Summer Cuteness...

Just for kicks my mom and I stopped in Payless today, hoping to find some cute shoes for cheap. Well, we did! Check out these cuties!!


I got these to wear with red shirts, since I wear a lot of red in the summer! I've seen them before and I thought they were cute, but didn't want to pay the asking price. Today, though, they were marked down from $20 to... $7!

And these...
I'd looked at these before, too, with my mom last time she was here. LOVE them! I didn't love them enough for $22.99, but I love them enough for $8!! So cute with jeans, especially since I'm short and my favorite jeans are a little long, so I have to wear heels with them. I'm not one for wearing dressy heels, especially not in MT, but these... these give me height but just look like cute Keds under my long jeans!

So all told I got 2 great pairs of shoes for $15! Best of all... they're both cute, both uber comfortable, and they both give me height, which is important since I'm only 5 feet tall! I don't do flats very well, so these are great for summer!

Three Tricks...

Sometimes you find a way to use a product other than the method directed on the packaging. The tricks I use I learned from Cheryl, and they are marvelous! They have really made a difference for me, so I thought I'd share... Here are my 3 tricks:

1. Mary Kay Oil Free Hydrating Gel - Mix a little of this with your liquid foundation and it will go on silky smooth and vanish into your skin! It's amazing. I have actually been doing this in the morning instead of just using my moisturizer, and it is wonderful!

2. Mary Kay Oil Free Eye Makeup Remover - Not only is this stuff GREAT for removing your eyeshadow, liner, and mascara, but it works great on lipstick, too! You know... when you put on a lipstick and decide it's too dark or too red or too... whatever... for your event, but then you can't get it off and it's stained your lips? This stuff takes it off!

3. Mary Kay Emollient Night Cream - This is in the Satin Hands set, but it is amazing for cracked and dry LIPS! My lips are HORRIBLE every winter. They crack, they peel, they bleed... it's awful! But this year I learned I could put the Emollient Night Cream on my lips and they'd get better really fast! It's wonderful and I use it at the first sign of dry lips every time now... I haven't had cracked lips for months because of it!

So there you have it.... 3 tricks to get the most out of your product. Enjoy!

Skin Care Regimen

I have not always been good about taking care of my skin. In fact, sometimes I've been downright lousy about it. But about 6 months ago my husband emailed me this picture:


and asked if I noticed anything different about it. Then he said he photoshopped out my wrinkles. Here's the original:


Now, I am not even 30 years old yet, so I don't particularly appreciate having my wrinkles pointed out, or photoshopped. So I told Leif if he was going to photoshop my wrinkles I was going to pay to do something about them. Thus began my renewed relationship with Mary Kay.

Now, I grew up in Texas, so I have been using Mary Kay off and on for the last 15 years or so. I used it in high school, then stopped in college because it was too time consuming, with the 5 steps and all. Then, when they went to the 2 step system, I started using it again. When we moved here I was able to get my MK from a friend who was a personal use consultant, since I didn't have a consultant of my own. After she quit working at the school I taught at I didn't see her very much, so I just sort of stopped using MK after I ran out. Around this time I also became ultra conscious about my environmental impact, and started using "natural" products, including Burt's Bees skin care and cosmetics. That's what I was using at the time of the photoshop fiasco.

So in February I had a Mary Kay party with Cheryl Sheedy and I purchased some basic skin care products, along with some anti-aging products, which were new to me. Since then I've added a couple other products to my regimen as well. Here is what I'm currently doing...

Morning:
Timewise 3-in-1 Cleansing Gel
Microdermabrasion Refine (Wednesdays and Saturdays)
Microdermabrasion Renew (Wednesdays and Saturdays)
Even Complexion Essence
Timewise Age-Fighting Moisturizer or Oil Free Hydrating Gel
Firming Eye Cream

Evening:
Facial Cleansing Cloths (1/8th of a sheet)
Even Complexion Essence (on one spot only)
Timewise Age-Fighting Moisturizer
Firming Eye Cream

And while it seems like a lot of steps, it's really not that much. It goes quickly, and the first two steps in the morning (on days that I do microdermabrasion) I do in the shower, so they are especially easy. I'm not completely sold on the Even Complexion Essence yet, so we'll see if I want to continue that once I'm done with this. And the firming eye cream was a gift, so I'm hoping it lasts a long time, but we'll see how big a difference it makes when it runs out, I guess! My eye wrinkles were especially worrysome, so I will probably continue to use that. The microdermabrasion is completely AWESOME, so that step will definitely stay on the list twice a week! In general, though I forget to do my regimen at night sometimes, I'm very happy with this set up and the results I'm seeing. I think my skin looks younger, and it definitely feels younger. We'll see where I am in another 6 months, but this is my skin care regimen right now, just about every day.

Freckles

I have always had freckles. I've never liked them, but I've gotten used to them. They started to fade (or at least not be so noticeable!) at one point in my life, but I got sunburned REALLY badly in college and they came back with a vengeance. In addition to being all over my face, they cover my shoulders as well. Those I really don't like.

So in trying to complete my last Mary Kay party order, I added Even Complexion Essence to my list. I started using it on Saturday, June 28 and we'll see if it really does help even out my freckles. I would be very excited if it did. I have one spot on my face in particular that I'd like evened out, and just to test the product I'm putting it on one shoulder (the more freckly of the two) and not on the other. We'll see if I see a difference and how long it takes. Sarah Baker says it's been working for her. I'm hopeful, but not so sure. Give it a few weeks and I'll let you know.

Beauty is only skin deep...

... or so they say. In a world that obsesses over beauty, what makes a woman truly beautiful? Is inner beauty everything, or does outer beauty count for something too? How far should we go in taking care of our skin and making ourselves presentable for others? How fine is the line between "finished" and vain?

These are questions I think about as I struggle with my "look" as a Texas girl living in Montana. I grew up in a culture that believed "If the barn needs painting, paint it!" and we all knew that EVERYONE'S barn needed painting. Going out without makeup was like leaving the house in your underwear. You just didn't do it. Now I live in Montana, where women let themselves go and start to look weathered by the time they are 35, not as a result of tanning, but because they never took care of their skin. Is one side right? Is there a balance in between? Is there value in taking the time, effort, and money to keep your skin "young" "fresh" and "healthy"?

I suppose I have some thinking to do, and now I have a place to record my thoughts on this journey.