By Nature from New Zealand Moisture Replenishing Face Serum

 

EO Ageless Skin Care Day & Night Serum Set

This Ageless Skin Care Set was brought to my attention by one of the readers (thank you!). You can find this set here. So here are some of my thoughts about ingredients.

How to read ingredients:

Excellent (very beneficial ingredients, proven research)

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

OK (mostly thickeners, emulsifiers, mild preservatives, pH adjusters, all that is necessary formulation wise, but not a skincare per se) 
Bad (anything that shouldn't be in skincare, irritants and fragrance)

Review and Comparison: MEDYSKIN Argan Oil and Sonoma Naturals Chia Oil Serum

L to R: MEDYSKIN Argan Oil and Sonoma Naturals Chia Oil

Face oils blends recently became very popular in cosmetics industry, though as ingredients, oils have been used in skincare for decades. Pure oils can be for sure a great addition to your routine, especially if you have dry skin. However they do not have miracle properties. Usually any non-fragrant plant oil has fatty acids, which are good for increasing moisture content of the skin and repairing skin protective function. All oils have certain amount of antioxidants and have some anti-inflammatory properties (however, they are weak to medium strength).

There is no single best oil for the skin, despite companies claims. Agran oil isn't any better than boring sunflower oil. Also 40$ oil from Sephora isn't better than 10$ one from IHERB. The quality of them is the same, but you do pay for the brand name.

There are plenty of oil blends on the market, but be careful, lots of them have essential oils in them, than can harm your skin. The worst: any citrus oils (they are photo-toxic, when exposed to UV rays), lavender (very irritating even in small amounts) and mint. If you want aroma-therapeutic properties of essential oils, inhale them, but do not put them on the skin (separate them from your skincare!)

Overall, I encourage anyone to try out this new trend (I am definitely a fan). But do not expect any dramatic results. Oils can't substitute well formulated serum or treatment. So if you have skin concerns like acne, hyper-pigmentation or signs of aging, do not stop using your regular treatments in a favor to oils.

I've found two oils I am reviewing today at TJMaxx. Their official price tag is 48$ each, but I've paid ~8-10$. They both came in brown glass bottles, which I prefer over plastic bottles. And of course, never buy any skin care product in a clear bottle (it will not keep ingredients safe from the sun exposure). Medyskin oil comes with a pump, which is actually easier to use and more air tight than a dropper style bottle, which is a type of packaging that Sonoma Naturals uses. The amount of oil you get is the same for both products - 30ml (1fl.oz).

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 a skincare, usually fragrance)

Josie Maran Argan Skincare Ritual Set

Argan Skincare Ritual Set contains:

• Argan Cleansing Oil 55ml (1.9fl.oz)
• Pure Argan Oil 15ml (0.5fl.oz)
• Argan Daily Moisturizer SPF 47 15 ml (0.5fl.oz)

You can purchase all of the miniatures at Sephora separately. Cleansing oil is 12$, argan oil is 16$, moisturizer is 14$, which totals up to 42$, so this set being only 24$ is definitely a bargain (I assume that 39$ value is calculated out of full size products). Whether these products are actually worth their price tag is a different topic. 

 

Argan Cleansing Oil

 

I was actually very pleasantly surprised with this product. It reminds me of Tatcha cleansing oil, since it has the same thick consistency. It takes off make-up rather well and rinses off clean. The scent is very pleasing as well (sweet, creamy and citrusy). I am not fan of scented skincare products, but since it is a cleanser I do not mind the fragrance. Full size retails for 32$, which is not cheap, but it is better than Tatcha at 48$. The only complaint I have is that the bottle leaks a lot, it is not travel friendly (I also have heard about full size bottle leaking).

Ingredients here are quite basic, few plant oils and two emulsifiers. I do like that it doesn't contain mineral oil (nothing against mineral oil, just do not like the feel of it on my face). The only problematic ingredient is grapefruit peel oil, but I am not concerned about it as much (probably not in very high concentration, plus we are talking about wash off product). I am surprised to see the list doesn't feature fragrance, because the scent is definitely artificial to me (I guess that sucralose plus grapefruit oil give that scent). 

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!