Gadgets

Why Use an Ice Roller to Depuff Undereye Bags

September 23, 2016 · 1 Comment

We’ve all heard that ice is good for your skin. Supermodels dunk their faces in ice cold water first thing in the morning to shrink pores. A standard pimple-reduction technique is to pop two ibuprofen and ice down a pimple, and it will disappear. Ice your eyes and undereye bags will vanish.

Yeah, none of those ever worked for me.

Nonetheless, I thought I would give an Ice Roller a try, and I’m thrilled that I did. The results are impressive.

ESARORA Ice Roller

First, prep is easy. Take the roller and put it in the freezer. That’s it. It will be ready in 15 minutes, but it doesn’t hurt to keep it in the freezer when not in use, so it is always ready.

Second, using it is easy. For beauty purposes, I like to run it over my face in the morning when I’m making my coffee. It takes less than a minute to slowly roll over my entire face, eye area, and throat, and it instantly depuffs my face and especially my undereye bags. It shrinks pores and gives skin a wide awake look.

The most impressive result is on acne. I woke up Tuesday to a profoundly painful pimple on my otherwise clear skin. I figured I would try the Ice Roller on it since it was so inflamed. Beyond the pimple itself, the inflammation was nearly the size of a dime. I knew that even if I put my go-to cream on the blemish that it would have a hard time penetrating the inflammation. I rolled the Ice Roller over it for about two minutes, and not only was the peripheral redness gone, but the pimple itself shrank and was far less red. I was able to apply medicine and then easily cover it with concealer when I did my makeup. That was a quick rescue and worth the very reasonable price just for that use!

I’m not quite sure what the difference is between this device and a standard ice cube or cold pack, but I have some theories. First, the pressure of the roller is very mild. I have tried many devices that attempt to take care of puffiness by micro-vibrations, but a few of those (including a high-end one) leaves my skin irritated due to the level of pressure. Conversely, the Ice Roller is the lightest of pressure, just enough to make sure the cold penetrates the skin. Second, the metal roller isn’t meant to stay in one spot too long, so the body doesn’t adversely react like if you put an ice cube on a spot and just held it there.

I’m thrilled to have a great item like this to quickly depuff in the morning!

Skincare: ESARORA Ice Roller

September 23, 2016 · 1 Comment

Yeah, none of those ever worked for me.

Nonetheless, I thought I would give the ESARORA Ice Roller a try, and I’m thrilled that I did. The results are impressive.

ESARORA Ice Roller

First, prep is easy. Take the roller and put it in the freezer. That’s it. It will be ready in 15 minutes, but it doesn’t hurt to keep it in the freezer when not in use, so it is always ready.

I’m thrilled to have a great item like this to quickly depuff in the morning!

Find this great gadget here.

I received this product for testing and review purposes. If you have any questions about my experience with it, leave it in the comments section below, and Iâ€™ll do my best to answer it!

Sensation Professional Electric Straightener Brush

September 19, 2016 · Leave a Comment

Sensation Professional Electric Straightener Brush

I have long work days, especially the days I commute into the city. My morning commute is about an hour, then a brief windy walk outside to the office building, a long day of work, and then usually some post-work socializing before going home.

My hairstyle has usually fallen flat by 5:30, so I was excited to try something that could quickly enliven my style, smooth my wind-blown hair and add some shine.
It heats up almost immediately and quickly gives a nice shiny and smooth look to hair.

The instructions outline how to hold the brush to add some volume to the roots, and the ends and length of the hair look smooth. It is no more work than brushing your hair. My hair did not feel dry or damaged like when I use hot rollers or other hot tools. My styling products such as any hair spray or spray in treatments like BlowPro Thickening Spray are not gunky or sticky after using the comb, which is a nice advantage over re-styling your hair with a curling iron.

There is a nice V-shaped tool for separating out sections – sort of a rat tail comb on one side, a thin brush on the other. I have found this useful with other styling products as well, such as when using hot rollers.

I also tried the brush on my Mom, who has dry, wiry hair that only briefly conforms to any straightening efforts with rollers. It smoothed her hair immediately with a very straightforward and quick brush through, it was smooth and shiny with a nice flip curl at the ends. It also imparted a bit of bounce.

There is an excellent swivel cord. Products often SAY they have a swivel cord, but this one completely swivels without adjusting how you hold your arm. This is a nice feature.

Of course, like other hot tools, I would advise using a thermal mat to allow the brush to cool down after use. While the handle is not hot to the touch when using it, the brush itself is 450 degrees. I use a simple thin silicone cooling sheet for cookie trays, though there are dedicated thermal mats available if you prefer that.

Sensation Professional Electric Straightener Brush

I’m thrilled with this brush and use it a few times a week. I don’t like using thermal tools too often because they damage my hair, but there seems to be far less damage and dryness using this brush than other tools, so I feel comfortable using it more often.

In the video below, it was incredibly humid all day with torrential downpours most of the day, and this brush left my mother’s hair smooth for hours. Nice!

Find it at Amazon.

I received this product for testing and review purposes. If you have any questions about my experience with it, leave it in the comments section below, and I’ll do my best to answer it!

