#tbt - My Middle School Necessities

Hi kids! Grab a Capri Sun, a handful of Teddy Grahams and come sit on the rug criss-cross-applesauce! It's show and tell day! Not really, I'm just talking about the shit I HAD TO HAVE in middle school. Speaking of rugs, remember those rugs that EVERY elementary school class room had that looked like a neighborhood with streets? I mean, it was a good idea because if you playing with Hot Wheels or any other kind of toy car, you had a little street to go down, but we never did that because all the other kids would be playing with blocks and shit on the same rug and completely block the "road". Am I making any sense? Am I still typing? Why am I talking about rugs. Well that was stream of consciousness writing if I've ever seen it! Anyway, let's talk about some of the shit I liked in Middle School! YAY!

Altoids

GOOD GOD! These things were like crack in middle school. Especially the Sours, remember the Sours?! Yeah, if you had a tin of these in your pocket, you were set.

Clinique 3-Step Skin Care

I had a REALLY bad dry skin phase in 6th Grade. My skin was flaky and tight. It was real real bad. My mother took me to the Clinique counter and got me the Mild Facial Soap bar, The Mild Clarifying Lotion and The famous Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion. I later added the All About Eyes eye cream to the mix. My skin was awesome! Every morning and every night, this was my jam! Since then I've moved on to much more heavy-duty skin care because aging is a bitch.

Portable CD Player

I'm not sure if iPods had come out yet or not, but I remember having a portable CD player along with my CD case. I had Avril Lavigne, Kelly Clarkson, No Doubt and a WHOLE lotta Country Music. I was obsessed with Country Music, mainly Reba, Martina McBride and Chely Wright. Garth Brooks, Johnny Cash and Jeannie C. Riley were my other staples. I also loved Barbra Streisand, Frank Sinatra, Elvis and of course Judy Garland. I was very eclectic. Kids now days will never know the struggle of a portable CD player. They were the worst! If you moved it the wrong way, or jerked it, it would stop playing in the middle of your song! It SUCKED! Thank you Steve Jobs! Thank you so much for being a fucking genius and realizing how fed up we were with that fuckery!

Woods cologne for Men by Abercrombie & Fitch

This stuff was amazing. It was spicy and woodsy, but at the same time it had citrus notes in it. It smelled clean, something in a musky cologne, such as this, is hard to achieve. I always got complemented when wearing this. They discontinued it in 2005, I guess because it smelled too classy for the A&F brand. They re-launched it in 2010, but it was limited. STUPID! I still have my last bottle saved for nostalgia purposes.

Smoooch by Benefit

The best lip balm EVER! It moisturized your lips IMMEDIATELY on contact. Because cosmetic companies are sadists, and love to play god with our lives, Benefit discontinued it and I was so distraught! It was my holy grail lip balm. No other has ever matched it. I always had one in my pocket at school, the only downside was it had an applicator like lip gloss, so it looked a little weird for a guy to be putting it on. Oh well, my lips were fucking soft, so S mah D!

Bed Head Manipulator

Looking back, this stuff was just GROSS! It was sticky, gunky and tacky! For some reason, I loved it! It kept my hair in place, smelled really great and it was blue! What more could a middle school kid ask for!? It didn't really leave my hair greasy feeling, just kinda... weird. It left a weird texture in my hair. I outgrew it and found other products that made my hair feel not weird and styled it at the same time.

Hand Cream

I always had hand cream in my pocket. I applied it A LOT. I used to have really bad eczema on my hands. It would be so bad that the skin on my hands would actually crack and bleed if I didn't keep them moisturized. I got a lot of hell for it. Some girl even told me that she would "go out" with me, or be my girlfriend or whatever, but only if I didn't put lotion on my hands. I was all like BYE FELICIA!!! I'm gonna do what I want to! My favorite hand cream was Satin Hands by Mary Kay, it was easy to get because TONS of people sold it. Back then it was an awesome hand cream, today, not so much. They changed the formula and scent and now it's just blah. 

Journal

I had multiple "fancy" journals. These journals usually were high quality ones I'd get at book stores of a paper store. I would sketch, write weird ass short stories and poems in it, but NEVER share them. It was my personal thing. I always kept it close.

Pens

I was a pen-a-holic. I had SOOOO many pens. I loved the ball point ones that were gel-like. You know what I'm talking about? Yeah, I had a lot of fucking pens.

