Alba Botanica Natural Very Emollient Sunscreen SPF 30 (mineral protection kids)

Packaging/Pricing:

118g (4oz). Opaque plastic tube keeps product safe and sound. Retails for ~10-12$ US at whole food stores or on IHERB website (here). As you can tell by now, I do purchase quite a lot of skin care items on IHERB.com. They do have really big selection, prices are good and US shipping is super fast.

MEDYSKIN Vitamin C Anti-Aging Serum

Packaging/Pricing:

 

30ml (1fl.oz) This serum comes in a brown glass pump bottle, which is the best possible option, since it is air tight and not clear to keep ingredients stable, but still you are able too see how much product is left. I purchased it at TJMaxx only for 7.99$ US. I found the company's website, where they charge 42$ for a bottle. You can also find it on Amazon.com at around 20$ mark, which is a good price in my opinion.

Ingredients:

 

Water, Glycerin, Propylene Glycol, Ascorbil Glucoside (Vit C), Pumpkin Extract, Tamarindus Indica, Licorice Root Extract, Acrylates/C-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Triethanolamine, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol, Potassium Sorbate, Hexylene Glycol.

Excellent (only beneficial ingredients, proven research)

Good (mostly beneficial, not extensive research or just not quite outstanding properties)

OK (mostly thickeners, emulsifiers, mild preservatives, pH adjusters, all that is necessary, but not a skincare per se)

Bad (irritants and anything bad that shouldn't be in skincare, usually fragrance)

[On the side note. I like that ingredient list is both on the outer paper packaging and on the bottle itself. I don't need to keep piles of cardboard in my house.]

Ingredients Discussion:

 

I am always excited when I find not hugely known brand with amazing formulations.

How I Shop For Skin Care

Here is the list that usually I mentally go through whenever I encounter a product I am tempted to purchase. I hope it will be helpful in some way next time you go shopping!

1. Jar packaging? I never ever purchase anything in a jar. Most of skincare ingredients are air and light sensitive. Once you open the lid, in just few days, all beneficial ingredients would fall apart (keeping product in refrigerator would not help!). Why waste my money on something that wouldn't work? I don't even start on the ingredient list. So if you ever have been wondering why you never saw any results from that nice cream in a jar, that my be the cause....
2. Price and appearance? Of course I want to find packaging appealing. Also no skin care product is worth 200$ per say. Big companies charge lots of money for the brand name, not actually for miracle ingredients. There are tons of products on the market with agreeable price tag with outstanding formulations. My reasonable upper limit for a product is around 60$ US (let's say for a serum, not a face wash). Mostly I am looking at 10-35$ range.
3. Ingredient list! The most important part. I keep good few hundred ingredients in my head, and I can tell pretty quick if something is worth buying. But still there are ingredients that may be are not as common and I have to look up research at home. If I am very suspicious of the ingredient/ingredients, I go home and check. Sometimes I just take a risk. Here are some guidelines for what should and should not be in the skin care product:

• Does this product has known irritants, especially in the first half of ingredient list (sometimes if they are the last few ingredients it is fine)? Bad: Alcohol (anything that has two parts to the name, like cetyl alcohol or cetearyl alcohol is fine; SD Alcohol is still a bad alcohol though), Essential oils (only exception is camomile essential oil; the most common offenders are lavender, peppermint, lemon, orange, grapefruit, resemary), Fragrance (in the first half of ingredient list is unacceptable);
• Does this product actually have any good ingredients? The list here can be pretty long, but the most common things to look for: vitamins (usually in the name there would be a word like - tocopheryl = vit E, ascorbyl = vit C, retinyl = vit A), good plant extracts (camomile, green tea, liquorice root, pomegranate), emollients (non fragrant plant oils, glycerin, hyaluronic acid), cell-communicating ingredients (niacinamide or vit B3, retinol or vit A), bonus (azelaic acid, allantoin, lecithin, resveratrol, ceramides, ubiquinone, squalene, peptides, AHAs) .
• Is this formulation well balanced/well rounded? I've already mentioned this in the previous post, but I like my products to have three type of ingredients: emollients/skin identical ingredients, anti-oxidants/anti-irritants, cell-communicating ingredients. Only in this case your skin is getting all it needs to be in top condition. Ideally I buy only those that have at least one ingredient from each of the group (better still if it has multiple). Sometimes though I can purchase product just for few specific components (usually anti-aging retinol, skin brightening vitamin C, anti acne salicylic acid).
• If the company promises certain results (for example, lightening hyper pigmentation), did they actually add ingredients to achieve that?
• Are those good ingredients in the first half of the ingredient list? Are those ingredients placed before preservatives (most common preservatives are parabens and phenoxyethanol)? If vitamins (and such) are in the bottom of ingredient list, they are most likely present in such a low concentration that they probably wouldn't be able to benefit skin.

