The ClearProof Acne System from Mary Kay

I received this set complimentary (i.e free) from Influenster and Mary Kay to use and review after a 30 day period. All thoughts and opinions are of my own.

I had the privilege over the past several weeks to test out the new ClearProof Acne System from Mary Kay. I received this set after applying and qualifying for the ClearProof VoxBox from Influenster. If you haven't heard of Influenster, you should definitely check them out- it's a really great site for finding out about new products, trends and occasionally you get to try out some new things for yourself. Yay free stuff! 

 Anyways- my skin isn't fantastic, so when this opportunity presented itself, I said why not? it doesn't hurt to try something new... Beforehand I knew it would be an acne-related product but did not know the brand it was coming from so it was definitely a surprise when the box showed up at my door and it was from Mary Kay. Back in the day, in middle-school and high-school, I used a lot of Mary Kay products including their cleansing system at the time. ClearProof is a new and improved system and I've been pretty happy with it. 

The product claims to do several things

• Clears up blemishes without irritation and helps maintain a clear complexion.
• Unclogs pores, removes excess oil and leaves skin feeling healthier.
• Fades the look of lingering acne spots.
• Attacks multiple factors that can contribute to acne breakouts.*

*as described on the Mary-Kay website

My box came with 4 items for 4 steps. A cleanser, toner, acne medication and moisturizer. I went ahead and took some before pictures and dived right in. Not to be gross, but I typically only wash my face once day, sometimes every other depending on how dry my skin feels. But for the first few days I made sure I did it at least once, if not twice as recommended. 

and now for some pictures that I can't believe I'm actually showing.. 

The pictures on the left are the before- on the right, were taken last night. I do have 2 small spots on my face right now that are disappearing quickly so ignore them. 

Just in the first week I noticed a change- the redness in my face and chest started to go down and some of my scarring was already starting to fade. And I wasn't breaking out- at all.

Not going to lie though, after that first week I went back to my of my normal face-washing schedule, but still saw improvements! I really like the cleanser, toner and acne medication but I'm so-so on the moisturizer. Partially because the weather is becoming much cooler and dryer so my face needs just a little more oomph at night. I would love to see a night cream/serum/heavier formula from them for the winter months. 

In the course of the 4 weeks I think I had about 3 white-head pimples (TMI- I don't care). This is remarkable for me, I've battled cystic acne on my jawline for the past few years and didn't have one appear in the past month. The pores on my nose look smaller, my face looks better in the mornings when I wake up, it doesn't get as greasy during the day. As you can see from the pictures above, some scarring and spotting went away, the redness has been significantly reduced and my skin just looks healthier.

Overall I was very happy with the system and am going to continue using what product I have left. The system really needs a full 12-weeks to see the most change and I want to see how great my skin can look after those full 12-weeks. I've  already seen a dramatic decrease in my breakouts, my chest is nowhere near as red as it typically can be and after 4 weeks of use I can see the difference in the mirror at first glance. All things you want to see when you make a change. 

 So Thank you Influenster and Mary-Kay! I'm very excited to have been able to try this and would recommend it to others who may battle the same issues to also give it a try- I think it is definitely worth your while.

oh hey Friday!

You kind of snuck up on me there.... Game night with my friends last night got a little crazy, as usual, and 6:15 is just not looking as great as it could.

Friday's Five

1) Going on a date tonight! woo- this will be the first of the game so I'm excited to report back..

2) Has anyone read The Selection book series? I finished the first one yesterday and am way too excited for that email from the library saying the 2nd is available


3) and speaking of book series, the 3rd Discovery of Witches book comes out in 4 days!! I'm not sure why but I totally had in my mind that it came out on the 5th of July and I was all ready to read it on the plane coming back from Florida- then womp womp, I was incorrect and it actually comes out on July 15th. So soon!

4) In my birchbox this month I got this product by Real Chemistry- a Luminous 3-Minute Peel. Kind of a mini-chemical peel. Well I tried it already and am so in love! My skin felt amazing afterwards and I could literally feel the dead skin flaky off- gross I know but beautiful at the same time. I still have enough left in my bottle for a few more tries but then I might actually buy the full-size package.

