like the rest of my friends over spring break. The cleanser and gel do burn when I apply them, but I would expect as much from products containing salicylic acid. Seeing as my skin is getting worse before it gets better, I haven't found much solace in the spot treatment just yet, but we'll see as the weeks roll on.

I promise to be diligent in my skin trials and report weekly on how my skin is clearing up. This segment is really important to me, not only because I'm very personally invested in its results, but because fashion shies away from real acne. Sure, they'll tell you how to blast a break out here and there, but they never address those of us with bad skin year round and almost act as though it doesn't exist. My hope is that not only I can clear up my skin, but help find a product that works and spread the word to other fashion lovers who suffer from the same poor skin problems as me.


Image via Murad

A Very Happy Unbirthday to Me

Hey there, it's me: Katie! Remember me? I used to co-run this blog? Lightyears ago, I know, but I'm finally back from midterms, back from spring break, back from the dead. And hopefully there will be no more unannounced extended leave-of-absences from me anytime soon.

Now it's time to get down to business.

I'm a very frequent user of nail polish; sometimes I wonder whether or not my polish purchases single-handedly kept the nail polish industry afloat during the economic crisis here in the states. Nail polish is my favorite accessory, so I change up my color every two or three days. Naturally this leads me to get bored with all the reds and the pinks and the Chanel-it-colors out there and naturally this urge to find something interesting lead me to a small stroke upon first seeing Deborah Lippmann's Happy Birthday (pictured above). It's like you stuffed the following picture into a tiny glass bottle:

Renders you speechless, doesn't it?

So this afternoon when my friend Hannah pulled Happy Birthday out of her bag and placed it into my hands, I was overwhelmed with joy and also the urge to just kind of paint the stuff all over my hands (I didn't).

This stuff is seriously the greatest. It's a little messy in the picture, but it's hard not to smear when you're shaking with excitement.

Pros: The best glitter nail polish I've ever used. The colors are evenly distributed and the flakes of glitter vary in size, yielding a very cool 3D-like effect. For a glitter nail polish, this stuff dries relatively fast. A few hours after I applied my million coats it would smudge a little if I was doing any manual labor with my hands, but the glitter was easily pressed back into place. Also, I mean, just look at it and ask yourself, what's not to love?

Cons: Difficult to apply with accuracy because it's very thick from all the glitter. Also, it takes a LOT of coats to achieve the effect I got. When I say a lot I mean 6 or 7; my nails are about 1/4 an inch thicker now.

Worth it? DUH!

(Images from style.com, tumblr, and me; Ring, Nashville Flea Market)

Collide-O-Scope

Meet Sally Hansen's Collide-O-Scope Salon Effects nail polish.

If you haven't heard of Sally Hansen Salon Effects, it's basically a peel and stick nail polish kit with all sorts of great patterns and colors. I scoured every Walgreens/CVS/Rite-Aid/Walmart in the vicinity for the great leopard printed nails that I saw on Move Slightly, but after failing to find them, I settled on this Prada-esque camo print that is exactly how a nail polish baby of their Pre-Fall and Spring collections would appear.

See? SEE?!

As with everything, however, there is the good and the bad:

The Good

The colors are super bright and fun. 

The kit comes with a handy little nail file/buffer and wooden stick (technical term?) for pushing back cuticles, which makes it a lot easier to apply the "polish". 

I've gotten a million compliments on them, and I feel like I can stick to my usual wardrobe of mostly black and still look accessorized.

The Bad

They're expensive. One kit comes with a mere 16 "nails" and costs $10, so you can't even apply them more than once.

They're kind of ridiculously hard to apply. Maybe my kit was faulty, because I saw nothing but good reviews on the ease of application. Maybe I'm just bad with my hands. Either way, it took me about 35 minutes to apply those suckers and they still didn't go on very smoothly.

Some of the colors were faded before I even put them on my nails. The continuity from nail to nail isn't that great.

3 days in and my nails are already starting to chip at the tips and pucker upward at the cuticle, despite the fact that they are supposedly chip free for up to 10 days.

So all in all the bad definitely outweighs the good. That said, I can't stop staring at or thinking about my trippy camo nails, so they're at least making me happy, which is all that really counts anyway. Worth it? Not really. Will I buy them again? Probably. Like flowers, this nail kit is expensive and will expire in a week anyway. Only, unlike flowers, I get to wear this product and enjoy it everywhere I go. Hopefully I'll be able to find the leopard print next time I invest in this kit, but if not, I may have to go with the black and white houdstooth. As much as I hate that print, I've got to admit that it looks pretty badass in the pictures I found on Google.

