Review: Freeman Facial Anti-Stress Mask Dead Sea Minerals

I picked up this Freeman Facial Anti-Stress Dead Sea Minerals mask at CVS a few months back.  I actually got this for free because Freeman had little rebate offers on the product, which allowed you to get your money back for the item.  All I had to do was fill out the little bitty form and mail it in with my receipt and I got a check for the balance ($3.99) within 6-8 weeks.

PACKAGING & PRICE:

The product comes in a bright blue squeeze tube that holds 6 fl oz. of product.  The color of the packaging is the same color of the product.  The tube is actually quite eye catching, which is one of the reasons I picked it up – I was looking for the Mint Julep mask, since they didn’t have it, I noticed this and grabbed it.  As mentioned briefly above, this retails for $3.99 at CVS.  The price is pretty standard in all selling locations, but you may be able to get it on sale during select weeks depending on what stores are pushing in ads for the week.  There are also single use foil packages available with .5 fl oz of product in them, but in my travels I have only seen them at Walmart – those I believe sell for $1.40.

PRODUCT:

The product is a bright blue shade and is a rather thick cream – think really thick body lotion.  It’s creamier in consistency when rubbed onto the skin and applies easily.  As the product starts to dry it can be a little harder to work with because it dries into a clay consistency.  You may also find certain spots on your face dry faster than others and if you want to go back over a thinner spot, some product will rub off, so you have to try to cover all skin on first application.  There isn’t a real scent to the product but I would say it’s got a “clean” scent to it.  It’s nothing obnoxious and nothing even remotely overpowering.  It’s advertised as a product to aid in purifying and clearing pores.

PURCHASING:

The Freeman’s Facial Anti-Stress Dead Sea Minerals can be found at your local pharmacy – Walgreens, CVS, or Rite Aid.  It’s also available at Ulta as well as on Drugstore.com & Amazon.  The mini single-use packages are available at Walmarts.  Outside of the handful of these locations, I’m not sure where else they would be sold.  The regular 6 fl oz. bottle is a better bang for your buck, especially when comparing $4 vs $1.40 and the amount of product you receive (6 oz vs .5 oz).

OVERALL:

I quite enjoy this mask.  It goes on smoothly and dries quickly – within 5 minutes or so your mask will be completely dry.  As it dries your face will feel tighter but it’s not uncomfortable, even if you are talking while it’s dried and/or drying.  The texture of the mask gets harder on your skin after dried – which makes sense since the product is made of clay.  I thought it would be a lot harder to wash off but with a few handfuls of water, it rinses off with ease.  You could even put this on before taking a shower and easily rinse it of while showering.  The water and a slight rub of your hands remove it with ease.  I found after use, my skin feels much smoother and softer after use.  I quite enjoy this mask and the results obtained from using it.

RATING:

4 stars

My First Lush Haul!

I’ve been into Lush a few times in the past but have never purchased anything from the store.  One time I went in there, tried out this hand cleansing/exfoliating system and when I told the girl I’d love to buy it and was informed the full set was $90 I quickly ran out of the store (well, not quickly, I told her no thank you and left).  So what got me back into Lush this time?  My hands.  We have hard water at work and I’m constantly washing my hands, which is drying them out beyond belief.  On top of that I deal with paperwork all day long which is also helping in drying them out. Regardless of how much lotion I’m using it’s not doing anything for them, particularly a few of my fingertips. I’ve been buying different lotions, etc., and they help for the time being but they haven’t truly been curing the underlying problem – just masking it for the time being.  Of course when I got into Lush I explained my hand scenario and we started off by testing out two different products on two different hands, followed by the lotion, etc.  Then while talking, I started babbling about my skin (face) and we dove into products for that.  Needless to say, before I knew it, I had a boatload of products to purchase and was asking to pick up a few extra that I had seen talked about in YouTube videos. I spent  a lot more than I anticipated, but so far I am really enjoying some of the stuff I’ve purchased – particularly my face mask, soap [both face and body], toner and hand lotion (minus the scent).  I do love the toner and I find it’s really helping with the oiliness of my face – and I’d like to test this against the Body Shops tea tree toner (since it is cheaper, just not in a neat spray bottle).  I realize Lush is really pricy in their stuff, but if you find something that’s working for you, there’s always a price that comes with beauty.

