Freckle Juice

When I was little, I remember reading a book called freckle juice. In it, the character is willing to try anything to get rid of freckles! I've always had freckles....and never really minded them. However, in the past decade, not only have I gotten increasingly more freckles, I've dealt with discoloration and hyper-pigmentation. NO matter what kind of sunscreen I put on, I get a mask of sorts every summer. And it literally takes the entire rest of the year to fade, and it never really does completely. So needless to say, I was anxious to try out our new line of products specifically for age spots and discoloration.

After using it a week, I am absolutely thrilled! Mind you, it's not freckle juice. My freckles are still there, although I do believe they are lightening up. But the noticeable difference is not my freckles, it's my skin tone underneath those freckles! That is where the dramatic difference is! My skin tone is most definitely evening out and the discoloration is going away. For the first time in a long time, I felt comfortable going to teach WITHOUT any kind of powder to even my skin out. I guess the true test will be this summer when I am outside ALOT. But the day moisturizer has SPF 30 and I love the way it feels on my face. Very light and my skin looks brighter and healthier than it has ever looked!

So I'm not as impressed with the new acne spot treatment. I think it probably will work better for things that have already broken out, but not for the ones that are under the surface and just beginning. Mine is going away....just much slower than I thought.

Cleanse Trick

I forgot to let y'all in on a little secret. For those that have tried our cleanse, it is admitedly not the yummiest thing in the world. I personally don't mind the taste. I don't really think it has a taste. Anyway, just to try it out, I decided that when I mixed the bottle with the 32 oz of water, I would subsitute about 4-5 oz. of my sugar-free crystal light drink (it's actually the Target Generic of CL but the flavor is yum-o and I use it every day with the Pomegranate NRG and fiber booster anyway). It flavored it up a bit and actually tasted so much better that I found myself drinking it much faster and was finishing it before noon....so of course I suffered the consequences a bit those first two days until I learned some self-control. Anyhoo....for those who found the taste less than their Baskin Robbins ideal, it's just a little trick. I don't think it breaks any cardinal rules of detox or anything...haha.

New Product Update

My products came in yesterday and of course, I've been "testing" them out. The acne line has been reformulated and they've added a spot treatment that is extra strength! I've been using it on what I call an "undergrounder"...you know, those stress bumps that never quite surface?? Well it's finally drying up!! Woo Hoo! And I've been using the new Revelage products. The studies they sent us said it takes a few weeks to really notice a lightening in freckles, age spots, and discoloration. But I do love the way the products feel...very light with absolutely NO scent, so it won't compete with my favorite RE9 and FC5 products, which they are meant to be used with. I am very excited about these products and can't wait to report back on the results! It's perfect timing with summer coming up! And I'm also excited that our company is choosing to offer the shea butter hand and body wash/lotion duo all year round! It was such a huge seller at Christmas and just smells absolutely yummy!!!

Cleanse Final Post

I made it through my 3rd cleanse....it was great. Other than Day 2 it was a breeze and I feel great. I started back on my regular routine of Pomegranate NRG drink with fiber booster. This is really the big test...choosing to NOT eat the goldfish and other snacks my kids have and sticking with cheese or a few nuts. The eating has been great and I always feel so good when I finish a cleanse. I have not weighed to see what I lost, but then again, most of y'all know I don't do it for weight loss anyway...just colon health and overall wellness! As long as my clothes fit fine, that's usually my barometer. I did start Wii Fit up again and did the 10 minute hula hoop...man am I sore! Now, I just need my new products!

Day 6 - the Light at the end of the tunnel

It's Day 6 (out of 7). It's going great! I have not had my kids' goldfish or any other type of processed flour or sugar all week, so naturally I feel really good. The bigger challenge will be keeping it up afterwards. We are having friends for dinner tonight and will do tilapia on the grill and bacon-wrapped shrimp, mashed cauliflower and wilted spinach - yum! With strawberries and cream for dessert. If only I could eat like that all the time :-)

My new products are on the way....can't wait! My blemishes from doing the cleanse are starting to subside but I'm still anxious to try the acne spot-treatment. And of course, I am very curious about the newest anti-aging products...I am all about being proactive!!

NEW PRODUCTS!!!

