Elizabeth Arden Prevage Anti-Aging Treatment Review

My relationship with Prevage began 4 years ago. I was wandering through Sephora for a skin treatment that could erase discolorations left by acne and the salesperson who was helping me introduced me to Prevage. She described it as a 'magic' anti aging treatment that fades acne spots miraculously. She couldn't stop raving about it! Supposedly she suffered from a very bad scar that covered a fourth of her face and this stuff healed her. I'm not sure if I believe her story as her skin looked very clear, but I was curious and excited at the same time. And then I saw the price ... $150!!! I was stunned. I've never spent more then $75 on a night cream in my life, let alone a treatment! With a treatment like Prevage, I would still need to wear a night cream over it, so $150 + $75 = $225!!!!! Whoa! But I bought into the sales lady's hype and purchased it regardless and what can I say... I'm in love! I'm not addicted, but I'm definitely in love!

Quick note, if any of you are thinking about buying this, DO NOT buy it from Sephora. Instead, buy it from Costco for only $99.99 or find this treasure for even less on EBAY. You'll save at least $50!!!

As for the treatment itself, it is very light and in a sort of caramel color. The product lasts about 6 months to a year because you only need to use a pea size for the entire face. I concentrate the treatment on my acne spots, any wrinkles, and then moisturize as usual with my normal night cream. I'm not convinced that I look much younger (I'm 29 and luckily have my mom's awesome skin), but I have definitely seen a "HUGE" improvement in fading my acne spots and I feel that it "plumps" my skin a bit. Overall, the treatment seems to work very well with my skin. Most of my acne spots have pretty much disappeared.

As for the packaging, the treatment comes in a smooth and slick looking silver bottle with pump dispenser and clear lid as you can see from the photo. It looks classy and expensive with the product name embossed up the side.

The bottle contains 1.7 fl oz so you don't get a lot for the price. The active ingredient is something called "Idebenone". I read somewhere that Idebenone is the most effective antioxidance for addressing the visible signs of aging when compared to other anti aging ingredients like alpha lipoic acid, kinetin, vitamin C, vitamin E, and coenzyme Q10. Idebenone supposedly helps maintain collagen levels in skin so skin looks firmer and resilient, and it serves to scavenge free radicals and binds to them in order to prevent degenerative cellular damage. In my experience using this treatment, I have not seen much reduction in wrinkles as I don't have many to begin with, but it has improved the appearance of skin roughness and dryness, and it definitely reduced the appearance of discolorations caused by acne!

Please keep in mind that this product has received very MIXED reviews online. From my research, it seems most either HATE IT OR LOVE IT!!!! I happen to be a lover of this product, but I have read awful reviews from some who have developed allergies from using this product. So I would suggest testing a sample (if you are able to get your hands on one) from one of your beauty counters before paying the $100+ for a full bottle.

I will try to find a "BEFORE" photo and post a "BEFORE" and "AFTER".

2009 Orange County Fair

Yesterday evening, my friend and I visited the Orange County Fair. The fair is held every summer at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa. This year's event is being held from July 10 - August 9. The first few weekends are usually the busiest, so with that in mind, I waited a while before attending. :-)

Here are some things you can expect at this county fair: entertaining shows, carnival rides, street artists, games, giant stuffed animal prizes and lots of fattening food. Some of my favorites are below:

• Peking Acrobat Show is a MUST SEE in my opinion! This show is free with admission and it is worth so much more than the admission cost of $10. A team of acrobats, called the Peking Acrobats, boggled our minds with their gravity-defying feats. My favorite stunt was one that involved an acrobat stacking chairs 50 feet in the air on top of four Champagne bottles before climbing over the chairs to balance herself at the top in a one-armed handstand. My heart was pounding!!!! Here are some photos.

• The Sky Ride Gondola is a relaxing and neat ride. The cable car took us from the front to the back of the entrance of the fairgrounds. It's especially nice to ride it at night for the sky view. We could see the brightly lit fairground from end to end.

• When we entered the fair, we first headed to the Main Mall to visit “Weird Al’s Brain," a 3-D comedy show featuring Weird Al Yankovic. Before entering the show, we were provided with a pair of 3-D glasses and a wet napkin to clean the glasses before putting them on. The show is educational. Al gives insightful facts about the brain like the length of the brain when it's stretched out. I think he said it was more than 2 street blocks long (I forgot) :-) Also, during the show, random people and celebrities ask Al questions about how the brain works. The best question was from Fabio, who asks Al, “Is it true that I use only 10 percent of my brain?” Al replied "YES! YOU only use 10 percent of your brain, BUT THE REST OF US use all of it!" haha. Al also sings in a fancy 3-D music video teaching kids about the brain at the end of the show. I don't have any children, but if I did, I would defintely want to take them to see this show.
  

Admission costs $10 per adult and $5 per child. Not bad for an eventful evening filled with entertainment! It's less than the price of a movie ticket and Ralph’s offers a coupon if shoppers purchase more than $10 worth of groceries. The coupon is good for five admission tickets for only $5. Parking costs $5 at the fair parking lot, but the price is definitely worth it. All shows (except the music concerts) are free, but the games and rides cost tickets which are about 50 cents a ticket.

For more information, visit www.ocfair.com.

Overall, we’re glad to have gone to the Fair. I'm looking forward to visiting again next year.

