Good Molecules Skincare

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Two weeks ago, I was kindly gifted four skincare products from Good Molecules.

I had never heard of the brand before or these products, but I was intrigued.

The packaging was pretty and claimed that these products would be clean and healthy for my skin.

I have had skin problems before, so I am very careful about what I put on my skin and usually do not stray from my routine. I think it is so important to take care of your skin starting at a young age. So, when the packaging claimed that these products would be good for my skin, I was very excited.

After two weeks of using these products, I thought I would share my honest opinions.

1.    Niacinamide Serum- The bottle says it is “formulated with 10% niacinamide to refine skin texture and minimize pores.” This product is the first one you put on in the morning, under your moisturizer. I think my pores around my nose look very small when I use this serum. I did break out a bit around my nose, but I don’t know if it is from this product or from wearing a mask for 4+ hours when I am at work. 

2.    Silicone-Free Priming Moisturizer- The bottle says it is “formulated with shea butter, macadamia seed oil, and a plant-derived silicone alternative to deeply hydrate, smooth and nourish the skin.” I definitely feel that my skin is hydrated when I use this moisturizer. The moisturizer doesn’t feel too heavy. My skin gets really dry in the winter, so it will be interesting to see if this product keeps my skin from flaking when the heat is on. The back label says you have to wait until this product completely sinks in before putting on SPF, which is the only downside. (Because you HAVE to wear SPF every day even when you are inside!)

3.    Clarify and Cleanse Bar- I normally wash my face in the shower with Neutrogena’s Ultra Gentle Daily Cleanser, and it leaves my face feeling really clean, but definitely stripped of any moisture. This Cleanse Bar is gentle on my skin and leaves my face feeling moisturized and not dull. I don’t have anything bad to say about this facewash.

4.    Ultra-Hydrating Facial Oil- Is “formulated with camellia and sea buckthorn oils to hydrate, protect, and nourish.” This product is a night oil. I use it most nights on top of my moisturizer and retinol cream. I’m not sure if this product breaks me out or not.

Overall, I really like these products. The glass packaging is beautiful. The prices on these products are also extremely affordable.

I am excited to keep testing these products out!

Safe, Socially Distant, FREE and Fun Activities you can do in Chicago or in any City

As stated in my last blog post, for the first two weeks of June, I was staying with my boyfriend and his family in Illinois.

Right before I left, we decided to go into Chicago to walk around and explore.

I went to Chicago last summer for the first time to visit him, so we had already done most of the touristy stuff, so this second time was just to walk around and get out of the house.

Here are some of the fun, FREE and SAFE things we did in Chicago.

1.         Outdoor dining. Our first stop was the famous Giordano’s pizza. I had deep dish for the first-time last year after a Cubs game, so this time we went for thin crust, not as good as New York pizza, but still delicious.

2.         Explore and sight see! We then walked off the pizza and went to Millennium Park. The Bean was all closed off. We couldn’t really get close to it, but it was nice that the park was still open and very well crowd controlled. We then walked to Buckingham Fountain, which was completely drained and sad looking. We then walked along the lake front and got stopped by a very nice police officer who told us that technically the lake front was closed but that we weren’t going to get in trouble. Oops. We kept walking and tried to walk to the planetarium, but that was all closed off too. We walked down Michigan Ave, the 5th Ave of NYC, and saw all the luxury stores all boarded up. It was super creepy. There were also cops everywhere. We also walked around Navy Pier.

3.         Picnic in a park. I think this is by-far my favorite quarantine activity. We found a park with lots of dogs and kids running around and we ate takeout sushi. We picnicked two other days too.

4.         Outdoor/rooftop bar. We went for dinks on top of London House. One of the prettiest hotels in the city with the best views of the city. This is my boyfriend’s favorite spot. It was stunning.

5.         Murals or outdoor art. Chicago is known for amazing murals. I love the blogger Jenn Lake, also known as Style Charade. A while back I found one of her blog posts that listed every mural, she has ever taken pictures in front of in Chicago, so my boyfriend and I decided it would be a fun activity to find them and take pictures in front of them. I picked out 10, with 10 different outfits, for quick changes in the car, and we only were able to find 3. Some of them were painted over, and no longer existed. It was a fun activity, and I would definitely recommend mural hunting in Chicago or another big city!

Pontoon Boating in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

For the first two and a half weeks of June, I stayed with my boyfriend and his family (and adorable new puppy) in Illinois.

The weekend before I left, we took a drive up to Milwaukee to safely explore the city.

I have never been to Milwaukee before and was really excited to see a new city.

The week before my boyfriend and I went to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, which was really fun and beautiful. (Click here to read more about that adventure!)

Wisconsin is fully open, with no Corona Virus restrictions. We wore our masks and stayed socially distant.

We were safe I promise. 

His family booked a pontoon boat for a couple of hours to drive down the Milwaukee River and sight see. It was so fun.

The river was beautiful, and the city was stunning too.

We had some drinks and boated around and saw the city by sea.

We even took the boat into Lake Michigan, which I did not like AT ALL.

It was a really fun, socially distant activity in Wisconsin.

10 Things I’ve Learned During Quarantine

As New York is slowly beginning to reopen, I thought I would share some of the lessons I have learned during this pandemic.

1.      Enjoy the small things in life. Enjoy a good meal, laughs with your friends, taking a walk. Look at the small wins every day. 

2.      It’s okay to be lonely, sad, confused, frustrated, disappointed, upset, and angry. I had all those feelings one time or another. I had a really hard time at the beginning of quarantine because I was supposed to be at school finishing my senior year of college. But those feelings are valid and okay. I hope after quarantine, I will continue to be expressive with my feelings, because I am usually not.

4.      Go OUTSIDE. Every day I made it a part of my schedule to go for a long walk outside.

5.      Take more “me-time.” I’ve talked about this a lot in the past, but I rarely take enough time for myself. So, because I couldn’t see anymore or really do anything, I took a lot of “me-time” and it felt great. I did some reading, I watched hours and hours of TV and I relaxed. Hopefully, when this is all over, I will continue to take the “me-time” I deserve.

6.      We’re all in this together. High School Musical couldn’t have said it better. You and I are not alone in this, even though it may feel/felt lonely at times.

7.      Life is short, embrace every moment. The spring of my senior year of college was ripped away from me. I should have enjoyed college even more than I already did, and I shouldn’t have waited until the last minute to do and see things. Now I have a laundry list of things I will have to return to Wake to do and see.

8.      Be grateful, for your health, family, and friends more than ever. I wrote a lot of letters at the beginning of quarantine, telling old friends hello, and saying how much my friends mean to me. Be grateful for the doctors, nurses, hospital staff, scientists, delivery workers, food store personnel, and emergency service people. Be grateful for the hero’s that are putting themselves in harm’s way to help people.

9.      Life goes on. Regardless that we have been stuck in our houses for weeks, life still move forward every day. Our lives progress whether we like it or not.

10.      We will overcome this. This is the first big national/international crisis that has affected my life. I was alive for 9/11, but I don’t remember it and I don’t remember life before it. So, it didn’t really affect me. This, however, is something I will never forget. But like every world war, every crisis, we will overcome it, and come back stronger.