Beauty – Snapshots & My Thoughts by Ailee Petrovic

Beauty November 12, 2018

Self-Care During the Holidays with Olay

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Olay. The opinions and text are all mine.

October through early December are my busiest months of the year, with lots of family photo sessions taking place (meaning countless hours of editing). Every year, it’s been manageable, even with Sasha working in San Antonio during the week last year. With our upcoming move and finishing the new house (plus being in the third trimester of this pregnancy!), I’m feeling really overwhelmed this year.

“You can’t pour from an empty cup. Take care of yourself first.” I took a screenshot of this from someone’s Instagram story the other week, and I realized that I needed to heed this self-care advice. I felt like I wasn’t been a good mom, wife, friend, etc. because I was so caught up in my to-do list. I wasn’t working out because I felt like I didn’t have the time, wasn’t getting the facials I love so much because they didn’t “work with my schedule,” wasn’t going to lunch with friends because it felt like that was low priority – the list goes on. Immediately after reading that quote, I started saying, “No” when asked to do things that weren’t benefitting me or my family. I started working in an hour at the gym or allocating that time for a run into my daily schedule because at the end of the day, the work would get done and I started to feel way better about myself and was able to give more of myself to others after.

Instead of waiting until midnight when I’m finished editing to wash my face and do my skin care routine, I started doing it immediately after the girls go to bed. I wash my face, put on serums, then put on my Olay Regenerist Whip moisturizer. As I mentioned in this blog post, Olay recently released a fragrance-free version of my already-favorite moisturizer, and I’m loving the scentless option even more than the original (Sasha is too!). Going to bed not smelling like skin care products is very refreshing – and a big change, as most that I’ve used do include a fragrance. Olay Whips Fragrance Free is also available in the Total Effects with SPF 25 variety, which is perfect for daytime wear. Since trying it a few weeks ago, I’ve switched up my Whip to this option to have the added SPF.

After I did my last Instagram post, I had a number of friends ask me, “Do you really use it?” and YES! I do! And I really love it too. It’s truly the best moisturizer I’ve ever used. Whip has made a big difference in the visibility of my fine lines and wrinkles and definitely hydrates my skin, giving it a lifted look. It is formulated with niacinamide (B3) and advanced amino peptide complex – in fact, just one dose of Olay Whips contains the same amount of Vitamin B3 as 50 cups of kale – one of the most popular superfoods. I ran out just the other day (thanks to my generous lathering and tiny toddler hands), and ran to Walgreens quickly and got another. I love that they stock so many of my favorite Olay items.

What do you do to prioritize yourself during a busy season? Have you tried the Olay Whip Fragrance-Free yet?

Beauty November 28, 2017

Give the Gift of Good Skin with Dermalogica

I have shared about my love for Dermalogica on Instagram before – I use a variety of their products every morning and evening, and I love how clean and moisturized they make my face. I am definitely a true brand loyalist! I wanted to convert Sydney, so I asked her to try two of their limited edition holiday gift sets – the AGE smart Daily Defenders and the AGE smart Lip Smoothing Duo – to see what she thought. Spoiler alert: she loved them. More details below!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Now that Thanksgiving is over, I am ready to start thinking about buying everyone on my list their Christmas gifts. I have been listening to Christmas music since the day after Halloween, and even though I’ve been itching to decorate the tree, I’ve held back and waited until Thanksgiving was over. Now all that’s left to do is trim the tree and stock up on the gifts.

I am obsessed with finding new skincare products and sharing them with my girlfriends and my mom for Christmas. Every year I gather up my favorite products and share them with the ladies in my life! I especially love finding new products that help reduce wrinkles and makes me look younger, so I was so excited to try Dermalogica’s AGE smart Daily Defenders and AGE smart Lip Smoothing Duo after hearing Ailee speak so highly of their other products.

Beauty July 7, 2017

Getting Started with Smile Direct Club

Well, this smile journey story has a strange start, but stick with me for a minute!

