Tracy Anderson

I just love the Tracy Anderson Method. I'm such a believer of this. I was lucky enough to find Gwyneth Paltrow's website called GOOP and being one of my favorite actresses & one of hollywood's most toned legs (after Iron man 2), I was instantly convinced & desperate to get Tracy Andersons workouts. GP mentioned how Tracy Anderson's method changed her life and her body. I was so inspired to tone my self up and to do all her detoxes. It just makes me feel great that I've always wanted a healthy, clean and green lifestyle and Gwyneth Paltrow does the same. Tracy Anderson aims a lean, tight and feminine body. She, like most women including me, hate the bulk that makes us look even bigger and more manly. Her muscular structure workouts are also great for women who have loose skin after pregnancy which is so important to me. She was called an "organic plastic surgeon" for being able to give women a workout that completely melt & tighten their problem areas. I have been looking for this kind of workout just recently ever since I got obsessed about looking younger and having supple, tight skin. Tracy really explains why it works and why others never did. I was able to download some of her workouts and I also bought her Metamorphosis 3 month workout & a Post Pregnancy dvd. I just love it! GP was so inspired that she invested on Tracy'c company. Here is a picture of the two together.

                               Gwyneth Paltrow with Tracy Anderson

Nightly Skin Care Regimen

Hello! Today I'm going to share my nightly skin care regimen. I started doing this religiously since the past month or two. I added new products just this week & I can tell my over all facial skin has improved & I think my under eye circles lightened and is more elastic now! This technique will not only get rid and prevent breakouts but also improve the texture, tone and over all appearance of your truly beautiful skin! These tips are what's actually working for me so far.

* If you have combination to oily skin, or acne prone & have a lot of blackheads and whiteheads, it is best to use only oil-free, non-comedogenic or water-based products or products that simply say for "acne-prone skin". Whether its make-up or skin care products, whatever you put on your face, you have to make sure that before buying it, it doesn't clog your pores or you'll most likely get a breakout.

* For best results, store your skin care products in an air-conditioned place or even better, your chiller. Just don't make a mistake of freezing them!

So here it is...

1. Using a cotton round, I wipe my face and neck with my Neutrogena deep clean make up remover lotion, (I use a make up remover to wipe off extra dirt on my skin even when if I don't have any make-up on. When I do have make-up on, I also use my Loreal eye and lip gentle make up remover & use it mainly on my eyes and my lips because I find it takes away thicker make up since it is quite oily.) I consume about 2 cotton pads back to back at most times when I have make up on. I also make sure I keep wiping until I don't see any yellowish hues on my pad.

tip: I hear this everywhere that Olive oil removes make-up well & doesn't clog pores. Its natural & inexpensive that you can easily get in your kitchen too. I haven't tried this yet though.

2. Next, I wash my face with warm water (Hot water will dry out your skin & probably even burn it! while Cold water will not open your pores & you want to open your pores when you're cleansing your face to make sure all dirt and excess/clogged oils are removed.) I take a small amount of my Mario Badescu acne facial cleanser and gently massage it all over my face & neck except the eye area. I rinse it off with warm water & pat dry. (do not rub)

3. Every other night I use my Mario Badescu Silver powder on my T-zone to remove stubborn blackheads. But in my case, so far it only lessened my blackheads a little and lessened the oiliness on my T-zone but it didn't really treat it. We'll see if it really improves after I finish the whole container.

4. Using a cotton pad, I wipe my face & neck with my Mario Badescu Glycolic Facial toner (Glycolic acid is a great chemical exfoliant), making sure that I don't touch the eyes. I chose a 2% Glycolic for now because I want to start low until my skin gets used to it and slowly increase the Glycolic %. My aim is to reach 8% glycolic acid content. I just want to make sure that my skin won't get irritated at all. I let it air dry & you will notice it will be absorbed pretty fast.

5. I take two drops of my antioxidant Mario Badescu Vitamin C serum and rub it gently on my orbital bone. Focusing on my under eyes. I wait a few seconds until it absorbs before adding another product.

6. Since I have two different antioxidants (serums) I use them alternately. My two antioxidants are my Mario Badescu Vitamin C serum & Kiehl's High Potency Skin Firming Concentrate. I don't use them both in one night. I just take about 2 drops/pumps and spread it all over my face and neck.

7. I have 3 eye creams that I layer each night. I'm just obsessed with eye creams because I really don't like my tired and droopy eyes. Another reason why my eyes became droopy is because I lost weight drastically years ago from an unhealthy diet. That is the reason why I try to lose weight very gradually now because the last thing I want to happen is to get thin but have a haggard looking face.

I first put a very small amount of the lightest consistency which is Kiehl's Ultimate White darkness diminishing activated eye treatment, let absorb for about 5 seconds while you gently massage it around your orbital bone. Second, layer a small amount of Kiehl's Creamy Eye treatment with avocado and do the same process. Lastly, apply the Kiehl's Cryste Marine Firming Eye cream and also do the same process.

8. Next, I put 3-4 drops of Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate on my palms & press it all over my face & neck. Wait a few seconds for it to be absorbed.

9. I then take a small amount of my Mario Badescu Seaweed Night cream & massage it gently on my face and neck.

10. Apply a lip balm (shea butter/beeswax/mango butter/cocoa butter) & apply a petrolatum based lip balm on top of it to seal the butter balm in your lips. Its supposed to hydrate it more.

