3 Beauty Products I’m Loving Right Now

Happy Weekend! I have so much to update you on today! First of all, I wanted to share three beauty products I’m loving right now. Then I’m going to open up and tell you why I’ve been MIA lately and what I’ve been dealing with, and finally, I’m answering a great reader question and spilling the tea on the best weekend sales! So let’s jump in, okay?

As always, click the pink links or images for more information or to shop. Also, be on the lookout for any green text links! They represent insider information OR deals that are exclusive for ENB-readers!

3 Beauty Products I’m Loving

For those of my friends who are into grammar, I realize that I am using the vernacular—and that title is terrible grammar! Two of my closest friends were English majors in college—I know your toes are curling, girls! Sorry, not sorry! 😂

1. TULA’s Claydate Detoxing & Toning Face Mask Stick

TULA’s Claydate Detoxing & Toning Face Mask Stick is, quite simply, the easiest-to-use face mask on the planet! TULA is my favorite clean beauty brand, and this no-mess mask is one reason why. Full of Mediterranean clay, it draws out dirt & excess oil without drying out your skin. It’s packed full of apple cider vinegar & witch hazel to tighten pores and a blend of prebiotics & probiotic extracts to balance skin. You use it on damp or dry skin and rinse it off after 8-10 minutes. I use it about twice a week, and it leaves my skin so soft and glowy.

To learn more, click HERE. Remember that you can always take 15% off your entire TULA order with the promo code 15SUZY at checkout. This weekend only, TULA is offering free shipping on all orders (no minimum required!) on top of the SUZY15 15% off code!

While you’re at the TULA website, you might want to check out their Holiday Shop! TULA Holiday Kits are filled with best-sellers, customer favorites & a limited-edition bag. These festive bundled kits all offer around 50% total savings when you use 15SUZY at checkout! You can check them out HERE. Remember, this weekend only, you can also get free shipping with your order!

2. SkinMedica’s HA5 Rejuvenating Hydrator

Buh-bye, dry skin! You use this serum as a primer for your favorite moisturizer. It’s packed full of five types of hydrators that replenish your skin’s hyaluronic acid, providing eight hours of continuous moisture. It’s made with:

• Hyaluronic Acid: to provide immediate and lasting hydration
• Peptide Complex: to rejuvenate skin and reduce the appearance of wrinkles
• Vitamin E: to protect skin from free radicals and premature aging

I’ve found that it really does help my moisturizer to work more effectively, and (unlike before) my skin is still supple and hydrated by afternoon! Here are some shopping options:

• Buy the 2 oz. size on Dermstore.com for $178 or $151.30 with a subscription (That’s what I do)
• Buy the 2 oz. size on Amazon for $160.20 or $152.19 with a subscription
• Buy the 2 oz. size on Skinstore.com for $160.20 OR try the 1oz. size on sale for $108.

3. City Beauty’s Restoring Hand Treatment

No matter how great your face looks, that neck and those hands can give away your age! (At least mine do!) For my neck, I use Nectifirm (but I’m asking for THIS for Christmas, which will hopefully help even more). Still, the hands have been a real problem—until lately, that is! The reason hands show our age so easily is that there’s less fat on the back of the hands than the rest of our bodies. So, any loss of collagen and elastin noticeably ages hands. That happens naturally with aging and is exacerbated by sun damage. Think of all of those hours driving carpool! 😬

You know I’m a big fan of City Beauty! One thing I especially love is their 60-day money-back guarantee. Not many beauty companies stand behind their products like that. Their plumping lip glosses and matte lip colors are my faves!

The past few weeks, I’ve been using their Restoring Hand Treatment morning and night. It targets dryness, hyperpigmentation, and wrinkles (all of my issues) with microalgae to boost collagen and botanical extracts to help smooth the appearance of wrinkles and diminish brown spots. I’ve found that my hands are less crepey and more moisturized throughout the day, but I’ve also found that it does more than just moisturize! It’s helped lighten my age spots and even the appearance of bulging veins. This is a good one!

Click HERE for more info on City Beauty’s Restoring Hand Treatment, and be sure to use the promo code EMPTYNESTBLESSED for 15% off on your entire City Beauty purchase.

Oh, and while you’re there, you might check out City Beauty’s best-selling Beyond Mascara. It’s been out of stock since July, and they’re celebrating the restock with a 24-hour BOGO sale from 10/27-10/28! It’s not the mascara I use (I use THIS one.), but if you’re looking for a clean beauty mascara, it’s a really good one! Use code LASH50 (instead of the regular EMPTYNESTBLESSED promo code) to get the BOGO discount.

Finally, here’s another little exclusive City Beauty discount for you, if you happen to be interested! City Beauty just launched their Advanced Retinol System this week. I know you know how vital Retinol is to an anti-aging skin routine! Today through Sunday (10/24), ENB readers can take 50% off the Advanced Retinol System with the code RENEW50 (instead of the regular EMPTYNESTBLESSED promo code). Click HERE for more info on the product.

Life Update

I’ve been hesitant to share this with you because, at our age, we’re all battling some kind of health issue! 🙄😫 I don’t want to imply that I need sympathy more than anyone else! So many people are battling serious illnesses and conditions that are wayyyy more life-threatening than my minor issue. That said, I wanted to explain why I haven’t been around much (at least in person) on social media lately.

