frugalista friday

i haven't done one of these posts in ages, truthfully because the past three months have each seen some unexpected financial burden.  i don't want to say i'm off track in my goals of paying off debt, because i have been exceptionally diligent in cutting my shopping budget.  despite the four {one down, three to go!} weddings i have this summer, i have resisted buying any new dresses.  no new shoes {which is something akin to giving up oxygen for me}.  no new kitchen gadgets.  and hardest of all, no new home decor.  le sigh.  but these unexpected expenses are killing me.  i'm trying to look at them as a lesson learned in why i need to pay down this debt as soon as possible and get myself a nice little savings cushion. 

so now on to the fun stuff.  i may be a gal on a {very restricted} budget, but that doesn't mean i don't obsess over care about looking good.  i've never had nice skin.  now, that doesn't mean i have bad skin per se.  i rarely, if ever, get a pimple.  i have all of one little wrinkle on my foreheard and i'm pretty sure i'm the only person who notices it.  it's not overly oily or dry.  but it's just blah.  several of my girlfriends just have skin that glow and i am so jealous.

but since dermatologists are out of the question for anything other that skin cancer check-ups {diligence, ladies!} and there are no department stores in sight of small town, va even if i could afford la mer, i have to look elsewhere.  i keep reading and hearing all of these reviews of the olay regenerist line that basically all say the same thing:  this stuff is as good, if not better, than a lot of high-end skin care products and it's available at the drugstore at a drugstore price.

bingo.

so last saturday morning when i ran out of my usual daytime moisturizer, i headed to wally world and picked up the uv defense regenerating lotion with spf 15.  ummm....oh holy god, this stuff is awesome!  first of all, it smells SO good.  i'm picky about stuff like that.  it's been less than a week and my skin just looks better.  can't give you any scientific explanation, but it just looks and feels healthier.  the texture is really light, so my make-up goes over top of it easily.  my skin is supersoft.  and best of all, it has started to even out my icky, ruddy skin tone already.  seriously, cannot WAIT to see what happens after i've been using this for two weeks +.

when i run out of my nighttime moisturizer, i fully intend to switch over to the golden child of the regenerist line, the micro-sculpting cream. i'm also itching to try out the anti-aging eye roller, the daily regenerating serum and the microderm/peel kit.  and if you visit the olay homepage, you can dowload a rebate coupon of $20 back from any purchase of $50 or more on olay skincare products.  oooh, i'm like a kid in a candy store!

have any of y'all tried these products?  any other budget skin-care suggestions?  i'd love to hear what you're using!

note: olay did not compensate me in any way to provide this review.  but if they wanted to, that would be lovely.  teehee.