Crystalift Review

My battle with my skin during pregnancy has been well documented in my household. From hormonal outbursts of despair to crying spells, suffice it to say my skin was a painful, dry, dull, lackluster mess. Oe thing that made a significant impact was the crystalift.

I'm not a huge fan of physical exfoliants. I am wary of broken capillaries as I have fairly thing skin, and, to day the least, physical exfoliants have a tendency to break me out. I've had microderm abrasion done before and while the results were nice, I didn't feel like spending so much on treatments.

My skin during pregnancy was dry, extremely irritable, and painfully slow to heal. I also battled cystic acne, which was thankfully not that reagent but when it did occur it was incredibly painful and left a scar. I got the crystalift out of desperation and I have been thankful I got it ever since,

The machine is small and compact and has varying degrees of exfoliation. Each capsule is good for one use and It is recommended to do one session every week. The only negative thing about this is that you have to keep buying capsules, which come in a pack of four.

The wand is easy to control and has decent suction. The exfoliation is not medical grade but my skin looks much better after every use. It restores as much of a glow as it can and I have found that it is very helpful in preventing breakouts. After i started using this, my cystic zits significantly decreased and whatever breakouts I did get were much less painful and big.

Personally, I feel it does a much superior job to the home kits where I had to manually exfoliate. However, I think that if your skin isn't as hormonally imbalanced as mine was (which is a polite way of saying my skin took on a life of it's own and sought to destroy me), the crystalift machine might be excessive. But if you want something that exfoliates thorughly, then this might be worth looking in to.

Work Essentials: Quick, Basic Eyeshadows

I've previously blogged on some make-up that is work appropriate but I thought I'd do a series on make-up that's quick and easy for work. Now that I have a three month old (I can't believe he's that old already, but my under eyes definitely know it's been that long), time really is of the essence when it comes to myself. I have mastered the art of squeezing in every bit of make-up and skin care into very little time, much like I've mastered the art of sounding sane even though I can't remember the last time I slept.

MAC Cork eyeshadow

I know, looking at the shadow, you think I've lost my mind. Although that scenario is quite possible, this shadow truly is a life saver. Cork is a matte, warm, medium brown, and it's very close to the natural colour of my lids. Only without the unevenness or possible veins you can see. It instantly makes me me look polished and professional and imperfect for the most conservative environments. If you want to jazz it up a bit, just add a more exciting liner and it's still office appropriate without unleashing your inner teenager. The shadow itself lasts well, but over primer it lasts a good 6 to 8 hours. For those days where you're applying shadow while drinking your morning coffee, Cork is perfect.

Shade Spotter: Aishwarya Rai's Lipstick in Umrao Jaan

The fabulous Aishwarya Rai has gorgeous make-up, well pretty much always, but I especially love her lipstick in this look:

Wet 'n' Wild's 922 Wildshine Lip Lacquer (called enamored) is a very close match, especially for the fairer skinned amongst us.

Image source: The Hindu

Pregnancy Skin Care Review: Belligerent Acne Cleansing Facial Wash

Before I was pregnant, I thought I had seen, felt, and been greatly irritated by some, to my unenlightened-on-truly-painful-hormonal-acne mind, pretty bad zits. Pregnancy made me miss my pms related breakouts, as it brought me into a world where hormonal acne reigned free as I was powerless to do much against it. Belli's Acne Cleansing Facial Wash, while not a miracle, was definitely a step in the right direction.

Pregnancy greatly limits what you can put on your face and how you can treat acne. If you're one of those women who falls into the mythical category of those blessed with the pregnancy glow, suffice it to say I advise you sleep with one eye open in fear of my wrath. Pregnancy made my skin dry, itchy, red, dull, and, not to be forgotten, prone to painful cystic acne. I searched high and low for something that I could put only face that was safe and effective,

The Acne Cleansing Facial Wash contains lactic acid, which is supposedly safe for pregnant women and is the main acne fighting ingredient in the cleanser. It smells herb-like and doesn't have a lot of perfumes added, which was always a plus for my temperamental, hormonal skin. The texture is a little liquidy for my liking and the price is a bit higher than what I would expect for this cleanser, but it does foam up well and does a good job removing dirt and make-up.

As for the acne fighting properties, like I said, it's not a miracle but it is fairly good given the limitations pregnancy imposes on skin care. The cleanser doesn't stay on the skin very long but it does exfoliate gently and brightened up my face whenever I used it. I found that with continued use it did calm my skin and it was something that I kept in my skin care routine during my pregnancy. I was also able to get