This seems like a lot of things to consider, but once you've done it hundred of times it is almost automatic. I have to say that sometimes I go to stores and just read ingredient lists. It helps to see whats on the market and just  a fun activity for me. I hope you enjoyed this rambly post. If you have any questions about ingredients or products feel free to ask!

A Bit of Shopping

I have to admit, I am a little bit addicted to shopping at TJMaxx. It has an adventurous feel to it. You never know what treasures you can find each time you go. Sometimes I emerge with empty hands, sometimes I find too much and blow my budget. I can spend several hours going through one ingredient list after another (since it is a deciding factor for me when I purchase a skincare product). My limit is 20-25 products at one go (it is hard to process more information than that on one trip). Also, products are 30 to 50 % of original price, so I can afford to try out more products. Unfortunately there is a downside: there are a lot of discontinued products, which you cannot repurchase if you happen to like them. I may review one of these products in the future. So here is my recent catch...

Left To Right: Juice Organics Pomwash cleanser and Pompeptide moisturiser, Sonoma Naturals Chia Oil, Skincare Cosmetics Retinol Anti-Wrinkle facial serum, Elizabeth Arden 2 in 1 cleanser, Hydra-Splash toner, Perpetual Moisture 24 lotion, Alpha Hydroxy Anti-Wrinkle 10% Glycolic treatment

Left To Right: MEDYSKIN Natural Argan oil, 7 Day Facelift retinol serum, Vitamin C anti-aging serum, Line Eraser eye serum

 

List of Products:

• Juice Organics Pomwash facial cleanser (6.99$ / 150ml)
• Juice Organics Pompeptide facial moisturiser (5.99$ / 60ml)
• Sonoma Naturals Chia Oil anti-oxidant facial treatment serum (9.99$ / 30ml)
• Skincare Cosmetics Retinol Anti-Wrinkle facial serum (12.99$ / 30ml)
• Elizabeth Arden 2 in 1 cleanser all skin types (7.99$ / 150ml)
• Elizabeth Arden Hydra-Splash alcohol-free toner normal/dry skin (7.99$ / 200ml)
  
• Elizabeth Arden Perpetual Moisture 24 lotion (14.99$ / 50ml)
  
• Alpha Hydroxy Anti-Wrinkle 10% Glycolic treatment oil free (6.99$ / 50ml)
• MEDYSKIN Natural Argan argan oil (7.99$ / 30ml)
• MEDYSKIN 7 Day Facelift retinol serum (7.99$ / 30ml)
• MEDYSKIN Vitamin C anti-aging serum (7.99$ / 30ml)
• MEDYSKIN Line Eraser eye serum (7.99$ / 30ml)

P.S.: After coming home and closely examining products, I realized that I overlooked very irritating coriander essential oil in MEDYSKIN argan oil blend. So that product I am not recommending putting on your face!

Body Care: Kiss My Face Sun Spray Lotion SPF 30

This time around I would like to talk about body care, specifically very important part of it, sun protection. I have to admit, I am not as diligent with body sun protection as with face sunscreen. But since I've noticed couple of hyper pigmentation spots on my hands I am trying my best to apply it every single day. You really have to get into the habit of applying it before leaving the house. Once you find the one you actually really like using, it stops being a chore. Finally I found the one I enjoy very much: Kiss My Face Sun Spray Lotion SPF 30 broad spectrum, water resistant sunscreen!

