Review: March Products

This month was just spent using up things in my cupboard as well as running through some of the samples I had! Hopefully during April I can start incorporating a few new items and finally get rid of the catastrophe of the Aveeno "positively radiant" cleanser. Eh.

Jergens Natural Glow + Banana Boat Sunless Summer Color
The Jergens brand was great. The Banana Boat brand is eh. I've had both tubes of sunless tanning lotions for quite a while and was frankly sick and tired of seeing them in my bathroom. Then it finally hit me... "USE THEM!"-- especially when it's so gloomy here in San Francisco right now. The Jergens brand was great--- applied well, no streaking, natural color. The Banana Boat lotion left me orange with terrible streaking, no matter how much I tried to buff it into my legs. I actually had to stop using the Banana Boat lotion for a week to get the orange to tone itself down, as I was using it three times a week and my legs looked nasty. The smells were similar, but the Jergens brand was a lot more toned down. Will definitely rebuy when I finish up the Banana Boat tube... and after my legs get all pale and sickly looking again, which is motivation enough!

The Body Shop Seaweed Clarifying Toner
I had been using this as the "step two" to the nasty Aveeno facial cleanser I bought last month. I would use this to remove all the excess makeup that shitty cleanser would leave on my face and it worked. Except for the fact that even though its advertised as alcohol-free... it still dries your face out like woah. Honestly, it's an OK product (for someone who might have oily skin...??)- but I wouldn't rebuy. When I was using my Sephora Foam Facial Cleanser, I didn't need this toner so it was pushed to the back of the cupboard. But if you're using a shitty cleanser as I am right now, this at least gave a little bit of extra cleaning action. It's not my favorite, though. And frankly, none of the skin care products from The Body Shop have impressed me at all except for maybe the intensive hand creams.

The Sacred Truth Lush Fresh Face Mask
I got this as a sample because FOR THE SECOND TIME when I went into the shop, the Oatifix mask was sold out! This product is normally advertised as an anti-aging face mask but the sales associate who gave it to me said it's still very refreshing for someone with redness like I have. The smell doesn't bother me at all but I won't say that it's particularly pleasant. It rinses off great and surprisingly doesn't leave any sort of film or nasty coating over my skin- nor does it over-dry in any way for me. Does my face feel improved, soothed, happy? Happier than before! I still don't feel that this is the face mask I would like to use long term, but I really have no problem with this mask. I've been following the routine of exfoliating, wearing the mask for 10+ minutes, then putting on the Skin Drink face lotion afterwards and I will say that my makeup just glides on and looks amazing after using the mask. Not bad.

Clinique Acne Solutions Spot Healing Gel
Got this as a sample and it is about to run out... and I'm devastated! It's an amazing acne spot gel and I will immediately run out to buy this as soon as its officially all gone. The sample size was .17 fl oz and it has lasted me MONTHS-- I can't even imagine how long the 15$ bottle will last me. Just a tiny dab on a zit... or even the beginnings of a zit, and it stops it in its tracks! For someone like me that doesn't really have aggressive acne but the occasional annoying one here or there, this was perfect. Reduces redness immediately and within a few hours, the pimple is nearly gone. Works great under or on top of makeup and while it dries the spot, it doesn't excessively zap the moisture from your skin. I haven't had great luck personally with most of Clinique (except my boyfriend- the acne solutions line works amazingly on him)--- I highly recommend this product!

Review: February Products

Taking a tip from my favorite YouTube gurus, I figured it'd be fun to give little mini reviews on the products I introduced to myself this month. I will start out saying that I'm really not the type to buy frivolously... I prefer to buy things as I run out and I'm really trying to get better about using up every product I've been hoarding for the last year! The products I'll be talking about are ones that I've had to buy because I ran out of something.

