Loose Powder

A while back I did a review on the Neutrogena Wave Sonic. After I ran out of the regular “Deep Clean” (original) pads, I decided to try out the exfoliating pads.

Original / Exfoliating

Top

The exfoliating pads are round cotton pads like the original deep clean pads. The only visible difference is that the surface is not as soft or fuzzy as the deep clean pads, and there are orange colored dots on the top for exfoliating.

The top and bottom of the exfoliating pads are easier to identify than the deep clean pads because the surface with the orange dots is the top, while the surface without the orange top is the bottom that attaches to the Wave Sonic head.

Bottom

Unlike the original pads, the exfoliating pads do not have much of a lather. However, as advertised, it does exfoliate your skin more than the original pads. I didn’t find the exfoliating pad to be rough, but I wish it had more of a lather to it like the original pads.

As I mentioned before, using the Wave Sonic can get expensive because of the refill pads, so I tried to experiment and used regular cotton pads and face wash, but to my dismay it didn’t work. The cotton just did not grip well to the attachment head, and the cotton pads left cotton filaments on head and it was difficult to clean off and kind if ruined the grip of the head.

This resulted in me not using the Wave Sonic much, but since I still have pads left, I still use these for exfoliating once in a long while.

December’s Birchbox is all decorated for the holidays!

Inside this months box was a selection of nice samples and a chocolate treat!

• Frownies Eye Gels
• J.R. Watkins Hand and Cuticle Salve
• Nick Chavez Beverly Hills Advanced Volume Shampoo
• theBalm Hot Mama blush
• Extra: Emily’s Chocolates Dark Chocolate Peppermint Holiday Fortunes

First, I really loved the chocolate fortune cookie from Emily’s Chocolates! I’m usually not a fan of fortune cookies, but this one was so tasty! They’re $5.99 for 6 cookies, so I’m not buying any right now, but it’s a good thing to keep in mind for gifts or a splurge.

I’ve purchased the J.R. Watkins Hand & Cuticle Salve for myself before, but that was several years ago. It was a larger tin and it got kind of gross before I could use it all. I did like the product a lot though, and thought it was great for extra dry spots along my nails. I love the sample size and have already used it several times. The aloe and green tea scent it very fresh without being overpowering.

The Nick Chavez Volumizing Shampoo is okay, but I didn’t notice any difference in the volume of my hair. It cleans well enough, so I’ll keep using it until I use up the sample.

My favorite thing in this month’s box has to be theBalm’s Hot Mama blush! It’s a peach blush with a slight gold shimmer – kind of like Nars Orgasm or the Milani mineral blush I’ve been using. I feel like this is a bit more pigmented and looks nicer with my skin, though, so I probably be buying a full size at some point. Here’s a closer look at the sample and a swatch in direct and indirect sunlight.

The one item I haven’t tried yet is the Frownies eye gels. The sample is one set that can be reused 2 to 4 times if you can keep them hydrated. I very rarely use eye gels, so I’m not sure when I’ll get to these.

Overall this was a great box and I’ve enjoyed nearly all of the items!

Birchbox is a monthly subscription service. For $10 a month, you’ll receive a box of four to five deluxe sized samples in the mail.

December’s Birchbox Man is all about getting cleaned up and going home for the holidays.

In this box, there were a nice selection of cleansing and moisturizing items:

• TORO Shave Oil
• Guythority by Jock Soap Tall Drink Body Hydrator
• Lucky Tiger Face Scrub, Face Moisturizer, and Lip Balm
• The Knottery Wool Knit Tie

It’s an interesting selection of stuff and some things I will try (the Lucky tiger items) and some I will probably give away (shave oil, body hydrator). I might think about the tie, but it’s really not my style, so I might end up passing that along too.

My January Birchbox Man is actually already here, so I’ll be posting the contents of that one soon!

This past spring, I was struggling with a lot of blemishes on my skin. I’m not sure if it was hormones or because I was trying out various BB creams, but I was having constant breakouts on my forehead and chin.

