Skincare - Face -The Body Shop - Aloe Vera Facial Wash
angeladrylie 7/24/2011 4:11:00 AM
I really like this product. Since I've been using it, problems that I thought were just because of my skin being so stupidly sensitive and that I thought I would just have to live with have cleared up. I constantly had red cheeks, problems with dryness on my cheeks and my nose and KP bumps on my cheeks, I thought I had done everything I could and it wasn't the products I was using, it was my skin. Nope. The cleanser I was using, while it was an improvement on previous cleansers I had used, was the culprit. Since I have started using this I have no problems with redness and dryness (unless I overdo the duac) and the bumps have been significantly reduced (and now are gone, but that is thanks to the duac). It is light and fresh and leaves my skin feeling softly clean but still moisturised. Sometimes when I am wearing heavy makeup I do use it twice to get it all off, but I find as long as I take a minute or two to massage it in with some water it does a reasonable job in just one go. I did find when I first started using it my skin did go through an oilier than usual patch, as it was used to having to produce lots of oil to try and combat the stripping from my previous cleanser, but a week or so late it was all good. The packaging is user friendly - a pump bottle that dispenses a foam, I find one pump is enough. I took it with me on a trip as well and it did not leak even though I thought it would. I would like little travel versions though as I don't think you could really decant this into smaller bottles because it is liquid in the bottle and then foams as it dispenses into a mousse. I'm really happy with this product though, and the price is cheaper than the HE cleansers I was using, even when I got them off Strawberrynet. Still not super cheap though - retails for $21.95 AUD. I am probably going to try the milky cleanser, (I especially think this would be good to use in summer to remove make up and sunscreen and then follow with the facial wash) toner, exfloliant and body butter in this line, because I am so impressed with this one. I did have the deorderant too and it was good but I think the price was just too expensive for that product. I'm not going to try the others though as they seem to contain oats and I have coeliac disease.
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Gels/Soaps -Unlisted Brand - A'kin - Unscented Body Wash
angeladrylie 2/10/2011 12:14:00 AM
Pro's - lovely lather, soft, clean, soothed skin, easy to use packaging. Con's - not widely available, packaging not good for travel. Not cheap. I bought this after a long battle with hives.... I would love to use a scented body wash, but my skin has just gotten too sensitive. This is truly unscented and does not irritate my skin, in fact is actually leaving my skin softer and less dry. My hives have cleared up and gone away. I will definetly repurchase and am going to look at other products in A'kin's unscented line. It is a clear gel that is quite thick. It lathers easily into creamy bubbles. Mine came in a opaque dark dull green coloured pump bottle with the label parchement coloured with italic script. It is quite nice looking and easy to use. However, probably not safe for travel - heavy/looks like it could leak. I bought it for $24.99 AUD at priceline for 500mls. You can also get it from David Jones and some health food stores. I have recently been buying body shop body washes which are around $12.95 for 250ml so in terms of price, it is quite comparable and one pump is all I need for my entire body so I don't use alot. I also like that they are made by a very ethical company - Purist - all their products are free from Parabens Mineral oils Silicones Sulfates Synthetic fragrances Artificial colours Propylene glycol Phthalates DEA (MEA, TEA) Ethoxylated and petrochemical cleansers their products do not use animal testing, are vegan, most of the packaging is recyclable and it is an Australian made and owned company. This product, along with others in their unscented range won the best eczema range at the Australian Natural Health Beauty Awards in 2010.
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Toners -Bioelements - Calmitude Hydrating Solution
angeladrylie 3/30/2010 10:53:00 PM
Well the jury's still out.... This toner comes in a milky glass spray bottle and you are supposed to spray it directly on your face with your eyes closed. However when I did this it still got in my eyes and OHMIGOD does that hurt! It also stings in any open skin i.e. freshly squeezed pimples / scratches / nose that has been rubbed too much by tissues. However, I now apply it by spraying onto a cotton pad first and that is fine. It includes licorice root, beta glucan and allantoin, all of which are calming and antiinflammatory, and white tea - an antioxident, It is alcohol free, and fragrance free. It does seem to go on cooling and soothing but I think I prefer the Clinique Mild Toner as that has some calming effects for me, has BHA to help with blackheads and is easier to buy. I am not sure if I would buy this again. Not a bad product, but not a superstar either.
