"Are you going on vacation?" "No, I just need a new sunscreen."

Most of us that are beauty conscious wash our face everyday, use a moisturizer, some even use anti-aging creams to prevent or repair what mother nature has given us. Then we put on our face whether its just some lipstick and mascara or a full face of products that include a foundation of some sort. The fair skinned beauties may even have SPF in their foundation or moisturizer. And then we walk out the door ready to take on the day. Forgetting something? I went to Sephora recently and was looking around at all the skin care items, and one of the makeup artists approached me as I picked up a sunscreen and asked, "Are you going on vacation soon" to which I answered, "No, I just need a new sunscreen." She went on to show me her top picks and agreed with me that it is important that we protect ourselves from the sun on an everyday basis. She also added that more than half of the time when someone comes in looking for a standalone sunscreen it's because they are headed on vacation or summer is approaching. If you are like me you don't wear foundation everyday, the skin must breathe once in a while. On those days your skin is exposed to harmful rays that will undoubtedly speed up the aging process. Even on the days that you are wearing foundation or moisturizer with SPF in it ask yourself if it's enough. Most skin care products I've seen aside from standalone sunscreens only have an SPF of 30, at max. That might be ok to get you through the day at the office but definitely isn't enough for that walk in the park or the long commute home. And it's definitely not enough for that Saturday morning farmers market or that afternoon sporting event. So let's make it a priority not to skip that important step of shielding our skin from the sun. In order to postpone the aging process take that extra step now and use a sunscreen everyday and your skin will thank you for it.

My review of the Shiseido ultimate sun protection cream for face SPF 55
(this is a lengthy review but I feel this product/topic deserves it)



I picked up the smaller of the two sizes so I could try the product out without the hefty price tag of $34. It 1.2 oz. And retails for $19.50 at Sephora. That may sound like a lot but on a recent trip to the drugstore I looked at all the sunscreens that are comparable to this and they are up there in the $15+ range. Some of them I have tried and the results have not been this impressive. I like small sizes for a few reasons one being I want to try the product out without committing. The second is that I travel so much that I can only take so much with me. The packaging this product comes in is very nice. Its teal and a golden yellow which makes me think of the ocean and the sun (two instances in which you would need sunscreen for). The colorful packaging is great, with it being the most important product I use (sometimes the only product) I can find it very easily in my bag.

Onto the actual product. I apply is under my foundation after I have toned and moisturized. I have also tried it mixed with the moisturizer i am currently using and it blends well. I find it not to be as thick as other sunscreens I have used and it doesn't take me as long to blend it out. It does leave a slight cast but nowhere near as bad as products I have used it the past. It also does not have that sunscreen consistency when it goes on meaning it sinks into my skin pretty quickly and does not leave my skin feeling like I have sunscreen on (that tacky feeling sunscreen tends to leave behind that's usually followed by an oily mess on the face). In fact it dries to a silky almost powdery finish so it can easily be used as a foundation primer. I love 2 in 1 products. For some it may even be a 3 in 1 product as it does have some moisturizing properties. This is not the case for me in the winter but in the summer I get very oily so we will have to see. It has not broken me out and I have been using it for a little over a week. The smell is pleasant, a smell that you would expect from a moisturizer, and not detectable once applied Other products I have used include the neutrogena ultra sheer dry touch line and the pure and free baby line took forever to blend into my skin and left my skin heavy feeling with a apparent white cast. The only negative thing I noticed about this sunscreen is that it will start to ball up on your skin after extensive strenuous activity. I went running on a warm day in California and after about 90 minutes it started balling up a little. Nothing too gross. I could see this being a problem for those that wear foundation with this under it and do not remove it before working out but it was not an issue for me since I remove all makeup before any physical activity as it has clogged my pores in the past when mixed with sweat. I actually took this negative effect as a reminder that it was almost time to reapply. Waterproof or not sunscreen should be reapplied frequently when exposure is in direct sunlight. I have also included a link below to others' reviews of this product. So this product is a can't live without it product for me and I'm sure it will be for many others.

