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So, just so you know-if you’ve clicked on some link to get here-this isn’t porn!

The first thing I do every morning is shower. My shower has to wake me up and get me ready for my day. I’m going to share with you my favorite things, the products that I use every day. Things that get me clean, keep me soft and smooth, shiny and bouncy!

To start off I cleanse my face with Mary Kay Deep Cleanser. I’ve been using Mary Kay Cosmetics for over 20 years. If I look young for my age, I thank Mary Kay! Mary Kay’s Deep Cleanser gently, but thoroughly, cleanses my skin. It’s for oily skin, and mine is normal/combination, but I prefer it to any other. When I use my freshener on the cotton ball after showering, the cotton ball is clean!

I digress from Mary Kay at this point to St. Ives Apricot Scrub. I use it daily in the shower after cleansing to exfoliate, keeping my skin fresh and soft, by removing dead skin cells. I still use the Mary Kay Mask once or twice a week for deep cleaning, but I love using the St. Ives Apricot Scrub daily as well. As you will see-I’m a bit obsessive about exfoliating!

Next comes hair, I love Pantene products! I have tried a lot of salon products, but I keep coming back to Pantene. For my type of fine, long hair, I generally use the Sheer Volume or the Full and Thick Shampoo and Conditioner. Allure Magazine once said that Pantene’s Sheer Volume Shampoo and Conditioner makes your hair feel like it has a shot of caffeine! And it does!

Now for the body! I need an unscented soap or shower gel, and my new favorite is Dove‘s Sensitive Skin body wash. It smells clean without any fragrance, and is gentle on my skin. I apply it with either a shower puff or loofah. Right now I’m using a loofah. I like the feel of a loofah, it’s very pampering.

While I’m soapy I grab my cute pink Gillette Venus razor and glide away the unwanted hair on my legs and underarms.

Once my body’s clean, I need it smooth. This may surprise some people, but I actually use a pumice stone over all of my body skin. It’s a bit scratchy at first, but you get used to it quickly, in a day or two, and it gives you baby smooth skin all over. No rough bumps on your arms, legs or bottom, and smooth heels and elbows. I have two natural pumice stones and one purple Mr. Pumice scrubber that I got at Sally’s Beauty Supply. I also have a Dr. Scholl’s foot smoother that I alternately use on my feet along with the pumice stone. I told you, I’m obsessed with exfoliating!

Happy showering!

I’d love to hear what some of your favorite products are now!

Have I told you I am passionate about exfoliating? Hmmm? Well, it’s true, I am! And St. Ives Swiss Formula Apricot Scrub totally fits the bill. I love the stuff! I love the smell! To me, it’s kind of an apricot-grapefruit fragrance, very invigorating!

St. Ives Apricot Scrub is made with pure swiss glacial water, swiss botanicals, and 100% natural exfoliants. What could be better than that? I keep it in the shower and use it everyday! After cleansing my skin with my cleanser I squeeze out some of the scrub and massage my face, then rinse it away in the shower. Nothing could be easier. Truly. My skin feels soft and clean and smooth and ready for the day.

St. Ives Apricot Scrub is also dermatologist tested, oil free, and hypo-allergenic and I am also very pleased to tell you that the product was NOT tested on animals. The great thing about St. Ives Apricot Scrub is, it’s cheap! You can usually find it in your local grocery or drug store.

St. Ives Apricot Scrub gently exfoliates and removes all those crusty dead skin cells that make our skin rough and clog up our pores. It’s great to use it on other parts of my body as well – like arms, legs, and feet. The dead skin cells wash down the drain, and you are left with glowing, soft skin. Awww! Just the way we like it!

Allure Magazine even gave St. Ives Apricot Scrub the Readers Choice Award! Well I’m sold, and I bet you will be too when YOU try it!

Tell me – do you have a favorite scrub or way to exfoliate???

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Neutrogena Hand Cream

I wash my hands a LOT, I’m almost OCD about it, okay, maybe I am. Since I wash my hands a lot, they get dried out and I really need a good hand cream. Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Hand Cream fills the bill for me. I have been using it for years. I keep it in my purse and use it constantly.  As a result of this, my hands aren’t dry and cracked, they are soft and smooth.

The Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Hand Cream comes in scented and unscented. I prefer the unscented. It’s dermatologist recommended, which doesn’t surprise me at all, nothing works better for me.  It’s a small tube, but it’s very concentrated and a little goes a long way.  The 2 oz. tube contains over 200 applications. It goes on slightly sticky, but quickly sinks in and feels nothing but soft.

The story is that it started with Norwegian fisherman, who used a formula that contained large amounts of glycerin to protect them from the harshest, coldest weather on earth. Independent clinical testing over five years proved Norwegian Formula Hand cream consistently outperforms other products.  My unclinical testing proves this as well!

The Norwegian Formula is also available in these other Neutrogena products: Foot Cream, Body Emulsion and Body Moisturizer. For more information please go to: www.neutrogena.com.

My final words: it’s the best hand cream I’ve ever used and I can’t go a day without it!

INGREDIENTS

I received some INGREDIENTS Citrus and Spice Ultra-Moisturizing Scrub as a gift and couldn’t wait to try it!  If you are regular readers of my blog you might remember that I am addicted to exfoliating! It’s made by M. B. Carey & Co. Ltd.

M. B. Carey & Co. Ltd. has created a line that is additive-free, containing aroma-therapeutic essential oils, herbs, spices, and coarse salts.

I’ve been using it for over a week now and I really am enjoying it.  It was a little awkward to use at first.  I opened it and set it outside the shower door so I could easily reach out and scoop up little handfuls to scrub.  It’s full of salts and spices and gives you a great warming, scrubbing feeling.  I have used it on my face and body, and love it!

The only slight drawback is the leftover pieces of spices on the floor of your shower.  But it’s really no big deal, a tissue sweeps them all up.

The bonus is that when you rinse it off it leaves behind some oils that make you feel silky smooth! It feels so luxurious and pampering! I can’t get enough of the feeling!

To try INGREDIENTS for yourself check their website for a location near you HERE.

INGREDIENTS also has a new facebook fanpage and I’m their newest fan!