Maybe she's born with it, maybe it's Maybelline & some other stuff.

Last Friday, I posted about how to get flawless picture perfect make up with so many steps that no woman could or should do that on a daily basis. Yesterday, my mom asked, "What are you doing different to your skin? It looks amazing." Now, if you know my mom, you'd know she is very honest with me and so there must really be an improvement in my complexion or a decrease in her vision. One of the two?! Of course, she made the joke about me painting on a porcelain face, but yesterday I was slacking in the make up department, so I know it wasn't that! I have decided to share my daily routine when it comes to cleaning my face and general daily make up routine.

My nighttime routine:
I recently discovered Maybelline The Flash Clean Makeup Removing Lotion. I really, really like it. It goes on like a lotion and you wipe it off with a damp cloth to remove your makeup. It claims to remove makeup, cleanse, and moisturize in one. I don't know about all of that, but I do like it for a make up remover. It is even gentle on eyes; however, if my eye make up isn't wanting to come off I use Maybelline Clean Express Waterproof Eye Makeup Remover.
To cleanse my face, I use one pump of Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser and one pump of Clean & Clear Advantage 3-in-1 foaming acne wash. I am not sure if Cetaphil has their own acne solutions line, but at the time of the purchase I did not see any and I had the Clean and Clear leftover from before the purchase. The Clean & Clear has Salicylic Acid in it, which helps prevent breakouts.
If I am feeling overly ambitious, I finish with a moisturizer and like I mentioned in a previous post, I have been trying out Garnier Moisture Rescue.

My morning routine:

I usually just splash water on my face or I might use some MaryKay Blemish toner if my face feels ick.
Then, I have been using Maybelline Dream Fresh BB cream. I either wear it alone or under my Revlon PhotoReady foundation. I started doing this because Revlon PhotoReady does not contain an SPF, which is ridiculous. Maybelline BB cream has an SPF of 30! Heck yes for protecting our faces from the sun!
After I do all that, I apply eye make per my enthusiasm and I never do much with my lips except some lip gloss.

Three Day Military Diet Completed

Day three was by far the most difficult, because you are not even getting 800 calories for the day. By the end of the day, I was just blah. My overall review of the diet is this, it is o.k. and you will lose weight, but I don't think you can eat whatever you want for your four days off and actually keep any of the weight you might lose off. You need to stick to a low carb and low calorie diet even on your days off and if you want to restart with a set routine every week than use this diet, but do not expect it to live up to its huge claims. You cannot eat these foods then eat junk for four days and be 40 pounds thinner in a month. I mean I haven't even tried it for a month and I am smart enough to know that isn't so. The reason I was willing to try it was because the foods are not bad for you and I was already limiting my calories to 800-1200 per day anyway. I found an article on http://www.m.webmd.com/diet/features/the-3-day-diet that explains this diet the best and remember, they aren't saying it is a bad thing, they are saying the results are not meant to last unless you take other measures to keep the weight off. Next Monday, I plan to report back on my weight loss in numbers and explain my entire week, so you can make your best assessment of whether this diet is worth trying. One thing I will say, and I will end with this, is that the breakfasts you use for days one and two are great ways to start your day any day and I would recommend them even separate from this diet.

Dupe shupa dupe

I found a pretty nice drugstore dupe to one of my all time favorite products. I love, love, love Clinique Moisture Surge and I have used it for years (when I could afford it). Since I have used it since high school, there were some years during college and when I first got married that I couldn't use it. It costs approximately $40 per 1.7 ounces. I have never tried to find a replacement for it though. If I couldn't afford it, I just went without it or any other moisturizer. I would always bank on a Clinique sale offering me some in a sample to pull me through.
Recently, Garnier has been running a lot of coupons and I have read a lot of good things about their products, so I decided to try their Moisture Rescue for dry skin. Mostly because it looked so much like Moisture Surge by Clinique. And low and behold, a dupe was found. It is really quite similar. I don't think it feels as "smooth", but it is $8 (sometimes cheaper if you find a coupon like I did). I mean for $32 worth of savings, I think I can deal with a slight difference. I would not expect it to be a perfect dupe for the price difference, but dang, it is so close!
Check it out. It is worth it!

Three Day Military Diet: Day 2 Complete

Day two was easy aside from my midday headache, which was relieved by Excedrin migraine (probably because of the caffeine in it). Days 2 & 3, you can only have water. That's hard, but I drank 64 ounces yesterday. The foods though were much better and the breakfast and supper were actually somewhat enjoyable. I think today will be the hardest, but since it is the last day, I know I can do it.

Three Military Diet: Day 1 complete

Day one of the military diet wasn't bad, but it is also the day with the most food. My biggest complaint with this diet is the tuna and do not get me wrong, I actually like tuna. But, plain tuna and 1/2 cup of it plain is a lot. I had trouble choking that down. Plus, maybe the measurement of meats is different but as far as I ever knew there are 8 oz in a cup. According to the tuna can, once you drain the water, there are only 2 ounces of meat per can, which means for day 1, I should have ate 2 cans and by day 3, I should eat four. I am guessing I skipped meat measurement conversion class and am missing something here, because that is a lot and there is no way that is happening. So, for day 1 at lunch I ate a little over half of the can of tuna and threw the rest away. As for everything else, I measured it precisely according to directions. I am trying to follow this diet as accurately as possible just out of the curiosity of whether it works or not. My mom thinks I am dumb for even trying something that makes such big claims, but the foods are healthy so I figure I am not hurting myself by trying it.
That is all for now. Guess I better go Google about precisely measuring meat.

Save your Money Monday: DG Eye Makeup Remover

I decided to try some Dollar General eye make up remover and make up remover whips. I think together, they cost $5, so not a lot of money to waste. I figured if I could find awesome products at the Dollar Tree, I might find some hidden secret magic eye make up remover at the Dollar General. In this case, it was a big, fat no. Don't bother. Just spend the extra $2.50 or so and try a different drugstore option. The make up remover whips were o.k., but they work better at cleaning off your product containers than getting make up off your face. I would say for $2.50 though, they are worth it to clean up make up brushes and palettes.

Mustard Curry Dip for your Veggies

My mom used to always make this for me and as weird as it may sound, I loved it with cauliflower. It was one of my favorites, even as a kid. Today, I decided to try to make it a little healthier and it isn't too bad. I have listed the new recipe and old one below.
(Just a precautionary warning. I measured and guesstimated to the best of my ability, but to me, this is something that you add to until it tastes right and always start light with the curry and add as needed because it is strong!)
Curry Mustard Dip: 1/2 cup Greek Yogurt. 1/3 cup yellow mustard. 5 tbs. No 7 Dijon mustard and about 1-2 tbs. Of Curry Powder= about 120 calories for the whole bowl and 140 mg of potassium.
The old recipe was 1 cup Miracle Whip, 1/3 cup yellow mustard and Curry to taste.