Now, I’ve always used100% tea tree oil to treatment but for some reason it wasn’t working and that was getting frustrating. I remembered that from a recent Body Shop haul, I’d picked up a bottle of their tea tree oil. It wasn’t pure and contained a blend of other ingredients. The reviews for it were great online, so I thought I’d finally open it up and try it.

The ingredients for their tea tree oil is listed as:

Water, Alcohol Denat., PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Polysorbate 20, Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Oil, Limonene, t-Butyl Alcohol, Calophyllum Inophyllum Seed Oil, Citral, Leptospermum Petersonii (Lemon Tea Tree) Oil, Denatonium Benzoate, Tocopherol.

As you can see, there are quite a few other ingredients aside from tea tree oil (Melaleuca Alternifola), and I couldn’t quite believe that it work any better. Well, I was wrong! This stuff works amazing on blemishes. Applying it directly once or twice a day, depending on how bad the blemish is, will clear up the spot in a few days. Previously, it would take weeks for the blemish to start to heal and I’d still be left with a spot of dark discoloration.

Now I tend to apply this tea tree oil when I feel a blemish beginning and nearly every time, it will keep the pimple from developing. I love this stuff and always make sure I have ti with me when I travel.

The bottle costs $9.00 for a 0.33 fl oz bottle, but you can usually get it for less during one of the Body Shop‘s frequent sales.

October’s Birchbox was a special edition curated by goop.com, featuring their must-try items.

I actually missed the opt-in e-mail, so I wasn’t sure if I would be getting this box. When I asked about it via Twitter, I was told that it was possible that I could still get on, so when my October box arrived in the special goop outer sleeve, I was quite excited!

Well… this box wasn’t nearly as exciting as I was expecting, but there were still a couple items I was interested in trying.

• Chantecaille Faux Cils Mascara
• DDF Wrinkle Resist Plus Pore Minimizer
• EVE LOM Cleanser and Muslin Cloth
• per-fekt Beauty Lip Perfection Gel
• Extra: Lemon Zest Luna Bar

First of all, I always keep a Luna bar in my purse because I get a little difficult to deal with when my blood sugar is low. My friends and I say that I am getting “stabby.” Lemon Zest is one of the few flavors I like, though sometimes it’s a little sweet – I’m currently liking the almond ones a bit more.

My face is currently recovering from a terrible reaction to a foundation I was trying, so I haven’t yet used the DDF Pore Minimzer or the EVE LOM cleanser, though both look good. I also like the little muslin cloth the EVE LOM cleanser comes with as I find those work better for me as an exfoliator than the usual scrubs which was a bit too gritty.

The item that kind of baffles me is the per-fekt Beauty Lip Perfection Gel. It’s in a very strange sample package and I have yet to open it to try it.

I’m not sure this month’s box was really worth it, but I’m continuing my subscription.

Birchbox is a monthly subscription service. For $10 a month, you’ll receive a box of four to five deluxe sized samples in the mail.

Since cucumber seems to be a repeated ingredient I favor during the summer, I decided to try the Yes to Cucumbers Facial Towelettes that I saw at my local Target store. The entire Yes To line is clever in using natural foods of carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, and blueberries to make a colorful display of their packaging. I also liked how each of the fruit or vegetable boasted a certain trait, like soothing for cucumber or nourishing for carrots. It was a fun way to put natural foods back in the spotlight.

On the outside of the packaging, there’s a snap closure, which I found an improvement over the flimsy plastic sheeting that barely stays attached on some other brands of facial towelettes that I’ve tried. When I opened this snap closure, I could only wish I was able to “wipe that smile ON my face” as mentioned on interior. Because I immediately noticed a strong scent and it did not remind me of cucumbers. The smell was sweet–very floral like–powdery and with a hint of astringent. In fact, I had a horrible flashback to the honeysuckle fragrance from Bath and Body Works circa 1995, the fragrance that I’ve since put on my Triggers for Migraines And Must Be Avoided list. So the scent definitely didn’t win me over.

