Kiehl's Clearly Corrective: A New Hyperpigmentation Fighter

So, remember back when I posted about my Melasma issues (complete with embarrassing pics), and showed how everything went away in my Kiehl's Photo Age review? I may have been a bad girl.

My hormones are still out of whack due to breast feeding. So, I should have stayed on top of things with my Photo Age, but I didn't. With a baby, full time job, blogging, other products to test... the extra 30 second step each night was just a bit much. Plus, I did figure I'd have other things to test. So I stopped using it.

And look what happened.

3

Aveeno Positively Ageless Review: Shitake Extract Makes Me Risk Myself for Beauty

When a box of Aveeno's Positively Ageless products arrived at my house I was pretty happy. I'm a skincare junkie, and lately I haven't posted much about more affordable anti-aging skincare products. So, I started using them almost immediately (I may have "accidentally" forgotten to see what I was meant to be reviewing next. Oops!)

I assumed that I was just using some anti-oxidants and maybe peptides in addition to the usual oatmeal and the SPF 30. I found out a few days later that the product has Shitake Extract. Oops! I'm a bit, ok, more than a bit, allergic to mushrooms. I've always avoided them in beauty products in the past. I had no untoward effects from the mushrooms.

I want everyone to know that I risked myself for you. Well, for you and and a good broad spectrum UV coverage skin lotion. Moral of the story, read the box before I test something. Which I've always done in the past, but here I was blinded by the UV coverage.

Read on to see what I actually thought of the products, and why I kept using them despite the mushrooms!

4

Olay Facial Hair Remover Duo Review: Don't Be a Scary Hairy Person!

So...facial hair removal. This isn't something I address very often. Really, who wants to announce to the whole internet beauty blogging world that they have facial hair issues? Not me.

Though I do have some issues. I've mostly had problems since I had my daughter last year. Things just seem a bit thicker and darker than usual. I think this is mostly something that bugs me, and no one else notices. How often do you notice if the woman next to you in the checkout lane has one stray hair? Unless that hair is about six inches long, not very often. But if I'm the one with the single stray hair, I really notice that hair!

My self confidence definitely takes a hit.

Things I've tried in the past for hair removal on my face include hair removal creams, home waxing strips, and of course just tweezing away any strays. I'd love to just laser away everything, though that is expensive, and since most of my hair is fine and blonde I'm not an ideal candidate. I fully confess that I do sometimes use my at home laser hair removal system on it, though not often enough to have really seen much difference.

None of those previous hair removal methods have been ideal. All of the creams have caused major irritation issues such as redness, uncomfortable skin, and even blemishes. The burning is so uncomfortable for me that I usually end up removing them before their time is up, which means I just end up with icky skin and still have hair. And yes, I just used the word icky.

After all of my trial and error with facial hair removal, I usually stick to home waxing strips. They work pretty well, though they do leave hair behind that I then need to tweeze. The tweezing can take quite a while, so waxing can be pretty time consuming. At least the wax strips don't leave me red and blotchy for a few days afterwards.

How Do Depilatories Work?

New Olay Smooth Finish Facial Hair Removal Duo is a depilatory cream. It works like other depilatory creams (the main active ingredient is calcium thioglycolate hydroxide), so the hair removal action really isn't anything revolutionary. What is different is the Skin Guarding Balm, but I'll get to that later. First, I'll review how a depilatory cream actually works.

If you head over to my post about hair structure, you'll read about how the outer layer of the hair (the cuticle) is basically made up of shingles of dead protein called keratin. Within the keratin you'll find the amino acid cysteine. The cysteines within keratin have special bonds (called di-sulfide bonds, in teal above) holding them to each other, giving the hair strength and structure.

All depilatories work at the site of that bond, breaking it and splitting apart the keratin. As the disulfide bonds are broken, the hair structure basically falls apart. Apply a little pressure and the hair will break apart and basically dissolve wherever it has been exposed to the cream. This mostly means the hair that has already reached the surface of the skin, though a little bit of the hair beneath the skin's surface will be affected as well. However, the cream can't reach all the way down the hair shaft and dissolve the root of the hair.

Depilatory creams don't only work on hair. Because you find a lot of keratin in the skin as well as fingernails, the creams will also break disulfide bonds in those keratins as well. So, you'll weaken your nails if you don't wash the cream off of your hands, and any skin exposed to a depilatory will have irritation.