Review & Comparison: Cleansing Oils - Garnier vs Naruko vs Tatcha

Cleansing oils made a huge explosion on the western market few years ago (they have been available in asian countries for quite some time). At first I was quite hesitant, that it is not just a gimmicky fad, that would quickly go away. But I have to admit, I have been hooked and not planing to stop using this type of cleansers for a long while. I use sunscreen liberally and find that gentle face washes that I favour, are not enough to remove sunscreen at the end of the day. By using cleansing oils I kill two birds with one stone, dissolve make-up and sunscreen at the same time (I follow with gentle face wash as well).

I decided to talk about three oils I am currently using. They come from different ends of spectrum price wise and availability wise. As usual, I am trying to judge products as objective as I can. I am not going to discuss ingredients too much. Face cleansers cannot be evaluated like that for several reasons. They do not stay on your face for more than one minute (not enough time for beneficial ingredients to start working). You wash them off (and any extracts and vitamins that they had go down the drain!). It is the most important how they clean and whether they leave skin feeling tight and uncomfortable or not. Cleansers can not treat your skin like serum or cream can.

Left to Right: Tatcha Pure One Step Camellia cleansing oil; Naruko Taiwan Magnolia Brightening and Firming cleansing oil; Garnier Nourishing Cleansing oil.
  

[In the ingredient lists below I've highlighted in red those ingredients that are in generally irritating in any skin care product and also marked in bold basic oils in formulations.]

Tatcha Pure One Step Camellia Cleansing Oil 48$ US/150ml (5fl.oz). This cleanser is not based on mineral oil. I personally like the feel of this product the best. It has the thickest consistency out of three and I feel you actually need less product to take off make-up. It is also the most effective at dissolving make-up. Rinses off clean, leaving skin very soft. This oil has very nice, very light elegant fragrance. Unfortunately, this is the most expensive choice. Actually I am torn whether to repurchase it or not. On the one hand, it is the best cleansing oil I've tried (and I love the texture and smell of it), on the other, it is too expensive for a cleanser. I would rather spend money on antioxidant serum. 4.5 out of 5.

Ingredients: Cetyl Ethylhexanoate, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Oil, Polyglyceryl-10 Dioleate, Polyglyceryl-2 Sesquicaprylate, Camellia Japonica seed Oil, Glyceryl Behenate/eicosadioate, Water, Algae Extract, Camellia Sinesis (Green tea) Leaf Extract, Glycerin, Ethylhexylglycerin, Alcohol, Fragrance, Phenoxyethanol.

Naruko Taiwan Magnolia Brightening and Firming Cleansing Oil 20$ US/120 ml (4fl.oz). This cleanser is based on mineral

Now solutions Vitamin C and Sea Buckthorn Moisturiser

This is another offering from my favourite natural brand Now. It is quite a basic moisturiser, with very nice formula. I am not hugely in love, since I love very concentrated treatments and prefer serums as my non SPF choice of moisturisers. I use it as an evening neck/decolletage cream. It has light lotion texture, that is not sticky or greasy. The scent, in my opinion, is a bit cheap, somewhat fanta/orange juice like, but not offensive or disgusting.

 

Packaging/Pricing: 

59ml (2fl.oz) Retails for ~8-13$ US. You can find it in some whole food stores. I bought it on IHERB.com (here) for 9.93$. It comes in opaque tube, that is reliable, appropriate packaging. As I mentioned in my other Now brand review, packaging may seem not appealing to some, since it lacks the luxurious feel. But I am perfectly content with it, since I don't have to pay more just for a pretty bottle. I am all about ingredients.