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A sample sized version of COOLA Face SPF 30 Matte Finish Cucumber sunscreen came as part of my monthly subscription to Birchbox in June and I didn’t really test it out until around mid-July, when the weather took a turn toward Heat Wave. Growing up in Southern California, I have acclimated (read: am spoiled) to the perpetual sunshine. I started wearing moisturizer with sunscreen around middle school, using the drugstore brand that was the hand-me-down shared bottle I usually saw my mom and aunts wear. It was only when I took a trip to urgent care–the result of contact dermatitis from a bottle of sunscreen used while visiting Magic Mountain–that I learned to be selective about the ingredients list.

Nearly everything listed on the COOLA packaging got my attention: SPF 30. Mineral. Matte Finish. Hypoallergenic. Paraben free. Perfect primer. Chemical free. UVA/UVB broad spectrum. Titanium dioxide. Zinc oxide. Portion of sales donated to cancer research. The COOLA website has a listing of additional organic ingredients like shea butter, glycerin, linseed oil, evening primrose oil and rose hip fruit oil. The inactive ingredient that caught my eye? Plankton extract. Besides being all the rage (see here and study here), it gave me flashbacks to Bill Nye and his “pass the plankton please!”

But I digress…

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On days where a 3/4″ diameter patch just won’t do the trick in the fight against acne–like when I get a cluster of pimples around my forehead, chin, cheeks or ALL the above!–it’s when I turn to face masks. Sometimes I’ll use the masks in advance of any breakouts, or when I’m feeling that my skin is in need of a pick-me-up. There are two types of masks that I’ve been using: (1) the more traditional clay mask that you apply all over your face, let dry and then wash off or (2) the full face cotton sheet face masks that come pre-moistened in a nicely decorated foil packet or envelope.

Both the Jeju Volcanic Pore Clay Mask and the Natural Essential Mask in Cucumber are from a Korean brand called Innisfree. Innisfree promotes the use of natural ingredients derived from the area local to Korea. In fact, the Innisfree logo has a breakdown of the brand’s core beliefs. Pretty cool. I was first introduced to Innisfree from my cousin Wen in Taiwan and from my friend Ellen who is teaching in South Korea. The Jeju volcanic pore clay mask came as part of a sampler pack, along with the green tea seed serum, olive real power cream (full size courtesy of E) and eco natural green tea BB cream. I got the Natural Essential Mask from my cousin Ting on a separate trip of hers to the States. Since the ingredients are all natural, I was immediately keen on trying them and doubly so since it was recommended from three separate sources.

Now when I hear “volcano” I think of violent eruptions and the lava and magma that flow out after…not quite the intensity I had in mind for treating acne. But the Magic Ingredient with the volcanic pore clay mask are the volcanic clusters that come from Jeju-do island (제주도), a special autonomous province of South Korea where the Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes were granted UNESCO World Heritage recognition in June 2007. According to the English version of the Innisfree website, the Jeju volcanic clusters were “created by the lava that was hardened when there was a volcanic eruption in Jeju island.”  Being part of a UNESCO World Heritage site, they are further “gathered from areas not contaminated by chemicals such as pesticides…and pulverized to remove impurities and sterilized” and “absorbs sebum inside the pores to remove impurities that cause troubles.” So in a sense, they are like chemical-free über miniature versions of pumice stones, the same material I use to remove calluses and roughness on my heels & goes on in a clay form. FANTASTIC. But does it work as well as advertised??? (more…)

I’m always pretty excited to get my Beauty Army boxes because I’m able to pick out what items I receive each month. Sometimes I’m not thrilled with my choices until I retake my profile a few times, but this month I was pretty happy with what I could pick from!

Since I have a trip coming up at the end of August, I’ve been keen to try different travel sized items. What better way of getting travel sized things than through a sample service? This month I picked some things I thought would be great to pack.

• Fiafini Delicate Cleansing Emulsion
• Youngblood Mineral Primer
• Juicy Jewel Eau de Parfum
• Indie Lee The Cleanser
• Macadamia Natural Oil Healing Oil Treatment
• Besame Crimson Rouge

Unfortunately, I haven’t had the chance yet to try the Youngblood Primer or the Fiafini Cleansing Emulsion, but the other four samples I’ve had time to test out a few times.

