I was thinking about the best way to share with you my Beauty-related research. And what other way to do it, than to show you my results? I decided to show you my thoughts when I purchase the products and after I have used them up.
As a general rule, you will find details pertaining to reasons why (mostly active ingredients and formulation), how I dealt with the products (fingers crossed for no skin "explosions" or rashes), my conclusion (basically if I will rekindle my relationship with the respective product) and where I got it from (which is an entire adventure considering that I live in Bucharest, a lot of the products I want to try are not readily available here and most international sites that advertise World wide delivery, mean only some countries in Europe and Russia. [Rant start] I don't want to be mean, but last time I checked Romania was in Europe and furthermore a member of the EU, but leaving politics aside, last time I tried to order Levi's jeans to fit my boyfriend's long legs and Ole Henriksen stuff for my breakout skin, it didn't work. I got really upset, because although the market place should guarantee free and equal opportunities to all its customers, some companies decide to go against it, and had to get creative with other brands. [Rant over.])
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| The products I used up and will talk about below |
Grape Seed Oil from Mayam
Why: I lost count of how many bottles of this oil I have been using. Again, acne taught me to use lightweight oils on my skin to remove all make-up, including my water resistant mascara and sun screen.
How: I use it as a first cleansing step in the evening, straight on my face, I massage it until the make-up breaks down and then I remove it with a wash cloth dipped in warm water.
Conclusion: I am using this oil for years now, I started using it when I had really bad cystic acne and until now it worked wonderfully for me. I tried mixing it with other oils, but this is still the best for me.
Where: Elemental
Hydralight One Step Face Cleanser from Paula's Choice for normal, oily and combination skin.
Why: It has Sodium Hyaluronate, Allantoin and Niacinamide - all great ingredients for problematic skin, because they hydrate it and keep it young without coating it. This is the big bottle and is my second one. I liked that it cleaned my face without drying it (that's right I have a new problem with my skin now - it dries easily nowadays), I could use it on my eye area, it didn't clog my pores and most importantly, it didn't foam. One thing the acne taught me was that foaming cleansing products are the worst thing you could do to your face. I don't understand why the french pharmacy brands produce such acne cleansers. It confirms my theory that a brand that is either founded by a Dermatologist or has one on the development staff, makes products that can be trusted and are good for the skin.
How: I use it at night after the oil cleansing and in the morning. I loved removing it with warm water and the absence of scent. Paula's choice makes really good products, that have actual active ingredients.
Conclusion: I might buy this product again when I order from Paula's Choice.
Where: Paula's Choice Romania
SKIN CARE
Dermo Purifyer Eucerin
How: I have this for years now. I found it as I was cleaning my beauty cabinet. I got this before I went on Roacutane/ Acutane. I used it at night on my cleansed skin as an exfoliant.
Why: I don't remember exactly what acid it contained, but, based on the smell, I presume it was Salicylic Acid.
Conclusion: It was a decent exfoliator, but I felt it was slightly inefficient for my skin and it didn't manage to keep my pores from clogging.
Photoderm Spot SPF 50+ Bioderma
Why: I like Bioderma's SPF products. I have been using them for some time now and they never failed me. I got this cream some time back, again found it as I was cleaning my beauty cabinet. It is a good SPF cream, but it is really small 30 ml.
How: It is designed to be used after laser treatment to protect from post-treatment sun damage. The formula is really light and it is very easy to apply from the package. I like that it has no perfume.
Facial mask with pomegranate from Apivita
How: I liked this product, it smelled really nice, although I am not big on scents in the products I use. I liked its light texture and that it left my skin hydrated without getting it too oily.
Why: The fact that it was a 89% natural product made me get the big 40 ml version.
Wine Elixir Anti-Wrinkle & Firming Night Cream from Apivita
Why: I got this night cream because it was 93% natural and because it had Salicylic Acid. It smelled really nice, had a nice creamy texture.
Conclusion: Towards the end I couldn't use it on my face anymore, because it broke me out. I ended up using it on my decolletage and hands.
Nutriganics Drops of Youth from the Body Shop
Why: I got this product, because I wanted an oil free serum with youth enhancing/ preserving properties. I must admit it left me unimpressed, it didn't clog my pores or break me out, so this is a god thing, I guess.
How: I used it under my SPF cream, and was absorbed pretty well into the skin.
Conclusion: However nothing else good happened either. It is a scented product, it smells really fresh and pleasant, but I will not finish it up - used most of it though and this is my OCD consolation argument.
Beauty Effect Fakten Filler from Balea
Why: This is a hyaluronic acid serum. It did hydrate my skin, but alas! only for a short time.