You might remember that I’ve been battling back pain for about two months now. (I’ve gotten several sweet emails and DMs asking how I’m doing, and they meant so much to me. Thank you!)A few weeks ago, when we were at our condo in Florida, my pain exacerbated, and it started shooting pain into my hip and down my leg.

We cut our trip short and came back so I could go to the doctor. After an MRI, he determined that I had a herniated disc (between L3 & L4). The treatment plan: a week of steroids, then physical therapy. He expects the issue to resolve on its own in about six weeks. Unfortunately, I can’t take NSAIDs like Advil due to other health issues, so for pain management, he recommended an XL heating pad, a large, reusable ice pack, Acetaminophen, walking, and topical Voltaren Gel (formerly the prescription Diclofenac).

I’ve got newfound sympathy for those who live with chronic pain, and I’m somewhat ashamed of myself for not being more understanding in the past! When you’re in pain, it’s hard to think clearly, hard to sleep (I frequently walk around our house at 3 a.m.!), and it’s discouraging! I am getting better, but the progress is slow! (Which is not my typical pacing for anything! 🤣 I walk, talk, and think fast—I’m not necessarily proficient at any of them, but I am fast! 😂)

I’ve been doing a lot of physical therapy. The downside of PT has been that it takes a lot of time! The upside of PT has been that it revealed my need for some new, cute workout clothes! 😁 Here are some of the pieces I’ve been looking at! Let me know if you have any great recommendations for workout wear in the comments, okay? Thank you!

Holiday Gift Guide Update

ENB-wise, I’ve been barely keeping my head above water! My goal was to get my Holiday Gift Guides out early this year. (Like everyone else!), but that’s something that I haven’t been able to do. Since I want to be the true curator of the entire gift guide, my sweet assistants can’t help too much with it! It is way more important to me to make it wonderful for you than to get it out early. Thank you so much for being patient!

If you haven’t shopped my Holiday Gift Guides before, then buckle up, my friends! 🎁 This holiday season, you’ll see lots of gift guides out there, but I don’t know of another one that is just for empty nesters like mine! Being empty nest blessed means you may have young adult kids; you may have senior adult parents; and, if you’re really blessed, you have grandkids and pets as well! My gift guide will have nearly 1K gift ideas, in 13 categories, for all of your precious ones and more!

The plan is to launch The Empty Nest Blessed Empty Nester Holiday Gift Guides exclusively to ENB-subscribers next Friday, October 29. It will be available to the public starting Monday, November 1. If you’re not an ENB subscriber yet, you can subscribe to my emails HERE. I send one out every time I publish a new post (2-3 times a week). They contain a link to the new post, links to a couple of past posts you may have missed, and fun links to things like what’s currently in my Amazon cart, fall decor I’m loving, or drugstore beauty products I’m using, etc.

Got an idea for something really special and unique that I need to include in my gift guides? Email me at [email protected], and I’ll check it out!

A Great Reader Question!

In the category of 🤦‍♀️ why didn’t I think of that? I had a sweet Empty Nest Blessed reader reach out to me and ask me a great question this week that I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why I hadn’t answered for you before!

How do I find your page when I log into my Amazon account? I can find it when I click on one of your links, but if I just go to Amazon, I cannot figure out how to get to ENB. 

I wish Amazon made it a little easier, but they don’t! Here’s how to do it:

1. Find me by typing this into your browser window: amazon.com/shop/emptynestblessed
2. Once you’re on my page, follow me, by tapping the FOLLOW button. (See screenshot above.)
3. You can manage the people you follow on Your Amazon Profile.
4. Alternately, you can bookmark my Amazon page on your computer or tablet by tapping the STAR to the far right on the URL bar at the top of your page. You can bookmark it on your iPhone by following THESE instructions. If you have an Android phone, follow THESE instructions.

It means so much to me that you want to shop my Amazon page. I really do work to keep it updated and full of gift ideas, products I use daily, and more! Thank you!

What We’re Up to This Weekend

Bob is going kayak fishing with our son on Saturday, and I’m staying home and immersing myself in the ENB Holiday Gift Guide! Then on Sunday, we’re headed to First Baptist Church. Steven Curtis Chapman, one of our favorite musical artists, is leading worship, and we’re hoping he’ll play The Great Adventure. It came out in 1992, the year we had our first child, and Bob and I used to sing it every day! It was like our theme song as we embarked on the great adventure of raising kids. Even now, the song resonates with us. Living out our faith every day is such a Great Adventure, and this song has really stood the test of time for us!

On Sunday, the guest speaker at First Baptist is Lee Strobel, investigative journalist and author of The Case for Christ. As an avowed atheist, he set out to disprove his wife’s Christian faith. But instead, he found life-changing faith of his own in the process! You may remember the 2017 movie of the same name! You can watch the trailer below and rent the movie for $3.99 HERE.

Lee Strobel’s new book, The Case for Heaven, is on my Christmas wish list, and I’m giving it to several family members as well!

Have a great weekend, friends!