So yeah, this is pretty much me in the mornings. Except with slightly less hair and maybe not as much blood. But the rest? Spot on.

What brings about such Zombie-ness, you ask? One word: Baby. Yes, my precious little love bug who is now 8 months old has not slept through the night, like, EVER. Never ever. And you know what that means, right? It means that Mama has not slept through the night in 8 months either. Not once. You know what I say to that? Grrrrrrrrroooowwwwllllll!

So, with all this non-sleeping going on, how’s a Mama supposed to look hot? I mean, really. No sleep is soooo not good for your skin. It’s also not good for your energy level (shock!), so bustin’ out those make-you-look-and-feel-great-workouts is pretty much a no-go. Sure, I slog through them when I can, but, yeah, the key is when I can.

Now, I could rant all day about my current state and about the fact that no sleep has left my once razor-sharp memory a pile of bubbly mush that sometimes releases a relevant fact or tidbit, but mostly leaves me saying “Now, who was that?” and “I came into this room why?”, but I have a feeling some of you have either been there or are currently there and can totally relate.

So what I’d like to do instead is focus on how to fix this issue. Aside from sleep training my baby (which I’ve been avoiding like the Swine Flu because it seems soooo mean), how can I make myself look like a member of the living, when I’m really just hanging by a thread? Here are my plans:

• Work out - I hereby promise to take some sort of stab at exercise at least 5 days out of the week, whether it be a walk, a cardio DVD or a free-weight stint in the basement home gym. Also, a few crunches wouldn’t hurt either, I ’spose.
• Eat better - Hmmm, seems as though this mission will go hand-in-hand with the above mission, eh? But here’s the thing: I’m not just going to start cutting things all willy-nilly and voraciously go after every veggie in sight because I know that doesn’t work for me. Instead, I intend to revert back to a diet I was put on while I had gestational diabetes, only I won’t be quite as strict with it. Basically, I’ll be limiting sweets and carbs. Hm. Shouldn’t we all be doing that anyway? And as a side note here, when I was on said diet during pregancy, my skin never looked so good. Never. Maybe you really ARE what you eat?!?
• Water myself - More water. Into my body. Each day. Of course, coffee remains my morning superstah, but I am pledging to chug an entire 17oz bottle of water between the time I get up (6:20am) and the time I return home from dropping the peeps off at school (approx 7:40). That ought to set the stage for water consumption (and bathroom usage) for the day, no?
• Remember moi - Being the best Mama/wife/employee you can be is so damn taxing, is it not? It’s exhilirating and challenging and exciting and wonderful and all those other warm fuzzy things, but it’s also taxing, goddammit. And, compared to many of my friends and acquaintances, I am veeeeeery low maintenance. I color my own hair at home (yea, seriously), I do my own manis and pedis and I don’t go to the gym. So yes, I save time and money, but I do deserve something a little special here and there, right? So I pledge that as I meet my goals above, I will remember ME and reward myself with little doo-dads like a fabulous nail color, a new book (purchased, not borrowed) or a stash of super cute undies. So there.

So, these are my plans to de-Zombiefy myself. Anyone else out there in my boat? Wanna rejoin the living with me? What are your plans for doing so? Let us know and we’ll cheer each other on!!

Clean & Clear Deep Action Cleanser

Okay, I know it sounds entirely dramatic to say that a facial cleanser changed my life, but dawggone it, it’s true. Because, my dear friends, my skin sucks. It always has. And I’ve tried pert near everything to get it to behave, but it’s pretty much been a fruitless life-long quest.

Until…

Until I had the pleasure of being introduced the the Clean & Clear Deep Action Line. Sounds a smidge like a porn series, I know, but the bottom line is the stuff is fantastic. And cheap.

You know what this stuff reminds me of? The Noxzema of the Good Old Days. It totally gives you that same fresh feeling, like the air is passing straight through your skin. It’s fab. Only this stuff smells great and not all medicinal.