Soap and Glory: The Greatest Scrub of All (Self-Activating Facial Smoother + Exfoliator)
I had forgotten how great a real exfoliator can be until I picked this up! I had been eyeing it for a while and it's as nice as I had expected. The beads themselves are of different sizes-- most being very fine, all encased in a lovely shimmering champagne colored paste. The scent is very light and I'm very impressed that the exfoliating beads do not dissolve when scrubbing. I'm happy to say that this is a happy medium between St. Ives' super chunky exfoliate and some of the random ones I've tried that have granules that are just too small to be effective. The only con I have about this is the packaging. The lid is a screw on... not a snap. Small pet peeve while I'm in the shower trying to wash up! As for the directions saying that for dry and sensitive skin to use only once or twice a week... well, I have really dry skin so I upped the usage to 3-4 times a week and have had no problems. Using this has really cut out all the flaky skin I battled with for months! Would this be a repurchase? Eh. I'll happily use it till its gone, but it's not a HG.

Lush Skin Drink Facial Moisturizer
When I ran out of a nightly moisturizer, I started using my regular day moisturizer with SPF... and I hated doing that on a matter of principle: why was I wasting my SPF and using it to sleep? Plus the texture for night time was all wrong. I finally caved and went into Lush to pick up this moisturizer and I have to say, I absolutely adore it! It makes my dry skin feel dewy and supple without being too oily. It leaves a comfortable top layer on my skin that feels like it's keeping moisture from evaporating off my face or rubbing off on my pillow as I sleep. A lot of the reviews on this product complain about the scent but I actually really like it-- it reminds me of a crushed almond and nut paste with just a touch of vanilla. Besides, I love almond milk so why wouldn't I love this smell? I'm also happy to say that I haven't had any adverse reactions to this and it hasn't broken me out at all, even with its high percentage of sesame oils. I would definitely buy it again-- though I might want to try some more Lush moisturizers out of curiosity first. Bottom line, love it.

Hope in a Jar for Dry Skin with SPF 20 (Extra-Rich Moisturizer for Normal to Dry Skin)
To be honest, I really want to be a Philosophy fan but I keep feeling disappointed. 2 out of the 3 products I've tried from them have really left me wanting, and this seems like one of them. Now, I won't completely bash on this moisturizer because it does what it says it does: provide moisture with SPF. But the smell! It's like a toned down version of their regular moisturizer. The consistency in Extra-Rich is spot on. The finish... it's just ok. But in terms of a difference between this SPF20 and the SPF25 version (which is made for all skin types), I'd chose the one for all skin types based on the smell alone. Once this tube is done, I'm jumping ship and maybe trying Shiseido or Clinique for my SPF needs.

Aveeno Active Naturals Positively Radiant Skin Cleanser
Absolutely. Positively. HATE this product! This is me going on a whim and trying something random out of the blue after my Sephora foam cleanser ran out. It all starts with accidentally grabbing the cleanser that wasn't the foam... why? Because when you're in a hurry, both bottles look the same. Removes makeup? Not at all-- I have to use several cotton balls full of toner to get the residue off. Gentle for your eyes? Not one bit. It stings insanely bad. And the worst part of it all? It leaves my face feeling tight and dry after it's rinsed off which is one of the most disgusting feelings ever when it comes to a facial cleanser. I've learned my lesson when it comes to drug-store products. Sparingly. And always keep a receipt so I can AT LEAST exchange it. I'll probably tough this out with some extra measures: replenish my makeup remover wipes and be extra liberal with the moisturizer. Terrible.

Lush Catastrophe Cosmetic Fresh Face Mask
I'm really on the fence about this because I like using a mask... but I don't think this is the one for me. When I bought this, my heart was really set on the Oatifix mask which the store had unfortunately ran out of. The SA recommended this one... and I went with it on a whim. Is it bad? No. The blueberry scent is decent and my face feels soft afterwards. Would I repurchase? Nah- not this mask anyway. I can see this mask being more for people with oily-prone skin and mine really isn't that much. I need something that can soothe my redness instead of drying out my skin.



Overall, I'd say Lush's Skin Drink was probably my best beauty purchase of February, the Soap and Glory exfoliate a decent second. Hope this helps some of you!