Beauty Tips For Body Care
This is a list of product reviews from things I’ve tried, mostly from 2019. The theme is disappointment with a lot of them because when I was first getting back into skincare I made the mistake of falling into the trap of getting products from Sephora and believing into the hype around them. General idea is that more expensive doesn’t mean it’s a better product. Throughout 2019 I really learned a lot about skincare, going into 2020 I’m feeling a lot happier with my choices than the beginning of last year. Each product I used until empty, unless stated otherwise. For reference, my skin is sensitive and dry while being prone to redness.Tatcha Dewy Skin Cream - One of the worst things I think I used to believe was the hype around pricier moisturizers. This is one of those. The texture and feeling of it is luxurious, as is the packaging. But that’s the bulk of the positives. This has a lot of silicones in it and does go on smoothly, but it can pill if you put too much on. The Ingredients aren’t particularly special and while this did leave my skin feeling moisturized, it didn’t outperform any cheaper dopes. Overall rating: 2/10Tatcha Water Cream - Worse than the Dewy Skin cream in every way and v gimmicky. The only part of this that I would say is a positive is that it had a unique texture. This one was not nearly enough to keep my dry skin feeling moisturized and I always had to add extra oil on top to even feel like it was worth using. I do have dry skin, but for the price I think this one falls really flat. I tried to use this in the summer when I wanted something lighter but all it did way make my skin feel kind of greasy while still not leaving it feeling moisturized. It has things advertised like gold being in it and honestly I could do without. Overall rating: 1/10Drunk Elephant Lala Retro original formula - This product has been reformulated since I tried it so this is for the old version. I bought this when I wanted a more moisturizing night cream. This is so thick it’s almost hard to spread, and while it did definitely deliver in it’s promises to keep my skin feeling moisturized, it also felt very heavy and made me look greasy. Nothing felt special about it other than the container being an airless pump and sometimes I felt like it mildly irritated my skin. I think cheaper alternatives also outperform this one. Overall rating: 1.5/10Drunk Elephant Protini moisturizer I tried this one from the Sephora birthday gift last year. The texture and feeling of it is neat. It’s light but still feels like a moisturizing cream, and it provided a nice cooling sensation when it went on. Past that though, I wasn’t impressed because it seemed to absorb right away but then leave my skin feeling just as dry. With prolonged use I think it irritated my skin a bit, but I really just think that pricy moisturizers are mostly about cosmetic elegance vs a better product. Overall rating: 1.5/10Sunday Riley CEO Glow Oil Vitamin C + Turmeric- Yikes. Got this before I knew about the practices of the company. This was my first higher end product advertised as vitamin c. I wanted something gentle and I did not find it here. The formula was very irritating and left my skin red every time after using. At the time I thought it might be normal because it had vitamin c, but looking back I should have stopped using it sooner because it was just hurting my skin. Very oily, takes forever to sink in, the smell is S T R O N G and something that belongs more in the kitchen than in skincare. A huge fail and something I wish I hadn’t tried. Overall Rating: 0/10Indie Lee COQ-10 Toner - When I first tried this I thought I had found a HG. So much so that I did repurchase it. I bought this originally when I wanted a gentle, hydrating toner that wouldn’t irritate my skin. It does come in a beautiful glass spray bottle which I did enjoy using. The spray makes it a lot more convenient to apply and it felt really high quality. The smell was another thing I enjoyed, it was very fresh and almost floral without being too much. This did what it claimed in terms of providing my skin with hydration and not irritating it, but there are SO many cheaper and better toners out there. I didn’t realize it at the time but this one is grossly overpriced for what it is. Yes, it feels luxurious and does what it says, but other products do more. Overall rating: 3.7/10Youth to the People Komucha 11% AHA Toner - I only used this up to about half of the bottle then switched to using it on the legs+arms. I bought this when I wanted a stronger chemical exfoliant. You put it on a cotton pad and swipe it on like that. The feeling was surprisingly mild, it didn’t sting at all like i expected it to. It did, however, leave my face a lot more red for a while after using it. It didn’t feel like it was irritating my skin though. One of my main complaints is how sticky it left my skin after I used it. It went away a bit after i would do the rest of my