TCA Chemical Peel to Get Rid of Dark Spots, Melasma, and the Mask of Pregnancy

I never thought I would have a problem with dark spots. I made it through 2 pregnancies and into my late 20's with no problems. I would have never guessed by my late 20's and early 30's I would be fighting to get rid of dark spots on my face.

Then my third pregnancy came. I don't know if it was because I was carrying a girl since my first 2 were boys or if my hormones just got out of wack, but one thing is for sure the "mask of pregnancy" did not look cute on me!

So it's been 5 years since I got the pregnancy mask, and it never went away! It fades in the fall and winter and comes back strong every spring the second I enjoy the sun. For me it is a tricky situation. I have kids and a garden that provides 50% of our food throughout the year. Staying out of the sun for any amount of time is not much of an option. I use plenty of sunscreen, it doesn't help me a bit!

The list of things I have tried is LONG!!!!! Not just long either, pretty gross too!

• Lemon
• Garlic
• Lemon mixed with garlic
• Glycolic Acid
• At least 8 different types of dark spot remover
• Skin Bleach
• Boiled onion

Oh the list is awful! The sad part is the most this did was lightly fade the spots just for them to come back darker than ever. None of it was actually removing the top layer of skin so it just slightly faded the top layer instead of helping me get rid of dark spots for good.

Thankfully the I Max 45% Trichloroacetic Acid Serum-Deep Chemical Peel  takes off the top layer of skin. I used the TCA chemical peel with I Max Plant Stem Cell Cream. These are both products specifically meant to work together to make my skin better. 

Using TCA
I Max 45% Trichloroacetic Acid Serum-Deep Chemical Peel

I diluted the 45% by adding 4 parts water to 1 part TCA. By doing this you will not get as big of a peel. However your skin has to get use to the TCA peel chemicals. Even if you have done glycolic peels in the past, TCA is a lot different. Your skin can be very damaged if you just jump straight in with a full strength TCA peel.  

Always do a test patch. I did mine on my lower jaw. When I didn't have an allergic reaction I went ahead with doing the peel. 

• Wash your face well
• Mix 1 to 1 baking soda and water
• Mix TCA 45% with 4 parts water
• Apply Peel with a cotton ball 
• Rinse when it becomes too uncomfortable or at 1-2 minutes
• Apply the baking soda mixture while rinsing to stop the burning feeling
• Use nothing the first day on your skin
• Avoid the sun no matter what

  Using I Max Plant Stem Cell Cream 

   

  

   

  Once you have done your peel you want to give it a day or 2 before applying anything that isn't all natural to your skin. Coconut oil can be great for soothing the skin after a chemical peel. Just rub organic coconut oil lightly on the face. Be sure not to rub hard. 
  
  
  After two days you can start putting sunscreen on in the mornings, but remember to get one with as few ingredients as possible. I use children's all natural SPF 50 any brand. The sun can do a lot of damage on your skin. You should not be laying out or standing in the sun for prolonged periods of time after a peel. The point of the SPF is to protect you from the sun coming through windows or while you are driving or even making a fast run into a store. 
  
  
  In combination with SPF, now you can start using your I Max Plant Stem Cell Cream. This is a plant based formula, but it works well at helping the peel start to best get rid of dark spots and wrinkles. Since it can cause some people to develop bright red skin it is best to try it in the evening before bed. 
  
  
  Thankfully it did not make my face red, but it did burn a small bit. Nothing bad though, and by the next day after the first use, light peeling started. 
  
  
  Continue using it in the evening as needed. 
  
  
  
  
  Results - As of now I am still peeling. However I can already see the difference. The skin that has peeled on dark spots has left fresh skin below without the darkness. 
  
  
  Pairing these products has been great for getting rid of dark spots. I am also seeing improvement with fine lines on my forehead between my eyes from my years of squinting in the sun. 
  
  
  I definitely love these products! By winter I expect to be able to stay out of the sun long enough to do a full peel!
  
  
  
  
  

LIG Group Bluetooth 3.0 Portable Wireless Speaker Review

I've been getting really big into getting Bluetooth speakers lately. I love having one in every room. Having a house with 5 people in it can get a bit noisy, and I have found to gain some control over the madness the best thing to do is turn on some music.

Time to clean, turn on music.
Time to brush teeth, turn on some music!
Time to go play in the pool, turn on some music.

