I LOVE These Things...My New Favorite Moisturizer, Lip Balm and Primer

Happy New Year!

Kids are back in school. Christmas tree and decorations are stuffed back into boxes, tubs and bags. Resolutions about eating only salads until March have started.

And, I’m back to blogging.

It’s safe to say that I’ve missed you guys. 2016 was a nutty year. When I launched my new business, Adore Your Wardrobe, I had no idea that I would start on a learning curve so intense that I would have little time for anything else. It’s been an incredibly fun and rewarding ride. (Who wouldn’t want to help women get their fashion mojo back and look their best?) But after a year, I realized how much I missed my blog and the opportunity to share resources, tell a story, or express an opinion.

So, this year I’m committing to posting twice a week. One post will be “informational in nature”, while the second post will be more like this one…light-hearted, maybe a nugget of information here or there, but for the most part, just personal.

In addition, the blog will begin a design overhaul the first part of 2017. We will have a new mobile version with LESS ads. A new email service…so for those of you who love getting my full blog post via email, that will be coming to an end. On an up side, will only be receiving emails about the topics you love. And while none of this will happen immediately, I wanted to let you know it was on the horizon so when changes are made…you are prepared.

But enough about all of that! Who is ready to hear about three of my new skin care LURVES?

1. My new favorite lip balm.

I’ve been a Carmex girl since I was in high school. (For those doing math, that is 20+ years ago.) I used it nightly to ward off chapped lips and any other weird germ-like-fungus that may have come home on my kid’s lunchbox. But as a during-the-day lip balm, it stinks. It’s gloppy. You smell like anti-bacterial spray. It doesn’t play well with lipstick or liner.

The Malin+Goetz Mojito Lip Balm was in my “received from a beauty box” stash so I gave it a try and I’m in LOVE. It’s heavy enough to feel like it is doing something, yet light enough to not feel gloppy. It plays well with lipstick and actually makes for a really shiny gloss. And it is the BOMB at keeping chapped lips at bay. Seriously, it cures any chap-lipness you have overnight. It’s clear liquid gold.

Don’t believe me, read the reviews on Amazon, they are BONKERS (but don’t buy it on Amazon, because it is overpriced). My favorite review…

“if you have never bought a $20 tube of lip balm before…take the leap and buy this one. After that, you will never buy anything else ever again.”

#word

I promise, once you go MOJITO, you can’t ever go back.

2. My new-to-me favorite eye shadow primer.

I had never used an eye shadow primer before last month.

I always thought that at a “certain point” in the day, your eyeshadow either gets greasy creases or disappears.

Then a friend told me about Urban Decay Eye Shadow Primer and my life was changed. I’m not sure what is in this product but it is the GORILLA GLUE of eye shadow and eye liner. I’m pretty sure you could go through a carwash and your smokey eye would still be in place.

Even with it’s staying power, it’s really lightweight. In fact, within a couple of minutes, you can’t really tell you have anything on. My only beef is its staying power makes it hard to “smudge” eyeliner. There is no smudge unless you want to rip your eyelid off. But, to not have to worry about my eyeshadow disappearing…well, I’ll get used to no smudge.

3. My new favorite overall moisturizer.

For years I’ve sang the praises of St. Ives Facial Skin Moisturizer with Collagen & Elastin. And while I think it still is a FINE moisturizer for the money, I’ve found a new love.

It happened quite by accident. It was a combination of circumstances. New Target Beauty Box, going skiing and needing a to pack travel-sized moisturizer, and not having time to go to the store to get my usual brand.

Well, when they say there are no accidents, I’m inclined to believe them because I LURVE Nivea SOFT. I used it all four nights we were in Colorado and my skin was soft, moisturized, and beautiful every single morning. (And that is after skiing all day…it wasn’t like I was sitting in the condo watching The Real Housewives…) And bonus, my skin didn’t feel greasy or sticky like some drugstore moisturizers.

As soon as we got home from Colorado, I rushed to my nearest Target to purchase a tub and I couldn’t find it ANYWHERE. (Seriously, Target! If you are going to send it in a beauty box than make sure we can get it at your store!) But luckily, me and Amazon are buddies, so I was able to purchase a 4-pack for about the same price per tub. Now, I’m excited about taking off my makeup at night and putting a thick and glorious coat of NIVEA before jumping into bed.

(Now to just find some amazingly warm slippers and amazing robe.)

And here is what else is going on…

See past editions of I LOVE These Things.