routine but for the price I did expect better. This did exfoliate my skin and make it softer, but in the end I felt like the formula was too harsh to keep using. This is on part my skin being sensitive, but I also think there are cheaper alternatives for this. Overall rating: 1/10Youth to the People kale cleanser - Oh no. I bought this during pride month when they were donating to LGBT charities and had a special label on the bottle. This dried out and stripped my skin so badly. It foams and it’s runny and I can’t name a positive thing about it. I stopped using this within a week or two because it was just wrecking my skin. Overall rating- 0/10Youth to the People Superberry Oil - Just to start, the smell of this oil is divine. The feeling of it is also nice, it absorbs into the skin quickly and easily mixes into other products. I layered this over and under my moisturizer and it worked well both ways. It never caused any pilling and did what it claimed in terms of hydrating the skin and locking in moisture. It did leave my skin with a bit of a glow as well. I don’t actually have anything against this product and I think it’s well formulated but it is still a lot for an oil. I didn’t repurchase due to price and cheaper alternatives but I did enjoy it while I used it. My favorite of the YTTP products that I’ve tried. Overall rating: 6/10Sunday Riley Juno Oil I did repurchase this oil once after using it but never again. The smell is something that’s hit or miss, I personally didn’t mind it but it is very strong. The thing I liked about this oil is that it sunk into my skin easily, absorbed fairly quickly, and left my skin with a slight glow. In the end I think it was causing some minor breakouts on the sides of my cheeks though, and the price just isn’t worth it for what it is. There are so many great oils are there for significantly less, and even for a luxury oil I don’t think it’s quality matched it’s price. Some oils really irritate my skin and this one mostly didn’t, so I did like that. But when you factor in the company itself, the price, and the alternatives, I feel silly for ever buying this. Overall rating 1/10Caudalie Vinoperfect Glycolic Essence This was the first essence I ever tried. I got a sample of it in a beauty box then bought a full sized bottle when I ran out. What impressed me about this was that it really did leave my skin looking brighter and seemed to help other products absorb better. It’s lightweight and the consistency is similar to water. With consistent nightly use of this I did have a brighter, more even toned complexion. It’s really gentle while still bringing some results. However, it’s super expensive for what it is and any glycolic acid product will produce the same results for way less of the cost. I was impressed when I first tried it but that was before I tried other essences and chemical exfoliants. Now I think it’s a more mediocre product. Overall rating: 3.5/10First Aid Beauty Radiance Pads These were my introduction into chemical exfoliation past the Caudalie essence. I honestly dislike these mostly because I think they’re almost useless. I also don’t like that they aren’t upfront with the amounts of lactic and glycolic acid that they contain, probably because it’s so low. These did nothing but manage to irritate my skin. They didn’t seem to exfoliate but did leave my skin redder and less calm. They’re also pricey, too much so for what they actually do. A 5% lactic acid from TO is a much better and more solid starting place imo. Overall Rating: 0/10First Aid Beauty Cleanser - People rave about this and I fell into the hype. This is a creamier cleanser and I did like that about it. Past that though, it dried out my skin and made my redness worse after using it. I may just be sensitive to one of the ingredients, but this just didn’t work for me. For a brand marketed towards sensitive skin I’ve actually found most of their products to be at least somewhat irritating. Like the pads, this also didn’t feel like it even did what it promised. While it didn’t leave my skin feeling super stripped, it also didn’t make it feel cleaner or fresher. This just isn’t a cleanser for me. 1.5/10First Aid Beauty Cannabis Oil I got this when I was really searching for products to calm my skin down. It claimed to reduce redness and soothe skin. I didn’t find either of those claims to be particularly true, but it did make my skin feel more moisturized like an oil would. It’s marketed as a dry oil but it still took a fair about of time to absorb into my skin. I’d put a few drops in my palms, warm it up a little, then pat it on. After I stopped using it I realized it had been the cause of my breakouts during the time, and once I stopped using it my skin went back to being clear. Another huge problem I had was with the packaging. The top of my dropper broke off, and when I emailed the company about it I got really rude customer service and no resolution. It was after this that I stopped buying