Filming disaster

So I finally got to filming my first YouTube beauty video today and the word "train-wreck" comes to mind. Since the first YouTube video i watched I've always had a respect for everyone that puts their face out there for others to see. That can be tough, now I see how tough it really is and everything else that goes along with it. I'm sure others went through this too. And to think how many people leave nasty comments on these videos that took work to make, makes me wonder if they have any idea.

I pretty much knew I wasn't going to get it on my first shot and... I didn't. Watching myself on video, which I've only done a few times when i was younger, was not as hard as I thought it would be. I was sitting there in front of the camera talking to no one but there might as well have been thousands of people there because that's how I felt. I'm a flight attendant, I make public announcements in front of hundreds of people a day and that doesn't phase me. And here I am in front of a camera with no one around, filming a practice video that I have no intention of uploading and I can't even say my name. Once I took a deep breath and got over the stage fright, (if you could even call it that) everything else came tumbling down. The lighting was bad cause a storm started rolling in, the angle didn't work, my head kept getting cut off, ha ha. I'm sure everyone out there is dying to watch a YouTube video by a girl with half a head. So I finally told myself that tomorrow is another day and I'll get it, it won't be perfect but I'll get it.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

First impressions/ First review

First impressions of products are sometimes as important as how a product performs as whole. If I don't get a good impression of the product initially what keeps me interested long enough to see all the product has to offer?

Philosophy Hope in a Tinted Moisturizer

I went to Sephora last week to to pick up a couple of things and this product caught my eye as one of the 100 point perk samples. I have used Hope in a jar, and the oil-free version in the past and I liked it, but a tinted moisturizer with the same formula would be great I thought. My sample came in a small tube but I have been using it for a few days and there is still plenty left. The full size also comes in a tube with a pump, packaging that's travel friendly, a plus for me. . The other aspect of the product that i like is it has SPF 20. So this is meant to be a multi-tasker, another plus. This is the original formula not the oil free and when I looked online I did not see the tinted moisturizer in oil free. That might be something to look for in the future because I did find it a little oily at first (almost like a sunscreen that has not completely sunk in) and my face got shiny by the end of the day. I thought this might be a problem because of my oily skin but so far it's been fine. No breakouts (keeping my fingers crossed). My sample is in the color light to medium and the color works just fine. Light to medium makes me believe that this could be a year round color since I'm pretty fair right now and it works fine. The coverage is very sheer, the sheerest coverage I have seen from any tinted moisturizer i have tried, but still appears to even out my skin. Since I have pretty clear skin at the moment this lack of coverage is ok. I don't think it's very buildable but if I'm using it as a moisturizer especially in the summer then I don't want to build it up anyway. I wasn't really looking for a new moisturizer by testing this product as I am very happy with my current one (Lush Vanishing cream, as close to holy grail as any product has ever gotten for me ) so I will not be replacing it with this. This might be a great product for the summer when I'm on the go outside and don't want my makeup to sweat off with a stronger SPF of course or even for the colder months when I'm doing something active and don't want makeup to clog up my pores but don't want to be barefaced. The fact that the product is formulated without parabens and sulfates is also a plus. So overall I like the product. Am I impressed? Almost, the potential is there. Will I purchase the full size? I'm not sure due to it's $38 price tag for not too much product (1.7 oz.). But I'll try it out on the beach next time I get a chance to see how well it holds up and who know maybe it'll end up as a future favorite.

First Impressions

You get the chance to make a first impression but once. That's what I live for. In my everyday life as a flight attendant, and in my beauty search, it's all the same. I have to judge a book by it's cover, trust my initial reaction when someone says hello, that rush i get when a color in the pan catches the corner of my eye. I do the research too, does this foundation have staying power, is the color payoff enough, but that fist impression will always be there. Lust after products because they impress you, not because they are said to be impressive. Beauty items should work for the user, have fun using them but keep in mind you should not have to work hard at making them what you want them to be. Reviews should be a tool to assist you, not dictate your decision.

All my reviews are unique and genuine and are truly how I view an item at the time of review. If at any time I drastically change my opinion of a reviewed product I will post an update to the previous review.