11. I use Dermatrix scar treatment and a Scar reform cream on some of my scars.

& that's it! I am not telling you to buy these products, I'm just simply saying that these are the products that I currently use. I see an improvement but hopefully it will get even better. Remember, not all products that work for me may work for you. But give it a try, especially if you don't know what to do with your combination to oily skin. Your skin is always worth it!

PS
I apologize for not having pictures yet for now. I am still looking for a really good camera


til next time,
Steph =)

Skin Talk & Skin Care Product Shopping!

I've always had my own skin care regimen which was not the ideal skin care regimen after all even when I thought it was. I thought my skin would look good by just using a normal drugstore cleanser for my face and a supermarket bar soap for my body. Apparently, I was wrong. I knew I was wrong because as the years went by, my skin became uneven toned with bumps and enlarged pores plus my t-zone was becoming extra oily and over all my skin just looked dull and filled with blackheads. What also made me realize that I have to do a new skin care makeover is the fact that I'm already turning 30 in 2 years. I also noticed my skin is starting to sag especially around my eyes.

I've been obsessing about this skin care regimen the past month or two and I added more skin care products as the weeks went by and I will probably add more a week after this. By watching Dr. Schultz videos on his website dermtv.com, I learned that I must start to treat and then protect and prevent my skin from getting any sun damage and all that stuff. I honestly learned a lot from him. There are five products he keeps saying are most important to have beautiful skin over and over in his videos.

These are..
A cleanser & a toner which must be used day and night
An antioxidant like vitamin c serum & a chemical exfoliant like glycolic acid 8% which are both better used at night
& a sunblock with spf 15-30 (broad spectrum/uva & uvb protection) in the morning

He also stresses out that if you're prone to pore clogging, acne & have a combination to oily skin, then you must only get products that are non-comedogenic/oil free/water based (all of these mean that it wont clog your pores therefore you wont get any breakouts from it.)

Before watching Dr. Schultz videos, I already bought some products in Kiehl's. I got quite a handful of items from Kiehl's in one day:

1. Ultimate white darkness diminishing eye treatment for my dark circles
2. Creamy eye treatment with avocado for hydration & moisture
3. Cryste Marine firming eye cream for rejuvenation and firming
4. Midnight oil concentrate for extra essential oils to treat my skin
5. Lip balm with tint and spf15
6. High potency skin firming concentrate to firm and lift up my sagging skin
7. Epidermal Microdermabrasion to scrub off dead skin cells off my face

The salesclerk gave me free samples of the Kiehl's products in tiny sachets:

1. Sunblock with spf 50
2. Ultimate white moisturizer
3. Rare pore earth masque
4. Overnight biological peel
5. Herbal blue gel cleanser & moisturizer with salicylic acid to prevent acne

I love and use all the products they gave me and the products I bought as well. But the ones I might really stick to and will buy again for it made my skin feel & look really great are the sunblock, ultimate white moisturizer, creamy eye treatment with avocado, cryste marine firming eye cream & high potency skin firming concentrate. My skin accepted these products right away, its like as if it is meant for these products.

I have tried Olay anti aging night cream before but the next day I had a break out. I wanted to give it away but I told myself I should give the product another chance because maybe it wasn't the cause of my breakout then, but when i tried it once again, I felt an irritation on my face. So I told myself, that cream is just not working for my skin at all.  I never felt that with the Kiehl's products!

After Kiehl's, I decided to buy Mario Badescu products which are known for their acne treatments.

These are the Mario Badescu products I got:

1. Acne cleanser (it has salicylic acid in it so it must be good for the skin)
2. Glycolic acid toner (with 2% glycolic acid)
3. Silver powder (to get rid of blackheads & to tame the oily t-zone)
4. a Vitamin c serum
5. Seaweed night cream (for acne prone and its non clogging)

Since I bought a lot again, they gave me 1 free product which I had to choose from their selected free products, I chose the facial spray (to set the make up, hydrate my skin in cold weather & can also be sprayed on the hair to refresh it). Its getting late so that'll be all for now and I'll get back to you guys soon! There's more about skin care to talk about!




til next time,
Steph

Nestle Fitnesse Honey & Almonds whole grain cereal

Hello! Today is day 1 of my Fitnesse Honey & Almond cereal diet, I'm going to eat this alone or with a bowl of low fat milk as part of my diet plus maybe a fruit. I'll probably eat this in the morning and at night replacing it with my old breakfast & dinner while I eat anything for lunch. I like that it is made with whole grain which makes it fiber rich (a relief for constipation & help lose the extra weight & excess fats & toxins.) Its very healthy & tastes really yummy too! It has sliced almonds which is also needed in a healthy diet because of its essential fatty acids. And to top it all off, it does make me feel full and satisfied easily. I love it! Instead of eating chips (I'm a big junk food lover!) I'm going to replace the junk food with  this. Yes, its that yummy! I did this cereal diet about 2 years ago only that was a fitnesse cereal without the flavor and that diet lasted for about a year or so & I can say it did really help me lose a lot and kept the weight off for quite a long time. Ofcourse, I did workout (briskwalked) for 45mins 3 times a week too but this diet played a really big role on improving my health & weight. 




Til next time, 
Steph =)