My Lenten Journey

I grew up Catholic. I lived in a household where church attendance was mandatory at 6AM every Sunday. We prayed the rosary every night and went through all the rites of passage in Catholicism - Baptism, First Holy Communion, and Confirmation. In my adult life I am not so much a practicing Catholic. I haven't been to church in a while. I do not pray the rosary at all. I do have personal conversations with God but I don't feel the need to speak to him through a priest. I do however seem to still give things up when the Lenten season comes around. Rice used to be the thing to give up. Back home we ate rice with every meal. Steak just doesn't seem to taste right without rice and soy sauce! After a few years of giving up rice, it wasn't difficult to go without it for 40+ days.  This year I decided to give up desserts (breakfast muffins, whipped cream, and ice cream fell under this category), candy, and Starbucks (which ended up really meaning any kind of coffee and lattes).  Anyone who knows me will tell you that I live for desserts, will usually not pass up a piece of candy, and Starbucks lattes and I go together like a Filipino and patis!

I won't lie and say this lenten journey has been easy. It hasn't. My workplace is filled with cubicles packing a "snacking" punch - you can pretty much find anything you're craving: chips, cookies, candy, cheesecake (yes, cheesecake!). I can also say that I'm probably a glutton for punishment. To ease my stress levels - I bake. This past month made no exception for me because I was unable to have my comfort vices. I baked a few different times in the past month and as much as I wanted to eat an oatmeal craisin cookie, chocolate cupcake with cream cheese frosting, and have a slice of my citrus delight cake...I didn't. 

I am now in the homestretch and am hoping I don't falter and shove a twinkie in my mouth before Sunday. 

Murad - Acne Complex

I didn't have much of an acne issue when I was in high school. I had the occassional pimple and I only remember breaking out badly once. Fast forward to college in Hawaii - my face went beserk! I wasn't sure what happened. I didn't eat differently and the weather was almost the same as back home. It couldn't have been make-up because back then I didn't know anything about make-up!
Throughought the years I used everything under the sun that was meant for acne: Clearasil (which worked for a while), Stridex, Neutrogena, and even ProActiv (and that worked for a while, too). Double fast forward to today, 6 years out of Graduate school, my face is still freaking out. This time I know it is most likely hormonal AND the fact that I use MAC Studio Tech make-up which, and I've been told this even by MAC artists, that MAC is really not for every day use, it's meant to look good under the extreme heat of studio lighting.
In my quest to seek out another type of make-up, one less likely to keep my face looking like a pepperoni pizza, I walked into Sephora at Ala Moana. It was there that I was introduced to Murad Acne Complex instead of finding new make-up.
The sales associate did a skin consultation for me (which they do for anyone really!) and we went through different types of solutions - but because of my acne prone skin and age she thought the Murad line would work best for me.
I've been using the product for two days and I honestly do feel a difference in my face. It isn't as congested as before and my fiance has commented on how clearer it looks already. The photo above was taken the evening I bought the Murad Acne Complex regimen (notice the congestion especially on my forehead). The photo below was taken the next evening (a little less congested). I will keep my blog updated on my skin's journey on this regimen!