 Hey guys, it's Monica. I went to share with you a couple of products that were sent to me in PR and some products that I have purchased and what my thoughts are about them as well as answer some of your questions regarding my last video where I talked about the Retin-A and the Ole Pro Retinol around my eyes. So, if you're interested in all that, please stay tuned. But before I go there, please, if you have not already done so, please subscribe. And if you could, if you could ring that little bell, little bell icon, if you click that on, it'll have these little lines next to it that shows that you've activated. That means you will see my videos when I upload them, you'll have a notification. If you don't do that, it's just going to be by chance that you might find a video because YouTube plays games with who they notify and when they notify of content creators uploads. So, I'm going to share with you a couple of items that were sent to me and I guess what is commonly referred to as a PR. So, the first thing I'm going to share is a, and I'm going to show the opening right now of when I received this box from Pixie Beauty. I absolutely was ecstatic when I received this box. I ended up getting two eyeshadow palettes. There are 12 colors, there are 12 eyeshadows in each palette. One is a more warmer tone, one is a more cooler tone. I have the cooler tone on my eyes right now. I gravitate to more cooler colors than the warmer colors when it comes to eyes. I don't know why, but I do. So, there are 12 shades in each of these and they really are pretty, pretty shades. In the warmer color there's a little bit more glitter or I should say satin and some shine where in the cooler ones there's some matte as well as some shine and glitter and you know me, I like a little bit of a glitter pop. I have it on right now. So I received this from Pixie Beauty and two palettes, absolutely beautiful and these gorgeous brushes. I absolutely love the brushes. I haven't opened the brushes yet, I haven't started to use them but I did take them out and they feel really delightful. They really feel nice, very, very nice and I'm looking forward to really trying them. Jay and I are going on a trip and we're going to Vegas so I'm going to be packing smaller brushes and I think that those will be the perfect size to put in my bag and I'm also going to be very selective on an eyeshadow palette. So I have some of my favorites that I received. I've talked about the Hoot of Beauty that I got, the mauve obsession that I really, really love. I got that as an early birthday present from my good friend Sheila and I love it. Thank you so much. I'm going to bring that. I'm also going to be bringing some of my Visiart palettes and I don't know what else I'm going to bring but anyways, I'm really excited about the upcoming trip and my packing endeavors for it. Now the other thing that I got was a PR package. It was reached out by a company called City Beauty and I often get contacted in my email from companies wanting me to try their products. I'm really very fussy about what I accept because if it's a skin care line, I love the skin care that I'm using so I don't want to mess around with what I know works for me to be an experiment basically. I don't mind experimenting in certain avenues but I don't want to stop my retina or change around a whole lot of stuff. So I'm usually very, very selective but when City Beauty reached out to me I was very interested in their lip glosses. I had heard so much about their lip glosses and I wanted to really jump on that and I thought, yes, I would like to try that. So they reached out to me and I said, you know, I'm interested in trying the lippies. So I picked a couple of lippies and I expected to get, this really feels nice, I expected to get maybe three lip shades. Look what I got. I got this whole box of lip products. I got this whole box of masks. The masks are absolutely beautiful. I've already used them. I'm a masking person so when I had an opportunity to try these hydro masks, they're really nice. They feel really good. I love them and what I did is I just, they really mold very nicely to your face. It is so soothing. I absolutely love the masks. So I've been trying those. I've been using that. They also sent me a sculpting cream. I haven't used the sculpting cream yet because I am near the end of my Dr. Brandt Dr. Brandt Neck Sculpting. They asked me to try out their product. They sent it to me before Christmas. I started on December 23rd, I think it was my first time. It's an eight-week program twice a day and I've been using that on my neck and I've been filming and taking periodic update photos, etc. The end of February, that eight weeks will be up and then I will make a decision and I'll probably try the City Beauty because they sent it to me and I love the sound of the ingredients. So check out City Beauty, I'll link all their information below. They