I am in love with this line, for sure, and because of that, I keep waiting for the day where my skin rebels and I have to look for my next skin care bitch. But, alas, things are still going amazingly well and the Clean & Clear Deep Action Line and I are still going strong. It’s a beautiful relationship. And considering my skin is of the preggo sort, this is no small feat, people.

Now, there are a few different options in this line, and here’s how I like to play the game: When I shower at night (yes, at night!), I use the Exfoliating Scrub because it contains the little scrubby balls to help with the “scrub the nasty stuff off” process. I find the balls hard to rinse off in the morning, however, (sorry, if that sounds a bit dirty, pffft!) so I save that formula for night when I have more time to rinse my face clean in the shower.

In the a.m., I like to use the Oil-Free Cream Cleanser, which is such a waker-upper. Seriously, my eyes can be teensy slits when I stumble into the bathroom at 6:05 a.m., and by the time I leave, I resemble a member of the living. It’s quite a transformation.

So, long story short (or not really short), if you’re looking for a great, deep-cleaning cleanser that won’t break the bank, give the Deep Action Line by Clean & Clear a try. At only around $5.99 for a large tube, you won’t regret it.

Images: Drugstore.com

Still dealing with breakouts even though you’re well past your teens? Join the club. Thankfully, the fabulous Allure magazine realizes that trouble skin happens outside of the high school set. Between their advice and my years of experiencing the angst of less-than-perfect skin, the following tips should be helpful to you, too. Take a look at how to care for your acne-prone skin during the winter months:

Since cold weather can make your skin more sensitive to the harsh ingredients found in acne treatments that seem just right for summer heat, you’ll want to switch to more gentle cleansers and add protective ingredients to avoid irritating your delicate pores during the colder months. Some tips:

• For morning cleansing, try a gentle soap-free cleanser, lotion cleanser, or cream cleanser. My favorite? Clean & Clear’s Deep Action Cream Cleanser. At night (please don’t forget to wash your face at night!), you should use an acne-focused product that contains either salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide. If these products seem too drying, adjust accordingly, scaling back one use per week until you find the right balance.
• For moisturizing (yes, even acne-prone skin needs to be moisturized, otherwise it may naturally over-compensate by producing too much oil in an effort to hydrate itself) try an oil-free lotion in the morning which boasts an SPF of 30 or higher. This is important even in the colder months as our skin is always exposed to damaging rays to some degree each day. Not only that, but acne treatments can leave your skin even more sun-sensitive than non-treated skin.
• Blast your zits the instant they take root. Call it a sixth sense, but we can almost always detect a zit while it’s still in the brewing stage. Once you suspect you’ve got a volcano on your hands, go on the attack, since once it’s full-blown, spot treatments can only help dry it up (often leading to further irritation). Instead, try a treatment with 2 percent salicylic acid cream or a benzoyl peroxide lotion to stifle a disaster before it happens. One of my favorites: Persa-Gel 10 by Clean & Clear.
• If you’ve got more than just one mountain on your hands and several areas of your face are broken out, dilute an oil-free salicylic acid moisturizer with a regular moisturizer and apply it to your entire face each night. Also, apply a facial mask containing sulfur every other week (or every week, if necessary) to tighten pores and zap zits.
• If you still end up with a troublesome blemish despite all your efforts (you know it will happen), conceal the offender with a small, slightly pointed makeup brush dipped in an opaque concealer and dab it on the blemish only (not the surrounding skin).
• And finally, if you wear foundation each day, consider switching to a mineral formula which won’t clog your pores. As a devotee of the same foundation for years and years, I have always been fascinated with mineral foundations and plan to give some a try very soon. If you have any recommendations, please let me know. I’ll be sure to do the same for you as I go on the hunt.

Give these cool weather tips for acne-prone skin a try and let me know how they work for you - and if you have any other tips, please share.

*These tips come in part from the October 2008 issue of Allure magazine; the remainder come from personal experience and years of research.

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