Here’s a break down of what I picked up:

-          Helping Hands hand cream

-          Cupcake face mask

-          Fresh Farmacy Face Soap

-          Honey I Washed the Kids soap

-          Putty For Your Hands

-          Tea Tree Toner Water

-          Toothy Tabs in Dirty (Spearmint flavor)

I also got some samples, for myself and for my boyfriend to try out (which he hasn’t because he says it’s “makeup” LOLOL!!):

-          Imperialis Facial Moisturizer

-          Ocean Salt face & body scrub (x 2)

-          Grease Lightening

-          Cosmetic Lad

I will be doing a review on the Cupcake face mask at some point.

Big Lots haul!

I popped into Big Lots last week to get some water flavoring packets and of course picked up a few things up.  Browsing the beauty aisle I grabbed the Green Tea cleansing towels that I have seen time and time again but just have never purchased.  I have used these since purchasing and I can say these are pretty stand-up wipes.  I don't usually like face wipes because they tend to leave a "film" on my face, where I feel I have to go and splash water on it, but with these it feels very soft and clean.  As I use them more I'll get a true feeling for how much I like them.  I then grabbed a hair drying cap because I thought it was the wraps -- but I was wrong.  This is literally a cap, that you put your hair in after you've squeezed the water out into a towel and it absorbs excess water.  It's not what I expected it to be and I wished I didn't purchase it because it's just an extra (unnecessary) step.  I then grabbed a mock-Rocawear cologne for my boyfriend.  He drives me crazy leaving the expensive cologne I buy him in the car (he's a smoker) so I told him bring the expensive cologne in the house and if you want to smell decent for strangers, spray on this stuff LOL.  I did smell it before I purchased it, and it does smell pretty good so it's okay in my book.  I then grabbed a Maybelline lipstick in Must Have Mauve (which I think is still in stores?) for $3.  The color wears a lot brighter on my lips than it is when you wipe it off onto a tissue.  Hmph.

Haul: Garnier Skin Renew

I picked up a tube of Garnier Skin Renew at CVS last weekend to try out on my face.  I've been super annoyed with my skin lately and since I'm waiting to see my dermatologist (hopefully this week) I'll have some better advise as to how to move forward.

I originally went into CVS looking for the Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Eventone Dark Spot Corrector BUT I've been highly unsuccessful in locating that anywhere.  Since I couldn't find the Palmer's I went in search of the new Olay CC Cream BUT CVS didn't have that either.  So that left me meandering through the skincare aisle aimlessly and I stumbled upon the Garnier section.  I noticed the Dark Spot Corrector so I pulled it off the shelf.  I went back and fourth as to if I should get it or not and I finally decided what the heck, it won't hurt to try it.  This was $17.99 and I was able to get $2 off using one of the coupons taped up near the product.  They also have an overnight peel, but since I do use Retin-A I figured that may be doing more unnecessary things to my face and/or it may just have a huge couter-reaction to my Retin-A and cause me even more skin troubles.  Anyway, I haven't noticed any results as of yet, but then again it's only been a handful of days.  But one thing I do notice is if I don't use a toner on my face before applying this, I get SUPER shiny and oily and just gross within a few hours.  If I use a toner underneath this and then apply a moisturizer over this, it's not terrible and I don't notice the oil.  But as I use it more, I'll be able to pinpoint certain things and hopefully (fingers crossed) see some results.

Tasty Favorites Cravebox!

As some of you who have been following my posts know, I am a subscriber to the Cravebox service.  Cravebox is similar to a Birchbox (I think they are run by the same company – but don’t quote me on that) but the boxes are geared more towards healthy eats and occasionally beauty.  This month’s box was titled the Tasty Favorites Cravebox.  This is the 3^rd box I have received from Cravebox and I will admit, this month’s box was rather lackluster.  There wasn’t anything I was excited about getting and the few things I have tried already I wasn’t a big fan of.