In 2009, I interning in France, and during this time, my friend, Andrew and I, went on a little vacation to Nice. We bought some snacks for the beach, and the vegetarian that I am, I grabbed some carrots. As I’m sitting on the pebbled beach, I bite into a carrot and ‘pop’! I managed to unglue one of the sides of my permanent bottom retainers. The bar was still attached to the other side, but it now protruded slightly into my mouth, under my tongue. It wasn’t painful, but it was very bothersome. I thought many times about going to an orthodontist in Paris to have it fixed, but my French was very conversational and I couldn’t wrap my head around calling and booking an appointment, so alas, I never did. When I returned at the end of August, the day I got home, I went in to get it fixed. At my orthodontist’s office, he told me that my smile looked great, and since I had been out of braces for over ten years, he would just take off the permanent retainer. Worst. Idea. Ever!

Fast forward to 2011, my wisdom teeth all start coming in, and since I am a huge chicken when it comes to needles, I endure the pain of them all breaking through my gums and crowding my mouth. Cue teeth moving.

So now, in 2017, I have buckled bottom teeth that drive me absolutely crazy! I cannot stand seeing how crooked they have become, but Sasha thinks it isn’t a big deal, and the $5,000 we would pay for Invisalign has always seemed too much to fix this problem. Enter Smile Direct Club. Smile Direct Club offers affordable teeth straightening aligners at a price that is 60% less than competitors.

Beauty October 4, 2016

My New Makeup Routine with Beautycounter

A few months ago, I heard about Beautycounter through one of my best friend’s friend, Kelsey Wiley. I was intrigued by this company that “puts your health first” – not a claim I’d ever heard made by MAC, Maybelline, L’Oreal, Laura Mercier, etc. Kelsey included a link to the video below, and after watching it, I knew I wanted to try Beautycounter’s products.

Beautycounter’s mission is to get safer products into the hands of everyone and lead a movement for better beauty. This is definitely a mission I can stand behind. While over 1,300 toxic ingredients are banned in personal care products in Europe, only eleven are in the US. Isn’t that scary? I had absolutely no idea which (potentially harmful) ingredients were in my skincare products, and I was ready to change that.

I will not lie – changing my tried-and-true makeup and skincare routine has not been painless. I had been using some of the same products since I was in high school! For about a month now, I’ve been using a majority of Beautycounter products (sharing honest reviews of each below), while ‘cheating’ every now and again with an old blush or eyeshadow that I love. As time goes on, I’ll buy more and more Beautycounter items when my old ones run out. So far, I’ve loved every single product – except the mascara, but I’ll explain why!

Fashion September 4, 2015

Kayla Itsines’ Bikini Body Guide (BBG) Review

Preface: This is by far the most nervous I have ever been to hit ‘Publish’ on a post before. As someone who never even wears two piece swimsuits, shooting and posting these photographs is definitely out of my comfort zone (serious understatement). I am not sharing these so that you compliment my progress, but instead to help motivate you to try this incredible workout (plus, I promised to get more personal here). Also, I want to quickly thank my dream team who made me feel confident during these photos – my photographer, Paige of Awake Photography, and hair and makeup expert, Britt Lais Williams of Butter Artistry.

So, let’s begin.

A few months ago, my best friend mentioned this “bikini body guide” she was doing and told me to look up @Kayla_Itsines on Instagram to better understand the reasons why. Well, it took about 45 seconds on Kayla’s account to know that I also wanted to try this seemingly miraculous workout. Photo after photo of before vs. after shots of women going from being regularly sized to becoming what-look-liked trim, toned fitness models had me convinced that it was worth a shot.

I started the guide (most commonly referred to as BBG) before we headed to Europe, which wasn’t ideal as I didn’t really want to take a multi-week break just 2 weeks into the 12 week program. Therefore, I started it again when we returned and have been working out using the PDF guide ever since. I just finished the first round of the program last week, and I am proud of this accomplishment (it’s not for the faint of heart, but you can do it too!). It’s now time for BBG 2.0.

In short, BBG is a 12-week training program that involves three resistant training workouts a week (plus three days of interval training). Each workout is 28 minutes long (which may sound easy, but you definitely work up quite a sweat during that time!), and includes two circuits that you repeat twice (sample below). The guide (a document that I reference on my iPhone on iBooks during workouts) shows step-by-step images on how to complete each of the exercises in the resistance training circuits.