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Moisturizers -Bioelements - Calmitude Sensitive Skin Moisturizer
angeladrylie 12/30/2009 11:55:00 PM
This is a white gel lotion type moisturiser that is gentle enough for my sensitive skin. It has no added fragrance and the scent is barely detectable. It contains licorice extract, an antiinflammatory to sooth, white tea, which is an antioxident, and is gluten free. It comes in a glass bottle with a pump which twists to lock shut. The glass bottle is very heavy, and the pump sometimes comes off / is difficult to unlock / gets blocked, but it is more hygienic than tub. It is $39 US dollars for 4 oz / 118 ml or about $90 AUD if you buy it in Aussie, but there are not many Aussie stockists, so I currently get mine from BeautyBridge. This has a really nice light feeling and absorbs quickly to a matte finish. It does not irritate my very sensitive skin and has not broken me out. This has been a saviour for my skin. I am happy because it helps moisturise, calm and because it contains an antioxident also has some anti-aging benefits. I use this twice daily and supplement the moisture with another moisturiser sometimes when my skin is very dry but am thinking of adding a hyralonic acid serum to help further. I like the packaging but wish it was lighter for travel and that the pump worked better. Pro's: gentle enough / designed for sensitive skin gluten free fragrance free contains anti-inflammtories and antioxidents nice light textured lotion that absorbs well has not caused breakouts and has matte finish hygienic packaging Con's not quite hydrating enough by itself packaging is heavy, breakable and difficult to seal / unseal for travel/ pump gets blocked hard to get in Australia Ingredients: water, dimethicone, emulsifying wax NF, oryza sativa (rice) bran oil, gylcerol stearate, simmondsia chinensis (jojoba) seed oil, glycyrrhiza glabra (licorice) root extract, camellia sinensis (white tea) leaf extract, sodium carboxymethyl betaglucan, allantoin, diazolidinyl urea, iodopropynyl butylcarbamate, cetyl hydroxyethylcellulose, citric acid.
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Moisturizers -Nivea - Visage Sensitive Balance day care for sensitive skin [DISCONTINUED]
angeladrylie 12/15/2009 11:44:00 PM
The product I have is called "sensitive soothing day cream" . It is skin pH neutral, fragrance free, colourant free and alcohol free. It contains licorine, a relative of licorice plant which is supposed to be a good anti irritant. It also contains Vitamin E, an antioxidant. It is a thick pale yellow white cream and comes in a heavy jar. I don't love the packaging but I don't hate it either. It doesn't go on as thick/heavy as it looks and has a cream-fluid texture. It absorbs reasonably well, but doesn't have a matte finish, it has not reacted to my sensitive skin, nor has it broken me out. My skin is considerably less dry, clearer and much, much less red. When my skin is good this is the only moisturiser I need. When I react to a new product my skin gets very dry and flakey and I do need more moisture than just this, This sits well under makeup, except a couple of times I applied too much and didn't rub it in properly, on those two occasions there was some pilling. It is also gluten free as far as I can tell, which is important to me as I have coeliac disease. I normally only buy high end department store cosmetics but this is far superior than most of the HE moisturisers I have used. when it comes to sensitive skin. I am very happy with this product. I have used it for at least four months now. Ingredients: aqua, glycerin, ethylhexyl, methoxycinnamate, methylpropanediol, dicaprylyl ether, cetyl alcohol, glyceryl stearate citrate, stearyl alcohol, hydrogenated coco-glycerides, cyclomethicone, dicaprylyl carbonate, isopropyl palmitate, glycyrrhiza inflata, glucosylrutin, isoquercitrin, caprylic/capric triglyceride, sodium cabomer, tridecyl stearate, tocopheryl acetate, tridecyl trimellitate, sodium acrylates copolymer, butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane, trisodium edta, dipentaerythrityl hexacaprylate/hexacaprate, paraffinum loquidum, butylene glycol, citric acid, ppg-1 trideceth-6, acrylates copolymer, sorbitan oleate, c10-11 isoparaffin, BHT, iodopropynyl butylcabamate, phenoxyethanol methyparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben.
