A break out taming cleanser with Dr. Brandt

Dr. Brandt Pores No More Pore Purifying Cleanser

I will admit that I was a little nervous about trying out this cleanser. While I love Dr. Brandt Products and have several favorites from the brand, I am always cautious where salicylic acid.

While it is a good ingredient to clear up and dry out clogged pores and break outs, things change now that I am not a teenager. When I was a teen I could use the most heavily salicylic acid based products and have no problems. As I have gotten older, they still work really well for clearing up breakouts but those sort of products also dry out my skin. Still I did need to work on clearing out some minor break outs and I do like Dr. Brandt.

I also figured that I had enough moisturizers that it might not be a problem. And so I started using the Dr. Brandt Pores No More Pore Purifying Cleanser . While I would normally start with a first use post, with products like this it generally takes a few days before any sort of issues start to occur. So instead of doing a first use post I waited and let time pass as I used this cleanser. First off let’s look at the product page.

pores no more® PORE PURIFYING CLEANSER is non-drying gel that cleanses, purifies and dissolves excess oil, residue, debris. Removes excess sebum for less shine. Exfoliates dead skin cells and helps minimize the appearance of pores.

It is a pretty straight forward description. When you check out the ingredients list you will see that while Salicylic acid is one of the first ingredients. Tea tree oil and white willow bark are also in the list.

With those ingredients the first thing that is noticeable is the scent. This cleanser smells highly medicinal. As white willow bark was traditionally used in the making of aspirin, that isn’t unexpected. I will say that I think it’s inclusion helped to reduce some of the pain and inflammation of some of the more painful break outs.

The cleanser itself is a clear gel that I applied to a damp skin. I like that the gel is thick enough that it can be seen where it is applied on the face. That is one of the things I like in a cleanser. I really like to be able to see where I put it before I start massaging the cleanser in and then rinse it away. I like knowing where the cleanser is going and that I am putting it in the places where I need it the most, especially with a product like this.

before on left after a week on the right. the breakouts are small they were cleared away though and my skin is not dried out.

It applied well and I did feel that the slight pain from inflamed breakouts faded with the use of the cleanser, more so with each use actually. The cleanser rinses away clean and I have not seen any dry patches. With Salicylic acid based cleansers if it is going to dry out patches of the skin it will do so within a week. This showed no signs of going there and within that week the few small break outs that I had cleared up. As an adult, finding a product that will work with my skin, clearing up the occasional break outs and yet not drying out my skin has been difficult. While this is a good cleanser, I don’t think that I need to use it on a daily basis. I like that I can use it on a daily basis, but for me, my breakouts are small occasional things. A week of using this cleanser has cleared up the break outs I had. While I will be keeping this cleanser around, it will rotate in and out of my line up as needed. The Dr. Brandt Pores No More Pore Purifying Cleanser may not be an everyday use sort of product for me, but it is certainly one I will keep around.

First use of the Beekman 1802 Buttermilk Makeup Melting Cleansing Balm

I am a huge fan of cleansing balms. I like to use them in conjunction with my Makeup eraser actually. I generally fins that if I apply a cleansing balm over my makeup covered face and then rinse it off with a wet Makeup Eraser, I have to use less product and I have to do less scrubbing of my skin to get all of the makeup off.

I just emptied the Wishful Cleansing Balm container that I was using and it was time for a new one. During the holiday sales I picked this one up because it was on sale and I wanted to try a Beekman 1802 Cleansing Balm. I tried a bunch of their products because I was trying out their subscription box (and so a box of them arrived on my doorstep each quarter). Incidentally if you are interested in trying out the brand that is a really good way to go. I found I liked about 80% of their products. There were a few that came my way that weren’t really for me, but for the most part I enjoyed them so I decided to try out this Buttermilk Makeup Melting Cleansing Balm.