 

Ingredients:

Water, aloe barbadensis leaf juice, caprylic/capric triglyceride, cetyl alcohol, glycerin, glyceryl stearate SE, glucose & lactoperoxidase & glucose oxidase, stearic acid, cetearyl alcohol, cetearyl glucoside, olea europaea (olive) oil (extra virgin), magnesium ascorbyl phosphate (Vit C), hippophae rhamnoides (sea buckthorn) seed oil, niacinamide (Vit B3), tocopherol (Vit E), orange-grapefruit aroma, polyglyceryl-10 laurate, potassium sorbate, citric acid.

Excellent (only beneficial ingredients, proven research)

Good (mostly beneficial, not extensive research or just not quite outstanding properties)

OK (mostly thickeners, emulsifiers, mild preservatives, pH adjusters, all that is necessary, but not a skincare per se)

Bad (irritants and anything bad that shouldn't be in skincare, usually fragrance)

 

Ingredients Discussion: 

This moisturiser features minimal, but well balanced formula, that can address all skin needs. Ideally, in any skincare product you should have three categories of beneficial ingredients

Evologie Intensive Blemish Serum

I have been introduced to this product through Glossy box subscription. I had two travel size mini versions and really have been hooked on it. So I purchased a full size product. This is the best spot treatment I have ever tried. I do have an amazing drugstore find in "acne fighting" category: Neutrogena 3 in 1 Hydrating Acne treatment.

 

I cannot say enough praise about Neutrogena's offering. So I have been very sad when they discontinued it (I think it may still be available in Canada). Because of that, I wouldn't do a separate review on it. But it is my gold standard, so I naturally compare everything to it. Both products feature salicylic acid as an active ingredient. I am a big fan of BHA (salicylic acid) as an acne treatment and as an exfoliant in general. Neutrogena's Acne Treatment is very light weight gel, which doesn't dry out skin, really efficient at reducing redness and pimples, and can be used all over face. Evologie's product is a serum type of texture which better suited as a targeted treatment and I do not generally apply it all over the face (for the reasons I will go into a bit later).

Packaging/Pricing:

15ml (0.5fl.oz) This serum comes in opaque pump bottle, which I 100% approve. The pump itself allows you to control amount of product you dispense rather well. Evologie brand offers only three products in their line (here), all of which are not cheap (still, they are not crazy expensive). The serum retails for 35$ US, which I have to admit for 15ml is not very budget friendly. But I do think it is worth a splurge. I've tried two other products from the line and though they are not bad (ingredients wise they are excellent), I would recommend to pass on them and go only for the serum.

 

Clinique City Block Sheer oil free daily face protector broad spectrum 25 SPF

Packaging/Pricing:

The product is offered in opaque tube format, which keeps all ingredients stable. You get 40g (1.4fl.oz) for 23$ US.

 

Ingredients:

Active: Titanium Dioxide 7.3%, Zinc Oxide 6.9%

Other: Water, Trioctyldodecyl Citrate, Butylene Glycol, Cyclopentasiloxane, Dimethicone, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Steareth-2, Stearyl Heptanoate, Silica, Lecithin, Ammonium Acryloyldimethyltaurate/VP Copolymer, Gentiana Lutea (Gentian) Root Extract, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract, Hordeum Vulgare (Barley) Extract, Betula Alba (Birch) Bark Extract, Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract, Laminaria Saccharina Extract, Saccharomyces Lysate Extract, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seedcake, Sodium Hyaluronate, Sorbitan Tristearate, Linoleic Acid, Polyquaternium-51, Caprylyl Methicone, Sorbitol, Sodium RNA, PEG-40 Stearate, Caprylyl Glycol, Tocopheryl Acetate, Phytantriol, Stearic Acid, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Cellulose, Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate, Stearyl Dimethicone, Ascorbyl Tocopheryl Maleate, Nordihydroguaiaretic Acid, Linolenic Acid, Pantethine, Bisabolol, Ceteth-2, PEG/PPG-18/18 Dimethicone, Polyglyceryl-6 Polyricinoleate, Steareth-20, Isopropyl Titanium Triisostearate, Propylene Glycol Dicaprate, Sodium Stearate, Nylon-12, Citric Acid, Aluminum Hydroxide, Nylon-6, Hexylene Glycol, Xanthan Gum, Disodium EDTA, BHT, Phenoxyethanol, Titanium Dioxide, Iron Oxides.

