Category Archives: Product Reviews

SkinCeuticals Hydrating B5 Gel

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SkinCeuticals does a great job with serums. Their Hydrating B5 Gel is a standout. It offers the skin the water part of the water/oil mix necessary for healthy skin. That’s not to say that it’s just expensive water – the base ingredient is Hyaluronic Acid, which holds 1,000 times it’s own weight in water and is naturally occurring in our skin and other areas of the body.

Here’s how I use it:
– After cleansing, toning (if you do – optional) & applying Vitamin C serum (highly recommended if you don’t already), apply 1-2 drops to your whole face, including eyes.
– If you are dry & need additional moisture than your sunscreen offers, apply your moisturizer then your sunscreen. I use sunscreen as my moisturizer often so as to save a step.

The upsides:
The Ingredients
– There is no fragrance or color added and the list is pretty short. (unfortunately, I can’t confirm what’s ACTUALLY on that list because they don’t publish the ingredients anywhere but on the box, which is long gone)

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Zia Men DualAction Face Lotion

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Last month I told you about this product and mentioned that we got it along with the DualAction Face Lotion.
I said I was going to continue the test of this cleanser by switching his lotion to see if that helps, and sure enough, he’s no longer breaking out now that he’s stopped using this product. Makes me a little sad because I like a few other Zia products.

Here’s how he used it:
– With his face still wet from washing, he’d apply just a smidgen all over his face.

The upsides:
– It’s ingredients are relatively natural.
– It smells good – essential oils of sandalwood and ylang ylang, and a few others make a lovely scent that’s gender neutral.
– It’s very light – when applied, it soaks in quickly and well.

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Zia Fresh Cleansing Gel

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I’ve been on a cleanser hunt lately. A couple of years ago, I found one I really love but when I recently inquired about it’s many months of absence from the shelf at Rainbow Grocery, I learned that they may be reformulating – sigh – so it may not be my favorite after it’s return.
Nevertheless, I continue on in my joyful hunt for the ever elusive perfect cleanser. Since I recently decided to try more Zia products, I figured I’d give their Fresh Cleansing Gel a shot.

Here’s how I use it:
– Dry method: without wetting my face, I apply about a nickle sized amount to my face and massage in, adding bits of water as it dries. I continue to add water and massage until I’ve essentially rinsed it off. This method leaves my oily, makeup covered face (and eyes!) super clean and smelling great without feeling tight or dry.
– Wet method: I wet my face and massage about a dime sized amount into my not so oily or makeup covered face (and eyes!) and rinse. This works well when I’m in a rush or it’s morning and I don’t need a super deep clean.

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Urban Decay Afterglow Blush – Fetish

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One of my favorite makeup companies is Urban Decay because I love their colors and that they have an extensive line of Vegan products. I’m not vegan but I have vegan friends and I like to think that they can have fun applying brightly colored makeup without sacrificing their principals.
Today I’d like to tell you about their Afterglow Blush in the color Fetish.

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Weleda Skin Food

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I first heard about Weleda when I was in college. I hurt a muscle somehow and my European friend gave me the last of her Weleda Arnica tincture to apply to it and it totally worked.
[I hunted for it on the website but the medical part is really deep and I don’t remember exactly which one I had.]

Since then, I’ve noticed Weleda products here and there – when babysitting, the baby products; when hanging out with my hippy friends, the strange salt toothpaste (that I’m fascinated by but can’t bring myself to pay $7 for); on my seemingly eternal hunt for curl taming hair products, the Rosemary Hair Oil (review of that coming later).

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Zia Men HydraClean Face Wash

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My boyfriend has really great skin and doesn’t usually need any of my help. Sometimes, however, he feels dry or wants something to wash his face with that isn’t as intense as whatever I’m using at the time. We were at Rainbow Grocery and I thought that this Zia product HydraClean Face Wash, for men, would work out for him. And it did for a little while.

Here’s how he uses it:
– Only in the shower and not for shaving. Just a quick wash with his hands.

The upsides:
– It’s got a lot of natural ingredients.

The Company
– It’s made by a San Francisco company that was started by one woman in her kitchen (power to the people! power to the women! power to local products!).

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Humphreys Non-Drying Cleansing Gel

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I like to spend time in the product section at Rainbow Grocery just looking at the options. I’ve noticed Humphreys Non-Drying Cleansing Gel a few times and finally decided to try it. They make a witch hazel toner which I haven’t tried but I like witch hazel toner so I figured I’d give it a shot.

Here’s how I use it:
– 1/2 a pump lathered up a bit and massaged into the skin in the shower.

The upsides:
– I like the bottle – it’s blue (tho plastic, which I try to avoid buying new), it’s got a pump (which I love because then you can regulate your dosage), there’s a picture of a lady by a stream on the front. Not very valid upsides, I realize, but that’s why I chose to actually *buy* this cleanser in the first place (when I was trying to decide between several similarly formulated, similarly priced cleansers).

The not-so-upsides:
– The scent really bothers me and I’m not sure why except that it reminds me of a laundromat from my childhood.
– It doesn’t work well enough for me in terms of getting my skin clean. I thought that since it was a gel made for sensitive skin, rather than a cream, it would foam up and get my skin

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Skinceuticals C E Ferulic

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I first learned about SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic serum at one of their training sessions when I was just an esthetic student. I was fascinated by the studies they showed using pig skin (eek!) that was treated with the serum and without. The skin with the serum showed signs of sunburn after much longer exposure to UV light than the skin without it. That sold me. Then, a few summers later, after using the serum regularly and noticing a brighter, fresher complexion on my face, I decided to do a test.
I was in the mountains near Tahoe on Echo Lake. We had to take a boat ride to the lake store and I thought it was time to test ye ole C E Ferulic. I put it on my face, arms, neck & shoulders with NO SUNSCREEN ON TOP. However, when I climbed onto the boat and leaned forward, my shirt rode up a bit to expose my lower back (which I didn’t notice until later that night).
Just over an hour later, we returned to the cabin and I assessed the damage. My face, arms & neck were ever so slightly pink (which faded by morning), my shoulders were a bit pinker (which faded by the following evening) and I felt triumphant! What wonderful findings, I thought.
And then, “gee, my lower back feels kind of tight…and hot… and, oh, warm to the touch.”

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Origins Underwear for Lids Primer

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Having recently re-discovered Origins products, I came across their eyeshadow primer called Underwear for Lids – The smoothing lid primer (not to be confused with Underwear for Lids – Delicate color for eyes)

Here’s how I used it:
– I walked into Macys with no makeup on and went to the Origins counter.
– There was no customer service rep there (10am on a weekday) so I found the Underwear for Lids and spent a bit of time trying to figure out which was the color and which was the primer.
– I found the primer, wiped it down well with a tissue (the same technique would have been used by the customer service rep, had s/he been there) and applied it to my lower lids.
– The first layer was a little thin so I added more to get the coverage I wanted – it was fun to use the lipstick-like stick

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Juice Beauty Cleansing Milk

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In trying to fill out my reviews of Juice Beauty products (because I love their concept, their organic-ness & that they are made locally), I will embark on testing one of their cleansers.
I was recently given some samples of their Cleansing Milk and I tried it out once but don’t love it enough to try again.

Here’s how I use it:
– Get face wet, but not too wet.
– Apply one pump all over face & rinse.
– Repeat.

The upsides:
JUICE!
– I love that the base for all of Juice Beauty’s products is juice.

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