also sent me one other product that I've been using but I can't talk about yet. So I'm going to be a teaser on that. I just can't talk about it yet but I will talk about it soon. So I'm really looking forward to sharing the results of that with you. I also, and I don't know if you guys know a whole lot about how the Octolene Network works, but it's a really great tool for content creators because you can actually go on to the Octolene Network and you can request products that you're interested in. And because I'm really fussy, I don't accept everything that comes in my email and I certainly don't ask to review everything I see in Octolene. But this product really intrigued me and this is the Low End Grip. This is a Swedish company and this is their Intimate Care Cleansing Oil. It is a gentle formula. It is, it's really nice. It feels very, very good on your intimate areas but this is really nice. There's no fragrance, it's not drying, it's very, it's an oil, it's a cleansing oil. So I must say that I am so glad I requested this. I'm going to link the information below. Again, this was sent to me via the Octolene Network from the company Low End Grip. This is a Swedish company and their products are really delightful. They also sent me, a little bit after they sent this, they sent me an eye cream. So the eye cream, I have been using the 100%, the 100% pure caffeine eye cream I had mentioned before that Marlene Fab and Glam had talked about. So I've been using that and really have liked that a lot. I use home. I normally take the 100% pure and I tap it on my eye, my bags, my eye bags. Then I normally go in the kitchen, I put my vitamin C on, I put my matricul on, come back in the bathroom. I add my Olay Pro Retinol. I always smile and I make sure I go right into the deep crevices. And I let all that absorb in. I don't do much of anything else. I might have some coffee, do whatever. And then when I'm getting ready, just before I put my makeup on, I've been using, the last week I've been using this. This is a really nice, it says that it is ideal for dark circles for your eye bags and also for blurring lines. So because it's only been a short period of time, I really can't tell you if it's blurring my lines. This is sort of like a very, for me when I put this on, and the directions are you start here and you work your way around your orbital bone here and tap it on. And that's pretty well what I do. And I do feel, it's almost like, it's a very moisturizing feeling under my eye. And I actually like that a lot. I really like that a lot. And it looks really, I think it looks really good. My makeup, I let this, I'll tap it in, I'll put my foundation on. I don't wear a concealer under my eye. So I usually sometimes go up higher on my foundation and it feels really good. So I am liking this cream a lot. This is again from Low End Grip. This is sent to me via the Oclean Network. I'll link all the information below, but I do believe you have to use products for quite a while before you know if they're going to work. So that's what I'm going to quickly just reiterate the questions I've gotten on my last video regarding the Olay Pro Retinol. I've been using the UK version for the majority of this last year. I still have some of the US version. The ingredients are very close to the same, but the order in the, I think the intensity, of course, the higher up an ingredient is, the more they have of that particular ingredient on the list. So the ingredients are, I believe, stronger in the UK version. And I don't think you can buy this. I mean, you can buy it off of Amazon UK, but I don't know what the shipping is if they would even ship over here. I'm not sure. You'd have to really check into that. But I've had some people say, oh, you know, well, I tried it, it didn't work. I can only tell you from my experience that you have to try something for a lot longer than a month or two months before you say it doesn't work. And you also have to be dedicated and consistent. So when I tell you that I use this twice a day, morning and night, and I've used this consistently for the last year, that is the truth. I may have missed maybe one or two doses. If that, I don't even think so. Twice a day, it's in my little Retin-A stash, my stash with my Retin-A and my night creams and my, you know, this it's in here. So when I go to do my morning skincare, I go to do my evening skincare. I take that out and I'm very, very, very consistent on that. I also believe that it's an accumulative effect from my Retin-A. When I apply my Retin-A, I have and I said in that video, I go down to my below my brow bone. I think the Retin-A, we all know the Retin-A travels. And I think because the Retin-A travels, even though I don't put it under my eye, I put it here, it travels up. And I think that over the course of time, that has also helped with my eye wrinkles, my deep wrinkles. The biggest difference to