This particular box included samples and select coupons of the following items:

- Mini Energy Bars from Balance Bars

                        Mini 100 calorie bars that pack a 7gram protein punch as well as 23 vitamins and minerals.

- Soy Nut Trail Mix from Crum Creek

                        The snack is a perfect mix of organic slightly sea-salted soy nuts, raisins, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and chocolate chips.

- Purple Corn Tortilla Chips with Sea Salt from Mystic Harbor

                        All-natural guilt-free substitute to snacking

- Plentils crunchy lentil chips from Enjoy Life

                        A “better for you chip” that delivers protein packed crunching

- Caramel Apple filled Werther’s Originals candies

                        Provides a smooth caramel casing with a rich, apple filling, giving you the impression of eating a candy apple.

I have tried the Plentils and they were just funky and not my thing.  I’ve also eaten some of the Werther’s candies and they’re alright.  They do sell these at the Dollar Tree.  They’re nothing spectacular – but then again I’m an original Werther’s fan..

Quick Little Walmart Haul!

This here is my quick, little Walmart haul.  An unsuspected one at that because I went in looking for liquid foundation and ended up not finding it, but of course I found a few other goodies!  The same lipstick is priced at $8.99 (plus tax) at CVS and because this is part of the permanent line it's only $5.50 at Walmart.  Craziness!  I really like brown shades because they show up nicely on my lips, but I tend to reserve those for later in the year because they are darker.  This is a few shades darker than my natural lip, but it looks very nice.  I then got some Vitamin C gummies because I've tried taking Vitamin C pills and they have this horrendous smell AND taste that I just can't do it.  So I figured gummies would be the best bet for now.

Here's what I picked up:

- Maybelline Volum'Express mascara in Blackest Black
- Maybelline lipstick in #315 Broadway Bronze
- Vitamin C Gummies

Shannon’s Random Beauty Walmart Haul!

This is my haul from two weeks ago.  I popped into Walmart after running a slew of errands and did some random shopping.  I originally went into Walmart to get some B12 and Biotin and of course I can’t just go to one section and leave – I have to look around.  Otherwise, there’d be absolutely no use to go in ANY store.  At least in my book.  Honestly, I really wish someone would hire me full time as their personal shopper because that would be marvelous.

Here’s what I picked up:

-          Large Facial Cleansing Pads (Cotton rounds) – I know I could have gotten the smaller version at the dollar store, but I wanted the larger ones for now.

-          B12. This just helps me stay alert.  For a very long time I was really tired all the time and my doctor found my B12 was slightly low so she told me to take a B12 supplement and it really does help.

-          Biotin 1000mcg. Before I started taking these I was taking Gelatin for my nails but switched to Biotin to see if I could have some change in my hair and my skin.  I have noticed my nails are growing at an increased rate and are really strong.  My hair does feel slightly thicker, but I need to give that department a little more time before I say yay or nay.

-          Suction cup soap dish.  This is really crap. I bought it to put my Lush soaps on, I stuck it on the wall, walked out of the bathroom and 2 minutes later heard CRASH and my Lush soap was smashed into bits.  Fabulousness!

-          Goody Quikstyle hairbrush. I had seen Krystal feature a post about this and started peeking down random stores hair care aisles so I could get myself one.  I found them at CVS but they were a little under $14, so when I found it at Walmart I want to say it was $11.

-          Onyx Professionals 3-2-1 Dry nail polish drying spray. One thing I dislike about painting my nails is waiting the time it takes to dry.  So I purchased this.  That is BEFORE I saw a Yahoo Beauty feature saying you can dip your painted nails (air dried by 2 minutes) into really cold water and the water will “freeze” the polish on your nails.  You then pat your skin dry.

So there you have it, my Walmart haul!