Excellent (only beneficial ingredients, proven research)

Good (mostly beneficial, not extensive research or just not quite outstanding properties)

OK (mostly thickeners, emulsifiers, mild preservatives, pH adjusters, all that is necessary, but not a skincare per se) 

Bad (irritants and anything bad that shouldn't be in skincare, usually fragrance)

 

Ingredients Discussion:

As you can see above, formulation is quite good. It features range of antioxidants and anti-irritants, as well as few barrier repairing agents (hyaluronic acid, linoleic acid, linolenic acid). I would love to see

Hair Care: Yes to Blueberries Healthy Hair Repair Shampoo and Conditioner

 

 

You will not find many hair products review for several reasons. First, I am mainly obsessed with skincare, which I find more important to be informed in and definitely more fascinating. Second, it almost impossible to predict whether the product will work out for you judging by ingredient list. Unfortunately it all comes down to personal experience. Also I have to mention that there is not much difference between professional products and affordable choices. Most of the times they are manufactured by the same companies (like L'Oreal). Also important piece of information to keep in mind is that hair is dead, and no ingredients can really penetrate it. It all comes down to personal preferences.

So this kind of posts with focus on brief overview of products, mainly based on how well product works on my hair type (which is normal to dry, long curly hair).

I do like to try out different "organic" hair products. I do find that sulfate free shampoos are more gentle on my scalp, as well as doesn't dry out my hair as much. Unfortunately, I didn't like these products. Shampoo didn't clean my hair properly, living it a bit dull and flat. Conditioner didn't moisturise enough, making hair a bit less manageable than usual. I do use silicone and oil based hair serums afterwords to make hair easy to comb through as well as look less frizzy. So I actually like a little bit of silicone in my conditioner. The perfect example of semi-organic conditioner is one by Organix brand, which is not loaded with harsh surfactants, but still keeps my hair manageable. They are priced similarly ~8$ US. And Organix products scented way better than Yes to Blueberries offerings.

Review & Comparison: Naruko Apple Seed And Tranexamic Acid black spots and lines defying mask & NRK essential Mandarin Orange and Pineapple pore refining mask

Let me start by saying that I have somewhat love/hate relationship with Naruko products going on. I love their luxurious feeling on the skin, I adore their scents, I am fan of their vitamins and plant extracts based  formulations, I think packaging is very cute. BUT! They often include irritating essential oils in products, which smell beyond amazing, but irritate skin, like nothing else. So I always go back to Naruko products, but I browse for occasional gems without problematic ingredients.

These two masks you can find on Naruko website  (here) or through various asian beauty sellers like sasa.com. The set of 10 masks is 32$ for Apple seed and Tranexamic acid mask and 26$ for Mandarin Orange and Pineapple mask.  Sometimes you can find them individually. Both masks are very moist with enough serum to actually spread to your neck and chest areas. They both smell very nice: Apple seed one like lavender oil and Orange one has a fruity sweet scent. I personally prefer more refined scent of lavender.

Company suggests to apply mask on clean skin for 10-15 min, then you can follow with your regular skincare. I find these masks to be very moist and slimy, so whether you have to wait for 10-15 minutes after you are done with them (for them to get fully absorbed) or tissue of the excess. Actually, I tend to splash my face with water, since ingredients already had time to penetrate skin, and it is too much to deal with so much extra product.

 

NOW solutions Vitamin C and Manuka Honey Gel Cleanser

"NOW foods" is an amazing company on organic/natural care market. They make vitamins, supplements, essential and basic oils, body, hair and skin care.  I believe they do not get as much love as they deserve. Their skin care is wonderfully formulated by someone who really knows his/her cosmetics chemistry. Their products are never in a jar packaging, never have essential oils that irritate skin, always have blend of antioxidants, skin identical ingredients and cell-communicating ingredients. What a joy! Few minor complaints I have though: they do not have sunscreens and some of their products do have fragrance (which is not necessary in skincare and can be irritating).

