Beauty Products I’m Excited About: The Jan Marini Skin Care Management System, OPI and a Target Gem!

We’ve been back home in Novato since Sunday night, and even though I’m OH, SO HAPPY to be back in my own bed, I like a lot about the town of Sonoma, like there being so many animals around! We saw wildlife and ranch animals every single day. It’s rural up there with miles and miles of farms, and I’ve never lived anywhere with so many sheep! Or cows! Or horses! Or goats! It was cool to just turn my head and see animals at any given moment.

I’ve only lived in the suburbs and once in a big city (San Francisco) in my life, so to look out my car window and see gangs of goats roaming the hillsides to the left and right of me as I drove down the road was…shocking, in a good way.

Anyway, nerd moment, but every time I see a goat now I simultaneously think of the acronym ‘GOAT’ — greatest of all time, HAHAHA! 😂 Oh, I make myself laugh…

Being home again, I’m back on my regularly scheduled beauty jam, and these are what I’m excited about right meow…

For months now I’ve been chomping at the bit to try Jan Marini skin care, as you know. I guess the beauty gods intervened to align ye olde planets and stars, because El Hub actually *paid attention* (GASP) and hooked this mama up with the Jan Marini Starter Skin Care Management System for Mother’s Day.

It comes with five items designed to be used in the following order…

Step 1: Bioglycolic Facial Cleanser

A creamy cleanser with exfoliating glycolic acid for dry, combo and oily skin. It’s also supposed to eliminate the need for a post-cleansing toner.

Step 2: C-Esta Face Serum

This is Jan Marini’s Vitamin C antixoidant serum, and the two key ingredients are DMAE (dimethylaminoethanol, which is supposed to help with fine lines and wrinkles), and ascorbyl palmitate, which is one form of Vitamin C (there are several).

FYI, if you’re a SkinCeuticals CE Ferulic fan like I am, C-Esta’s Vitamin C is different than the variety used in CE Ferulic. CE Ferulic has L-ascorbic acid, which is considered in many skin care circles as the gold standard for Vitamin C. It seems like ascorbyl palmitate is often pooh-poohed as being inferior to L-ascorbic acid, but we shall see.

Step 3: Bioclear Face Lotion

EXFOLIATE ME, PLEASE! This lotion has three types of acids — glycolic, salicylic and azelaic. I love me some salicylic and azelaic acids, so I’m very excited about this, which is made for normal, combo and oily skin types.

Step 4: Transformation Face Cream

A hydrating cream with peptides, hyaluronic acid and an ingredient exclusive to Jan Marini called Thymosin beta 4.

Step 5: Antioxidant Daily Face Protectant SPF33

A water-resistant (up to 80 minutes) chemical sunscreen.

The kit also comes with a card to walk you through the order the products should be used and whether they’re for mornings or evenings or both.

I’ve read that the full-size skin care management system is supposed to last about eight weeks, which, truth be told, doesn’t seem very long to me, but I get the sense I can stretch the products out to four or five weeks if I use them sparingly — with the exception of the sunscreen, of course, because homegirl is not shy about applying and reapplying sunscreen!

I’m really excited to use it, but I think I’m going to wait until after we go camping to start. We’re heading up to Casini Ranch on the Russian River for a few days so Rosie can have quality time with her favorite pet sitter (LOL!).

When we went camping last summer, the most I could handle while we lived in the tent was to use a face wash and sunscreen… Five steps would probably be a few too many steps for me out in the woods, but if you are the girl who camps with a multi-step skincare regimen, I salute you. You are officially my hero!

On the nail front, I haven’t worn OPI in years (ya know, I’m more of an Essie Gel Couture kind of girl), but I’m very excited about this purple glitter called Leonardo’s Model Color because it was a Mother’s Day gift from Connor.

El Hub took her to Ulta, gave her a basket, and let her pick out whatever she wanted to get for mama (within reason). Apparently, the sales associates asked her on several occasions if she needed any help after seeing her linger in the fragrance section for a really long time, LOL! She told everyone “no thank you” because she had it under control, and she choose this polish, along with some sparkly butterfly clips and a pink travel laundry bag.

It’s purple and sparkly, and I will forever keep it in my polish collection from now until the end of time because she gave it to me. 🙂

One last thing before I head on out for now, I randomly picked up this box of Advanced Nail Polish Remover Pads last week from Tar-ghay, and they don’t play! So, so good.

A single pad removes even the most stubborn glitter mani or pedi, and it works fast! It works in less time than it takes you to convince yourself to buy another creamy pastel mint green polish, ha ha ha! If you want an easy, quick no-drama nail polish remover, grab thee a box ASAP.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen