Does It Really Say "Peter Thomas Roth" on His Birth Certificate?

Peter Thomas Roth, I extend a hearty "Good day to you, sir" and would also like to commend you on your exceptional masterpiece of ass-kicking, skin-fighting glycolic acid (seriously, did you sell your soul to come up with this amazing concoction?) 


Now, perhaps I'm jumping the gun here as I've only been using this product for the past week (well, 6 days to be exact, but time flies when you're having fun!), however to quote Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR for you rockaholics), there's something in the air.


I've taken to using this every night and I officially refer to it as one half of the Dream Team -- the other half being that golden Goddess, Santa Clarisonic. 


I like to first remove the day's debris, make-up, and whatever else has chosen to house itself on my face with some Cetaphil (much like a step sibling, I loathed this stuff in my younger days and have now come to find it's actually pretty handy). After, I take about a dime-sized amount of the PTR Magic and also put around 3-4 pumps of Cetaphil into the mix so as to diminish the drying effects from the big G.A. (Glycolic Acid, folks). Then I allow the Clarisonic to do its thang and before I know it, my skin feels clean. And I do mean cleaaaaaaaaaaan.


The number one thing I've noticed is that those deep cystic bumps of mine (lovely, I know) are suddenly starting to disappear. If you find that your nose starts to get a little dry along the sides I'd recommend taking a tiny bit of moisturizer to it.

And if you'd rather not drop your hard-earned money on the $32 price tag for it, at least ask one of your helpful Sephora ladies to give you a sample; they're usually very generous!


Enjoy and happy glycolic acid-ing.

My Inner Masochist

As I sit here taking deep breaths in hopes of helping me finish my (4th? 5th? Why was I born without any modicum of willpower?) atomic fireball of the day, I can't help but notice some strong similarities between eating something you know will be painful and using a product that takes more than it gives. 


Kind of like how the atomic fireball causes my throat to go through the Near-Burning-Stage all the way to the No-Feeling-Left-in-My-Cheeks-Stage, I keep returning to a certain moisturizer that I'm 99.9% positive is responsible for leaving me with a flurry of bumps on the left side of my jawline. 


Just as candy stores are my crack, so too are those pesky beauty supply stores (Nail polish! Curling irons! Hair brushes! Oh my!) A few months ago, Kar and I trekked it on over to Naimes in the Valley. Now, if you live in or around that area and haven't ever been to this place, stop everything and Go. There. Now. (Seriously. Life changing stuff, people.) Anyways, it was there that I discovered one handy little product by Tan Towel that not only imparts a subtle glow BUT also has some retinol in it (How much do I love you, Retinol? Let me count the ways...) When I first started using it, my face started to look more vibrant and less oily. I also noticed that the fine lines on my forehead were becoming softer and softer (read: apparently only I can see them, but the fact that I know they're there makes them just as bad).


Drum roll please.


I also noticed that I had some new friends traveling south towards my jawline. Much like the carpetbaggers after the Civil War, the small zits I once had in between my eyebrows were now seeking refuge on my jaw. Despite all of this, though, I'm continuing to use this product every so often considering the fact that it does more good than bad. I'm not sure if that makes me a hypocrite, a blatant contradiction, or just a masochist at heart, but I'm more than willing to house a few wandering politicians in exchange for those pesky lines to take a hike.


Now where are some more of those atomic fireballs?

Clarisonic: The Maserati of Skin Care

 If you've got some time on your hands, I'd recommend sashaying on over to the Clarisonic website for some great gadget 411 or even on over to Sephora for some fabulously in-depth user reviews to learn more about this fooooiiiine piece of machinery.

I took the Clarisonic plunge myself at the end of April, in one of those last ditch attempts at salvaging my skin before graduation in May (pictures + natural sunlight x jawline breakout = tres gross and awkward). 

