NaturalSkinShop.com Glycolic Skin Peel Review

I had never tried a glycolic peel prior to NaturalSkinShop.com's offer to send me theirs. I couldn't wait to try it, but, like all products that I put on my skin, I made sure that I read all of the instructions first. It's a good thing that I did, because I didn't realize how very potent glycolic peels are!

First, here is a video:



I actually received the full set for review, which included:

• Glycolic Exfoliator10% 2 oz
• Glycolic 70% Peel 2 oz
• Hyluronic Moisturizer 1 oz

The instructions said to use the exfoliator for a week prior to using the peel. I couldn't wait to use the peel, but I was patient and went through the process, as recommended. I wanted to get the best results possible.

When the day came to do the glycolic peel (which, by the way, is the strongest percentage on the market at 70%), I was excited! I was also leery, considering the warnings on the instructions.

Burn, Baby Burn

There was an immediate tingling/burning sensation, but nothing that made me think: Stop! It actually felt really good - I could tell that something was going on underneath the layers of my skin! After the minute was up, I washed the peel as instructed and couldn't believe how smooth my skin felt and how shiny it was! The hyluronic moisturizer helped to sooth that burning feeling and smoothed my skin even more.

However, my skin continued to tingle/burn long after I washed it off. I would say about 3 hours after I was finished with the procedure, the tingling/burning was gone. But, the residual effects were awesome!

My Thoughts

I love this glycolic peel set! The exfoliator is great for everyday use and the peel - well, there is no doubt that it works! The moisturizer is an added "extra" that completes the system. I don't have experience with other glycolic peels to compare these products with, but I can surely say that I love how my skin feels and looks now that I am using NaturalSkinShop.com's glycolic peel set.

Now, the bottles are quite small, and compared to the price (which is $98 for this set), I would normally shy away from making the purchase, but a teeny tiny bit goes a long way! If used as suggested, this set could easily last me 3 months (yes, even these little 2 oz and 1 oz bottles!). The liquid is almost the density of water and smooths on easily. This set also came in a small zippered make-up bag and had a small box of gauze pads included to help with application. The gauze pads work much better than cotton balls, because cotton balls would absorb (and waste) a lot of the liquid, as opposed to the gauze pads, which won't.

Customer Service

They even offered me the services of a personal esthetician before I placed my order, in case I couldn't figure out the strength that was perfect for my skin! Now, that's customer service! (And, if there is anything you know about me, customer service is a vital aspect of dealing with companies. If their customer service is crappy, their products aren't worth it!)

NaturalSkinShop.com has a wide range of glycolic peels, with different percentages to suit you personal skin needs. They also carry many other products! Stop by their shop to see what they have for you!

I received a product from NaturalSkinShop.com for the purpose of this review. I did not receive compensation for this post.

Annoying Emails

I'm not going to call anyone out on this post, but I just might in the future!

I have received a plethora of emails that annoy me in the past few months. Maybe this post will make a difference...maybe not. But, let's start with the annoying...

Press Release Blog Posts for Free

You know, the emails that contain (basically) press releases and then..."If you would share this info with your readers, we would really appreciate it." I bet you would! Of course, free exposure is the best!

So, what you want me to do is do your job for you, right? You want me to take all of your information, put it in a blog post to my readers and essentially spread the word about your service, products, events, etc. just because I'm a nice person with a blog? You are the PR agent, so you need to come up with a more unique way of coming to me. Let me make this clear: I am not going to spread the word about your cause unless:

1) It benefits me, or
2) It has some close connection to what I believe in...

And even if you hit #2, there's a very slight chance that your product, book, service, event will make it into one of my blog posts because your email annoyed me!

Rejection Emails

I had an email conversation with a blogger that I am friends with just the other day. We were discussing reviews and giveaways and how we email companies to discuss opportunities to promote their products for them for free work with them. She had received a nasty email from a company which she had emailed and was a bit upset. She's not the only poor blogger who has been treated this way. I have received one that I was pretty ticked about. That company is lucky that I didn't blog about it and I am still wondering if I should.

Look, you uppity companies (and this comes from a former business manager!):

1) We are offering you a FREE SERVICE. Be thankful! Advertising of any type costs $$$$$$ and we are offering to do it for free.

2) What we do for you is benefiting you more than it benefits us! How do I figure this? The equation is simple: you send a product worth X amount of dollars. So, add the cost of the product and the shipping. I write a review and post it on my blog, which takes about an hour. Then, I send it out to all of the social media thing-a-ma-bobs (which takes even more time) and you get exposure through Google, too! And, this is ongoing exposure! Once your product is gone (like lotions and candles and finger nail polish), I don't have any residual, but there is a residual effect when I post up something on my blog...it stays there forever and is easily searchable through Google. So, who is really getting the shorter end of the stick?

3) If you know anything about Technorati and most of the other website-analysis tools that you use to see if blogger's blogs are up to your standards, you know that a lot of them are based on backlinks, not traffic. Understand what tools you are using to judge blogs before you reject bloggers.

4) If you haven't spent a moment of time reading someone's blog and checking out how many people respond to their blog posts (that means comments), you should never send a rejection letter that is mean. In addition, how can reject a blogger if you've never been to their site?

5) Did you know that bad exposure is 1000 times worse than a good review? One mean rejection letter could earn your company some bad exposure that never goes away. Be careful, polite, professional and remember that you are representing your company when you email bloggers!