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Cleansers -Clinique - Comforting Cream Cleanser
angeladrylie 11/28/2009 9:59:00 PM
When I first used this my skin was super sensitive and this seemed to burn. However, it is now some months later and I have tried it again with success. I have combo sensitive skin and was looking for a cleanser to remove my EL DW with, which my foaming cleanser just wasn't cutting it, and I tried oil cleansers (Clinique TTDO balm, and Lancome Huile Eclat) but seemed to react to them (dryness, cystic acne), and I tried vaseline (semi-effective, but messy). So I saw this in my cabinet and decided to give it another go. It has now been a week. I only use this at night. I massage it onto my damp face, really working it into my makeup, and then rinse it off. I then follow with Clinique Mild Liquid Facial Soap and the rest of my routine. It is doing a good job at removing my makeup, and has quite a nice creamy texture. I haven't broken out. dried out or reddened or burnt. If anything, my skin seems clearer - I have these pesky blackheads on my right cheek and they seem to be going (I have used a BHA for a year and haven't seen much result on this area). It seems to add a little bit of moisture too. It says you can use this as a no-rinse cleanser but I just don't like that idea, when I have such sensitive skin, and I also dislike the smell, kind of mediciny. I don't hate the smell, but I definitly don't like it, but I can live with it. So far so good. Will update if it changes. Update: this did turn out to cause irritation - reddening, drying out and burningness. Why? When you are designed for dry skin???? Am very frustrated. GRRRRR. I think it took me longer to realise this time, as I was cleansing a second time with a different cleanser which probably meant it took longer for my skin to react. Downgrading from 4 lippies to 1.
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Cleansers -Clinique - Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm
angeladrylie 11/8/2009 3:59:00 AM
I bought this to use as a makeup remover as I favour long lasting liquid matte foundations that just don't budge with normal foaming cleansers or milk cleansers. I have sensitive, combination skin. I massaged it in to my dry skin then massaged in some water, then rinsed off. Pro's: because it is in a balm form, semi-solid, it is easier to apply than an normal liquid form oil cleanser, doesn't drip everywhere and won't leak. removes makeup very effectively is pleasurable to apply - kind of like a mini facial, with the massaging smell is virtually undetectable Cons: quite expensive, even using strawberrynet gets up my fingernails dried my skin out really badly, (massive flakiness) and possibly contributed to breakouts didn't like it as an eye makeup remover - difficult to use, and made my eyes blurry. I would not repurchase due to the dryness factor, but think it is a good product for those with less sensitive skin. Much more practical than liquid oil cleansers. I want to be able to use this, but just can't.
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Treatments -Vaseline - Vaseline
angeladrylie 11/8/2009 3:40:00 AM
Uses I like for vaseline: Tinted lip balm. Got a favourite lipstick that you have come to the end of and there is that little bit left in the tube that you can't just apply straight to your lips. You could use a lip brush to get it out OR get a left over lip balm container that is clean, scoop out the remaining lipstick (the thin handle of a teaspoon works well), pop it in the empty container. fill 2/3rds of remaining container with vaseline and seal container, immerse container in hot water for several minutes, till melted, then remove container and mix (either by shaking or stirring) carefully (mixture will be HOT) and hey presto tinted lip balm in favourite shade. Clear lip balm Overnight treatment: I have very sensitive cheeks that get dry, flaky and red and inflamed. I put this on overnight over the top of my moisturiser and it dramatically reduces dryness, redness and irritation and does not clog my acne prone skin. It is a bit messy, but it works! Eyebrow gel Makeup remover: I wear a matte long lasting liquid foundation that is impossible to budge with normal cleansers. Oil type cleansers did the trick but irritated my skin, drying it out and clogging it. I massage this into my face with some water and then massage my foaming Clinique mild liquid soap over the top and it removes everything, and leaves my skin feeling clean but not dried out. It doesn't feel like there is a residue either. Protector: when you are at home with a cold and your nose is chapped and red - slather this on around your nose. It puts a barrier between you and the tissue, and helps moisturise the chapped skin and reduce redness. You do have to reapply if you wipe your nose vigourously, but it is the only thing that helps prevent the damage and mitigate it, in my experience. Would probably also help with nappy rash. Eye make up remover - meh, didn't like, too much rubbing, but everything else, it works great and is so cheap.
