Masks -Alba Botanica - Deep Sea Facial Mask
jerriblank47 5/20/2010 2:20:00 PM
I like this product I always keep a tube on hand for when i want an extra-deep clean. I put this on in the shower and condition my hair, brush my teeth, wash my body, and I think it give my skin a little extra tone and luminosity when I'm feeling a little tired,or I've been biking and debris has been flying into my pores and I want an extra deep clean. It's certainly not a vacuum for the pores, but it's a gentle 5 minute kaolin clay mask so that shouldn't be expected. Also I love to use this after getting out of the steam-bath when my pores are wide open and the results are great.
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Cleansers -Alba Botanica - Sea Lettuce Cleansing Milk
jerriblank47 5/20/2010 2:14:00 PM
I never would have considered buying this product until my esthetician told me that counterintuitively cleansers that stripped my skin of moisture would make my sebaceous glands produce even more moisture to compensate. So I use this product only in the evening to prepare my skin for retinol night cream. I follow with the Alba sea-kelp toner and I'm really happy with the results. Even though I have acne-prone skin this does not aggravate it and indeed cutting out products that strip my skin of its lipid barrier has given me less oily skin. Also, this is what i wash my face with at the gym so that I'm not washing my face with a harsher cleanser 4-5 times in one day. So I have repurchased this product and will continue to use it. The price is good for the quality of the products, and if you shop around you can find these at lower prices, surprisingly Whole Foods has these at a cheaper price than Duane Reade and Health Food Stores. Great product, love the pump, it travels well and has yet to make a mess in my gym bag like that toner has haha!
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Toners -Alba Botanica - Sea Kelp Facial Toner
jerriblank47 5/20/2010 2:08:00 PM
I love this toner. This has really helped me get my skin into balance and it has a luminous, smooth, radiant quality now that I have been using it regularly. I've gone through a few bottles at this point and will often put this in my backpack on a long bike ride in order to get the sweat and oil off of my skin. This is not an alcohol-based toner so you will not get the astringent benefits from this toner that you would from a traditional toner. My skin is so much better behaved now that I restore the ph balance to it after cleansing. I use a few harsh acids in my acne/anti-aging regimen and this toner helps spread the products more thinly and evenly so that I accrue the benefits of them without overuse, dryness, and redness. This toner is clearly not for everyone, I deal with my face's oiliness in other ways in my product regimen and this is used to mitigate their drying effects. My skin cannot have sd alcohol put onto it or it breaks out and goes crazy. So this is my HG for restoring ph balance and creating a glowy but not oily smooth facial texture. Do not buy this if you are looking for an astringent.
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Cleansers -Alba Botanica - Sea Mineral Cleansing Gel
jerriblank47 5/20/2010 2:03:00 PM
I love the Alba sea minerals line. I cannot use this product as it contains SLS, my esthetician told me that this chemical overly strips the skin's moisture balance, changes the skin's ph which causes sebum glands to go into overproduction. For anyone who is prone to breaking out and is using this product, this could potentially be the cause. I immediately switched to the cleansing milk, it's kind of counterintuitive that for oily skin a cream cleanser would be more beneficial but in the last few months my skin has really improved. So I would only recommend this product for someone without any acne/oil issues. Four of the other Alba sea based products are still in my regimen and I count on them to helping my skin to tolerate the acid based products in my regimen, retinol, AHA, BHA, Glycolic, not sure if this list is redundant. I wonder why a company that focuses on natural products is using SLS when it's so harmful to people? I've hear that you can't make a gel wash formulation easily without it which is why my dermatologist and esthetician tell me to just steer clear of gel washes in general.
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