How: I used it as a serum under my SPF cream.
Conclusion: After some weeks it started to break me out and I had to stop using it altogether.
Where: I got it from dm - Balea is dm's in-house brand. It has a really affordable price.
Aqua Porin Active Eye from Eucerin
Why: It should contain active ingredients that help keep the under eye area hydrated for longer whilst reducing any dark circles.
Conclusion: The package protects the product from oxidation. However, it is has a really light texture and my concealer constantly creased. I didn't see an improvement on my under eye area, but what I did observe was that my eyes started to water after each use - which my Ophthalmologist explained that it means an allergic reaction. I used the cream mostly at night.
GinZing from Origins
Why: I purchased it because origins is a natural brand. It has ginseng rrot extract, glycerin, cucumber fruit extract, chestnut seed extract, green tea leaf extract, magnolia leaf extract, apple fruit extract, caterpillar fungus extract, scutellaria baicalensis (Huang Qin - used in Chinese medicine, reduces oxidative stress) root extract giving the product light reflective and de-puffing properties.
How: I used it in the mornings before I applied my concealer.
Conclusion: This product lasted me for 1 year. It is nothing ground breaking, but it did the trick for some hours after applying it. After some time, however, my contact lenses induced dark circles were back.
Eye Cream SPF15 from Korres
Conclusion: This eye cream product made my years - almost 2 to be precise.
How: I used it in the mornings over my GinZing Origins cream because of the SPF15.
Where: I love Korres products, because they are natural. Unfortunately this product - one of the many - cannot be purchased in Romania, I got the product in Greece, when I was on vacation.
LIPS
Lip Butter in Guava from Korres
Why: These lip butters have shea butter and rice wax.
How: I used this product at night. It kept my lips hydrated all night until the morning.
Conclusion: I love these lip butters in the pots, I have several colors. I got this product in Greece, while I was using Roacutane/Acutane and it worked pretty good in the non-cold months, with a constant application.
I decided to start using up all the lip products that I use before I get any new ones, so there will be many more posts to come on lips.
MAKE-UP
Tan Tint Skinsheen Bronzer Stick from M.A.C.
Why: This is my first ever bronzer, which coincidentally is also a cream stick. The color was pretty good for my complexion, not too orange and not too ashy. The formula allowed the product to blend easily.
How: At the time I got this, I had to wear make-up to cover my acne. I used it as my first contouring attempts.
Conclusion: I used this product for quite a time, but then I had to stop, because after my acne healed, it broke me out.
HANDS
Cicaplast Mains from La Roche-Posay
Why: It contains Shea butter - helps hydrate the skin, 3% niacinamide - helps repair the skin cells and 30% glycerin - keeps the skin hydrated after hand washing.
Conclusion: This is hands down the best hand cream out there. I discovered it again as I was using Roacutane/Acutane in the cold months. It re-hydrated my hands and helped keeping them hydrated. Even after using it, when washing my hands it still kept the dryness at by. I recommended it to my friends and my boyfriend's Mom and it helped them recover from nearly bleeding hands from the cold and the harsh soap used in the office's bathrooms.
BODY CARE
Cocoa Butter Shower Cream by the Body Shop
Why: It did contain Cocoa Butter, which is very good for hydrating the skin all over my body.
Conclusion: It was a good hydrating shower gel if I managed to get it to spread on the skin. It was stubborn to be taken off with water. The smell got me quite queasy. I liked that it didn't make a lot of foam, though.
I ended using it on my feet, which helped keeping them hydrated.
Urea Bodylotion from Balea
Why: It contains 5% urea
Conclusion: I liked this body lotion. It hydrated my skin and kept it from getting red and raw after shaving my legs during the cold months.
FEET
Feet and Legs Ice Gel Balea
The packaging mentions that it has mint oil, but I didn't like the gel texture. It remained sticky on my skin. Smelled really fresh, but not my kind of scent.
HAIR
Smoothation from Londa
Why: I got this product ages ago and I used it quite intensely for some time, but it is now expired. It also contains silicones and I stopped using hair products with silicones in their formulation a while back. Therefore I need to get rid of this products.
Conclusion: I am rubbish at using hair tools and I don't want to torture my hair. I used this leave-in product after washing my hair as a heat protector, as I was using a blow-drying hair brush. It helped keeping my hair from getting too frizzy and to keep it slightly straighter (it is naturally curly and only a professional hair dresser can make it look good).
Have you used these products? What are your thoughts?
What products did you use up?
I would love to read your stories.
Cheers,
Alex.
Find me on Goodreads and Instagram.
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