6) Even if you think that a blogger does not have enough followers, the chances are that they have enough followers to spread the word about your mean email.

7) Bloggers are people with feelings. Duh! Be nice.

8) Back to the old saying, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." 'Nuff said.

My final word on this "rant" is: the company that sent me that mean email is very lucky they got away with it. The next mean and unprofessional email that I receive from a company will get posted on Mommy Rantings! Exposure is the key. :)

So, I have three questions: Which emails annoy you? Should I expose the company that sent me the mean email? Would you?

My BlogSpark, MultiGrain Cheerios® and The Biggest Loser Club® Review and Giveaway!

Are you a fan of the show, The Biggest Loser? I actually love that show, regardless of the fact that I'm not overweight. It's great to see people working together to become healthier! I think if I had to make a resolution, it would be to eat and drink healthier - and to ultimately become healthier this year.

I started my water intake regimen in November (when I started to get sick)...I HATED water and I can't tell you how many people have told me that you "acquire" a taste for it once you start drinking it...I won't go THAT far, but I will say that my body now craves it. Or, maybe I notice the fact that my body craves it more, because I started drinking it. I like a lot of ice in it, nice and cold. I'm now up to 4 tall glasses per day and working on increasing it to one more soon.

So, My BlogSpark sent me an email offering to send me a prize pack for the Multigrain Cheerios Biggest Loser at Home Spark!

Even though I'm not on the track to losing weight, I definitely love the purple canvas bag (perfect for the gym), the water bottle and the little container with the cover! That little container - half of the top snaps open for little fingers to reach into - has been wonderful to put cereal in and let Dakoda run around the house with! He now asks for his cereal in HIS bowl. :)

And, if you have little ones, the little cereal bowl with the cover is perfect for on-the go!
The MultiGrain Cheerios are not my favorite, honestly, but add some sugar - the big No-No! - and they taste good!!!

If you are trying to lose weight, MultiGrain Cheerios has some awesome tools for you on their website! I was watching The Doctors (one of "my shows") the other day and they were talking getting healthier, too. They said that it's hard to know exactly how to lose weight if you don't know your "numbers". What they mean by this is that you should know your body mass index, fat content, etc...

So, you can go to the MutliGrain Cheerios and enter in the code from your cereal box and Viola! They have:

• A Body Mass Index (BMI) calculator. It will help you figure out how much weight you need to lose (or gain) to fall into the "healthy" category, which is also the area you need to be in to avoid serious health issues.
• A 7 Day Plan combining daily meal plans with cardio/strength training routines exclusively for you.
• 15 yummy recipes that will fuel your body.
• Daily workouts that pair cardio w/mobility and resistance exercises, focused on major muscle groups.

They also emphasize that people who eat whole grains are more likely to have healthier body weights, which is why MultiGrain Cheerios is a great breakfast cereal for you (without adding the sugar like I do) if you are trying to get healthier. And, on my show, The Doctors, the other day, they mentioned that you should eat your breakfast within an hour of waking in order to get the maximum effect.

Oh, and drink your water!!! It will help you lose weight! And your body NEEDS it!


GIVEAWAY!

Do you like the prize pack that I received??? MultiGrain Cheerios and MyBlogSpark are offering one of these prize packs to one lucky Mommy Rantings reader! (You must be a Mommy Rantings GFC follower to win)

Mandatory Entry: Tell me what you plan to do to be your own At-Home Biggest Loser!

1) "Like" Mommy Rantings on Facebook. (2 entries) (right hand column of blog)

2) Follow QueenBMomma on Twitter. (2 entries) (left hand column of blog)

3) Grab my button and put it on your blog (leave the link) (3 entries)

4) Update your Facebook status with this giveaway. (2 entries)

5) Subscribe via Mommy Rantings email (2 entries)

6) Blog about this giveaway - tell me your blog's URL (3 entries).

7) Tweet this giveaway (you can do this once per day!) (1 entry per tweet -leave twitter name)
Winner will be chosen through Random.org and the winning entry will be validated (I will make sure that you did the mandatory entry and the entry # that is chosen). PLEASE LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS IN ONE OF YOUR ENTRIES. RUNNING AROUND THE INTERNET TRACKING DOWN WINNERS IS NO FUN!

Thank you to MultiGrain Cheerios and MyBlogSpark for sponsoring this giveaway! This giveaway will end on Feb 13th, 2011 at midnight EST. I will contact the winner by email and they will have 24 hours to respond before the runner up is chosen. Good luck!

I received a product for the purpose of review. I did not receive monetary compensation. All opinions are expressly mine.

Groundhog Day!

Unfortunately, I think the little groundhog is probably still under the snow! Oh, well...Spring will come when it comes, as usual! But, according to this Raw Video taped this morning, the groundhog predicts...



I LIKE THAT!

The Weather Rip-Off

So, we were supposed to see the "storm of the season" today.

Veronica: Mom, why are we staying home today?

Me: The weatherman called for the storm of the season yesterday.

Veronica: Storm of the season? It's not even snowing!

Me: Yeah, the weatherman ripped us off.

Anyone else get ripped off? It might have snowed an inch or two here overnight, but certainly nothing to close school over! I'm sure that everyone around this area is a bit confused this morning!