Tobacco Vanille & Dead Sexy

Tom Ford's Private Blend perfumes have been called unconventional by many, but I think that's what makes them so appealing.  I've also never been one for really "perfume-y" scents, so the collection is perfect for me.  I've smelled all of them, just out of curiosity (thanks, Neiman's sample counter), and Tobacco Vanille was by far one of my favorites.  It's described as including notes of tobacco leaf, tonka bean, vanilla, cocoa, a fruit accord, and sweet wood sap.  Whatever's in there, it's amazing.  However, my practical side just can't allow me to splurge on the scent.  Recently, though, I discovered Dead Sexy by Tokyo Milk, and it's definitely the next best thing.  The perfume also has a strong vanilla base, and includes ebony, exotic wood, and white orchid, but is more dry than Mr. Ford's version.  I think, anyways.  I'm not exactly a perfume expert.  At any rate, while both are good, at a tenth of the price, Tokyo Milk's scent is the one that I'm backing.

images via here and here

Product Review: Kiehl's Ultra Facial Starter Kit

I do not buy expensive products because they're made by a trendy company; I pride myself on finding great deals at the Gap and saving money by shopping for groceries with my Kroger Plus card.  However, in instances where I believe that a higher price actually reflects the quality of the good, I have no problem shelling out.  Such is the case with nice leather bags, with DiorShow Mascara, and now, with Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream Starter Kit.

I wasn't overly thrilled with the cleanser.  Not that's there's anything wrong with it, but there's probably not much anyone can do to improve upon the face wash formula that's already been perfected by many companies.  However, the toner and cream blew me away.  I'm not sure whether it's because I've never used toner, or that the products just work that well, but my skin has never felt so rejuvenated and healthy.  In fact, as I sit here, almost twelve hours and one shower later, I still feel incredibly moisturized.  It's like there's a glowing barrier between my skin and the elements surrounding me, and I love it.

A small amount of each product goes a very long way, so I'm hoping that this kit lasts me a while.  If you're looking for a new skin care routine, I would definitely recommend this package to anyone out there.  Although I said I wasn't floored by the cleanser, I'm going to say to go ahead and buy the kit.  The price of a small Ultra Facial Cream alone is actually equal to its price (which includes said cream), so it's definitely worth it.

Jax

Product Review: Laura Mercier Oil-Free Tinted Moisturizer

KATIE

The holy grail of moisturizers?

It's been about a week and a half since I took the fateful trip to Sephora with my mother and ended up leaving with what I consider to be the YSL Iconic Platform Pump of makeup: Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer. Oil-free, no less. I'd been dying to own this raved-and-ranted-about moisturizer since I'd taken up an extreme interest in fashion and beauty magazines and seen good review after good review praising the powers of this skincare product. It's no Crème de la Mer, but then what real person has $130 to spare for one measly ounce of moisture? Not I. Which is why I was simply thrilled that my mother would be willing to pay the full $42 for me to moisturize my face in style every day.

Immediately upon using the product, I noticed that it was not like any moisturizer I'd expected. It's the thickest moisturizer I've ever used, and definitely has more of a foundation consistency. It also takes much more product to cover my face than I would have expected from it's relatively small tube. The color is great though, and I haven't had any blending problems so far. The Nude shade (a bit disconcerting, since the next lighter shade is Porcelain...) never looks streaky or apparent on my skin. One reviewer on Sephora's website aptly made the comment that the consistency issue could be because of the fact that the moisturizer is oil-free; probably true. With that in mind though, I would never want to switch to the oil-full(?) version.

I'll preface this part by saying that I have fairly oily skin and it's been in a bit of break-out mode lately. Over the past week and a half of using the moisturizer though, my skin has been breaking out like crazy. My chin, nose, and forehead are ridden with acne, and my entire face is surprisingly oily for a moisturizer that is oil-free. Once more, it may be my skin's fault rather than the moisturizer's, but I saw that a few reviewers on Sephora's site seemed to have the same problem. Maybe those of us with oily/combo skin just aren't suited for this product. Maybe it's just me. Maybe my skin just isn't suited for expensive, ritzy adult makeup. Whatever it is, it's made me disappointed in this beauty splurge (even if I wasn't necessarily the one splurging).

I plan on continuing my use of this moisturizer just to see if perhaps this bad skin spell passes or if my face becomes accustomed to the new moisturizer and clears up; but thus far I don't have high hopes.

Laura Mercier, merci for your product, but I've got a feeling that I'll be saying "no merci" in favor of a cheaper, less skin-irritating moisturizer from now on.

-Katie

Image from space.nk.apothecary