 Ralph Lauren Hoodie Jackets

I had like seven of these, all in different colors. I usually matched them with whatever I was wearing that day. I remember some of my girl friends would wear them because it was so cold in our school sometimes. It always made me feel even more obese seeing my big ass hoodies on these petite girls. And yes, they had to be Ralph Lauren. I was a label snob in school. EVERYTHING I wore had to be designer. I had a helluva lot of Eddie Bauer shit too,. Don't judge me! Eddie was popular at the time! Remember the stupid Ford Explorers that were Eddie Bauer Edition?! Yeah, I thought that was the coolest thing ever. *eyeroll* I was a dweeb. 

Yes. I actually had this sweater in green. DON'T JUDGE ME!

What were some of your must haves in middle school?

Favorite Night Creams

"Dustin? Since when is this a beauty blog?"

Since I said it was, goddammit!

Welcome to another blog entry!

Today, we're talking about night creams. I know a lot of people say you don't need a night cream, and that they're pointless, but I don't subscribe to those hedonistic beliefs. Any good moisturizer for day time should have an SPF of at least 15 - 30. Putting that on your face at night time just opens up your skin further for irritation and breakouts. The point I'm trying to make is, I like to have two separate moisturizers. One for the daytime with an SPF and one for night.

Don't believe anything the cosmetic companies try to shove down your throat. Your skin doesn't repair itself at night. That's bullshit. Your skin is always trying to repair itself, not just at night time. I see it as a time to pamper your skin, It's hard to pile on a rich face cream during the day, as well as an SPF, especially if you're a lady who wears makeup, or a boy who wear makeup, I'm not hatin'.

I should also say, the cream you choose doesn't have to say it's specifically for night time. Any well formulated face cream without an SPF will do just fine.

Enough blabbering, here are my favorites:

Clinique Super Rescue Antioxidant Night Moisturizer - $47.00

Clinique makes SEVERAL moisturizers without SPF, this just happens to be my favorite to use at night time. I feel safe to say that you can pick any face cream that's formulated for your skin type from Clinique and be a-ok. This particular moisturizer is packed with TONS of antioxidants and skin repairing ingredients. It also comes in three different formulas for dry, oily and combination to fit your skin type.

Get it here.

Mario Badescu Protein Night Cream - $22.00

This brand makes several affordable and good skin care products. My favorite is their Protein Night Cream. It's super rich and thick! Great if you have drier skin. If you don't, they also make several other night creams that are great, including their famous Seaweed Night Cream. 

Get it here.

American Beauty Beauty Boost Overnight Radiance Cream - $29.50

This face cream is only available at Kohls stores. It's great for all skin types. I've used it on and off for years since I was in high school. It's absolutely fantastic and I couldn't recommend it more. It does have fragrance, but it's not overwhelming and it doesn't linger. Try it out if you're looking for something to start. 

Available at Kohls.

Neutrogena Healthy Skin Anti-Wrinkle Cream Night - $15.99

Neutrogena doesn't often get it right, but with this formula they get an A+! This cream is packed with green tea and retinol both excellent skin repairing ingredients. I recommend this cream to anyone who wants to try out retinol for the first time. It's perfect for a beginner.

Get it here.

Bobbi Brown Hydrating Intense Night Cream - $62.00

This stuff is heavy duty. I love it! It's luxurious, thick and just luscious. The price is steep, but it's packed with tons of repairing ingredients and will make your skin feel like an angels ass in the morning.

Get it here.

Algenist Overnight Restorative Cream - $90.00

Stop complaining, I put plenty of non-expensive shit on this list. Calm down! This stuff... I don't know, it's just magic. Yeah, it's expensive, but it makes my dry skin feel like a supermodel's skin in the morning. I love it.

Get it here.

CeraVe Facial Moisturizing Lotion PM - $12:99

This is a great option if you don't want to use something super heavy. It's perfect for super sensitive skin. It's also great if you have oily skin, because it's not heavy at all. The only drawback is that it lacks antioxidants, that's not a problem if you use a serum underneath though.

Get it here.

I tried my best to keep this list balanced with non-expensive and mid-range products. If you do want to try any of the expensive ones, don't be afraid to ask for a sample, if they won't give you a sample, fuck them, go somewhere else! No big deal!

I know I have a lot of vegan friends, and I'm sorry I didn't include any vegan products here. I haven't thoroughly tested any vegan face creams to give you a proper recommendation. That is on my to-do list though so stay tuned!

Hope this helped! you're welcome! Byeeeeeeeeeeeee!