10 out of 10 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Moisturizers -Clinique - Continuous Rescue Antioxidant Moisturizer (Dry/Combination) [DISCONTINUED]
angeladrylie 10/19/2009 9:56:00 PM
I bought this based on Paula Begoun's recommendations for this product. I wanted something that was full of antioxidents and this is one of the few Clinique moisterisers that is gluten free (I have Coeliac disease). It seemed like a good moisturiser and was good under makeup. However I only used this three times as I had a severe reaction to it - it seriously burnt my face off, left it red, hot, welted, and flakey. I think it was probably the rosemary. So I think this is a good moisturiser but is definetly not for those with sensitive skin. I feel though, if they would just omit the rosemary this could be better for sensitive skin, and they could use higher amounts of the other antioxidents. Allergy tested my ass. So 1 lippy off for bad claims (i.e. allergy tested, and 2 lippy's off for not being suitable for my sensitive skin and severely damaging it). I was very disappointed as I had high hopes for this being my HG. The search continues.
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Primer/ Corrector -Clinique - Pore Minimizer Instant Perfector
angeladrylie 10/19/2009 9:35:00 PM
I use this on my nose, forehead and on my cheeks next to my nose before applying EL DW foundation. This does a really good job at giving me a nice even surface to apply foundation to, mattifies, fills in pores, disguises blackheads and helps control oil. It helps my foundation to look flawless, as DW can accentuate pores. It doesn't break me out, and is good to wear by itself on no makeup days. It is quite pricey from Clinique ($42 AUD) but you can get it from Strawberrynet for $27 for a small tube which I think is reasonable, given that you only need a tiny amount. The tube dispenses quite well and looks nice. I am Caucasian and have the lighter of the 2 shades, which I think would be fine for most Caucasian ppl, as it is very sheer. I used this on one of my friends who has enormous pores and it was amazing how much better her skin looked, so healthy and even. She loved it as well, and she is generally a 'no makeup' person. I highly recommend it to anyone with combo oily skin, but I would recommend you cleanse thoroughly as this does sit into pores. This won't fix large pores (try a retenoid or BHA), but it will disguise them.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Cleansers -Lancome - Mousse Clarte
angeladrylie 10/19/2009 7:17:00 AM
I was a Lancome regular at Myers and got sample after sample of this as GWP's in very generous sizing. I gave some to friends and used it myself as my evening cleanser. I found it was similiar to Gel Clarte in performance, as once it's on your face it's really just another foaming cleanser. It was nice, nice scent, it didn't irritate me, the packaging was good - easy to dispense, no leaking, it did a reasonable job of makeup removal, but I am moving on to animal-friendly brands so won't be repurchasing.
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Cleansers -Lancome - Galateis Clarte
angeladrylie 10/19/2009 7:12:00 AM
I used to use this in the mornings as I really dislike wetting my face in the mornings - weird, I know, but hey. Especially in winter. I would apply some to a cotton pad, wipe around my face, including my eyes, and then tone. This was an adequate routine for me and did not agravate my sensitive combo acne prone skin. I also used it in the evenings to remove eye makeup and I liked that it was gentle enough for that. It is a light milky lotion with a light fragrance and is sold in a pump bottle. I have to say it is the best milk no-rinse cleanser I have thus tried, as most of them leave my skin hot, red and burning. This did not seem to leave a sticky residual (toning removed any last traces easily) and was nice and gentle. If it wasn't for Lancome's animal testing, I would purchase again in a heartbeat.