Since all depilatory creams work with the same basic reaction, breaking those disulfide bonds, aren't they really all the same? Well, not so much. There are a few active ingredients out there, and some of them, such as thioglycolic acid, require the presence of other chemicals to ensure that the reaction takes place. So, thioglycolic acid products should also contain calcium hydroxide. That's not exactly a skin friendly ingredient. There are also different strengths available, so I recommend using a body depilatory on your body and a facial depilatory only on your face.

So, That's Really Interesting...Get To The Point. Did You Like The New Olay Smooth Finish Facial Hair Removal Duo?

Now that you're all educated about how depilatories work, you should know that the Olay product works basically the same as all other depilatory products on the market. It goes in there and takes care of that disulfide bond. I don't have any specifics such as % active ingredient or anything, but this is a facial hair removal product from Olay, so you know they've formulated it for the face.

Duh.

What sets this product apart from say, the Nair you used on your bikini line in high school, is that this is a system. Rather than simply having that hair removing depilatory cream, there's a first step that is amazing. Love it.

The first step in this system is a Skin Guarding Balm that adds a protective layer over your skin to protect it from the cream. It comes in a stick, and truthfully it looks and feels exactly like the lip balm that comes with the two step 12-hour lippies from CoverGirl, Revlon and the like.

It is a white stick that when applied to your skin melts easily into an oily balm that is very much like vaseline (but it isn't, rather than petrolatum it is mostly sucrose polycottonseedate and beeswax). You lightly rub the stick over the areas you'll be treating and then rub it into your skin for 20 seconds using light circular movements. You'll have a oily sheen across your skin, but the balm will be much less noticeable.

Next you use the Hair Removal Cream. It's a basic white cream, and the most noticeable thing about it is that there is no gross smell as you apply! Instead, it is a floral/herbal/citrus scent that is light and fresh, though I can't really describe it any more in detail. You rub a layer of the cream over the balm, and about a minute later you will notice that the typical chemical smell associated with depilatories does come out. The smell isn't horrible, just noticeable.

Now, here's the part where I fully admit that I messed up and did put a little bit of the removal cream on a little bit of skin that had no balm. I didn't do it on purpose, though it did serve as a nice control, so let's pretend that I did this on purpose.

The areas that had balm applied to them felt fine. I could feel the cream was on, but there were absolutely no sensation associated with it. No burning, tingling, itchiness or warmth. Just a feeling that a cream was over the balm.

On the small bit of skin without balm (under my chin), there was burning and itching after a few minutes. It wasn't unbearable, but it wasn't exactly comfortable either. This area did have a bit of redness later after the treatment, so make sure you use the balm everywhere!

After 6-8 minutes, it is time to remove the cream. Using a cotton or tissue, wipe the cream off of your face. A little bit of pressure here will help, since you're effectively breaking the hairs apart in their new disulfide bond free state. Once you've wiped everything off just wash your face!

I really loved that when I wiped my face clean at 6 minutes, everything went with the cream. Seriously. I was super smooth, my face was not at all irritated and I felt like me again, instead of some hairy monster person. There was no clean up needed since it got every hair, so a definite time saver.

Would I use this again and actually spend money on it?

YES. It definitely saved me time, let me be the hair free person that I love to be, and my skin loved it.

Sweepstakes! Olay and BlogHer are offering a $50 gift card!

To be entered for a chance to win, leave a comment telling me how you use your beauty routine to express your inner beauty. Be sure to visit the Promotions & Prizes page on BlogHer.com for more reviews, and more chances to win!

Rules:

To enter this contest, you can pick from the entry methods below but only 2 will count (and no duplicate comments). So, pick 2!

- Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

- Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

- Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

- For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older.

Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.

You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

This sweepstakes runs from 1/3/2012 - 2/3/2012.

While we're on the subject of looking good, you might want to check out the "Looking Your Best" posts in the Life Well Lived section of BlogHer.com. There are some great tips and expert posts!

Full disclosure: This is a sponsored post. I was provided with a product sample and then paid to write about this product (oh, and to do so in at least 350 words. I think I'm a *bit* over that, don't you?). I was encouraged to give my own opinion and to be honest in my review. I have written this piece on my own, and all opinions are mine and mine alone. Though I did have my PhD in Chemical Engineering hubby double check my chemical reaction picture. For any further questions please see my disclosure policy.