Music is really the best medicine, and the best attention gainer. When the kids are fussing with each other, blasting a song always makes them stop.

LIG Group Bluetooth 3.0 Portable Wireless Speaker

For a small speaker I was pleasantly surprised by the loudness of this LIG Bluetooth speaker. The volume is loud enough to drown out the sounds of Minecraft which is always going in our house. It is also loud enough to still hear while the kids are playing loudly in the pool. 

The Bluetooth connects easily. No issues at all, and we have connected 4 different devices to it and all connected easily. 

The LIG Bluetooth speaker is super light weight. Only half a pound. It's also water resistant, not water proof, but this certainly helps when I am by the pool and have to deal with the occasional splash. 

The only con to this device is the radio feature. If you are living in the city you probably won't have an issue. However I live in the country, very rural. I get all of 2 channels. I get a religious channel and a talk radio channel. So the radio part is pointless for me. 

That one con though was not a big one. I can easily play youtube videos, pandora, or other music playlists from my phone. 

If you would like to try this out, you can find it here. For the price and size it is a great bluetooth speaker! 

Eco-Friendy Bamboo Cutting Board and Chopping Board With 4 Plastic Drawers Review

A little about me. I am a homesteading mother of 3. Our garden is big enough that in the spring, summer, and fall we only use veggies and fruits that we grow. I literally cook between 7 and 20 times a week! We NEVER eat out, and by never, I really mean we eat out maybe twice a year. I simply have the time to cook every night and we prefer the taste of home cooked versus restaurant food.

So when I got the opportunity to review a cutting board I was super excited. I mean as much as I cut up at dinner a cutting board is a pretty important part of my kitchen! The average night has a minimum of onions, garlic, peppers, and potatoes chopped.

The Eco-Friendy Bamboo Cutting Board and Chopping Board With 4 Plastic Drawers is made of sustainable bamboo, which in itself is a huge plus in my books. Bamboo can be grown, harvested, and regrown so fast that we don't have to worry as much about destroying the environment. On top of that bamboo actually looks quite nice.

If you notice between the drawers you can see that they actually fit in like a drawer on a dresser would. So you can move the cutting board around without the bowls getting out of place. The first night I tried this out with just Onions and Mushrooms, however the second night I used bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, and peppers. It handled it all easily!

The Eco-Friendly Bamboo Cutting board is very easy to clean. Just takes a couple seconds when I am done chopping to get it clean.

I really looked for things to complain about, however I couldn't find anything. I've used it a total of 3 dinners and 2 breakfasts so far and I haven't come up with one thing I don't like about it. It's all around a great addition to our kitchen. I actually threw away my other board that was beyond scratched up and a pain to clean!

You can get your Eco-Friendy Bamboo Cutting Board and Chopping Board With 4 Plastic Drawers here.

Home Remedy to Get Rid of Melasma, Mask of Pregnancy, or Dark Spots

What is Melasma? 

Melasma is darkening of the skin in splotches or spots. In pregnancy it is called the Mask of Pregnancy. I have no idea why they call it that. They made it sound like something nice. I can tell you first hand it is not. 

Typically Melasma appears:

• Upper Cheek
• Nose
• Forehead 
• Upper Lip

It can appear like a dirt spot above the lip or a large freckle on the cheeks.

My Experience Using Home Remedies For Dark Spots

The list of things I have tried over the last 5 years is long. Something I have figured out is there is no getting rid of them permanently as long as I continue to go out in the sun. It doesn't matter if I use a 70SPF I still end up getting them back as soon as spring comes around.  

So while I have found many things that work to get rid of them, they always come back. So I was on the hunt for a solution that would actually work to get rid of my dark spots during the summer to at least keep them from getting too bad. I'm stubborn. I refuse to stay out of the sun. I've got gardens that need planting, kids that need playing with, lakes that need fishing, and pools that need swimming! 

My Summer Home Remedy For Dark Spots

Items you will need:

• Organic Coconut Oil
• Super Vitamin C Serum (You can find it here:http://www.amazon.com/Super-Vitamin-Serum-Ascorbic-Acid/dp/B01E0DO7GU/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8)
• Lemon Juice

Mixing:

Mix 3 teasoons of organic Coconut Oil with 1 teaspoon of lemon juice and 1 dropper full of Super Vitamin C Serum. Place your mixture in the fridge for 20 minutes. It will form a soft solid. Because of the lemon juice it will not make a full solid

New York Biology Super Vitamin C is an amazing vitamin C product that can be alone or with other products. Mixing it with the lemon juice and Coconut oil provides a great remedy for dark spots, but also helps with wrinkles.