Product I would like to review today is a cleanser from their Vitamin C range. I am on a look out for gentle non-striping face wash. My skin is normal to dry and I find most of cleansers I've tried too harsh. I do not have a lot of requirements regarding my face wash. I would like it to gently clean my face. Since cleanser stays on my face for 30 seconds only and then goes down the drain, I am not looking for antioxidants and such. Most of good ingredients will not have time to work!  I usually take off my make-up with cleansing oils, but I still like to follow with face wash to remove traces of make-up as well as traces of cleansing oil. So anything not mild enough is not OK for double cleansing. And in the morning I don't really need anything striping as well.

I used Cetaphil and CeraVe gentle cleansers for years, but I got bored (to be honest =))) So I switched to this one. A do not like fragrance in anything that stays on my face. But I little bit of aroma therapy with face wash is good! It foams lightly, doesn't dry out my skin and smells like orange juice/fanta. The scent may be a bit cheap, but not offensive in any way. The consistency is very liquidy, not really a gel, so be careful when pouring product out!

Packaging/Pricing: 

237ml (8fl.oz) I realize that packaging may not be everyone's cup of tea. Again, it is an affordable product. But label doesn't come off in the shower, and I do find simple white bottle quite appealing. The price is good as well: 7-9$ US. You can find this brand in lots of whole food stores or IHERB.com

Ingredients:

Water, aloe barbadensis leaf juice, lauryl glucoside, sodium coco-sulfate, glycerin, chondrus crispus (carrageenan), glucose & lactoperoxidase & glucose oxidase, magnesium ascorbyl phosphate (Vit C), manuka honey, allantoin, panthenol, niacinamide (Vit B3), tocopherol (Vit E) (soy), olea europaea (olive) oil (extra virgin), orange-grapefruit aroma, citric acid.

Discussion:

As I mentioned above, I am not as picky when it comes to face washes. But still

LANCOME Genifique Youth Activating Concentrate

Well, this is an older version of the serum, which they updated to Advanced Genifique. The ingredients still are pretty much the same, especially high concentration of alcohol and lack of skin beneficial ingredients. So I thought to through in this review anyway, but I will try to make it shorter.

Packaging/Pricing: 

30ml (1fl.oz) Packaging is rather hygienic and with opaque bottle will keep ingredients rather safe. Pricing is outrageous (especially for what you actually get) at ~70-80$ US. I generally find most of Lancome skincare quite useless. If you want something luxurious and pricey, better check out Estee Lauder (though nothing that comes in a jar!!).

 

Ingredients:

Water, Bifida Ferment Lysate, Glycerin, Alcohol Denat., Dimethicone, Hydroxyethylpiperazine Ethane Sulfonic Acid, Ascorbyl Glucoside, Sodium Hyaluronate, Sodium Hydroxide, Sodium Benzoate, Phenoxyethanol, Adenosine, Yeast Extract, PEG-20 Methyl Glucose Sesquistearate, PEG-60 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Salicyloyl Phytosphingosine, Ammonium Polyacryldimethyltauramide/Ammonium Polyacryloyldimethyl Taurate, Limonene, Xanthan Gum, Caprylyl Glycol, Disodium EDTA, Octyldodecanol, Citrinellol, Fragrance.

Excellent (only beneficial ingredients, proven research)

Good (mostly beneficial, not extensive research or just not quite outstanding properties)

OK (mostly thickeners, emulsifiers, mild preservatives, pH adjusters, all that is necessary, but not a skincare per se) 

Bad (irritants and anything bad that shouldn't be in skincare, usually fragrance)

 

Discussion:

This is slightly emollient serum with glycerin and hyaluronic acid to prevent moisture loss. It does have Vit C (not very concentrated though), but that's it. Yest extract (which I marked in green kind of against my wish) has no research that proves