105

Pore Strip Your Face: The At Home Gelatin Facial

I did something brave last week. I pore stripped my face. The entire thing. Yes. No, I did not go crazy and buy my local Walmart out of Bioré products. Instead, I bought a $1.36 box of unflavored gelatin and used up half of it. Truly.

I found this via Pinterest (love it!), and I knew as soon as I saw it, I would have to try it! The idea came from Petite Elefant (pinned here). I was the girl in college with the nose strips on her forehead, nose, chin and cheeks. I had to try this. There was no choice.

I should note that I tried this out immediately after my morning shower, so I knew all the stuff clogging my pores had been nicely loosened up by my shower and I was more likely to yank some of it out.

So, first, I somewhat followed the directions over at Petite Elefant. In that I used disposable items and unflavored gelatin with milk. Not so much in that I forgot how much to use, so when I combined ingredients I used 2 packets of gelatin and about 1-2 tablespoons of milk and when mixed up mine was about the consistency of a fruit on the bottom yogurt once mixed up. There is no other way to describe it, I created Yoplait.

Then I put it in the microwave. I thought it was 30 seconds (actually, 10 seconds is recommended), but I pulled it out about 25 seconds in once it started bubbling. Oops! It turns out this stuff cools down rapidly and as it cools it sets up. So, this gave me about 2 minutes of stand around and talk to my husband while stirring, then I realized it was getting stringy and thick quickly so I ran up to the bathroom to put it on.

Application was pretty easy. I used a plastic picnic knife, it was fine if you don't have the recommended popsicle stick. You don't want a thin or a thick layer, really it should be somewhat in between. Once it dries you'll be peeling this stuff off. Too thick is goopy and hard to peel in 1 piece, too thin and it will break off every where. Avoid your eye brows and too close to your eyes. Really.

About 10-15 minutes later, things will definitely start to tighten up as it dries. This is when you want to remove. I simply opened my mouth to start tearing into it, and then I started peeling. It isn't quite as satisfying as a Bioré, since it is harder to see the grossness you've just pulled out of your skin. But, you'll notice right away that your pores are smaller and black heads are gone.

As you pull the mask off it does exfoliate (aka- pull off skin). I didn't notice redness, but my skin was definitely sensitive that day. You should do this on a day that you'll be able to baby your skin with added moisture and maybe staying home sans makeup. Be sure to wear your sunscreen as well! I swear this stuff also pulled off hair, so any little baby fuzz you have is likely to be pretty reduced by using this mask.

However, a word of caution! I was too close to my eyebrows when I applied. I didn't think this would matter. The first removal swatch I did near them did pull up a few eyebrows (small bald spot! I have had to fill it in with an eyebrow pencil, though it is now filling in). So, be careful! After that I took a little warm water with my fingers, wet the gelatin on my brows, and once it loosened up I gently scraped it off with fingernails. So, problem averted.

The first day my skin was sensitive to the touch, though I didn't look irritated and my skin wasn't red. Instead, it felt very soft and my pores were immediately much smaller in appearance. The best results were actually a few days later, I swear my pores looked smaller and smaller! The usual gunk I have clogging them was gone and despite a time I should have been breaking out (hmmm....) my skin was perfect!

Have you tried this? I'm definitely going to be doing it again, though I'll probably just direct it at my t-zone rather than my entire face. And I likely will only microwave for 15-20 seconds. I think this might be an every other week or so thing for me for now on.

Update!
When I wrote this post I had a cold and couldn't smell it, but yes, it really does smell horrible (read below, this seemed to make a few people VERY ANGRY WITH ME. You've been warned! Sorry!)

There are quite a few great tips in the comments to help with the smell including using soy milk, lemon juice, adding a few drops of essential oil to the mix.

Also, to prevent your eye brows from being pulled out, coat them with vaseline first!

127

Artistry Skin Care: Microdermabrasion and Intensive Peel Review

I know what you're thinking. Isn't that a picture of an Amway product? Yes, it is. I'm not sure why Amway has a certain cache in the US (it likely has to do with the door to door nature of selling?) for some reason most Americans don't think very highly of it, despite elevating their opinions of similar companies such as Avon and Mary Kay. For the last couple of decades Amway has concentrated their efforts in markets outside of the US, areas like Asia, where they are insanely popular.

More recently, Amway has been really upping their A Game, though most Americans are unaware of this. To help get the word out, they sent me a few products to try out, and later today there will be a huge giveaway.