Within 2 weeks of trying this product I saw considerable improvement in the dark spot above my lip.

SwissVita Micrite 3D Eye Cream Review

I got this product at a discount to review it. The idea of reviewing something and having tested the product in a certain amount of time is nothing new to me. Sadly with this product the time given simply didn't feel like enough time. I was given 2 weeks.

The reason I feel like it wasn't enough time is I liked the product, I really did. Sadly it didn't really do a lot in 2 weeks. So I'm sure you are thinking 'Well it must just not be a good product'. I really don't think that is the issue.

Why I liked SwissVita Micrite 3D Eye Cream

When I first used SwissVita I felt some tightening around my eyes. I felt it working, I just couldn't see the difference. As it absorbed the skin around my eyes felt softer. 

After a week using this product I discovered it worked nicely for helping with the morning swelling I have above my eyes. Due to all the medicines I take before going to sleep at night, I usually wake up with what I call a medicine hang over. Which is the feeling like my eyes are going to close all on their own with that awful groggy feeling. Well the reason my eyes feel like they are going to close on their own is because the medicine puts me into such a heavy sleep, my top eyelids actually swell. 

The SwissVita would reduce that swelling within 10-15 minutes of applying it. Normally it takes around an hour for that swelling to go down. 

What I Didn't Like About SwissVita Micrite 3D Eye Cream

Honestly there wasn't a lot that I didn't like about it. However the biggest issue was the fact that it did nothing for dark circles or wrinkles. So why did I still like the product if it didn't help those things? Well simply, How many of you have bought ANY wrinkle cream and it actually worked in 2 weeks or less? Probably not many! These things take time. Wrinkles don't show up over night! They take time to develop and they take time to soften. 

I really have a good feeling about this product and if I start to see more improvements over time I will update this post. 

The product is not a cream. I am not sure who decided to market it as a cream, but it is more like a gel or serum. Certainly not what us Americans consider a cream. 

Overall I would give SwissVita Micrite 3D Eye Cream a 3 out of 5 right now. It is a nice product that goes on nicely and feels great.

The Best Dog Nail Clippers I Have Ever Used

Meet my dogs! They are part of my family, and not just as our pets, but also as emotional support animals. They are our fur babies.

Pixie is a 2 year old German Shepard Mix

Whitey, AKA Scaredy is an 8 year old Shar Pei Mix

Why Was I Looking For The Best Dog Nail Clippers?

We adopted Whitey from the shelter when she was 6 months old. Left abandoned to roam the streets with her brother she was picked up by the animal control and given the nickname Scaredy. She was afraid of everything and everyone when we adopted her. Thankfully after many many years of love she has gotten over most of those fears, however when it comes to loud noises, vacuums, and having to hold her still for bathing or nail clipping she still is the same scaredy we adopted almost 8 years ago. 

Pixie was a tenant of ours dog. He was a military vet with a drug problem to deal with his PTSD. Unfortunately we had to evict him from our property due to constant issues with police. When he left, he abandoned his dog. So we took her in. At the time she was 11 months old. While not afraid of much she is scared to death of being held in one place. 

Between the 2 dogs we had tried many different types of dog nail clippers. However the kind that rotates and 'sands' the dogs nails down was too loud and the average regular dog nail clippers were usually too dull even when brand new to clip through our girl's thick nails. 

Homdox 4 Pieces Professional Dog Grooming Kit 

 

 

As a reviewer of products I once in a while luck up and find something that I am really in need of. So I got the Homdox Dog Grooming Kit at a discount in exchange for my HONEST review. This was one of those review products where I was so excited to get it I ran out to meet the UPS man instead of letting him leave it on my porch like I normally do.

The second it arrived myself and my daughter ripped open the box. My daughter fell in love with the bright pink color of the set. I have to admit since both of my dogs are girls it was fitting to have a grooming kit in pink.

Since there is no way I can hold our sweet Whitey down without help from my husband I decided to try out the brush and comb first. Our German Shepard is like a hair factory! I mean we only have carpet in our bedroom, but when I vacuum every other day her hair fills the canister two times before I get the floor clean.