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Cleansers -Lancome - Gel Clarté Foaming Cleansing Gel
angeladrylie 10/19/2009 7:05:00 AM
I used this for about five years on my sensitive oily combo skin and it was a good basic gel cleanser. It has a pleasant fragrance and rinses clean. It would probably be too drying for normal - dry skin as it is not designed for that, but for my skin at the time it was fine. The one thing I hated though was that the cap would alway break on the inside and then it wouldn't shut probably and would leak - into the cap and further. This happened to me on at least five bottles. I used it at night to remove my makeup (not eye makeup, I think that would be ouchy) and it seemed to do a good job. However, I have recently changed to Clinique's Mild Liquid Facial Cleanser which is remarkably similiar, except not as drying and less fragranced, cheaper, better packaged and they don't test on animals. One lippy off for unnecessary fragrance and one lippy off for crappy packaging / ethics.
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Cleansers -Lancome - Huile Douceur Remove All Deep Cleansing Oil
angeladrylie 10/19/2009 6:53:00 AM
I got this as a sample and used it a few times and then abandoned it as I was happy with my gel cleanser and didn't feel the need for another step to remove my makeup. I liked it, I just didn't love it enough to be bothered, However, I recently changed my foundation, and the gel cleanser just wasn't cutting it in the makeup removal stakes, and I found this lying around. It did a really good job of removing my makeup, smells pleasant (quite light) and left my skin feeling really soft, clean but not tight/dry. I massage this in to my skin, especially concentrating around where I have blackheads etc, then scoop up a little water and massage that in (the mixture then emulsifies and changes from a clearish oil to a white milky lotion) and then rinse off. I haven't used it around my eyes. It seems to help exfoliate quite gently, helping to get rid of the flakies, and my sensitive combo skin has not reacted. I am not going to buy this because I am switching from Lancome/L'Oreal due to their animal testing policy, but it is a very nice product. Plus I have ordered Clinique's TTDO balm so when that arrives I will update with a comparison. UPDATE: TTDO balm was more practical, as it is in a semi-solid form, which meant it doesn't drip off my fingers before it gets to my face, the way this can. However TTDO seriously dried out my skin. This seems to be much gentler, while removing my makeup just as efficiently as TTDO balm I find using oil cleansers do a better job of makeup removal than foaming or milk cleansers, and are quite enjoyable to use - it's kind of like giving yourself a mini facial. However, I still won't purchase for ethical reasons. Am experimenting with massaging in vaseline with water, then removing vaseline-makeup mixture with foaming cleanser which seems to be gentle and effective. UPDATE: Skin is reacting to this as well - getting very dry and flakey and thickening. I think oil cleansers just don't agree with me. Downgrading to 2 stars. Still v enjoyable to use, love scent and massaging into skin, but bad results.
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Concealers -Estee Lauder - Smoothing Cream Concealer
angeladrylie 10/18/2009 2:28:00 AM
So I bought this as an alternative to Lancome's effacernes concealer, as I am sick of Lancome's animal testing. I have this in 02. It is very similiar to the Lancome concealer - from coverage, packaging, price, texture. I would say this is perhaps more moisturising, and the other difference is that Lancome's includes SPF 12 whereas this has none. This contains vit e, aloe vera, chamomile and cucumber (for full list of ingredients click on the ingredients button above) so it should be helpful for even those with sensitive skin. I am using this around my eyes and around the creases of my nose to cover my undereye shadows and brighten. It is doing a pretty good job - medium coverage, not cakey, lasts all day. I am very happy with it and will continue to purchase. The tube is very nice looking (like the navy) and it is easy to dispense. It is about $45 AUD from the department stores, but now I know which colour I am I will probably source it online where it is cheaper.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No