You've All Been So Patiently Waiting

I finally picked up the two moisturizers I talked about.

I am so happy. My skin has never looked better. My skin is 99.9% clear, perfectly moisturized, and radiant. I honestly hardly need any makeup any more. Before I go to bed I use Avon Solutions PM cleanser (occasionally mixed with Mark Berry Grand exfoliation beads), 5% benzoyl peroxide (Oxy), and Strobe Cream. When I wake up I use the AM cleanser and For Goodness Face. And usually all I need on top of that is some translucent powder to keep shine down...that's right, I don't even use the powder foundation anymore. However, it is summer, so I'll have to see if this routine holds up in the winter.


MAC Strobe Cream--expensive but worth it. Has an interesting illuminating effect that could be quite nice as a highlighter, but I don't intend to use it that way...when I do use a highlighting product I use something with colour...like a bronzer. Has the perfect amount of moisture for my skin, and the packaging is opaque and well sealed to keep those antioxidants happy. Great texture: easy to smooth on, absorbs readily, non-greasy. Big thumbs up.


Mark For Goodness Face--medium price. Nice smell, light moisture, SPF 30, antioxidants, stable packaging (good for sunscreen and antioxidants). Another big thumbs up!

A Quenching Beverage for your Skin

Last night I gave DHC's Extra Nighttime Moisture a shot. I had to exfoliate twice yesterday to get rid of some persistent flakes but now I am clean!! Anyway, I needed whatever moisture I could get, so it sounded good.

I can sum this product up very quickly: almost too moisturizing. The upside is I woke up with fabulous skin, my skin felt quenched and hydrated to the max. A rather unfortunate part is the consistency. The spreadability is quite poor, leaving you applying an excessive amount. But this stuff is very greasy and oily. Surprisingly I didn't break out or anything, so I guess the formulation is okay, but after applying, I just couldn't rub it in. Most of it just sat on the skin in a very scary way. I ended up taking paper and blotting my entire face, which helped a bit, but I was still extremely shiny.

This is a great product for extra moisture, and the greasiness is nonacnegenic, but a slightly lower viscosity would highly improve the product.

Olay Definity

When I first saw the ads, I knew intuitively that Olay Definity was a big scam. But to get to the review: today I tried their Intense Hydrating Cream. It was not very exciting. The first time I used it was after the Paula's Choice mask and I put it on and thought, holy moley, this is the best stuff I've ever used. But it was obviously just the mask because I used it again tonight and it honestly (without the overshadow of the mask) felt like a very lightweight, very boring serum. I actually ended up putting another cream overtop (which will be reviewed at a later date) because a mere one minute after applying it my skin started to feel dry and tight, as if I had applied no moisturizer at all. The good points: nice smell, lovely texture. The remaining bad point to be stated: for a below mediocre, bordering on terrible product (I am "Definite" this did nothing "Intense"), the price is insane. Not as much as MD Skincare charges, but let me put it to you this way. (And apologies, I don't have Canadian prices, I'm taking the prices from Paula Begoun's book since I never looked at a store for these products.) This stuff is $30 US for 1.7 ounces. Olay Active Hydrating Cream (an equally lousy product from what I can draw from reviews, but the point here is that this is within the same brand, just a different line...) is $7 US for 2 ounces. And the comparison from a completely different brand? Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream (a rather boring product, although it does what it says) is $12 US for SIXTEEN ounces. 16 ounces of the Definity would be $282 US. Yikes, you say? Well, that's not too bad...this is roughly the same price as MAC's Strobe Cream which is my intended replacement (around $30 US). For yet a different perspective, the MD Skincare Maximum Moisture Treatment I previously reviewed. $45 US for ONE ounce. $720 US for 16 ounces. Hey, while I'm out on a limb, why not see how much farther I can go. The acclaimed Creme De La Mer (contains SYNTHETIC water, ooh la la) is $110/1 ounce, $195/2 ounces, $1200/16.5 ounces! Creme De La Mer has often been compared to Nivea Creme: $7.42 for 6.8 ounces, some quick mental math tells us 16 ounces would be around $16, bargain-bottoming out around a dollar per ounce.

Maximum Moisture

Whilst pulling out my facial cream samples I fell upon MD Skincare's Maximum Moisture treatment. And I threw it out.

Why? Well, actually, the sample accompanied a book about the best products of 2007. The authors loved it. Paula Begoun thinks it is substandard in a world of superstandard formulas. And I thought it straight-up sucked. There is nothing that makes this any more moisturizing than a score of other products, in fact the extremely basic Cetaphil Lotion is more moisturizing than this. Also it smells really bad. Also it is REVOLTINGLY expensive. Good thing mine was a free sample.