So I set out to brush pixie.

30 seconds later that was the pile of hair brushed off of her already! I was so excited when my husband got home. He then helped me brush off even more and clip their nails which were both over due!

Pros of Using The Homdox 4 Pieces Professional Dog Grooming Kit 

Normally I like to do a pros and cons list to give other buyers an accurate description of the product. However other than this set not coming with a bag to hold them in I simply could not find any cons. The pros of using this set are:

• It's stylish. This may not be important to everyone, but personally I think it is at least a plus!
• The comb pulls knots out easily. Pixie did not yelp or cry out any even though she had some naps in her hair that were pretty bad. 
• The brush works well. It pulled out loads of hair. 
• The brush empties easily. Since it is the bubble style brush you just push down in the center of it and pull the hair straight out. 
• The nail clippers are sharp. Now I know, it would be thought that is obvious, but I have literally bought at least 5 pairs of dog nail clippers just to get them home and have to struggle to get them through one of my dog's thick nails. These however cut straight through quickly and easily. 
• The nail clippers have a guard on them behind the clipping part. This helps you figure out how far you should be clipping so that you don't cut too far into your dog's nails. 
• The nail clippers come with a file built into the bottom of them that slides out of the handle. This is great for when you clip a nail and it leaves a sharp corner. 

Disclaimers

I am in NO way affiliated with this company. I was not compensated to review them here. I was only offered a discount on the product to review them on Amazon. You can find the Homdox 4 piece grooming kit on Amazon or simply click on the amazon link above and it will take you directly to the product where you can read other reviews or buy. 

I never make any guarantee that a product will be given 5 stars or reviewed positively. I only write honest real reviews on products based on my experience.

Review of The Busy Home BBQ Grill Mat and Bake Mat

Our family is the kind that spends every weekend by the lake. We have 3 huge lakes within 45 minutes of our home. There simply is no reason to be at home with that much water so close to our home.

Since we spend our weekends at the lake, we also eat there. So I was beyond excited with being able to get a discount to review the Busy Home BBQ Mat.

Why I Was So Excited to Try These BBQ Mats

Around here the lakes have picnic tables with grills all around the lake. This is both good and bad. It is so convenient, but have you ever used a public grill? All I can say is gross! I don't know why people are so nasty or how they seem to make them so gross.

Going to the lake meant packing a grill brush and my husband spending an extra 15 minutes scrubbing and wiping down the public grill. So this weekend instead of packing the grill brush we packed our new Busy Home BBQ Mat.

When we got to the lake my husband went ahead and got the charcoal going. While we waited for it to get ready for cooking I opened up my grill mat. My first impression was oh my gosh this is going to melt! It is super thin!!! I mean almost paper thin.

Once my husband got the charcoal ready I laid the the Busy Home BBQ Mat on the grill expecting it to melt immediately. I mean I know these things say they are meant for this, but I just wasn't believing it.

No immediate melting. YAY! So my husband added a couple of burgers. Even he wasn't sure these things were going to hold up so he only added two burgers at a time.

 

The Pros of Using The Busy Home BBQ Grill Mat

• It didn't melt. Lol, but seriously if you buy these you will see the thinness and think the same thing!
• It keeps you from having to clean the grill
• It cooks the product evenly. No burnt bottom with red center. 
• It washes off super easy
• It is non stick. No dealing with burgers getting stuck and falling apart
• Easy to use

The Cons of Using The Busy Home BBQ Grill Mat

• Your burger will not taste like charcoal. This one doesn't matter to me at all, but my husband was a bit disappointed. So for his sake I am listing this as a con, though for me it was a pro. I personally liked my burger tasting like the marinade instead of just like charcoal. 
• It takes twice the amount of time to cook the burger. If you are hungry that moment you might want to skip out on these. It literally took almost 2 times the normal amount of time to cook compared to when we just cook directly on the grill. 

My Review Opinion of The Busy Home BBQ Grill Mat 

Personally I love them. To me it is worth the wait to get evenly cooked burgers. I like not having to waste my hubby's time cleaning the public grill. I could even see him using these at home. I also really liked how the grease just came right off the mat. It didn't pool under the burgers. 

I would recommend these to anyone. I really enjoyed the ease of using them. Very surprised such a thin material could easily withstand the heat from the grill.