The item I was most excited about was the Indie Lee cleanser. Nancy-Lee from the Beauty Army has said lots of positive things about this cleanser. I’m not sure how many uses the sample size has, so I might not have used enough because, well, I’m not that impressed with it. It has a lovely strawberry scent and it’s a great cleanser for days I don’t have any makeup on my face (I try to wash my face every night). It doesn’t foam up, which was confusing because I’m mused to products that do. My skin did feel cleaner after use, but it didn’t take off eyeliner or long wearing eye shadows. Again, I’ve used it twice and it’s possible I didn’t use enough product for the full effect.

[Edit: Nancy-Lee from Beauty Army sent me a link to her blog about how she uses the Indie Lee Cleanser. I tried her method tonight and it does remove heavy eye makeup and most of my waterproof eyeliner with little effort, which is awesome. It doesn’t do as well against the Missha BB Cream I was wearing, but most cleansers don’t and I always end up washing my face twice no matter what cleanser I use. I think this would work great when I’m wearing other foundations or American bb creams (which are basically just tinted moisturizers). ]

The Juicy Jewel perfume was a nice surprise. Most commercial fragrances end up smelling like soap on me, but this one had a nice fruity scent with a hint of floral. The jasmine gets pretty strong after dry down, but overall I like this fragrance and will certainly use the rest of the sample.

Liquid cheek stains haven’t appealed to me, but I was interested in trying out Besame’s Crimson Rouge. This vintage expired cream rouge looks bright pink in the container – the sample is in a plastic jar, but a full size comes in a vintage-inspired tin. A little goes a long way with this, so apply with a light hand. Here’s a swatch.

On the left is the rouge spread out and on the right is just a swipe of the product. It’s a great color and I’m definitely taking this with me on my trip! The sample pot is the perfect size to throw in my travel make up bag without taking up too much space.

The one thing this box that I wasn’t sure I liked but ended up loving was the Macadamia Oil Healing Oil Treatment. My hair has been strangely dry this summer, missing it’s usual shine, even though I’ve tried a few different shampoos and conditioners. My hair also takes forever to air dry even though it’s not particularly thick. After washing my hair and toweling it dry, I put about a quarter sized amount in my palm and spread it through my hair starting with the ends. It will take a few applications, but it’s already started to moisturize my hair and bring back the shine without weighing it down or making my hair look greasy. There is a strong nutty/spice smell (almost like incense) but I don’t mind it at all and it fades pretty quickly. My hair did also seem to dry a little faster with the oil. I will definitely finish this bottle and probably buy a full size.

All in all, this month’s box was great and I can’t wait to choose my samples for next month!

Beauty Army is a monthly subscription service. For $12 per month, you can select up to 6 deluxe sized samples from a slightly larger group that is offered based on your beauty survey.

This month’s theme for Birchbox Man seems to be inventions/good ideas. In this box are two gadgets from Quirky, a social product development company, as well as a multi-tasking cleanser.

Inside the box were a total of five items:

• June Jacobs for Men 3-in-1 Cleanser
• Benta Berry Super Moisturizing Face Cream
• Supersmile Whitening System
• Quirky Cordies
• Quirky Wrapster

The two items from Quirky retail for $15 together, so those were worth most of the price of the box this month. I don’t have much use right now for the Cordies, but will certainly be holding on to it. The Wrapster will be great for a trip I’ll be taking in a couple of months. I love that it also doubles as a stand for your iPhone (my iPod isn’t held as snug but it works).

The Benta Berry moisturizer is a non-greasy, mattifying made from all natural ingredients. It definitely moisturizes without leaving my skin feeling oily, which I thought was great, but it has a masculine scent that’s not to my liking. A guy would certainly like this though, if they were looking for a face cream. Birchbox sent two tubes of the 3ml sample size and the 30ml retail tube costs about $20.

I’ve used the Supersmile Whitening System before, but I wasn’t that impressed with it. I feel like I got the same sort of whitening power with my brightening toothpaste, but it’s been a couple of years since I’ve tried this system, so I might give it another chance.

I haven’t yet used the June Jacobs 3 in 1 Cleanser, so I can’t speak much on that. I might end up gifting this, though, as I tend to use solid soaps rather than gels.

This month, Birchbox Man was a good deal for $20, so I’m keeping my subscription for now and can’t wait to see what I get next month.