Which brings to point: just because it was supposedly formulated by a dermatologist, does not mean it works any better. What does a doctor know that a beauty chemist doesn't?

In the Interim...

While I am waiting to pick up my two new moisturizers, the fact that my current nighttime moisturizer is working horribly (I was able to verify tonight that it was indeed the cause of the nightly burning sensation...definitely not a "cool feeling") and the fact that I use none in the daytime gives lieu to the 10-odd samples of moisturizer sitting in a basket on my vanity. Hence in the interim you should get some good reviews.

This afternoon I tried Paula's Choice Skin Recovery Hydrating Treatment mask. All the science she puts into her products is well worth it, resulting in an incredibly silky feeling lotion. Reading the back of the sample as well as her commentary in Don't Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me, it actually sounded like a pretty good choice for me. It is chuck full of emollients and antioxidants and such to give my skin that moisture jolt it has been desperately needing. You can leave it on as long as necessary, and with every use your skin looks better. Well, I left it on for about half an hour and my skin actually absorbed most of it, there was very little to rinse off. This really surprised me despite the state of my epidermis...I'm used to a mask sitting on my skin and not really doing anything. The result was very smooth and hydrated skin and I was very pleased. The downside to this perfect product? It is quite strange to rinse off. Imagine you have gone overkill on the hand lotion. Do you rinse and rinse, hoping to lose the greasiness? Or do you wash your hands with soap? Exactly my point with this mask. The other downside is it has to be ordered online with a credit card. There often are sales as well as good deals on the shipping, but in my case I have to borrow a parental unit's credit card and write them a cheque afterward. It's a lot of hassle for a tube of lotion, no matter how amazing that may be.

Running Out and Replacing

Something I haven't really touched on this blog is facial skincare. Because I had been using whatever came my way. However, I am not happy with what I've been using, I've started running out of stuff, and my skin seems to be needing a little more than what I've been giving it. Over the next week or so you can expect some updates on this topic, but here's where I am so far:

I had been cleansing with a Biore product. I happened to knock what was left of my tube off the bathroom counter into the toilet. :'( I thought this might be a good opportunity to try something new (it seemed a bit drying for my skin type anyway). So I ordered Avon's AM/PM Solutions cleanser. It's two bottles stuck together, one side is designed for the morning and one for the night. They have a very nice orange scent and have been working very well for me. You only need a little bit, too.

I exfoliate when necessary with mark. by Avon's Berry Grand super exfoliating beads...you get a big jar and it only takes a little, you mix some with your cleanser and it works remarkably well with the AM/PM cleanser.

Moisturizer...I have been using for the past several months mark. by Avon's sea water gel. But strangely enough it is filled with blue sparkles which really aren't necessary in a moisturizer. And it also seems to be reacting with the Oxy benzoyl peroxide I use...my skin literally burns at night, and it's not the Oxy on its own. I looked up in my lovely new edition of Don't Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me what are the best moisturizers for combination to slightly dry skin. She actually has very few listed because the state-of-the-art formulas she praises are often in packaging that degrades the ingredients. But MAC's Strobe Cream, believe it or not, is one of her top picks, so I will do my best to get out the the mall this week and pick up a tube.

In the morning I generally just cleanse with the AM cleanser and slap on some sunscreen...I find Banana Boat is not too oily like some brands are. However this doesn't give me a lot of moisture. But another Paula favourite is mark. by Avon's For Goodness Face, which is a light day moisturizer with a stable SPF 30. I plan to order some from the next brochure and give that a shot because it sounds perfect!

So...updates are coming, my friends, and hopefully my skin can get a bit more of what it needs in the process.

A Problem Resolved

Well, my hair has been really great, my makeup has been staying on, and I'm looking tan. So I haven't had the need to post. ;)

Kidding. Here is the update as promised: I went back to the HEHR (Herbal Essences Hydralicious Reconditioning) conditioner in combination with the matching shampoo and the hairline breakouts subsided while the mild flaking on my scalp disappeared entirely. The downside is, it's not as good a conditioner as the Avon Sleek and Smooth. I'm not getting *quite* as good results. But it is a sacrifice I am more than willing to make to avoid the aforementioned problems. And I managed to mix in a bit of my Avon Shine Treatment with the HEHR conditioner which worked almost as well. And an upside is that it wasn't the shampoo that was the problem...because I love that shampoo!