Why St. Ives Apricot Scrub is Damaging your Skin

I have had so many clients in the past month tell me that they use this product and internally I cringe.  Now don't get me wrong, there are alot of good skincare products at the drugstore.  This product is NOT one of them.  Don't worry I am not here to just bash this product. I promise I will tell you why and I will give you alternatives.

The number one problem I find with using this product is that my clients are exfoliating too often.  Many of my clients are using this product twice a day.  When you exfoliate you are taking off the topmost layer of skin, this is the layer that protects your skin from external damage.  If you are doing this everyday, your skin never has the chance to heal.  With your skin constantly wounded, it is vulnerable to even more damage from the environment.

The next problem is that all the ingredients in this product either clog your pores or irritate your skin.  I will be pointing out specific ingredients and I apologize if this gets a little technical, but I think it's important that you know exactly what is in your products.

1. Walnut shell powder

This powder creates microscopic tears in the skin and this can push acne bacteria into the deeper layers of the skin.  Another problem is that "the act of scrubbing also causes inflammation, especially in this type of client who believes the more you scrub the better your skin will be"(etherealauraspa.com).

2. Glyceryl Stearate SE

This ingredient is highly comedogenic, which means that it will definitely clog your pores.  Because your pores are clogged, they are not getting any oxygen.  An environment without oxygen is one where bacteria growth flourishes.  This makes acne worse.

3. Sodium Laureth Sulfate

This is a foaming agent that is found very frequently in drugstore skin care.  It clogs pores and is very irritating.

4. Cocomidopropyl Betane

This is the last one, I promise! This badboy strips the oil from the skin and in high concentrations it can be very irritating.

These are only four of the many ingredients that irritate and clog pores.  Keep in mind that this is marketed as an acne product. But this product clogs pores.  For those of you who are oily, l recommend that you buy the Transforming powder Dual-Action Cleanser and Exfoliator (here's where you can purchase https://www.murad.com/product/acne-cleansing-powder). You can use this product instead of your cleanser 1-2x a week.

If you are on a lower budget, I recommend that you use a coconut oil/sugar exfoliant.

 With either of these products you will only use them TWICE a week at the most!!!

I apologize for this post being so long and I hope that this helped all of you learn a little something!!!

I love you all!!!

XOXO

Whaaatt???!!!

I cannot believe that I am halfway through my pregnancy!!!!! It feels like just yesterday that we were looking at a positive pregnancy test. :). 

According to the What to Expect While You're Expecting App, our little girl is the size of a mango.  And she weighs about 10oz.  She is actually a little bigger (She was 10 ounces at our 18 week ultrasound! Eek!)

Charlotte is kicking like crazy.  I love that I can get to know her in this way. :). She goes crazy when I eat spicy food, by caffeine chills her out.  Is that weird or what?

At my last appointment I had gained about 10 pounds total.  I am so grateful that my husband has kept me motivated to keep moving!! Pokemon Go helps too LOL.

I haven't really had any cravings, but I still can't have pizza.  If I try to brave it, I'll wake up in the middle of the night with terrible heartburn.  As much as your girl LOVES pizza the pain just isn't worth it.  And it makes me sad everyday. :(

I have been having some crazy dreams lately.  The one that I remember the most is that Charlotte was born and I was trying to breastfeed her but she would only latch on one side so the nurses had me supplement with formula which I was not happy about lol.  This has led me to obsessively research breastfeeding and how to get baby to have a good latch.  Knowledge is power??? Lol.

This was at 19.3. Weeks but trust me the bump is even bigger now :)

Well, I think that's all for now!!! 

I love you all!!!

XOXO

Lately.

We normally have a family cookout for 4th of July, but our schedules just didn't line up. :( So we spent the weekend hanging at the beach with some of Jon's friends.

 As you can tell it was COLD!!!

 Obviously, Jon had a different opinion. :)

 The Belly at 18 weeks 2 days. <3

 Boys will be boys :)

 After the beach, we headed to Chicago to visit Jon's brother and his fiance. Honestly, I love family time.  It just recharges  my batteries like nothing else can. :D

 I then had the great pleasure of spending some quality time with my brother's son. 

Most exciting of all, we found out that we are having a little girl!!!

We're a little obsessed with her. :D She measuring big and I was not surprised in the least!!!

At the end of the ultrasound, she started yawning and sucking her thumb!! I think my heart stopped for a minute.  She is just so precious and I can wait to hold her.