5) I'm becoming more and more impressed with this oil-pulling thing everyday. One - this morning, I was kind of hungover from my adventures last night, pulled for the 15 min and seriously felt a bajillion times better. woah nelly. Two- I had some cranky piece of I don't know what in my mouth earlier this week and decided to be a bit too aggressive in trying to remove it. This resulted in not so happy gums- pulled oil the next morning and boom gums were happy again. I took the week off in Florida but it feels kind of good to be doing it again. My teeth look cleaner, feel stronger and are starting to get a bit whiter. No health changes yet- my allergies are still in full force but we shall continue...

Linking up with Karli and Amy for oh hey Friday!

Monday Blues

Eww... Monday. What an interesting (not) day of the week- I seem to have the Monday Blues, it was so hard getting out of bed this morning. My highlight this week is the talk of snow on Wednesday! With that I thought I would discuss some of my favorite things these days-things I have trouble managing without during the week.

 

Starbucks: Mmmm- just thinking about it makes me want to run out and grab another cup of coffee. My go to drink is a Tall Hazelnut Coffee in a Grande Cup. I've only been at my new job for 6 months and the baristas  already know my order- and I'm the mayor of the Starbucks on FourSquare. Repeat- " I do not have a problem, I do not have a problem"

 

My beautiful, wonderful, darling Kindle- this is the second one I've owned and I honestly don't know where I would be without it. This will be a MUST take on my hike in a few years- even with the few extra ounces, having hundreds of books to choose from will be great to have.  I love how long the battery lasts, how easy it is to hold with one hand, and of course how many books it can contain!

I'm pretty sure this little miracle bottle of joy is what has changed the acne and blemishes on my face. Kiehl's has truly worked wonders with this product and I love it so much I basically tell everyone I know to use it- it smells ah-mazing, feels weightless on my skin, and no matter what state I was in the night before my face looks refreshed and ready to go come morning. Please go out and buy it, like right now.

And of course my fantastic ipad. I bought this, with the help of a few gift cards, for my birthday this past year. It has now traveled across the world and back. It has a variety of uses, from keeping me entertained while sitting at Mixed Martial Arts, to keeping the munchkins entertained while on an 8 hour flight to Europe. Its not as lightweight as others but it is lighter than my laptop and I really enjoy how the Apple cloud works, everything is synced together and that makes it very useful. Sometime in the next few weeks I will discuss my favorite apps on the Iphone and Ipad.

Well these are a few things that make my life easier... I'm sure this list could go on and on and on and on.

The kiddos were pretty great this morning- Little J told me his first multiple word sentence (I see the bus too!) They are celebrating Dr.Seuss this week and have an alphabet parade at school on Friday- I now have the wonderful task of coming up with a letter outfit for them to wear. Too bad our assigned letters "h & n" are not the greatest to work with. Joy. Happy Monday!

 

The Joys of Adulthood

Oh Sunday Funday! It's absolutely amazing the things you can actually get done when your internet isn't working. I've actually cleaned, dusted, and put away all the clothes in my room- things that have needed to get down for days, weeks, months! And thanks to the Olympics I've been able to clear out my DVR- I mean it's empty, at least until tonight's shows start taping! 

I had a nice relaxing evening last night trying out some of the goodies from the Influenster Box. I've been eating the Kisses all week- yummy! Last night I tried out the Red Rose Lemon Chiffon Decaffeinated Tea. It was very tasty- a nice lemon aroma with an almost creamy taste.  If you like lemons, this might be a good thing to try - and I had it right before bed which helped me relax.

I also tried out the great Boots Botanics Ionic Clay Mask-I think that it is going to be a great addition to my skincare regimen- went on easy,and rinsed off clean. Put on my favorite moisturize afterwards, went to bed and my face looked fantastic this morning!

 (me, looking oh so fancy with my mask on)

After spending the morning cleaning I tasted my other Red Rose Tea - the Creme Caramel. Also very delicious- just as the name says, it's a great creamy caramel taste. No need to even add sugar! Probably better for me, since I have a mean sweet tooth.

      I've just now finished the third season of Homeland, finally, and boy was it great!! I cannot wait for the next one.. Now should I start Shameless finally or get into House of Cards? Until we meet again...

 And thank you, once again, to Influenster for all these wonderful, complimentary products! I'm having a blast with them!