Stretch Marks and Belly Flab And other crazy things I want to fix about my body

There are many things I love about my body.  For instance, I love my cheek bones.  They're my mother's cheek bones.  Every time I look at myself I see those cheek bones that I loved to admire as a child, as well as her nose.  I have a dimple that I kind of like, and I LOVE the fact that, at 41, I don't have gray hairs yet.  I like that my hair is curly, and I'm kinda proud of my boobs.  Yep.  It's the one body part below my neck that I don't despise.

Now that I'm into "quit complaining, start changing" mode, there have several things about my body that I DO want to change.  Or at the very least improve.

I'm smart enough to know that I will never be the 135 lb cellulite-free teenager with perky breasts and the ability to do 50 push-ups without hardly breaking a sweat.  My stomach will never be as toned and blemish-free as it was before I had children.  But I do hope to do the very best I can to lessen the long-term damage.

Below is this week's laundry list of products I've tested and their performance report card. Did they pass with flying colors? Or did they fail?  Hmmmm read on to find out!

Eyelash Growth Serum
Makeup Brush
Adeline Anti-Aging Moisturizer
Bath Pillow
Andre Lorent Cellulite Treatment
Stretch mark & Scar Cream
Frankincense Essential Oil
Peppermint Oil
Oral Irrigator 
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Eyelash Growth Serum: I ordered this product because I'd noticed that my eyelashes were becoming more and more sparse.  It became especially evident when I had myself professionally done and they put fake eyelashes on me.  I'd had a niece who was using a growth serum for her eyes and they looked amazing, so I decided I'd give it a whirl.


First off, this is something that is not for the impatient.  You're asking hair to thicken and regrow...on you eyelids. It took about two weeks before I began to notice any differences, but by then, I'd gone from being unable to put mascara on the back of my lashes (there was nothing for the applicator brush to hold onto), to having lots of lashes to grab onto.  Once that happened, my eyelashes began to look much fuller and thicker because I was applying mascara to both the front and the back of my lashes.  Grade: B+

Makeup Brush:  The makeup brush was touted as something to be used for shading & contouring, but I really enjoyed it as a blush brush.  The bristles were nice and soft, and provided a softer 'edge' to the color so that it wasn't as noticeable where the natural color of my face ended and the blush began.  Grade:  A-

Adeline Anti-Aging Moisturizer: I have tested  Adeline products in the past, and this one did not disappoint.  The moisturizer was light, and absorbed quickly.  I especially liked that it didn't make my face too oily and I didn't have any new pimples popping up as a result.  Grade: A

Bath Pillow:  This was another of those items I had to fight my children for.  My daughter, admittedly, was the first to try the pillow because she LOVES to take bubble baths. She's a girlie-girl.  But there are times, especially when my legs are aching from an extra-long walk that I just need to get in the tub and soak.

This pillow wasn't an inflatable like the cheaper pillows you find.  It had foam in it, two pieces, so that my back wouldn't be resting on the freezing cold tub, and suction cups to help keep it in place.  The only problem I had with it was since it was sturdier foam, It was less likely to conform to the curves of the tub. This was only an issue when I sat up, otherwise the weight of my body pretty much kept the pillow in place.  Grade: B+

All my new 'toys' to play with and help me feel beautiful!! I'm so lucky!

Andre Lorent Cellulite Treatment:  I love love LOVE the slight minty scent from this lotion.  I used this on my legs because, duh...what woman DOESN'T have cellulite on her legs.  Because of the coffee (a diuretic), I think this lotion had a fairly immediate result.  This also softened the skin on my legs, which if  you look at the photos have a bajillion red dots on my thighs because as a child my skin was so dry it created little bumps all over, and those dots are the reminder of that.  But the Andre Lorent Cellulite Treatment lotion did a wonderful job of adding tone to the skin and getting rid of the excessive dryness, plus softening the dimples on my legs a bit.  Grade:  A

Stretch mark & Scar Cream This product has a citrus/woodsy scent which can be pretty overwhelming at first. But I cannot deny the changes that occurred in my stomach.  I can't say that the stretch marks have disappeared, but the tone is FANTASTIC, which is what I was looking for because I have so much skin damage that's occurred due to the 160 lbs I've gained over the years.  My stomach has regained a bit of elasticity, which will be vital as my stomach shrinks and I hope (pray) that it bounces back a little rather than being a flat pancake hanging from my body.  I have high hopes as I continue to use this product and lose weight simultaneously. Grade: A- 



Frankincense Essential Oil:  The trouble with getting the undiluted form of an essential oil is that the smell can be overwhelming.  The benefits is that this bottle will probably last me till the millennium.  I did a little research on frankincense oil before receiving it and decided I wanted it to use on my skin and nails.  As I've mentioned over and over, I have really dry skin.  For 11 years, I used to manage apartments designated for persons with disabilities, which included things like cleaning, maintenance, stripping and waxing linoleum, etc.  The work and the chemicals damaged certain areas of skin, including a place on one of my knees and on my right hand.  When I received the frankincense, I took the dropper, and placed a single drop on the eczema spot on my hand - a spot I've struggled with for years using dozens of different lotions and creams.  I've been using this oil for a week and the dry spot is almost gone, leaving me with pink, new skin.  Plus, I've noticed that the spot accepts and absorbs the lotion I put on my hand much better. This equates into me only using lotion a few times a day, rather than every hour or so. I can't wait to see what it does on my nails!  Grade:  A+



Peppermint Oil:  Mmmmm I LOVE the smell of the peppermint oil. This is the ultimate pick-me-up and I love to add it to my bath water to invigorate and lift my mood.  Like the frankincense, this stuff is going to last FOREVER because a little goes a long way.  And the 4 oz. bottle is much larger than other essential oils I've seen in the past.  Though I plan to test that theory on how fast I'll run through this bottle because I plan to use it on other health benefits it's touted for:  Indigestion, pain relief, hair growth, etc. My family will never know what hit 'em, but they'll smell good doing it!!  Grade:  A-


Oral Irrigator: The Greenco Oral Irrigator is designed to be an alternative to flossing (which we ALL love to do!).  It's a rechargeable irrigator that is equally as powerful as the plug-in charger my son used to have.  The holding tanks lasts about 1 minute before you need to refill it, so don't lollygag, but you have three different stream options, which is a nice feature as well.  And, on another, more unusual note, a water pik is what my ear nose and throat doctor used to remove excessive ear wax from my ear when I went into his officer after losing hearing in one side...just in case you cared ;)  Plus, this irrigator is rechargeable, so I'm not running through a bunch of batteries all the time.  Grade:  A-



*Each of these products was received for free in exchange for an honest and unbiased review, though several of them I will be using (and re-ordering) long after this blog posts