First, we have to talk about packaging. The container is frosted plastic. I would have preferred glass but I understand with costs and everything else, why they went with plastic. I personally like the frosted look of the container and find it aesthetically pleasing. As it is also sturdy enough to be reused once empty, I don’t mind the plastic so much. I will recycle this in house. I tend to pick up The Mane Club’s Hair masks which come in foil packets but have enough product for two to three uses and so emptied skincare containers are often what i use to hold the extra product so I don’t have to mess with open foil packets. Plus the best recycling is reusing something in your own home.

This Makeup Melting balm comes with a stick for scooping out the balm from the jar. It fits into slots at the top and is actually tight enough in there that I can lift the jar by the spatula as though it was a handle. However if I grip the jar with one hand and pull it does come out fairly easily. I think it will be interesting to see how that system progresses as I continue to use this makeup removing balm. At the moment it works well and it makes the spatula easy to keep track of.

For me the spatula is necessary to get the product out. I suppose I could use the back of my nail to get it out, but it is a solid enough balm that you need something to get it out. The balm is a little crumbly when it comes out. There are some makeup removing balms you can just apply directly to your skin. This is one where you need to rub your hands together to warm up the balm and start the process of melting it down into oil.

Once I did that I rubbed it all over my face. You can see the makeup starting to melt with the balm right away. I deliberately tried it with a dark lipstick. This is a liquid lipstick that dries down well and had been on my lips for several hours (I reapplied it after lunch because I wanted a full color on the lips for the trial). The wet Makeup eraser was then applied and the makeup came off rather well. At first my skin felt slightly greasy, but that feeling didn’t last. I patted the skin dry and what remained of the makeup removing balm made my skin feel soft and hydrated.

I took off my makeup well before beginning my skincare routine for the night, wanting to see how my skin reacted before moving in with my cleanser and other skincare. There was no greasy residue, and my makeup was removed well. For me it was also important that using this makeup remover from Beekman 1802 did not cloud my contacts. Many cleansing balms and oils will cloud up my contacts, which is why I usually keep a second eye makeup remover handy (Klorane Cornflower Waterproof eye makeup Remover). This makeup balm did not cloud my contacts. i will still use a secondary eye makeup remover to take off the last of my mascara and eye makeup, but when rinsing this off my face it didn’t cause any problems, which I appreciated.

Over all this first test of the Beekman 1802 Buttermilk makeup melting Cleansing Balm was a good one. I can’t wait to see how it performs over time.

My Favorite Cleansers from 2022

I think this is the category where i tried the most products I liked. I have been trying to put a cap on about five products per list this year, but there were so many good cleansers this year, i had to sneak in a sixth. I know as soon as I put this post up there is going to be one that springs to mind that somehow didn’t make the list. I think about half of the products in my empties bin were cleansers this year. But I feel pretty good with my list of six. So let’s jump in and take a look at them.

1- Elemis Balancing Lime Blossom Cleanser

I love everything about this cleanser. from the bottle to the product. You may notice that this is one of the only pump products on the list (the sample sized OSEA doesn’t count because I have only used the sample versions. Admittedly i have used the samples repeatedly, but we’ll get to that in a minute.)I like this pump because it is a wide one that is easy to press with wet hands. Also with the way the bottle is shaped I can dispense product while the bottle is on the sink. I don’t have to pick it up to use. This is a gentle cleanser that I rotate in as soon as I have any kind of skin irritation. I have used it over sun burned skin with no problems. It cleanses without irritation and the scent is fantastic. Slightly citrus, slightly sweet. It is a great product to have around.

2- OSEA Ocean Cleanser

This is one of those cleansers that smells fantastic and works well. It is a good cleanser, but a fantastically fresh scent. It smells like lime sherbet. My only issue with this cleanser is that there is always a little product at the bottom of the bottle that just won’t come up with the pump. I like the samples for travel though. And the glass bottle will end up being repurposed as a plant mister in my sunroom. I have lost track of how many times I have purchased this cleanser and yet it still remains on my list of the top.