Well I am just so excited I can't stand it! And I needed something fun today. It was a challenging and busy day at school, and I'm still in the midst of my cleanse (which is going fabulous now, thank you very much!). For years I've had customers ask me about age spots, and we've always had our RE9 products that have some ingredients for lightening and brightening the skin overall, but nothing specifically to target that particular need. And I've got hyper-pigmentation from pregnancies that never went away and is worse in the summer. Well ask no more! We have a new system called Revelage that is specifically designed for pigmentation issues. I can't wait to get it! I've also ordered our Clear Advantage Spot Treatment, which is new to our already popular acne line. I tend to get what I call "stress bumps" and think this will be perfect! Once they are in I will update on how much I LOVE Them!!!! Hahaha. I figured this was better than posting on Day 4 of my cleanse...I mean really, how much info can I really give at this point??

Day 3...still going

I have to admit, Day 2 ended up being a pretty rough day on the cleanse. It was like that the first time I did it too. I think some other factors were compounding it all. Today I feel much, much better. The hardest part of this process is drinking enough water on top of the 32oz of cleanse drink. I feel like I'm floating away and I already suffer from TBS (teeny bladder syndrome!!) so it's always a bit of a challenge. It's my 3rd day without any processed sugar or flour. No goldfish, which is my main vice. The bigger trick is staying off them when I'm through with the cleanse! Still, I love the results and how I feel when all is said and done. And on top of that, I'm so excited to see what new products our company announces tonight! I'll update tomorrow!

Day 2

Day 1 went well. It's funny how each time I do this my body reacts differently. Yesterday it started working almost immediately. I'm 36 hours without processed flour...yea! No goldfish munchies yesterday. I also treated myself to the rest of the detox program this morning. I did the Rescue Wash, the sea salt scrub...and then did the sea soak to draw out toxins. I followed that with the Remineralizing lotion. After doing a lot of research on detox systems, I realized how important it was to actually do them together. So much detoxification goes through our skin, so I'm determined to be better about using the entire system this time around! I must say, I felt so clean and soft and re-energized afterwards!

Starting Today!!

I made it! My cleanse arrived last week and today is Day 1 - yea! I've been looking forward to it for weeks now. I just feel so good when it's all said and done. This weekend I kind of blew it out with cake and ice cream at my niece's first birthday, and all the trappings of Easter. We pretty much ate all weekend long. Yesterday was probably one of the nicest holiday meals I've had. I think for the first time ever, I graduated to the adult table. Being the baby of the family (literally the youngest of like 5 grandkids on my dad's side) I was always at the kids table even after getting married. I was the second one to have kids, but that pretty much always relegates you to the kids' table because nobody wants the highchair experience to ruin their meal. So finally, I got to leave my self-sufficient kiddos at the kids table and have grown up conversation and actually stay in my seat. I did not have to get up to clean up a spill, break up a fight, get more milk, or mashed potatos, or even check a plate to see if they had eaten enough for dessert. So I lived it up and ate like a queen all weekend....so now I am REALLY ready for this cleanse!! Haha. Last time I did it, I gave up carbonated bevs. I'm hoping this time I can give up snacking on the kids' snacks for good. Those goldfish are addictive!! I found an alternative beverage last time. Now I need to find an alternative snack. Anything small and little without sugar or flour would be good...nuts are pretty expensive. I'll keep looking!

Overcoming Fear

Well, my cleanse is still not here....so I'll wax eloquent for a bit. Those that know me know that I LOVE teaching....but I am so excited to hang up my teaching hat in 12, count them 12, more school days! I will miss it terribly but it will free up much-needed time for my other work-passion, which is of course, my business. When I started my business, it was with the intention of paying for private school for my older daughter. Now, nearly 4 years into my business and 3 years into her school, I just feel that it has been such an incredible blessing for our family. But I also feel that I really just waded into it up to my waist, afraid to get too wet! Now, with my younger daughter applying to the same school next year, I am looking forward to this next chapter in my life and to diving head first into something that I have absolutely, unequivocally, grown to love. I look forward to introducing people to incredible new products launched this month or even old ones that they have never tried. I look forward to giving people the option to dream big or even realize their goals in spite of the gloomy economic outlook. Here's to forgetting fear and diving in head first! And never fear, I'll still blog about my wonderful cleanse...haha.

Woo Hoo!!!

I am so excited...I know it's weird. But I just ordered my detox body cleanse and will start that this weekend. I decided a while back to do it every 3 months. It has prompted so many healthy changes in my life and I am actually looking forward to doing it again! I always feel awesome when I finish! I came across an amazing article on Yahoo from a doctor talking about the benefits of detox, both inside and out. He maintained that not only is it important to detox on the inside, but how important it is to detox on the outside, because our skin is our largest organ. After reading the types of products he recommends, it just reaffirmed for me that Arbonne has the complete package for doing proper detox and it just made me really excited to do the whole enchilada this time around!! So....woo hoo!!!