Oh, Monday.  How I treasure the moment when I realize that you’re almost over!  What is it about Mondays that make them so unappealing?  I don’t even have class this week and I still dreaded Monday’s arrival.  Hmm…

So, in the last few months I have become pretty obsessed with skin care.  I’m in my early 20s and I want to get into a really good habit of taking care of my skin (face and body) before I’m too old to learn new tricks!  I have researched countless items that make miraculous claims, and have actually found quite a few items whose claims are well-founded!  So, I’ll feature them here.  I’m going to start with the basics, though.

Until this January, I had never had a “luxury” skin care system.  I’ve used things like Neutrogena and Cetaphil, but I’ve never shelled out the money for higher end things.  However, I began my transition to all cruelty-free products in January as well.  I’ve upgraded my shampoo and conditioner, laundry stuff, soap, and even toothpaste!  I love animals, and I hate to think that I contribute to their suffering and pain.  It’s amazing just how many companies STILL test their products on animals.  It’s incredibly disgusting, and you’ll likely read my disdain from time to time.  Also, my face is not hairy like a cute bunny!  How can R&D even compare?!  Anyway, finding a good skin care system meant finding products that were not tested on animals and that worked really well (and if you’re curious, both Neutrogena and Cetaphil still test on animals).

M.A.C. Cosmetics is cruelty free in its products (though some of its makeup brushes are made with natural hair).  I’ve used their makeup for over a decade and love everything I have put on my face.  When my mom and I went into a M.A.C. store this January, we were looking for face makeup.  However, a sleek counter of face cleansers, moisturizers, and creams caught my eye.  The sales consultant told us all about their newest items, and my mom surprised me and bought me the cleanser, facial moisturizer, and the eye cream!  I was so excited.

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The facial cleanser is AMAZING!  It leaves my face squeaky clean, but has not been drying in the least.  I use about a pearl-sized drop on my face and neck when I shower in the evenings (I use a different wash in the mornings).  It foams up so luxuriously and just makes me want to wash my face all night long.  I do eventually wash it off and am welcomed by a clean, refreshed face to take to my satin pillow!  My face breaks out far less often, and it looks and feels so much healthier!  This cleanser has definitely proven its worth to me and will forever be a staple.
M.A.C. facial moisturizer is also quite lovely.  It’s mostly made of water, so it doesn’t have an oily feeling at all.  It’s cool to the touch and spreads over my face very easily.  I use this product in both the AM and the PM, but always use a bit more for my face to drink up at night.  Since I am new to skin care as a big time hobby, I plan on testing out a few different moisturizers before I make up my mind on which to adopt permanently.  I’ll keep you posted.
Finally, the M.A.C. eye cream.  Now, this is my first eye cream ever!  I will never be without one…EVER again.  Eye creams are the best.  This one is nice because it’s super lightweight and ultra-moisturizing.  It is a bit on the runny side, though, and I will look for a thicker one to test when this runs out.  It also irritates my eyes from time to time, but I’m sure most creams will do that if they get too near the eye.  I do LOVE what it does for my tired eyes.  I’m so glad my mom turned me on to an eye cream.  One can never begin protecting eyes from aging too early.  If you don’t use an eye cream, do it!  I promise that you will not regret it.
I have many more products that I use to keep my skin clean, healthy, dewy, and happy, and I’ll share them sporadically on here.
Now, since it is Monday, and I’ve already said that Mondays aren’t my best days, I thought it would be fitting to introduce a weekly segment: Monday’s Moans.  This blog is all about letting people know what I am loving, but with love comes hate, right?  So, ONLY on Mondays will I let off some steam and list a couple of things that I am not digging so much.  So, here it is:
MONDAY’S MOANS:
1) Laundry – this one is probably a moan for most people, but shared laundry dwellers know how freaking annoying it is to lug your heavy laundry basket (it’s been over a month since my last laundry day), supplies, and money down to the basement only to find a) a full laundry room, b) uncleared lint catchers, c) someone else’s sock in your clean laundry.
2) Final papers – okay, I know I signed up for this, but seriously?  It’s so much work to read, research, write, edit, review, submit, agonize and stress over these little devils (four this semester…that’s roughly 60-80 pages!).  You would think that I would have learned my lesson during the last 16 years of schooling, and start my papers early, but no.  Last minute papers is my M.O.
So there you have it.  Something that I am really loving, and my weekly yucks.
I hope your week has started off nicely!
Love in M.A.C.,
Jill