from First Aid Beauty in general because I think they’re overpriced and ineffective. Overall rating: 1/10Tatcha Violet C mask - Aka my biggest regret in terms of a purchase. I bought this because I wanted a higher end mask and fell for the marketing. This mask claims to leave your skin glowing and softer but I literally think it does nothing. Good or bad, my skin looks and feels exactly the same after i use it. I still have a fair bit left and I got it last September. It’s thick and purple, feels kind of nice going on but that’s about it. Overall rating: 0/10Farmacy HoneyMoon Glow AHA Serum This is one of the only pricey products I’ve tried that I think might actually be worth it. This is a gentle but effective blend of AHAs. What I love is that it absorbed into my skin right away and didn’t leave it feeling dry at all. It would cause some slight tingling but nothing that indicated a lot of irritation, more just felt like it was working. The real win would come the next day though, because my skin would reliably look smoother and more glowing the day after I’d use it. I haven’t repurchased because I wanted something more gentle for the winter and as I started a retinoid, but this is a very nice formula and I might repurchase in the future. There may be cheaper and better alternatives but it is also a unique mix of things. Overall rating: 7.5/10Fresh Black Tea Kombucha Essence - This really irritated my skin. Honestly I just shouldn’t have tried it but I fell for all the marketing and reviews. Every time I used this my skin would feel worse in every way. Texture was worse, redness was worse, and there were pretty much no positives. The consistency is similar to water and it did absorb into my skin easily and well. It didn’t make my skin feel hydrated or better at all. I ended up using it on my neck and décolletage because my skin is less sensitive there. This might just be a YMMV, but I honestly think there are a bunch of way better essences out there that would do more. Overall rating- 0/10Fresh Seaberry Oil - This is another oil that smells good and does leave my skin feeling calm and moisturized, but that probably isn’t worth it. The bottle you get is big considering you only need a few drops each time you use it. This actually does a decent job of calming down my redness and making my skin feel calm. I mostly layered it under my moisturizer because that’s what the instructions said, and I liked how quickly it absorbed into my skin. It also mixed in well with my moisturizer. It’s nice oil blend, but probably not nicer than other oils that cost less. Overall Rating: 7/10Peter Thomas Roth Cloud Serum with HA I got this at the very beginning of getting back into skincare after not having done it for a while. I had no concept of the fact that a basic HA serum should cost nowhere near what they charge for this. It comes out as a thin, clear gel but it does feel kind of sticky once you put it on. It doesn’t feel nice at all and it doesn’t sink in well like other HA products that I’ve tried since. It didn’t irritate my skin but it also didn’t feel like it did much at all. Definitely something I regret trying, in retrospect. Overall Rating:0/10Caudalie S.O.S Thirst-Quenching Serum - This is another product that I tried more at the start of getting back into having a routine. I wanted a nice, hydrating serum so I got this one based on good reviews I saw. At the time I didn’t know about sites like cosDNA and I wasn’t as aware of what ingredients to look out for or not, so I definitely didn’t realize how much of a mediocre serum this was. It has fragrance in the middle of it’s ingredient list and other potentially irritating things in it as well. I did like the milky feel and consistency of this serum, and that smell was nice, but it doesn’t compare to cheaper alternatives. It left my skin feeling fairly hydrated but not particularly soothed or calm. It didn’t make my skin look any different either way. I think it’s another overpriced product that mostly is different because of it’s cosmetic elegance. Overall Rating: 3/10Glossier- HA and vitamin C serums, rich priming moisturizer, Milky Jelly Cleanser, and Sunscreen - I’m packing all of these reviews into one section because a theme with Glossier products is they just don’t work well. The vitamin C literally did notice for my skin and there’s not much to say besides I feel like it’s a waste of a product. The HA serum is very thick compared to other HA serums and products. It doesn’t sink in well and isn’t as easy to layer. It’s also on the pricier side and I feel like you’re mostly paying for the label of the brand here. The priming rich moisturizer was one of the first ‘nicer’ heavy moisturizers that I tried. I say nicer because I thought for the price it would be higher quality. It has things like lavender oil in it which I think irritated my skin. It’s a thick, heavy moisturizer like advertised. It left my skin feeling greasy and never seemed to absorb fully. The