Today I’m going to do this a little differently. (I’m still playing around with this format so if you have an opinion please let me know.) Today I’ll start with the list, and then below add my thoughts.
Make Up Remover: Clean it Zero Cleansing Balm from Banilla Co. with Klorane Cornflower waterproof eye makeup remover (both sample sizes)
Cleanser: La Roche Posay Toleriane Purifying Foam Cleanser
Exfoliator: Soap and Glory Scrubatomic Daily Scrub (not used daily, but used once this week)
Toner: Akar Skin Balancing Toning Mist
Essence: NeoGen Dermatology Real Ferment Micro Essence (sample size)
Serum: It’s a secret (can’t talk about until March 31st)
Retinol: Versed Press Restart Gentle Retinol Serum
Oil: Earth Harbor Marina Biome Brightening Ampule
AHA: Good Genes by Sunday Riley
Eye Cream: Perricone MD Soothing Hydrating Eye Cream (sample size)
Moisturizer: 111 Skin Y Theorem Day Cream
Night Cream/Mask: Pearl Brightening Sleeping Mask by Lapcos (sample size)
Lip Scrub and Mask: Hanalei Sugar lip scrub and Bite Beauty Agave Lip Mask
The links above will take you to each product so you can look at it’s specifics. when I do fill reviews of each i will break down the ingredients as well as the detailed usage, bit this is a little less formal and more impressions as I use the product.
Okay, first up we have the products that are a hold over from last week. That would be the Klorane Cornflower waterproof eye makeup remover and the Neogen Dermatology Real Ferment Micro Essence. The Klorane eye make up remover will be with me for a while. Just a little drop is all that is needed to remove eye make up, it doesn’t sting my eyes or cloud my contacts. To be honest the only thing that is going to change about that is the size. I will use the sample size until it is gone and then just order a full sized version. I don’t use it every day, as I don’t always wear tough to remove eye products, but I haven’t found another eye makeup remover that I like as much. So for now it is my go to.
The Neogen Essence has just a tiny little bit left in the bottle. I think I may have about three days worth of product left. It doesn’t take much and to be honest I pour just a little in my hand and then apply it with my hands. Any attempt to use a cotton round (whether reusable or not) just makes the product disappear into the cloth. The point of an essence is to open the skin up to receive other skin car and I have noticed that when I do use this essence my serums seem to absorb more rapidly. I will be at the 30 days of use mark when it finishes so there will be a full review of the essence when I have used it up. (so next week)
Speaking of serums, you may notice that this week I didn’t mention one. I am using a serum. It was sent to me through Influenster and I am not allowed to talk about it until after March 31st. As April second is a skin care line up update (and three weeks into using the serum) I will bring it up then, with a full review to follow after thirty days. I hate being secretive, but those are the rules. So for now there is a serum, I’m just not talking about it.
A couple of products that were just added are sample sized this time around as well. The Clean it Zero Cleansing Balm from Banilla and Co is a sample. Thus far I am enjoying it. It takes very little to remove all of my makeup so it will be with me for a while. All cleansing balms, sample or not, take a while to get through and I suspect this one will be no different. Initial reactions are very positive though. I rotated the sample in when my MAC Cleanse Off Oil ran out so I have only been using it for about two days. I actually staggered the newer products as they came in so that I didn’t just wake up one morning and start an entirely new line up.
I may change products a lot but I do have a system to keep my skin from freaking out.
The Perricone MD Soothing Hydrating Eye Cream is technically a sample size, but it is an eye cream so very little product is actually needed. Thus far I am liking the way the eye cream applies. It isn’t greasy and absorbs very quickly. As silly as it sounds, I also really like that the squeeze tube has only a small hole for dispensing product. It means that i can squeeze out only the small amount i actually plan to use without accidentally going overboard or wasting product. I don’t know if I will have enough product in the tube to see results, but I remembered to add photos of the side of my eyes where the lines are so it can be monitored as I continue. Sometimes I forget that you can’t see those lines as well when I take forward facing photographs.
The last new sample size I’ve added is the Pearl Brightening Sleeping Mask. It is a pretty good sleep mask, but it does take a while to absorb. It feels wet, but not greasy when it is applied and I generally have to wait about half an hour before I go to sleep so that it can absorb enough to stay with my skin and not migrate to the pillow. I started applying this on Wednesday and I’m not entirely certain how I feel about it yet. I’m going to have to use it a bit longer before I decide.
