Stuff Parents Need

Easing the chaos in the nest, one find at a time.

Prodigy Skincare Review and GIVEAWAY

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Long before he was on How I Met Your Mother, Neil Patrick Harris captured America’s hearts at Doogie Howser, M.D., the teenage doctor on television. Remember how he would write journal entries at the end of every episode on his blue screen computer? And how that was SO technologically advanced? Perhaps all of us blog writers are just indulging in our secret desires to be just like Doogie by writing these posts every day.

But I digress.

I brought up Doogie Howser because the product line I am featuring today was created by a real life teenage doctor! The founder of Prodigy Skincare graduated from medical school at just 16 years old, making him the youngest doctor in his specialty field of dermatology. He spent years working on a line of products that would be effective for his patients with dry skin, allergies and a sensitivity to fragrances. What he came up with has been highly praised by those who have used the products.

I have been trying out two different products from the line and have been really pleased with both!

First, I’ve been using the Prodigy Advanced Moisturizing Soothing Gel. This is a product that you apply after cleaning your face but before your moisturizer. It binds moisture to your skin to give your complexion a more supple look. As someone with VERY dry skin, I think this works really great, and it seems to give my moisturizer a little extra help, which is always good. This product retails for $56.00.

Next, I’ve been using the Prodigy Advanced Moisturizing Firming Eye Cream. I’ve told you before that once you hit your 30s, taking care of the skin around your eyes really is no longer optional. This is one area where you need to find a product that really works even if the price tag is a bit higher than what you are used to paying for skin care. This particular product does 3 things at once: it reduces that morning puffiness around your eyes, it reduces fine lines and wrinkles and it protects your skin from additional environmental damages, which typically wreak havoc on our faces on a daily basis. The product is very smooth, and you only need a tiny amount each day, so a bottle will last a long time. This product retails for $68.00.

If you have been looking for products that are developed by some of the best and brightest medical professionals, and that cater to those of us with sensitive skin, then look no further than Prodigy Skincare!

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win the item of your choice from Prodigy Skincare!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my page.

Disclosure: I received complimentary products for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own. 

Elizabeth Grant’s The Socializer Skincare Collection: Review and GIVEAWAY!!!

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Recently I came across Canadian Skincare company Elizabeth Grant. I’d been hearing glowing reviews about her products from some other moms on a few chat boards about how great the products were for brightening, tightening and giving your skin an all-around tune up!

When I checked out the site, I was drawn to The Socializer Skincare Collection. These products are specifically aimed to help you look refreshed and awake, even after a LONG night. Their marketing strategy is a very interesting one, as it seems focused on women in their twenties and thirties who rock the board room during the day, and rock the club at night. It’s sort of that glamorous Sex and the City type of life. Sounds fun.

It also sounds a million miles away from my own life. I rock the work-at-home mom routine during the day, balancing blog posts, grocery trips and increasingly frequent doctors appointments since I’m getting close to my due date. Night time for me is spent tossing and turning in a desperate attempt to find a comfortable sleeping position. Two months from now, I’ll be doing awesome to get 3 hours stretches of sleep, so its going to get even worse.

While my days and nights are not as sexy as what is projected by The Socializer collection, the end result is the same. I look TIRED, and yes, even a bit older than I should. I need some specialized skincare products that can really help out, and I can tell you that Eliabeth Grant’s products are doing a fantastic job. I’m so pleased! Here’s what I’ve been using lately:

Bright Lights and Late Nights: This product has two tubes for different needs. You apply late nights just before you head to bed (or perhaps during one of your late night/super early morning wake up sessions with baby) and it helps to reduce the puffiness that you know is coming. The Bright Lights tube is meant to be applied in the morning, and it literally helps brighten the area under your eyes, helping you go from looking haggard to looking bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. This product retails for $40

Porefection: This is a product designed to help with the “extra dull” look overtired skin gets. It helps stimulate exfoliation, reduces the look of pores and adds a boost of hydration to your skin. You apply it in the evening so that it can work its magic while you (finally) sleep. The retail price is $22.