me in the one year of using the Olay Pro Retinol, in addition to my Retin-A, was what I saw in my left eye. And when I enlarge those photos, I was shocked. I, looking at myself day in, day out throughout the year, I never noticed it. Like I said, at various points in time, I thought this isn't doing anything. But when I looked at the photos, I saw the difference. So I do believe that it has worked. And I will continue to work and do it and continue with that routine. Again, it could be nothing but an accumulative effect, which would be great as well from the Retin-A. I've often talked about my Jade Roller. I do love my Jade Roller. I use my, and I do. Now, when I do my Dr. Brandt, it has that little stone. I can't think of the name of it. I'll link it below. I put the cream on with that, but I have very often, after I've been done, just go through and just massage my skin. I keep this usually in the refrigerator, and so it feels really nice. My Jade Roller, you can get these at G.J. and Max Marshalls. You can get them off of Amazon or you can get them anywhere. I really, really like it. The other thing that I really am loving, and I've mentioned this before, this was also sent to me from the Octolene Network from the company called Juara. I know I'm pronouncing that wrong. This is a very, very luxurious brand for me. I absolutely love their Ginger Coffee Farming Treatment. Now, I've reviewed this. I've talked about this when I received it, but I just want to tell you this Ginger Coffee Farming Treatment, you know, my thighs are lumpy. I'm just a lumpy person. Have I noticed that my thighs are firm? No. I just love the way this feels. I just love the way this feels. So this is a really nice cream. And more importantly, the oil, the face oil. Yeah, it's pricey, I know. But if you're looking for a luxury oil and you just want to treat yourself, this is really, really, really nice. The though, and I have to talk about my banish. This is the derma stamp that I've been using. And I think, you know, Natalie and the Beauty Dever has talked about this. This was actually sent to me in PR as well. And I have been using it. Now, since I got this, I have not done any derma rolling except in my scalp. So when I do the derma stamping, I actually like this better. But I also think that it turns my skin over more. Normally, when I derma roll two or three days later, my skin feels like crazy. When I derma stamp the next day, my skin is falling off my face, literally. And underneath it is younger skin, you know, obviously. Younger looking skin, I wish I have to protect with sunblock. But I am loving this derma stamp a lot in their products. They have the products that I've been using. I use this only when I derma stamp, which is once a week. I've been using their oil. I've been using their vitamin C. I like their vitamin C. So I've been trying to follow their their recommended recommendation on the nice that a derma roll. They also have a lovely vitamin C cream. But the thing that I think other than the derma stamp that I love the most is they have this amazing pumpkin enzyme mask. When I use this, I get hungry. It smells like pumpkin. It's like amazing. I love it. I get hungry. It smells really, really good. So, you know, for those of you that ask about, you know, update on derma rolling, I've been derma stamping, if that's what you call it. I really like this micro needling stamp a lot. This is a company called Banish. You can buy, I'm sure, a micro needle stamp anywhere. And but this company Banish basically started out for Acne and then they're trying to go into, you know, talking to the more of the mature anti-aging type of community. So I'm liking this a lot. I've been using it once a week. Like I said, it's a really, I think it's an excellent derma stamp, if that's the right way to say it. I really like it. And I like their pumpkin enzyme. So for my natural hair, I am wearing my Henry Magoo. This is the, this is Hayden. I've won this one quite often. The last two videos, I think I've had my Raquel Welch that I got from Wigs.com. This is the Flirt Alert. Many of you said that you thought that was the best wig for me, that you really like it. I actually like both of them. The Flirt Alert is a little bit more shorter. It's a little bit more, you know, curly and spunky, where this is more beachy, casual. And I'm still debating on cutting, you know, trying to trim down the bangs a little bit on this, but I love the color. And I actually, I think the fit is nice. It's not at all shiny. I'm surprised at that. It's not shiny. I do have a lighter wig that I got from Henry Magoo that is a little bit more shiny, but I was able to take the shine down by using Dry Shampoo. So for my natural hair, two products that I bought that I'll let you know when I think about them. And I'm not too sure if this is Mariel and after 60 that I heard this from, but this is the Wow Root Cover Up. And, you