Paula's Choice Clinical 1% Retinol Treatment

I feel pretty ... oh, so pretty ... oh, so pretty and witty and... heeeeeey.

Okay so those aren't the exact lyrics but it is true.  I started using  Paula's Choice Clinical 1% Retinol Treatment a little over a month ago and really believe in its ability to make my skin look better.

Here is what it claims (and my thoughts):

Protect your skin and reverse the signs of aging - as far as protection...I don't know.  It doesn't contain SPF so that's not the protection.  So if you wear this during the day be sure to add an SPF face lotion over it.  I will say even using a very small amount used it does...well, moisturize.

Formulated with an intensive, high-percentage retinol treatment, this lotion is designed to hydrate any skin type  - And this is what I was talking about.   It is almost more hydrating than my Collagen Elastin Face Lotion which is thick and leaves skin soft and full.  This does that with less and has some additional benefits.  So you don't have to add an additional face lotion at night after this but I do because its part of my routine.  

Targeting the appearance of pore size, wrinkles, uneven skin tone and loss of firmness - I don't have many wrinkles...yet, but I do have larger pores in some areas and uneven skin tone.  I didn't notice a difference but other people did.  My face looked healthier and younger.  It was almost glowing (and no I do not have any reason to be glowing).  The fine lines I do have seemed less pronounced.  The larger pores on my nose and chin diminished.  And the best part, my "dark spots" faded.  I am assuming that is the "uneven skin tone"  it is referring to.  Either that or my skin suddenly decided to "heal" itself.  My skin is still fairly firm so I didn't notice a change in that but the overall appearance and healthiness of my face improved. 

Fortified with Vitamin C and peptides to smooth wrinkles and fine lines - Yep, these seemed to work and work well. 

As well as licorice and oat extract to soothe skin and minimize the potential for irritation- This I am not sure about.  If anything this product made my skin more sensitive to basically everything.  My skin isn't sensitive but it is temperamental.  I've used the same products for years.  Ever since using this my skin is much more reactive to everything I put on it.  And by reactive, I mean it gets insanely tingly after I apply anything.  It only lasts for a short time but its enough to notice.  So I'd hate to think about using this if it didn't have these ingredients to minimize the potential for irritation.

It also doesn't have a weird scent so that is nice.  In conclusion, I would totally buy this product again.  I would also (and have) recommended it to my friends and family.  It is a great, affordable product that actually does what it claims.  Give it a try.

I received this product for free from BzzAgent to try and give my honest review.

Secret Outlast Clear Gel - Not my cup of tea

I received Secret Outlast Clear Gel from BzzAgent to try for free and give my honest opinion. 
After using the outlast gel for a few weeks I just can't bring myself to like it.  I will say it definitely is great for no white marks.  Which honestly is a huge selling point.  I hate having to rub white marks off my work clothes or before I go out.  It is very annoying but deodorant is a necessity.  It is one of the few deodorants that did not leave streaks all over my clothing as I was putting it on or throughout the day/night.

The scent itself was refreshing.  It is a little strong when you first put it on but it smells good.  Throughout the day you could catch a whiff if you moved the right way.  Putting my arm around my friend one day caused her to smell it and she was very curious what I was wearing because it smelled good.  I don't believe I had any major problems with odor whenever I wore it but that is not to say that it was perfect.  I did notice if I got hot or started to sweat a little the deodorant would go from dry to not dry.  I won't say wet but it definitely wasn't dry...maybe damp.  And although I didn't necessarily smell anything I could tell it was masking something.  So there wasn't a stinky issue so much as I felt like I needed to reapply to make sure I didn't end up with a stinky issue.  Of course if I didn't sweat it worked fine.  I don't know if it protected for 48 hours but it worked for a whole day.  If I put it on in the morning (and didn't get sweaty) by the time I got home I didn't feel unfresh.  And you could still smell the strong perfume scent here and there.  Like I said its not a bad scent but it is strong. 

My only other issue with it is it went on "wet".  As in I felt like I had to hold my arms out and wait for it to dry.  Even after it "dried" my underarms felt "sticky".  It is hard to explain but it felt if I put a shirt on it would stick to my underarms.  Not something I wanted.  So I would procrastinate on getting dressed so I didn't have to worry about my clothing sticking to me before it was dry.  I wasn't a fan of this feeling at all.  So although I never had white marks or had major odor issues, my underarms felt moist which is just unpleasant.

NOTE:  I am trying to embed that picture but it isn't working....so I just uploaded it...

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