Spotlight Exfoliator: This product is designed specifically for an area that is a trouble spot for most women: the t-zone. It is a very gentle exfoliator that helps reveal more radiant and healthy looking skin. I use it in the shower about twice a week. It retails for $26.

Can You Keep a Secret? This might be my very favorite product in the line. It has two components: one size of this tube has a gentle vibrator as part of the applicator, and you apply it to your lips in order to remove the dead skin on them and reveal a MUCH prettier smile! The other side of the tube has a deep conditioning balm with anti-aging properties to help keep your fresh lips looking kissably soft. This product retails for $38.

I’ve been very pleased with the results of using The Socializer products from Elizabeth Grant. I can definitely see some improvement in how I look, despite the fact that I most certainly don’t FEEL any more rested (on the contrary!). So even though I don’t need to look my best for an important meeting, and even though I wasn’t out until 3am partying hard, I still suffer from the same struggles as the Carrie Bradshaws of the world, and The Socializer products really help out!

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader is going to win two products of your choice from those I reviewed in the post!

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Moisturizer, Powerful Suncreen and Makeup Coverage in One Product (GIVEAWAY!!!)

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I don’t have to personally know you to say with confidence that you are a busy lady (unless of course you are a man, in which case I’d say that this post might not be of interest to you, personally).

We all have the same 24 hours in a day, and we pretty much all burn through them and are left at then end of the day wondering where the hours went, and why we weren’t able to do even more. We forget just how much we cram into our days (so much more than generations before us, thanks to “time saving” technologies that actually just keep us even busier!).

I can’t fix the problem of being ultra-busy for you today, but I can help you make one area of your life a bit more streamlined: your makeup routine.

Would you be interested in a single product that would do all of the following at one time:
moisturize your face
give you SPF 45 protection
provide a tinted matte coverage, which can serve as your foundation or as a base if you seek additional coverage

Well, friends. That product exists! It is called Revision Skincare’s Intellishade SPF 45 Matte, and it comes in only one color.

Does that bum you out?

It shouldn’t. Note part of the name….Intellishade. This stuff is guaranteed to work on every single skin tone. And the fact that it works on my skin tone (super pale) is very promising, because products that promise to work on everyone rarely work on the really pale folks! 🙂

Here’s a picture of me with NOTHING on (left), and then with Revision Intellishade SPF 45 applied (right):

I think the shade works great on my skin! And even at 30 years old (which I know, isn’t THAT old….but I’m not exactly bathing in the fountain of youth, anymore!) I find the coverage to be sufficient and I don’t add any additional foundation. Just powder, eyeshadow, blush, etc. I didn’t add all that stuff to the after shot because I always think when makeup companies do that, they are trying to pull a fast one on you! In fact, these aren’t even very flattering shots, but the point here is to focus on the color and coverage of the product, which impressed me, so I wanted you to see!

After using this product for a few weeks, I have to say that I really love it. It saves me time in the morning and I really love knowing that I have such a high SPF on my face. I can’t ever find makeup with such a high SPF! This makes Revision Intellishade a very smart choice for those of us who are pressed for time, need some coverage, and also need to protect our skin from those pesky UVA and UVB rays. Darah and I will be spending lots of time on playgrounds this summer, and I’m glad to know that my face will have just as much protection as my arms and legs!

Buy it!: Intellishade SPF 45 is only available through specialty offices, such as dermatologists, plastic surgeons or medical spas. This is because Revision Skincare wants to make sure its customers are properly educated about the best products in their line for their needs. Click here to find your nearest retailer! The ARV of the product is $48.

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win Revision Skincare’s Intellishade SPF 45 Matte! The contest will run until June 17th at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be selected via Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to winning notification before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is selected. Open to residents of the United States. Limit one entrant per household, please.

Mandatory entry: Tell me about another Revision Skincare product that interests you and why!

My answer: I could use the Gentle Buffing Cream to exfoliate once a week, or so.

Additional entries:
1. Sponsor love: Like Revision Skincare on Facebook
2. Blogger love: Like Stuff Parents Need on Facebook

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my homepage.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary product for review purposes. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own.