Monday, September 13, 2010

Workout style file and a review

Jacket: New Balance (TjMaxx)
Performance Leggings: Nike
T-Shirt: Target
Sneakers: Nike
(In case you were wondering...)
Also, Chris took these photos... sorry about the crazyface

I've received a lot of questions lately regarding my workout routine and gym schedule on my Formspring account. I also had the chance to test Dove Visibly Smooth deodorant. What goes together better than the gym and deodorant? Nothing! I thought I would combine the two subjects and do a "Gym Style File".

In the year since I started this blog, my life has seen quite a few mile stones: getting engaged, leaving my job, starting a new job. But to me, one of the most significant changes in my life this year has been the adoption of a regualr fitness routene. Some of you may see that as trivial, but maintaining an adequate amount of activity has been a constant battle for me since moving to Massachusetts three years ago. Growing up in Maine and New Hampshire, all I had to do was walk out the front door and I had fitness gold at my fingertips: there was a small mountain in my backyard to hike, three ski mountains all within 30 minutes, and snowmobiling trails to go running on. When we moved close to the city, all of that was gone and it became considerably more difficult to find fun and athletic things to do. And then that was made substantially more difficult when I discovered the I had arthritis in my knees last year, goodbye running in the great outdoors and hello low-impact gym time!

So, along with my Gym Style File I have a review: Up until recently I really only wore deodorant for special occasions (I know), but after buying my gym membership and working out regularly I realized that this product maybe had it's place in my beauty regimen. When Dove contacted me to try out their new Ultimate Visibly Smooth deodorant, I was curious to see how it would hold up and I admit that I was tempted by the free sample. I've used Dove products in the past, but not the deodorant, so I was curious to see how I liked it and if it really kept me "stubble free for longer", I've been searching for a deodorant that I like for awhile, so I figured I would give this a shot. It's supposed to minimize the look and feel of underarm stubble over time.

The Pros: The scent was nice, it did do it's job and kept me dry through out a week's worth of workouts, the moisturizers seemed to work and kept my skin soft.

The Cons: I didn't see a difference in "stubble" over the seven days that I used the product, after a week I became uncomfortable with using something that claimed to make my hair less noticeable and switched back to the all-natural deodorant I had used before.

In Conclusion: Smells good and kept me dry, in the end I just feel more comfortable using an all natural brand and dealing with the hassle of shaving. I'll take peace of mind over convenience, and if I wasn't such a natural products freak I would use this more often.

What beauty products- natural or otherwise- can you not live without?

Dove kindly provided the deodorant mentioned in this post