3- Malin+Goetz Grapefruit Face Cleanser

This is another cleanser that I have repurchased so many times I have forgotten how many bottles of it have passed through my hands. I think this might be the tenth year I have reordered and used it making it the longest favorite on any of my lists. I like this as a morning cleanser. It works fantastically well at night, but it is a very fresh wake me up citrus scent that i just can’t get enough of. It foams well and rinses clean and it is a fantastic way to start the day. This and the Recovery oil are the two products I will always seek out from Malin+Goetz. they have other fab stuff, but those are my top two products from the brand and why I always o back to them.

4- Glamglow Super Cleanse Clearing Cream to Foam Cleanser

I really enjoy this cleanser. It goes on like a thin version of a face mask. It is charcoal colored and I can easily see where on my face the cleanser has been placed. Then water is added and it foams up and rinses off. If you follow with a toner, you will notice there is a little bit of gray charcoal on the skin that comes off easily. The sink will also have a little but of charcoal residue which will need to be rinsed off. It rinses off easily so it isn’t much of a concern. Just something to note. The little bit of extra clean up is worth it though as it really is a great clearing cleanser. I found my break outs clearing up a lot faster when i was using this cleanser, which is always a bonus.

5: Beekman 1802 Milk Wash Exfoliating Jelly cleanser

This was a strange but fabulous cleanser. For a start, you apply it onto dry skin. So you dispense the product and then apply it to the face. It comes out as a clear gel and once you’ve rubbed it in, you add water. It foams and rinses off. it is really good to use as a general nightly cleanser but really shines after you have used a pore clearing face mask. I am a bit gan of this cleanser and will be picking it up again.

6- Best Face Forward Purifying Cleanser

This is not an everyday cleanser for me. I am including it on the list because it was fabulous and it is something I will reorder. It is a cleanser that I will only use when my skin is breaking out. This is the sort of cleanser that works really well when I have hormonals breakouts or break outs from holiday feasting. That is it’s time to shine. It doesn’t irritate any break outs and works extra hard to clear the break outs up without drying the skin. When I’m not breaking out it is less memorable a cleanser. It is a product to have on hand for break out moments but then to put away when your skin is clear. At least for me. My break outs come at very certain times and aren’t a constant in my life. For me having this on hand for those moments is great. if you are prone to break outs on a more frequent basis I would suggest trying this as a routine cleanser. I really enjoyed how it cleansed without drying.

And that my darlings is my list of top cleansers that I tried out this year. All of them are products I will purchase repeatedly and love for different reasons. All give me a fabulously clean face.

Using the Beekman 1802 Milk Wash

This Beekman 1802 Milk Wash Exfoliating Jelly Cleanser came to me in the Beekman 1802 Subscription box (Winter 2022). I was delighted as I wanted to try out this cleanser. You know I love a good exfoliation and to be honest there is something just delicious about a good cleanser. I may be a complete weirdo but I love the feeling pof a freshly cleansed face. It is that moment after patting your skin dry. Before you apply any sort of serums of moisturizers and before so much as a speck of dust can settle on the skin that just feels absolutely amazing to me.

Provided of course that it is a good cleanser.

According to the Beekman 1802 website…

Our AHA- and BHA-powered Milk Wash instantly transforms from a light jelly formula into a deep-cleansing milk to dissolve makeup, deeply purify, and exfoliate without abrasive scrubs. This multi-action cleanser helps draw out oil-based debris and is Kind to your skin, leaving it feeling silky, soft, and moisturized, rather than dry and tight.

Benefits: Removes makeup including water-resistant formulas, Deep cleanses and exfoliates for clearer, brighter skin, Helps control oily skin, clears pores, and resurfaces
Beekman 1802

I have been using this Milk Wash for a while now, primarily as a night time cleanser. I have a different cleanser for the morning that I am finishing up, but the two of them worked well together. I did try it for a few days as my only cleanser and it was gentle enough to use twice a day. And perhaps when i finish the current morning cleanser i will use this twice a day. I don’t think my skin will take any harm from extended twice a day use. (my current morning cleanser is a clarifying one so it brings clogged pores to the surface so I use it in the morning and then this in the evening to clear away the risen clogs).

