A-milli-a-milli-a-MILIA?

I got my wisdom teeth removed yesterday morning and I’ve got to say, recovery hasn’t been as bad as I thought it would be. My cheeks haven’t swelled up like crazy and I haven’t had any pain that is bad enough to merit taking the T-3’s that my doctor prescribed to me. I’m just feeling a little soreness and a tiny bit of swelling in the bottom right side of my mouth, but aside from that recovery has been progressing well. Since I’ll be home for the next few days I hope to be blogging a little more often this week.

Have you ever gotten weird little bumps around your eyes or your face that never, ever, seem to go away? You know for sure they aren’t pimples (because duh, they haven’t gone away), they aren’t black heads or white heads because they look like they look like bumps growing under your skin. You probably got them after trying new skin care products- likely an eye cream or an entirely new skin care regime.

A milia seed.

These, my friends, are called milia. That, is a milia seed that recently popped out of my left eyelid the other morning. Finally- I had been waiting for these babies to pop out of my skin for months now. I got them after using this sample of a luxury eye cream (that will remain nameless) for a few weeks. I probably developed about 7-8 milia bumps on both of my eyelids. Although only one of the 7/8 that I had popped out, it was the biggest one that was bothering me the most. You can see it in this photo here, from my Too Faced Natural Eye Shadow palette review. It’s sitting just over my left eye, closest to the bridge of my nose.

For those that don’t know, milia seeds are small, keratin-filled cysts that form underneath the epidermis (outer most layer) of your skin. They usually form from using skin care products that are too rich for your skin combined with a lack of exfoliation (sloughing off dead cells from the skin’s surface).

My skin is particularly dry, and as much as I want to hydrate it like crazy to keep my lines and wrinkles at bay, being a dry-skinned person I need to remember that I need to exfoliate often and use products that are light enough but hydrating enough for my eye area. The skin around your eyes is especially prone to things like milia because it is much thinner than the rest of the skin on your face. If you’re concerned about the skin on your eye contour, you need to use a moisturizer specialized for the eye that is separate from the one you use on your face because of how delicate the skin is here. Using a face moisturizer in your undereye area might just give you more milia.

What did I do to remove my milia?
After I noticed these bumps over my eye lids, I began to exfoliate like crazy. Removing the skin on top of the milia surface will help your milia pop right out of your skin. Whatever you do, DO NOT POKE AT THEM WITH A NEEDLE. If they are really bugging you, head down to a medical spa that specializes in milia removal and they’ll take care of the problem for you.

What can I do to prevent the formation of milia?
Like I said earlier, make sure you exfoliate your skin regularly so that your skin can properly remove toxins and other gross things from its surface efficiently and effectively. Use skin care that is appropriate for your skin type (first, figure out what your skin type it and what feel best to you). Some of the eye creams that I’ve used in the past that don’t give me any milia problems but hydrate beautifully are Clinique's All About Eyes ($37 CAD for 15 mL) and Biotherm's Skin-Ergetic Eyes ($40 CAD for 15 mL). I’m working on finishing up my jar of Clinique’s All About Eyes, but once that’s gone I’m going straight back to the Biotherm cream.

I think I’ve got a few milia on the side of my face and I’ll probably get those removed the next time I see an esthetician for a facial. I’ll keep you all posted on the status of my milia around my eyelids as they continue to pop out, haha.

Have you ever had milia before? Ever gotten them professionally removed? I'd love to hear from you!

xox,

ysobel

This is me in recovery mode. Yes, those are resealable bags full of frozen green beans on my face.

Rimmel London's Sexy Curves Full Volume and Curve mascara

Hi everyone!

So today's post is dedicated to a mascara that I bought a few years ago that I left in my make up case as "stock", and only opened a few weeks ago because I was running low on mascara and couldn't find my trial sizes.

Sexy Curves Mascara.

This is Rimmel London's Sexy Curves Mascara, a mascara that promises full volume and curve. I think I purchased it at Shopper's when they had this sale where a bunch of Rimmel products (including this one) were $4.99. Otherwise I believe it retails at about $6-8 CAD for 8mL of mascara. It comes in a slim purple tube that does stand upright (though I'm not sure if that's an advantage or not). I purchased this in 001 BLACK.

The Mascara wand, brush head compared to the size of an American Penny for size. I live in Canada (where we don't use pennies anymore), and the only coin I had close by was this old American one. The Bad boy's pretty chewed up... looks like it's been run over two or three...hundred times.

Triple Plump brush Close-Up. I think my picture above was better than this. My bad.

The reverse side of the packaging mentions Rimmel's New Triple Plump brush used "for fuller curvier lashes". So... here's the Triple Plump brush. It's almost like three balls of silicone spikes stuck together and elongated a little.It's about an inch long, and it's actually pretty flexible, making removing excess mascara from the wand a breeze. The ball on the end makes it surprisingly easy to apply mascara to the inner corners and outer lashes without worrying about poking your eyes out.

The formula is creamy but really wet (so wet that you hear a moist "pop!" when you take the wand out of the tube). I'm not a fan of super wet formulas because they are a little difficult to apply on your lashes. I find they make them clump and stick together, unless you apply with extreme caution. Then if you're lucky, you'll get every single lash.

Sexy Curve Mascara applied to both eyes. No curling. One coat.

When applied properly (as in, 3-4 minutes of you poking at your eyes with utmost caution), the mascara has a really nice natural look. there is a but of added volume but not too much curl. With a name like "sexy curls" I was expecting almost a false eye lash effect, but as I was building my lashes got chunky and clumpy and they were not a pretty sight. It's also not the blackest mascara out there, but for a natural, everyday look it isn't bad.

Yesterday I was wearing this mascara and my sister made me laugh so hard I was crying. She told me my mascara was running everywhere and so I ran to the washroom. there was ZERO mascara left on my bottom lashes after a few tears. Now I know the formula doesn't claim to be water proof, but I like a mascara that can stand up to a few tears and not dissolve all over your face. Sometimes waterproof mascaras emit fumes that tend to make my eyes sting so I stay away from them. They're also a pain in the butt to remove.

After a few hours of wear I find the mascara flakes all over my eyes. But for only a few bucks, I guess you can't expect smudge-free wear and flakeless lashes.

The verdict? It's okay. It's cheap and it does the job. If you have a 12-13 year old girl who is just venturing into make up then I think it'd be a good mascara to start her on. It's relatively cheap and creates a natural look that's great for everyday. However, I wouldn't consider it HG status and I wouldn't wear it on a special night out.

xox,

Ysobel

Have you tried this mascara? What's your favourite one to use? What's your opinion of other Rimmel London products? I'd love to hear from you!