Health: Naturalico Shiatsu Neck & Shoulder Massager

August 10, 2016 · Leave a Comment

Naturalico Shiatsu Neck & Shoulder Massager

I try to get a professional massage as often as I can, but there are times that a quick, at home massage will have to do. There are a lot of massage devices on the market, and it is a bit like Goldilocks – some are too hard, some are too soft. Finding a massager with just the right amount of pressure is hard, and even if it is the right amount of pressure, getting it in the right position is tough. This is why I love the Naturalico Shiatsu Neck & Shoulder Massager.

While Neck and Shoulder are in the name, it can be used on multiple parts of the body. My favorite spot in on my feet, after a long day in high heels. It massages all the soreness out of my insoles and even my ankles. And it can go all the way up the leg too for post-workout soreness.

One thing that differentiates this massager from others is that it has 3-D contouring to fit around your neck and shoulders better than other massagers. It fits the contours of your neck as opposed to being a flat surface that you have to lean into, which defeats the purpose of relaxing your muscles during a massage. This is a very nice feature.

I have a long commute home and frequently get stuck in traffic. One of the other big points in favor of this massager is that it comes with a car adapter. So if I’m feeling sore from a long day, being able to use this in the car is a great feature. I’m looking forward to using the soothing heat feature when the weather turns cold, as well.

I am very happy with this highly versatile massager. Find it at Amazon.com.

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iM0iYVdtF0s[/embedyt]

I received this product in exchange for testing and review purposes.

Le Edge Full Body Exfoliator

August 3, 2016 · Leave a Comment

Le Edge Full Body Exfoliator

Summertime skin care requires lots of exfoliating to stay smooth. But those of us with sensitive skin on our face and body often find scrubs and loofahs too abrasive. So I was glad to find this Le Edge Full Body Exfoliator, which is a no-chemical, gentle means of exfoliation. It does not irritate the skin or micro-tear the skin. The problem I find with many exfoliating methods such as scrubs and creams is that they contain harsh grains that can do damage to the healthy skin in the process of removing dry, flaky or dead skin.

ABOUT THE EXFOLIATOR
Shaped something like a small squeegee, it has a stainless steel dull “blade” that gently and hygienically lifts and removes dirt, debris, and dead skin cells without irritating the underlying skin. The stainless steel blade will not rust and is naturally bacteria free. It is dull and smooth, you cannot cut or scrape yourself with the blade, but you can over-do it if you are too aggressive. It is intended for use on both the body and the face.

This kind of tool is different from pumices or loofahs because it just removes the skin that is ready to exfoliate away without disrupting skin that is healthy and should not be removed prematurely. There are no chemicals or drying agents, just the ability to exfoliate without introducing bacteria into the area.

RESULTS
I was surprised that such light pressure at a 45-degree angle could remove so much dead skin from both the face and the body. It is important that the skin is wet, and it is best used in the shower after the skin has had a few minutes to absorb moisture, which allows for the best conditions to remove more dead skin. I do my face first, then rinse it off and use it on my body, periodically rinsing it off in the water stream, and I use it on my feet last.

EXFOLIATING THE FACE
On the face, it helped to remove dead skin, oil, sebum and even some blackheads, especially around the nose. It did not irritate or open the skin on some healing acne I have, but it did slough off the dead skin around the blemish. I was surprised to see how much dead skin exfoliates off of the nose, chin, and jawline, as well as my throat. I made sure to use gentle strokes on the face; it seems like the tool won’t accomplish much because the stainless steel blade is not sharp, but it does remove skin quickly.

AFTER CHEMICAL PEELS
A tell-tale sign that one is using chemical peels or Retinol is a very light layer of peeling on the face. Trying to remove this light peeling is tricky since too much scrubbing or exfoliating scrubs or creams can make the peeling seem even worse.

This Le Edge Exfoliator tool is especially useful if you use AHA peels, or you are on a Retinoid or Vitamin C serum program and have some very light peeling dry skin that you don’t wish to scrub off vigorously with a washcloth or sponge, but still need to remove it before applying any makeup. This Le Edge exfoliator removes this lightly peeling skin gently so that you don’t damage the skin but can still remove light peeling and apply makeup over it.

EXFOLIATING THE BODY
Before applying lotions or self-tanning creams, this gives a smooth, debris-free surface for makeup, tanning lotions or creams to adhere. It is not irritating like a loofah or pumice could be, so the skin will not be red and sensitive after use. I was impressed to see how much dead skin comes off the feet, as well as hard to reach areas such as knees, elbows, upper arms, and thighs. I often overlook these areas during my skin care routine, but the Le Edge Exfoliator makes quick work of keeping these areas smooth.

Le Edge Full Body Exfoliator

CONCLUSION: I was impressed to see how much dead skin this Le Edge tool removes without irritating the skin. This is ideal for when you need to do more than one task on your skin that might irritate your skin, such as shaving and exfoliation, exfoliation and applying self-tanner, or exfoliating and applying makeup afterward. Particularly useful for those who use retinol, acne creams, and do at-home chemical peels and experience some light peeling of the skin which needs to be removed with care.

Le Edge Full Body Exfoliator

Find it at http://www.le-edge.us

I received this product in exchange for testing and review purposes. If you have any questions about my experience with it, leave it in the comments section below, and Iâ€™ll do my best to answer it!