Hi Guys! I am so excited to bring you this post for more reasons than you know.
This past June, I was asked to be an Olay Partner for the whole next year. Even though I was a partner this past year as well, this year is completely different and I am just over the moon excited for everything it is going to bring.
Not only is this a huge milestone in my blogging career, but it’s for a company and a brand that I have grown up using and truly believe in.
When I was first asked to go on this trip, I literally had no idea what to expect. For one…I had never been to Ohio (lol). Second, I had never been on a trip with a brand before… and third, I had never been to (nor have ever imagined going to) the actual lab for a major skin care company.
It was surreal and all around so much cooler than I could have ever imagined and I’m so thankful for the experience.
Shop Travel Look
I got into Cinncinati late Monday night (like 9 pm) and as you guys saw on my IG Stories, I lived my best life that night – lol.
We stayed at the 23C Hotel Downtown and it was super cool! If you’re ever in Cincinnati, I highly recommend it!
Shop The Look
v-neck sweater // white jeans // leopard pumps (obsessed) // similar black tote (same designer) // tassel earrings // black raybans
We arrived to the Olay Lab bright and early Tuesday morning.
One of the things I loved the most about this trip is that we were able to meet with the scientists (who were all women – btw!!) who personally work on all of the formulas and Olay products. See where everything is made and gain a better understanding of what is actually in all of the Olay products and why they work.
Which was extremely important to me since I promote these products to you guys!!! I mean, don’t get me wrong. I’ve always felt comfortable talking about Olay because I’ve grown up using their products and really do use them to this day… but now, I feel like I can really stand behind them and feel even more confident in working with them.
Another thing I wanted to point out, that I really liked about this trip, was that this wasn’t like an Olay brainwashing session – lol. They are very aware that we (all women) use a vast amount of different products in our beauty regimens and it was so cool just sitting around the table, having lunch with these total boss lady women scientists, comparing products and talking about all of the products we love using. Hearing about their favorite products from other brands and how they add them to their own skincare routine.
It was just really cool.
Five Huge Takeaways
- UV Rays are the number one cause of aging skin and wrinkles! So SPF is key!
- SPF in your makeup is not sufficient enough coverage. Always apply a moisturizer with at least SPF 25.
- The main ingredient in all Olay products, that set them apart from the rest, is an ingredient called Niacinamide. Which is a fancy word for Vitamin B3. It’s the only vitamin clinically proven to improve skin resilience, hydration, skin tone, smoothness, pore appearance, brightness and surface cell turnover.
- Your skin repairs itself every 28 days. So it’s never too late to start wearing sunscreen or adding in a nightly skin care regimen.
- Ingesting nutrients, like taking your vitamins or drinking a ton of water every day, is not enough to help keep your skin looking young. While it definitely doesn’t hurt, when you orally take nutrients like these, they are distributed to places like your brain and your heart first….which makes sense but also makes your skin the low man on the totem pole….so that’s why having a skin regimen with moisturizers, eye creams and etc. are so important!
Also, how cool is it that they gave all of us our own official “Olay” Lab Coats with our names on them???
It was like my favorite part – lol! Especially since we were doing actual tests and experiments throughout the day!!
It definitely made me feel extra official!;)
To help us understand our skin and the Olay products, we did a few really cool and shocking experiments!
The first experiment that we did, tested the moisture levels of our skin before and after using their Olay Regenerist Moisturizing Cream (this is the night cream I use!). When we first tested the levels on my hand, I was at a 48 (which isn’t terrible) but after applying the cream, my levels jumped to an 86!!
We then did another test, where they took photos of our skin with a special camera that showed how well we were all applying our SPF and how much coverage we actually had. I was the only one who used their Olay Whip w/ SPF 25 that morning and my skin had the most coverage! We also did a VISA Photo Stimulation which took photos of our skin, then showed us how much damage the skin on our faces had, along with the age of our skin compared to our actual age.
Luckily, my skin showed its age as 26, which means I am aging appropriately since I am actually 26. I was really scared about this test because I used to live in tanning beds in high school and college…. So it was nice to hear that my current skincare routine and lathering my face with SPF daily is actually working!
A Few Photos from the Tests…..
These are my results from my VISIA!
It shows that I’m doing well in terms of my brown spots and UV spots, actually better than 62% and 81% of women my age! Which was shocking to me because as I mentioned earlier, I was really worried about this part due to my previous tanning bed situation. UV spots measure the kind of damaged that has already happened, so according to Frauke (also my favorite scientist!!), my daily SPF habit is working!
This also shows that my spots, pores, and porphyrins are average and that my texture is really good as well (better than 68% of women my age)! Although my problem area is definitely the wrinkles under and around my eyes….. less so (24%)….Which I could have already guessed that. While Frauke said this could be due to traveling and not sleeping well the night before ( I never sleep well)…she definitely suggested I start using an eye cream like the Olay Ultimate Eye Cream.
A moisture test comparing the Olay Regenerist to some of the most expensive moisturizers on the market…..
Check out which one absorbed the most moisture beads!
This test shows that you would have to digest 50 bundles of kale to get the amount of B3 in one ounce of the Olay Regenerist.
Left: The original Oil of Olay bottle from the 50’s! || Right: The moisture level detector!
SHOP THE LOOK
red romper (under $100) // nude heels (less expensive option) // purse
That night, we went to dinner at Boca in downtown Cincinnati with all of the scientists and the whole Olay marketing team!
The food was seriously amazing, and the decor was so chic! The wine was flowing and it was the perfect way to end such a fun day!!
SHOP THE LOOK
pink cardigan // similar blue pants (same brand) // white tank // white pumps (less expensive option) // purse
The next day, we woke up early and rode golf carts through downtown Cincinnati to the P&G Head Quarters!
We saw the P&G Archives, learned about the history of Olay, met with their R&D team and were even able to see (& test!!) all of the upcoming Olay products they will be launching this year!
I’m sorry I don’t have a lot of photos from this day… To be honest, we weren’t really allowed to take any photos (lol) but I will say, the new products coming out are so cool and I can’t wait to share my favorites with you all!
All around, this whole trip was kind of a dream and a huge step in my blogging career. As I mentioned before, I feel so much more comfortable sharing Olay’s products after seeing the science and all of the work that goes into every product line.
A huge THANK YOU to Olay, once again for such an extraordinary trip!!
If you have any questions, please leave them below!
xo,
Lauren
Similar Posts: Five Ways To Protect Your Skin With Olay