While packing for our Labor Day mini-vacation last week, I noticed something slightly alarming.  The amount of facial products I use could warrant their own suitcase and I am not even including my make-up. Take a look at my daily regimen…

12 different products.

The only one I don’t use every single day is the apricot scrub. Funny, because that is one of the cheapest.

Here are the products I use in the morning. Granted, I do not use them all at once but all are utilized by 10 am.

I always begin with the Witch Hazel. The first thing I do when I roll out of bed is wipe the night time oil build-up off with my trusty and inexpensive witch hazel. It immediately refreshes me. I really don’t like to splash cold water on my face at 5:30 am.

Pre-workout and depending on greasiness factor, I will wash my face with Neutrogena Naturals. It’s a nice, gentle cleanser that doesn’t dry my face out. If the children made an appearance in my bed the night before I will gently pat (read: slather) on Zirh herbal eye cream to cut down on the puffiness.

After my workout, I will wash my face again and may use the apricot scrub. I then immediately apply my recently prescribed clindamycin phosphate topical gel because for the past several months I have been getting these super annoying cystic acnes. They are painful and unsightly. I don’t do unsightly so my dermatologist kindly found me a solution. So far, it’s been working out.

When that dries, I apply my Obagi Vitamin C serum on my forehead, crows feet, cheeks and neck. My absolute favorite product.

Lastly, I combine my Aveeno SPF 15 moisturizer with my Laura Mercier SPF 20 tinted moisturizer and start my day. Combined does that give me an SPF of 30? These are the things I ponder.

Now for my nightly ritual:

I take my time with my night products. I begin by washing my face. Because I am a greasy little creature, I end up washing my face 3 times a day. That is why the Neutrogena Naturals works well with my skin. Finding a good cleanser has been a long, hard road. I am also a fan of the Obagi cleanser but that’s not always in the budget.

Next, I apply a combination of Obagi Skin Bleaching Cream in Clear with Obagi Trtinoin Cream (Retin-A). These two products help reduce the appearance of freckles and uneven skin tones. I have been using this combo for a couple months and am very pleased. It’s not drying out my face or cracking my lips like other Retin-A’s have in the past.

I finish by applying Vivite Night Renewal and Vivite Revitalizing Eye Cream. Both are very thick so I only use small amounts. Vivite is expensive BUT it lasts forever. I have been using these two products for 6 months and I am only half way through the jars. Something to note is that I take the majority of all my products down into the neck area. Never neglect the neck!

So, that’s my routine. Is your’s more or less intensive?? I would love to hear what you do to stay beautiful.

Written by Lea Barlow • Leave a comment

I have run into my first obstacle of the new school year. Breakfast. Over the summer, breakfast wasn’t an issue because our mornings were long and unstructured. Breakfast was served when they were hungry and they had a solid hour to finish it. Now we have to be out the door at 8:25 and they conveniently do not want to eat until 8:15. So what’s a mom to do? Skipping the most important meal of the day is not an option unless I want my children acting like Linda Blair from the Exorcist at school pick-up. That makes a 5 minute drive home seem more like a 5 hour drive home. Below is what I have stocked up on for quick, easy and healthy breakfasts. No recipes. I’ll save the fancy cooking for the weekend. *Prep time is based on serving 2 toddlers*

Breakfast #1

2 hard boiled or scrambled eggs

Fresh fruit like strawberries, grapes or watermelon

1 piece of toast

Glass of orange juice

Prep Time: 5 minutes (Make sure to hard boil the eggs the night before)

Breakfast #2

Triangle toasts with Almond Butter

Top with sliced bananas, strawberries or apples

2 microwavable links of Applegate Farms sausage

Glass of low-fat milk

Prep Time: 7 minutes

Breakfast #3

Fruit Smoothie

Half a bag of frozen fruit (I use the berry combos)

Stoneyfield Organic Vanilla Yogurt

A splash of apple juice

Add a little ice and blend

You may notice I do not use any real measurements. I wing it on the smoothies. It’s not like I am being reviewed by Bon Appetit.

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Breakfast #4

Fresh Muesli

Plain low-fat yogurt

Organic granola

Fresh blueberries

Prep Time: 3 minutes

When the weather gets less suffocating I will be re-introducing Organic Instant Oatmeal with Flax combined with fresh fruit. Oatmeal is a fantastic breakfast option. Just stay away from all of the ones with added sugar. Hope these ideas help your own hectic mornings!

Written by Lea Barlow • Leave a comment

I LOVE scented candles. I have them in my kitchen, my bedroom, three bathrooms and of course all over my mantle. I always change the scent with the season. Glade Hawaiian Breeze for the summer, Apple Cinnamon for the fall, Cinnamon Chiffon for winter and a combination of Fresh Berries for early spring and Moonlit Walk & Wandering Stream for late spring. I told you I liked scented candles. But as they say, all good things must come to an end and I have had to stop buying my Glade candles. Here’s why…

Scented candles are made from scented oils mixed with wax. Most of these scented candles use paraffin wax because it is a relatively cheap ingredient. Unfortunately, paraffin wax is derived from a petroleum by-product.

Burning petroleum in your home releases toxins such as benzene, styrene, and formaldehyde. These scented candles also cause accumulations of black soot in your home. Black soot accumulates any time there is an incomplete combustion of carbon-containing fuels. The EPA has even released a report citing petroleum based scented candles as an indoor pollutant and has advised caution when utilizing these candles. As if that wasn’t bad enough, many of these candles also use metallic wicks containing lead levels much higher than is approved by the EPA. When all is said and done, burning a traditional petroleum based scented candle is a health hazard emitting dangerous levels of toxic fumes and chemicals, even lead.

Thankfully, there are alternatives available. Both soy wax and beeswax scented candles are beautiful and non-toxic. Unfortunately, as I researched buying them over the internet, I found that beeswax candles are a budget buster. Soy wax candles, on the other hand, are clean burning, non toxic, and relatively inexpensive. Soy candles burn over 50% longer than paraffin candles and produce 90% less soot. Beware though that some candle company’s consider their candles to be “soy candles” even though they are “blended” with paraffin wax.  Soy wax candles can be called soy candles even if they are as little as 25% soy or vegetable wax. Make sure to read the candle label. Look, now I have you reading candle labels too! While soy candles are a little more expensive then paraffin, they really do burn much longer and still come with fancy names. I think Cedar & Saffron will do just fine replacing Cinnamon Chiffon.

Written by Lea Barlow • Leave a comment

Most of us don’t like to see vacation and working out in the same sentence. Vacation and sleeping? Yes. Vacation and drinking? Yes. Vacation and eating? Yes. Vacation and jump squats? Eh, no. But listen ladies, vacation shouldn’t give us workout amnesia. Here are the 5 simple exercises I do each morning when I am out of town. Doing these full-body moves before beginning your day will help alleviate any guilt you may have when ordering that extra cocktail or opting for the fries instead of the veggies. It is vacation after all!

Jumping Jacks to get your blood pumping: 3 sets of 20 jacks

Push-Ups for upper body: 3 sets of 20 reps

Jump Squats for lower body: 3 sets of 20 reps

In-place lunges for lower body: 3 sets of 10 lunges for each leg

Roll-up crunches for abdominals: 3 sets of 10 roll-ups

See, that’s not too hard. Try it the next time you take a trip. If you already have a routine please share in the comments below!

Written by Lea Barlow • 2 Comments