The Muse - The 2009 Pageant of the Masters (Laguna Beach, CA)

On my day off from work yesterday, I went to watch an amazing show at Laguna Beach - "The Muse, the 2009 Pageant of the Masters". The show was 1 hour and 30 minutes long with an intermission of 15 minutes after the first hour. It showed a series of "living pictures" - incredible art re-creations of classical and contemporary works like the "Last Supper" by Leonardo Da'Vinci with real people posing to look exactly like their counterparts in the original pieces. The show took place at an outdoor amphitheater, there was a professional orchestra, live narration, sophisticated lighting, it was just awesome! One thing I loved about the show was the narration. With the display of every painting/sculpture, the narrator told interesting stories of the artist, their models, some of the stories were about love and friendships. These stories offered fascinating insights into the creative process and made the show very entertaining. The first few minutes really blew me away especially when they showed Monet's piece! I could not believe that the subjects in the paintings were live people! The paintings looked so flat and SO REAL! But, my favorite pieces were the ones by Camille Claudel. They were so beautiful. I was surprised I've never heard of Camille until this show. You have to see her work to believe me.

You should definitely check out this show if you are in the Southern California area. The tickets were very inexpensive. We paid $22 for two tickets... buy one get one free from the show web-site (http://foapom.com). I don't know if they still have that special, but $22 per person is still not a bad price for this show. Oh, and sorry for not having any photos. They did not allow cameras during the show.

Here is a link to the web-site and program: http://foapom.com/site/pageant_program.asp. I also copied and pasted the program below. If you end up going or have seen it, please leave a comment on your thoughts for others to view.

Have a great day everyone!!!! XOXO!!!
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Act One

1.	Sarcophagus of the Muses		Unknown	Marble	2nd cent. AD	Roman
2.	Venus Victorious		Antonio Canova	Marble	1805-08	Italian
3.	Divine Inspiration
	a. Allegory of Faith		Johannes Vermeer	Oil	c. 1670	Dutch
	b. Madonna of Port Lligat		Salvador Dali	Oil	1950	Spanish
	c. Mahana No Atua		Paul Gauguin	Oil	1894	French
4.	Palau de Musica Catalana		E. Arnau & Lluis Bru	Ceramic	1905-08	Spanish
5.	Objets d'Art
	a. Dragonfly Brooch		Rene Lalique	Gold/Gems	c. 1898	French
	b. Art Nouveau Lamps		C. Jonchery / L. Chandon	Gilt Bronze	c. 1900	French
	c. Mermaids with Seashells		Raoul Larche	Gilt Bronze	1900	French
6.	Le Dejeuner sur L'Herbe		Claude Monet	Oil	1866	French
7.	The Land of Make Believe
	a. Morning		Maxfield Parrish	Oil	1922	American
	b. Land of Make Believe		Maxfield Parrish	Oil	1905	American
	c. Garden of Allah		Maxfield Parrish	Oil	1918	American
8.	The Angel of Death...		Daniel Chester French	Marble	1926	American
9.	Questioner of the Sphinx		Elihu Vedder	Oil	1863	American
10.	Roger Delivering Angelica		Jean Ingres	Oil	1819	French
11.	Beauty vs. Beast
	a. Creature of the Black Lagoon		Universal	Lithograph	1954	American
	b. Tarzan and His Mate		Warner Bros.	Lithograph	1934	American
	c. The Mummy		Universal	Lithograph	1932	American
	d. King Kong		RKO Warner Bros.	Lithograph	1933	American

Act Two

12.	Frida and Diego
	a. The Making of a Fresco		Diego Rivera	Mural	1931	Mexican
	b. On the Borderline		Frida Kahlo	Oil	1940	Mexican
	Tree of Hope		Frida Kahlo	Oil	1946	Mexican
	c. Dreams of a Sunday Afternoon		Diego Rivera	Mural	1948	Mexican
13.	The Book of the City of Ladies		Unknown	Illustration	1405	French
14.	a. Joan of Arc		Anna Hyatt Huntington	Gilt Bronze	c. 1914	American
	b. El Cid Campeador		Anna Hyatt Huntington	Bronze	1927-1943	American
15.	Royal Portraits
	a. Mme. Victoire		Adelaide Labille-Guiard	Oil	1788	French
	b. Mme Adelaide de France		Adelaide Labille-Guiard	Oil	1787	French
	c. Mme. Louise-Elizabeth		Adelaide Labille-Guiard	Oil	1788	French
16.	The Hunt		Harriet Frishmuth	Bronze	1921	American
17.	Bacchanale		Malvina Hoffman	Plaster	1925	American
18.	The Horse Fair		Rosa Bonheur	Oil	1853-1855	French
19.	In Praise of Camille
	a. L'Age Mur		Camille Claudel	Bronze	1894-1903	French
	b. La Valse		Camille Claudel	Plaster	1893	French
	c. La Fortune		Camille Claudel	Plaster	pre-1904	French
20.	The Last Supper		Leonardo da Vinci	Fresco	1495-1498	Italian

Jergens Natural Glow Sunless Tanning Lotion

One of the many products I can't live without is Jergen's Natural Glow Daily Mosturizer in Medium Skin Tone. I've used this product for many many YEARS and it's my everyday solution to mosturized AND tan skin. I have found this two in one product to be a safe way to having great looking skin! I always get many many compliments.

I apply the lotion after showering (in the morning and/or night). It's simple as that. I've never experienced any streaking or smudging. I love this product so much that I bought 10 extra tubes (7.5 oz) in my skin tone (MEDIUM) during a sale at CVS 2 weeks ago. I now realize I went a little over board. If anyone is interested in trying one out at a discounted price of $6, please send me an e-mail at AnnaLovesLife123@gmail.com.