Dear Skincare, YOU ARE IMPORTANT

If you didn’t get the hint from this post, or this one, or even this one…we take skin care pretty seriously around here. I say we, because Dane is a huge believer in a solid skincare regimen, too. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, you can’t paint a pretty portrait if you don’t have a nice palette.

The bottom line? Skincare is important.

The second bottom line? You only get one skin-suit (yes, I went there) in your life. Plan accordingly. Or don’t, and end up looking like this.

via

Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Enter: Hard Night, Good Morning

Launched in 2008, Hard Night Good Morning is an aloe-based, all-natural luxury line of skincare products aimed at sourcing the finest, most effective ingredients.

“The first place stress shows is on your face, and now you can rest easily (even if it is not as long as you would like) knowing that Hard Night Good Morning has you covered.” D’Andra Simmons

Needless to say, D’Andra’s line of skincare products spoke right to my “I’m only in my 20’s and I’m terrified of how my face will look in 10+ years” heart.

I chose the Detox Mineral Masque (L) and Facial Cocktail Serum (R) to try for my first go-around with this line. The serum touts a “one stop shop” for lifting, toning, and tightening the skin while providing an instant, all-natural glow.

My vote? I started using it immediately and applied about 2 pumps after washing my face before bed. After only 2 uses, my skin was looking pretty good and after a full week, I kind of feel like I got a new face. The major difference I noticed was that area on my forehead where I was already starting to see the signs of “laugh lines” is looking (and feeling!) tighter and smoother. I also noticed that my makeup goes on smoother with little to no primer. A complete win in my book and I’ll definitely be keeping this beauty must-have in my makeup bag.

Next up was the detoxing masque…or mask…depending on how fancy you are. I’m more of mask girl, myself, so I felt pretty much felt like Kate Middleton applying a “masque”. Now, you have been gifted two photos of me with the masque applied, as the first photo only looks like I went a little too dark with my foundation. And yes, double kiss-face photos for you. You’re welcome.

Moving right along. I applied this masque after I had washed my face. The directions state you can also coat your neck, but I was (shamelessly) afraid of getting it on my favorite tank top and by golly, I wasn’t going to go topless for the sake of a few face and neck masque photos. Almost immediately, I could feel the familiar tingly sensation of a good quality facial routine. As the 15 minutes wore on, I could feel my face getting pretty tight. And not the tight where you say, “oh wow, it’s working.” No, this was the kind of of tight where I said “oh wow, I’m pretty sure all of the disgusting dirt is being extracted by a force of nature.”

That force of nature may include kaoline, bentoline, sea salt, and malachite.

And 15 minutes later when I was washing all that tightness off my face, I was pretty much expecting my face to glow like the Sahara on a hot day. Remind me later to Google when the Sahara is not hot.

But it didn’t and I was a little gloom and doom. Fast forward 2 hours and I’m visiting with my neighbor and catch a glimpse of my reflection in her hallway mirror. Hello, no makeup, no primer, no nothin’….and my face has that “fresh out of a magazine ad” glow. I’m not kidding and if it weren’t really weird, I would have snapped a photo right in that moment.

You’re going to have to trust me on this one.

The verdict? I will now be coating my face in this once every other week, alternating with my tried and true favorite, Boscia’s Black Mask.

Do you know about or use a facial product you think I should add to my collection? Do tell!