My Soap and Glory Daily Scrub was the exfoliator that I chose but I only used it once this week. It is a good daily scrub. It is not too harsh and it smells deliciously of peaches. I wanted to use it actually because it was a back up I picked up a while ago and it ended up buried in the skin care drawer. I also believe that this Scrubatomic cleanser may have been discontinued. The link goes to the Soap & Glory site (I’m not an affiliate, but I do like them) When I looked it up there were a lot of posts about it being discontinued. I will look into it. As it is really a very good and gentle exfoliator from the drugstore I will be very sad if it has been discontinued. I’ll let you know when I learn more.
Even though it is out now, I won’t be using it a lot at the moment. I really enjoy using it, but I think I might set it to the side while I am using the Versed Press Restart Gentle Retinol Serum. I simply think it is too much with the chemical exfoliate.
I will say though that the Versed Press Restart Gentle Retinol Serum is quite effective. I only used it twice this week since I wanted to see how it worked with my skin. I applied the retinol and let it sit for a minute then I applied the Marina Biome Brightening Ampule as my facial oil to help with the moisture of my skin. About an hour later I had dead skin peeling off my face. Not in a horror movie kind of way, but in kind of shedding way. The retinol also felt a little warm and tingly on the skin. I rinsed it off and patted my skin dry. There was no redness or damage to the skin, In fact it looked really good. I waited a little while, then I applied my essence, Serum and Night mask. I was really happy with the way my skin looked the next morning. The second time I used it, I didn’t have nearly as much skin pilling up, which was both a relief and slightly disappointing. Disappointing only because it was oddly fascinating to see the dead skin leave and the fresh skin appear. Relieving as I don;t think you could lose that much skin that often without causing problems.
On the mornings after I used the retinol I followed with the Good Genes Sunday Riley AHA serum. The AHA’s are supposed to sweep the dead skin cells away, although I am pretty sure that most of them were gone before then. I have had the Sunday Riley Good Genes for a while and am trying to use it up. It is a nice product but it sort of has that lemon scented cleaner scent to it. It isn’t my favorite scent, but the product works and my skin always looks good after using it. I would more than likely purchase this product again, but I would like to give some other AHAs a try first. Right now, I am just going to concentrate on using the bottle up.
Next, we get to the day cream. I am using the 111Skin Y Theorem Day Cream and quite frankly I really like it. I also really liked the sample size that I tried a while back so it is nice to have a full sized version to work through so I can see change over time. For me it has just the right amount of moisture for a day cream. It is light, it absorbs well and it doesn’t leave me feeling greasy. It also sits well under makeup.
And of course I can’t leave out the lips. My Milk Makeup Kush Lip Scrub and Kuch Lip Glaze are no more. Both tubes are empty and have alas gone to the Empties bin. I will definitely repurchase both in the future. The Hanalei lip scrub I am using is one I opened a while ago, set aside and then forgot about. It is still good and about half empty so I am going to use it up. It is a good lip scrub but I do kind of miss the lipstick shaped lip scrubs as they are easier to use and less likely to get under your nails and or damage the nail polish. It is a great formula though and I really like both the scent and the taste. In a lip scrub that is oddly enough a consideration.
The lip mask I use right after is the Bite Beauty Agave Lip Mask in the scent Maple. It is not my first tube of this and it will not be my last. Hopefully. I saw questions about whether or not it had been discontinued as well and I am hoping not as it is fantastic. It is a thicker formula and you really only need a little bit because of it. It makes the small tube last a really long time and it is excellent for overnight wear.
At the moment I am having no issues with breakouts, which is nice. The clogged pores I had from the Avant eye cream have cleared up. I Used the Herbal Dynamics Beauty Cacao and Chamomile Clearing Clay Mask over the weekend and then followed it with the Soap and Glory Daily scrub to get rid of what was brought to the surface. (Incidentally you can get 20% off Herbal Dynamics Beauty Right now with the code HDB2021) It was the one time I used the physical exfoliator this week and it worked really well. I quite liked the combination. While I don’t need the physical exfoliation around when I have the chemical one, I do like having it around for situations like post clearing mask.
At this point I am using the Versed Retinol twice a week and I’ve noticed no sun sensitivity, mostly I believe because it is Bakuchiol based. However, I just don’t think I need to use the product more than twice a week. I think more might actually be too much exfoliation for my skin and might actually do more damage in the long run. So twice a week it is. If I think I need more, I might increase it to three times, but I suspect i will be holding steady at twice. Thus far I am liking it and hopefully that will continue to prove true.
Other than watching the amount of exfoliation that I am doing, the current slate of products I am using is working really well. There have been no issues as I used up other products and bring in new ones. As always there will be full reviews as I finish products or reach the thirty day mark.
FREE 3-piece Pro-Collagen gift (worth $157) on every full size purchase. Use code: PCGIFT
Ms. Mimsy Reviews 