know, when you get to be a certain age and in between doing your hair and going to the hairdressers, you get roots. And I have, along my temples, I have the gray roots and I don't like that. So I got this as a touch up. And I've tried some sprays on it, but I don't feel I have any control. So I got this as a touch up and I love the little brush. It's thicker on one end, smaller on the other. And my only concern is I may have gotten too dark of a color. But anyways, I got a medium brown. I'll let you know how that works with my hair. The other thing that I tried, and I was cruising Amazon and I saw it at the same time. So I said, okay, why not? I saw this cover of the gray. This is a fill in powder. It sort of kind of reminds me of the topic that you can do and put on your thinning hair because this you can use for your thinning hair. It also fills in the gray as well as your thinning hair. And it's a combination of two colors. So I haven't used either one of these. They just came in and I just wanted to share them with you because I was like, okay, I'm gonna give that a try. And that's it. I feel like I'm rattling. But I really wanted to address the eyes because the people that said I've tried the Olay Pro and it didn't work for, it may not work for you. It may not work for anyone else or all individual and what works for me may not work for you for sure. But I think that you're ripping yourself off if you wanna try something for a couple of nights and then you give up. So if you're gonna spend 30 bucks on a product and it says use twice a day and you use it once a day or use it once every four days or something of that nature, I mean, you're wasting your money. You're purely wasting your money. There is no overnight miracle. There is no overnight miracle. Retin-A, all of the products that I've used, I've used over the course of time and I'm going on year three of Retin-A use. I started in 2016. So there's a big difference. I saw a picture of me, Facebook had asked in one of their little, you know how Facebook does these things like post your first profile picture. So Facebook had said something about go back and post your first, here's your first profile picture compared to the one you have today. So I'm gonna show you my first profile picture on Facebook and the one I have today. And that was 11 years ago when I was on Facebook for the very first time and I really think that in the course of that time I look better today. I may look older in a way because I am older but I look better today than I was back then. And then I also had, we had Jay and I had gone to a company event and I had stumbled upon a picture that was taken at the same company event like three years ago and I compared it to the one of Jay and I know the picture's qualities are not that good cause they were taken with a cell phone in a darkened area. But I, Jay looks the same. I look completely different I think. So, you know, and the reason I'm mentioning that and I'm even sharing these photos is that don't do yourself a disservice. You know, don't hold yourself up to wanting overnight results. When I started the Olay Pro Retinol a year ago I had no idea what to accept, to expect. I really didn't. I didn't know if it was gonna be a total waste. But the whole point is that consistency is the key. Being consistent with whatever you do and being patient. So I felt like I had to catch up when I started Retinol. I did. I felt like I had to catch up. And there is no, there's no shortcut to good skin. There may be shortcuts to growing your YouTube channel. You can buy your way there. And you can maybe buy your way to looking better by having plastic surgery and fillers and all of that stuff. But your actual skin care, the way your skin looks, the way your skin responds, the tone of your skin is no shortcut. That's day in and day out taking care of yourself. And my gosh, I wish I had started when I was a lot younger. But you know what, if I can start serious skin care in my 60s and have decent results, so can you. So can you, you're not too old. You're not too old and you're certainly not too young. But you need to be consistent and you need to be smart. And that means you have to use a lot of sunblock. So anyways, I'm sure this is super long, but I did wanna address some of that and I wanted to talk to you about some of the products that I got, PR packages. I'm like, whoa, it's like really amazing. So anyways, and Henry, Margot, Hayden, you know, let me know. I know a lot of you like the Raquel Welch better, but let me know what you think. Should I trim this a little bit, do you think? Or do you think I should just, I mean, what I really like about this, I can actually pull it back too, you know? Yeah, I mean, I really, I like this look. I don't know if Jay does, but I do. So hey, thanks so much for watching guys. I hope you have a wonderful week and I will see you in my next video. Bye bye.