Friday Favorites-- Skin Care Edition

Good Morning! Today I am linking up with Andrea for Friday Favorites. Today's is all about my skincare regimen and my favorite skincare products. 

Okay first let me start by saying the most important thing I do to take care of my skin is make an annual dermatologist visit to have my skin checked. Unfortunately in high school/college/shortly after college I spent way too much time in tanning beds. I've written about it before here, but after my several years using tanning beds, I eventually had a mole come back as "severely abnormal" in 2014. Fast forward to fall of 2018 and I had another "severely abnormal" mole. As my dermatologist put it, "this isn't cancer, but it is cancer's next door neighbor." Yikes. I'm honestly hoping that none of my readers out there were as foolish as I was, but something tells me I'm not the only one in this boat. 

So other than making my annual skin check appointments, I now put a sunscreen on my face/neck every single day. My makeup usually has at least an SPF 15 depending on which makeup I wear that day, but I like a little more protection than that so I use this Clinique City Block Sheer which is an SPF 25. The price on Amazon is actually about $5 cheaper than our department stores here and Ulta, which I was surprised by. 

So, those are the two most important things I do, but let's get to the rest of the skincare routine, shall we? Starting in the morning, I always wash my face in the shower with some kind of face wash scrub to exfoliate. 

I like just your basic Clean and Clear Morning Burst Scrub that you can buy at Wal-Mart/Target, but I will occasionally use something new if I get a face scrub in my Ipsy bag for the month. 

After washing my face I put a tiny dab of coconut oil on the dryer areas of my face (usually my forehead) and let that soak in for a bit while I brush/dry my hair. After drying my hair, I put on my Caudalie eye lifting balm and Oil of Olay Miscrosculpting Cream. This microsculpting cream is relatively new to me-- I've only been using it for a few months but have noticed a signifiant change in my skin! After putting these on, I put on my Clinique City Block Sheer sunscreen all over my face/neck and then apply my makeup. This actually works as a great primer as well so I definitely make sure I never miss it.

At night, I rinse my makeup off with just water and take my eye makeup off using just your basic drug store makeup remover. A few times a week I will do a face mask. If I have a face mask from my monthly Ipsy bag I will try that, otherwise I make my egg white mask that I love so much. 

After the face mask, I put this Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Serum on my forehead (where most of my wrinkles are) and the Oil of Olay Microsculpting cream everywhere else on my face. After the Estee Lauder Night Serum soaks in, I put another dab of coconut oil on my forehead and rub it in. It'll soak in overnight. 

I have noticed a very big difference using the night serum and coconut oil. My sister first told me about putting coconut oil on wrinkles a few months ago and I thought she was crazy. I knew my skin would break out for sure. But I also knew it was a super inexpensive product and if it could actually make a difference, it was worth at least trying it. I'm so happy I gave it a shot because now I use it twice daily. 

Other than that here are some other products I love to put on my skin:

Tan Towel Wipes/Jergen's Natural Glow Face Lotion/Jergen's Natural Glow Body Lotion/Jergen's Natural Glow Wet Skin Moisturizer

I use these tanning wipes roughly once a week/every other week. They come in half size for during the winter when nobody sees your legs/stomach and then full size for the summer. I love that they definitely give you a glow but they are more subtle than some other wipes I've used. If you check out the reviews on Amazon there are some great before/after pictures. 

In between using the wipes I will use the lotions to fill in when the tan starts to fade. I have been using these products for years (minus the wet skin moisturizer-- that's new to me) and I absolutely love them. 

Thanks for reading along today. I hope you all have a great weekend!

What I've Been Wearing Lately

Happy first day of spring!! Spring is my favorite season. I love when the weather starts to warm up, the flowers and trees begin blooming and it feels like the world starts to "wake up" a little. We try to spend as much time outside as possible and I can't get enough of it!

Anyway, today I figured I'd share what I've been wearing lately because it seems like you all are as obsessed with checking out other people's outfits as I am :)

I wore this fun jumpsuit for a date night. Being tall I can NEVER find a jumpsuit that fits properly. I have a long torso and am never comfortable in one, but this one was perfect. The only caveat is it is definitely not work appropriate because of the low plunge in the front. But perfect for a date night!

Jumpsuit/Heels/Clutch
The rest of these were all work outfits over the past few weeks:

 Pants/Sweater/Wedges/Necklace

 Pants/Chambray Shirt/Patagonia Vest/Booties

 Dress (old but similar here)/Leggings/Boots

Dress/Denim Jacket/Sandals

See you on Friday for Friday Favorites!

Pregnancy Week 14

Today I am doing a quick pregnancy update. When I was pregnant with Lily Grace I kept a pregnancy journal where I wrote down how I was feeling/what we were doing to prepare but figured it would be much more fun to do an online journal this time around! Maybe another pregnant mama out there will want to read along, or some mama's who want to reminisce about being pregnant 😉.

Friday Favorites-- Book Edition

Good Morning! Today I am linking up with Andrea for Friday Favorites and since many of my friends out there are getting ready for Spring Break, I figured it would be a good idea to post some of the books I've been reading over the past year. If you have a flight in your future, or some down time on the beach, maybe you'll pick up one of these books before you go!

I try to read about 3-4 books every month and review them in my monthly "Book Club" posts. If you're interested in any of the following books, click the link for each month and you can read my thoughts on them:

The Story of My Blog Part 2

Hi! If you are just joining, please read Part 1 of this post about starting my blog. If you've already read post one, thank you for coming back and keep reading below!

Lily Grace's first day at home.