Ironically enough, my initial experience with this handy piece of awesomeness included the words "scary exfoliant" and "red". I say the former because I'm pretty sure it got rid of layers I'd had since high school and the latter because I got a little, er, obsessive (think 2 to 3 times a day...yowza!) I was also using it along with Fresh's Soy Cleanser, which was nice and soothing (you sensitive skinned gals would love it), but not nearly boot camp-esque enough to fight the hellish wrath on my face.  


So, speaking with my mom -- whom I will endearingly refer to as "Kar" from here on out -- told me I really shouldn't be using it anymore than once a day, as the bristles on the Clarisonic head are extremely strong. Translation: Skin today, Gone tomorrow! (As a side note, the Normal Head is a wee bit too abrasive and I think most people would benefit just fine from the Sensitive Head.) 


Taking her advice, I discovered that my skin was starting to...dare I say it?!...glow. And I don't mean 'glow' like "Ew, did she even wash her face after huffing it on the elliptical", but 'glow' as in "Did you SEE J Lo's angelic radiance?!"  


And despite the fact that it didn't get rid of those pesky spots entirely, it did cut their usual living time by about half. And, for me, that's enough to shell out the coin it costs to pay for this lightweight gizmo.

Did Sugar send out the VIP invite to the party on my chin?

Ah, skin. It truly brings back memories of obnoxious pre-pubescent 5th graders screaming gleefully across the asphalt playground to each other, "Duck and cover! Your epidermis is showing!" And while I was usually (OK--always) one of the naiive ones who took this seemingly innocent taunting to heart as some Godforesaken horror, 
maybe little Eric had a point. 

The point being, of course, that people always notice your skin. It doesn't matter who you are, how big or how small your booty is, if you rock extensions or not, if you're old and worldly or young and sprightly. You have it, I have it, he has it, she has it. 

Everyone has their own personal demons and battles to fight when it comes to their skin. For some it's a pesky freckle cluster that others find cute but you find nauseating. For others it's that damn forehead wrinkle that refuses to lay down and die despite how many times you've pumped it up with Agent Botox. And for others, it's the evil of all evils...Acne. So what do we do when this beast strikes?

Well, if you're like me, you spend the majority of your work day scouring the internet for the latest cleansers and treatments galore. Oh, and also mentally computing just how much of a chunk this latest go-around is going to assassinate from your paycheck. Ah, the price we're willing to pay for poreless faces...wait, does that even make sense?

As such, I currently have four big boys taking up prime real estate on my chin. If you look closely, they almost form a diamond shape (the operative word here being "almost" as I'd much prefer the wearable kind). Such is life, though. 

I've heard a lot of backlash recently about the awful side effects of sugar and can't help but wonder if the big S is the culprit at hand. Is it sad that I'm not willing to forego my daily hard candy and occasional ice cream splurge? On second thought, don't answer that. 


I've navigated my way through most of the products out there and plan on spending the majority of future posts on my personal experiences with each. And if I one day choose to eliminate sugar entirely from my diet, only to find that my skin clears and reveals itself as the 9th wonder of the world...well, friends, it will be a sad day indeed for me.

My Debut Into the Blogosphere...

Dut-dutta-duh! As my first foray into the realm of bloggers, beauty aficionados, and sugar lovers from sea to shining sea, I'd like to take my first chunk of world wide webbage (yes, I think I just used this as a word. Sorry, Webster...) and use it to properly introduce myself. My name is Alyssa and along with a deep penchant for all things beauty-related (does a rehab for Sephora exist yet?), sugar-connected (Gobstoppers and Runts, I blame you for my inevitable Diabetes downfall), and overuse of parentheses (I'll apologize now), I'm also a huge sucker (ha! No pun intended. Really.) for any product that promises to shine, ooze, and plump (and not necessarily in that order). I think this comes about less from my personal belief that I have anything worthwhile to contribute, and more so from the fact that I've just about Googled everything that "beauty" and "blog" have to offer. So, without much ado, I will now let the good times roll (and more on a low-cal -- or hell, FULL cal -- recipe for cinnamon rolls later...)