Artistry sent me their Microdermabrasion System and Intensive Skincare Renewing Peel to try out. Read on to see what I thought.

1

Rodin Olio Lusso: Does Vogue Hype Make This Face Oil Amazing?

I've been experiencing more problems than usual with the shift in weather this year. My skin is usually combination, which is an upgrade from the oily all over that I had in high school. I have an oily t-zone and my cheeks are pretty much normal, though can be a tad dry on occasion. Except for this fall, when the shift from hot and humid to cool and dry has just wreaked major havoc on my skin. I'm suddenly parched, with dry flakes on my cheeks that are rapidly progressing toward my nose! I especially had issues earlier this month when I was testing out MAC Matchmaster Foundation. It was settling into those cracks and looked horrid.

So, I've been reaching for every product that I think might impart a bit more moisture to my parched skin. Given my recent success using Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate, I decided to pull Rodin's Olio Lusso face oil out of my testing queue early. It was sent to me this summer by the nice people over at Beauty Works West, and it's been patiently waiting its turn to be tested ever since.

So, another face oil? And one that was recently highly recommended in a recent Vogue article for the amazing (and non-oily) hydration that is fast becoming a go-to product amongst the fashion elite? Sign me up!

Rodin in Vogue
(click to enlarge)

So, if you squint enough to read the Vogue article above (from August 2011, I found this image of it on-line), you'll see that really this oil blend was born of a personal need. Linda Rodin didn't set out to make an amazingly popular and exclusive skin care line. She was looking to streamline her own skin care routine when she blended 11 essential oils in her bathroom.

This oil looks a bit like olive oil in its sleek little bottle. It is yellow in color and smells faintly like Jasmine and Neroli, which I love. I use about 4 drops from my entire face. I drop them into a palm, rub both palms together to spread and then pat it on to my face and neck, concentrating my application on to dry areas.

The oil takes about 2 minutes to sink in to my skin, but once it does you can't tell that it was an oil that made me moisturized and glowy. There is no residue left behind, no oily sheen and nothing to interfere with makeup application.

I'm sure that someone will ask me to compare this to my recent testing of Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate. I found that they both work equally well in the morning under makeup. However, I do think that the Kiehl's is a bit more hydrating, so I prefer using that one at night.

Ingredients:
Jasmine, Rose Hip See, Sweet Almond, Jojoba, Evening Primrose, Apricot, Arnica, Calendula, Neroli, Sunflower, Argan, Juniper, Rosemary

My sample was provided by Beauty Works West

5

Bel Mondo Beauty: Moisture + Bio-Cellulose = Glow

Lately, my amazing hubby has been helping me carve out a few (ok, maybe 15-20) extra minutes for some morning pampering. It isn't do-able every day, but about once a week he balances our dog (super old, some strange spinal condition so he wears two diapers for accidents not to mention his anxiety and weakness issues) and super energetic and sometimes clingy 9 month old. All in the name of letting me spend some extra time under the shower and maybe have a chance to squeeze in a bit of pampering for myself. When this happens, I break out a mask!

This weekend I used a new type of mask for me, an infused bio-cellulose mask from Bel Mondo. Bio-cellulose is artificially created in a lab. It is 200x finer and 4x stronger than cellulose from plants/wood. The process takes 10 days, basically putting a special bacterial formula into a mold and letting things grow, though I'm sure there is a lot of special care that goes into this along the way.

The film is amazing. It is actually pretty thick (I think it feels at least 1 mm thick), and is somewhat translucent. It can hold up to 100x its dry weight in fluid, so a lot of active ingredients can be infused. Then, once you put it on the skin it is so pliable that it lies very easily on the skin surface. Obviously this has medical uses such as burn and wound dressings, but here we're using it for something much more mundane. A face mask.

The mask itself is somewhat large (it will definitely fit your face!), and there are holes in it for your eyes, nose and mouth. The directions talk about removing outer layers in a certain order as you apply it, blah blah blah. I found it too hard to move the mask around this way. I ended up removing the outer layers so I could just position the mask itself. I found this much easier for application. The mask is thick and has some strength, though it isn't super strong. I didn't tear it at all, but I would just treat it fairly gingerly. Once it is positioned where you want it, smooth out the bio-cellulose and fold flaps under the mask for access to your eyes.