smell was strong, like lavender, and I wouldn’t recommend it. The sunscreen made my skin red and feel like it was burning so I only tried it once but it definitely wasn’t for my skin. The milky jelly cleanser was the nicest out of all of their products that I tried. It’s a jelly like cleanser that can be used on dry or wet skin. It gently cleanser and is a little harder to rinse off than some other cleansers, but it didn’t leave a film or anything behind. It didn’t make my skin feel dry but it also didn’t make it feel any better than any other cleanser. I wouldn’t rate anything over a 1/10Supergoop Unseen Sunscreen - I did enjoy this product and I repurchased several times until I found a cheaper alternative that I like more. This sunscreen feels more like a primer than anything. It has a slight yellow tint which goes away as soon as you put it on. It has no white cast and would always leave my skin looking like it had kind of a glow. I liked how easy it was to apply, it didn’t take any extra rubbing in or anything. The price per ounce is pretty crazy though, especially if you reapply your sunscreen and use a fair amount everyday. I wouldn’t actually recommend it but it isn’t a bad product by any means, I just think there are lots of other options out there. Overall rating: 7.5/10Belief True Cream Moisturizing Bomb - I’m still going through this because I got it to replace my nighttime moisturizer when they had their holiday kits out. I do enjoy this moisturizer a lot. It has a slight lemony scent but it doesn’t cause my skin any irritation. It’s thicker but spreads easily and absorbs into my skin fully in a minute or so after being applied. It’s great to mix a drop of oil into to boost even more. It does a good job of keeping my skin feeling moisturized. I haven’t notice any negatives personally, I’m not sure if I’ll repurchase but I definitely am liking using it for now. Overall Rating: 8.5/10Belief Aqua Bomb Sleeping Mask - I got this before I tried their moisturizer, I wanted it because the Cosrx rice overnight mask broke me out and I had heard great things about this one. This is easily one of my favorite products in my routine. It’s such a unique consistency, very much like jello. It’s light blue and has a dreamy cooling feeling when you put it on. It says to only do a thin layer which I think is important because when I do a thicker layer it tends to pill a bit. With a thin layer there’s no issues though. It isn’t moisturizing but it’s excellent at locking in your layers of moisture and hydration underneath it. It dries down quickly and really feels like it helps my skin not get dry overnight. It’s pricier but you only use a tiny bit and it lasts forever so I do think it’s worth it. Overall Rating: 9.5/10Stratia Liquid Gold - Everything that’s good that people say about this is true. So good, a true HG. This is a versatile product that could act as a light moisturizer or more of a heavy serum under a thicker moisturizer. It’s easy to mix with other products and has a wonderful silky consistency. It absorbs into the skin fully and quickly, and the only thing about it is that it does have a bright yello/orange color to it. A little bit goes a long though so it mostly isn’t a problem. It leaves my skin feeling so soft, moisturized, and soothes. I usually put a thicker moisturizer on top of it but I definitely don’t always feel like I have to. One of my absolute favorite products for sure and would recommend forever Overall Rating: 10/10Stratia Soft Touch This has a clear gel consistency and is easy to spread and pat on. It absorbs quickly and I’d usually give it a 20 minutes wait between using it and moving on with my routine. My biggest complaint is how dry it made my skin. It literally left it with dry spots of skin that were almost flaking off and my skin usually isn’t to that level of dry. On the other hand, it did reduce my redness every time after using it, and it did left my skin softer. It was gentle enough to use a few times a week, and I love that it didn’t sting or cause any redness like other chemical exfoliants that I’ve tried. I just ran out and got TO lactic acid to replace it, but I wouldn’t rule out repurchasing in the future. It’s super gentle but it does exfoliate and the formula is nice. Overall Rating: 8/10Stratia Rewind - I have about half a bottle left of this. It’s a basic niacinamide serum but it does it’s just and the consistency is great. It’s on the thinner side of a serum, almost like an essence. It’s a runny, lightweight gel serum that is a little sticky after you apply it but that fades once you move on to the rest of your routine. So far I’ve noticed some gentle brightening effects and it just makes my skin feel soothed when I put it on. It reduces my redness a little bit and I think like all the Stratia products that I’ve tried, the formula is top notch and the results are there. Overall Rating: 8.5/10
Girls Blog 2015
Submitted by oakziet
No comments:
Post a Comment