My 28-Day Journey to a Fresh Face

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

Growing up, I was one of those really lucky teenagers who never suffered from acne or blemishes or those other ugly hormone driven nuisances. I never wore makeup. I steamed my face and made at-home facial products to keep my skin as flawless as I could. And it remained that way all throughout my 20s and early 30s. Then, at the age of about 33, a week before my youngest’s 1st birthday, I’d gotten strep throat and had to get a shot of penicillin for the first time. As it turned out, I got a horrible reaction to the medication and, coupled with a skin condition I’d contracted from a parasite during a trip to Mexico, I’d gotten the absolute worst skin breakout I could ever imagine. My face and entire body was covered with dark spots and rough patches that lasted for almost an entire year!

In my attempt to conceal this from the public, I started wearing heavy makeup every single day and on top of the daily stress of parenting 2 kids, I took less and less care of my skin and it all went downhill from there… Fast forward to 5 years later, and my flawless face had pretty much faded away. That’s why I was so excited when approached by Olay to take part in a 28-day fresh face challenge.

So, for 28 days, I replaced my current cleanser with the following regimen using products from the Olay Luminous line. I also cut back on makeup during this time, just to give my face some time to breathe, although the Olay Luminous Micellar Water does a great job in removing leftover makeup.

What I did

Step 1: Morning and Evening-cleanse with the Olay Luminous Micellar Water – The Micellar Water is a facial cleanser – made with rice bran and aloe extract -that removes makeup and impurities in one step, without harsh scrubbing!

Step 2: Morning and Evening- apply Olay Luminous Miracle Boost Concentrate – This is an ultra-lightweight face booster/serum that blends Olay’s most potent tone-perfecting ingredients to fade the look of dark spots and uneven skin tone.

Step 3: Mornings – apply Olay Luminous Light Hydrating Lotion – A non-greasy, lightly scented, ultra-fast absorbing face lotion that hydrates to plump skin, even skin tone and fade the look of dark spots to illuminate skin.

Step 4: Evenings- apply Olay Luminous Overnight Mask – This is a gel treatment that absorbs into the surface of the skin and works to hydrate the skin overnight and even tone at the surface cell level.

Why I did it

If there’s one thing I can do for myself – physically, mentally, emotionally – it’s to take care of my health and that includes skin health. Even with all of the stresses in life and parenting, I still go out into the world every day and I want to look and feel my best. What I love about the Olay Luminous line is the fact that the products give you that radiant, glowy look, but without the heavy, oily feel. So many skin care products fail to find that balance, particularly for African American women. They help to even out our tones and complexions without sacrificing personal comfort.

The results

First, my goal was to merely try the products out and at the very least, keep my skin from getting any worse. My results, however, far exceeded that expectation. I actually started seeing results within the first week and the PM ritual, the Overnight Mask in particular had me loving my morning glow! Again, during the day, I never had to deal with that heavy feeling face, although the moisturizer kept my skin from getting dry as the day went on.

Try it for yourself!

Do you have fresh face goals as well? I encourage you to try the Olay 28-day challenge for yourself and see what results you come up with! To get you started, head to the Olay website to purchase the Olay Luminous products!