The mask feels somewhat heavy (I guess that is the 100x its dry weight in fluid!), and is cool. I found it to be a bit cold for me, though in the future I'll probably warm it up by putting the mask in warm water for a bit before opening it. It is definitely moist! Leave it on for about 20 minutes, and then simply pull the whole thing off. The mask does not dry at all, so there will be a lot of left over liquid on your face. Rub it in to your skin (it does absorb pretty quickly) for added moisture. It leaves a very light residue, though I could apply makeup later without an issue.

I used the Anti-Aging mask, which contains a ton of moisture with ingredients like hyaluronic acid, aloe vera and ceramides. It also contains peptides, which yes do need to work over time, but a little boost every now and then certainly isn't going to hurt. Mostly I loved the huge boost in moisture, I was definitely glowing after my treatment!






Bel Mondo Beauty

1

Murad's Acne & Aging Skin Care Products: Fight 2 Problems with 1 Set of Products

Sometimes, it can be very frustrating to be in your late 20's or early 30's. You want to start fighting aging, but you still have some issues with blemishes (especially at that time of the month) and it can be very hard to chose products that will fight both.

Murad is taking the guess work out of it with their Acne & Aging line. They recently sent me a starter kit, and while I can't find the exact kit I used on-line, I did get to try out 4 of the most useful products in that line.

Read on to find out more about them.

2

Kiehl's Midnight Recovery: Is One Night Really All You Need For Younger Looking Skin?

Have you heard about the Midnight Recovery products from Kiehl's? They promise overnight improvement in your skin, to help regenerate, repair and replenish your skin. Their Concentrate has been so successful that they're releasing a companion eye cream.

So, obviously it must do something to be so popular, right? But, what could a product really do given about 8 hours on your skin?

6

Real Acne Questions and Answers

Today a little birdie sent me a link to this video from
Reel Skin, a new series of dermatology videos.

This video features Manny on the Street, who is on the Ryan Seacrest morning show on KISS FM in LA (so strange to see him in person, I listened to that show during my morning commute when I lived in So Cal). Manny interviewed a few people on the street about their Acne questions and Dr. Rubinstein, a prominent local dermatologist answered the questions. I love that his answers are straight forward and easy to understand!

I'm hoping that this becomes a regular series.

0

Murad's Intensive Resurfacing Peel

I love being able to use an at-home peel once a week to reveal soft skin that has a more consistent tone. The side benefits of anti-aging and reduced blemishes are definitely something I'm interested in as well. So, when Murad sent me their Intensive Resurfacing Peel to try out, I was pretty excited.

I'm not sure that I'd call this peel "Intensive". Really, it is more "moderate", which is probably good since I do know a lot of people tend to really overdo the at home peel. So, ignore the name, it is not going to turn you into scary Samantha after a peel from her derm. (I swear I think about this episode every time I break out a peeling product.) I think this episode is a great warning about over doing the peel. Those people that suggest buying pro-level products on-line and using them at home? Probably best to ignore them. Having some intense pain or burning during your treatment? Time to inactivate or rinse it off. Listen to your skin!

This peel is a light tan color, with a little bit of a pearly sheen. It has the consistency of a light lotion and you'll find little white beads within the product as well. The little beads will break apart a bit when compressed, they're small, think of those white flecks that fall off of styrofoam. The peel does have a light chemical scent, but it isn't noticeable to me.

When I applied the peel it did sting slightly, but that disappeared after about 20-30 seconds and didn't hurt. The peel dries to a light film on your skin after about 3-4 minutes. It feels tight but not overly so. It rinsed off easily with minimal scrubbing. I think those little beads I mentioned are meant to help with some physical exfoliation during the rinsing off process, but really there just aren't enough of them to make a difference here. I followed it up with a regular face wash. It felt like the mask was completely off my face, but who wants to leave a little bit on their face and look like Samantha as a result? Definitely not me.

When it was done my skin definitely felt smooth and I have improved tone with smaller appearing pores. It wasn't the strongest peel I've done at home, but it definitely had done something to my skin with just one use.

This peel is pricey, though much cheaper than a professional peel. The box comes with 4 individual sized bottles, which at 5 ml each are big enough to treat your face and neck easily. Though, $40 for the box is more than many other at-home products. I did really like this product, I'm not certain I like the price. Murad does go on sale sometimes, I'd say it is worth checking out if on-sale.






Murad's Intensive Resurfacing Peel

4