Let’s start with the packaging. It is a slender rounded tube of product. While the tube is slick, the lettering is raised and that actually provides a slight bit of grip. I think that if I used it with wet hands then I would want a couple of ridges to grip it,. but I rarely used it with wet hands (more on that in a moment.). I am not terribly fond of the dispenser pump. Its size means that you have to pick up the bottle to dispense rather than leaving it sitting on the sink and pumping into your hand. It does pump well, but you have to pick it up and tilt it to use. I am half way down on the product level but I suspect it will become interesting as the product drops lower.

The cleanser is clear and because of the pump shoots out in jelly like strings. I feel like I have to pump a lot to get the amount of product i need. That isn’t a deal breaker it is just something of note. There is no scent to the product, at least not any I can sniff out. As most of the Beekman 1802 products don’t have much of a scent unless clearly marked as scented I sort of expected it.

To apply you put this cleanser on dry skin and rub it all over your face. then you wet your face. It foams (slightly) and then you massage it some more before rinsing off. With the product on I look wet and shiny. It is after all a clear product. I tried to get a picture of the slight foam as well. Cameras and wet hands are always fun.

Photo op aside, I do like this method of applying a cleanser. My hands are dry when I pump and apply the product so there is no slippage, I can see where I am applying everything and make sure all of my skin gets that good exfoliation. I while I do like foam in my cleansers, I am fine with the low foam especially a my skin feels nice and soft and refreshed once i rinse it off.

where this cleanser falls down is with makeup. If you are wearing a full face of makeup, this will take off the setting spray and powder well and some of your bronzer and blusher. Some of the foundation may come off as well. When you go to use your toner post cleanse it will look like you still had a full face of foundation on after you cleanse. If you wash with this same jelly cleanse a second time, it will take off the foundation and your toner pad will give you a thumbs up.

Or whatever passes for a thumbs up from a makeup free toner pad.

While two uses will get your makeup off whether it is waterproof makeup or not, I consider this a waste of a good cleanser. Use a make up remover to take off your makeup. Then the cleanser will get every last flake of anything your makeup remover left behind AND your actual skin will get the benefits of the exfoliating aspect of this exfoliating Jelly Cleanser. Using a cleanser like this to take off your makeup is just a waste of product. Yeah, it will get the job done if you don’t have a makeup remover, but you will use at least twice as much product and all of the goodness in the cleanser will be aimed at removing the makeup rather than helping out your skin.

When I did try to skip the makeup remover step, my skin was clean, but it wasn’t as soft and it didn’t feel as deeply cleansed as it did when I just took off my makeup first. To get the full benefit of this product, remove your makeup first and then let your skin dry from the makeup removal. Then you will get the full benefit of the cleanser.

Personally I really enjoyed this cleanser. My thoughts about the pump are minor since the pump does work adequately. At this time of year I find myself eating more sweets and fatty foods and my skin shows the change in diet before my waste line can even react. Also because of various events I find myself wearing makeup for longer periods than I do the rest of the year. Having a daily cleanser that is a gentle exfoliator really helps keep down the seasonal blemishes and makes my skin feel good without over drying or over exfoliating. I am very impressed with this cleanser and will happily finish the bottle and put it on my reorder list. For those looking to order this (or any other Beekman 1802 product) when I pulled up the links for this post I saw their current cyber week sale is up to 30% off on products (I think it depends on how much you purchase, the more you buy the more you save sort of deal. I’m not an affiliate so this is just what I saw on the site). They also have 24 hour deals where they rotate through different sales for different items. As there are several products I like from them I might keep an eye out and see if any of my faves are up in that window. If nothing else I will definitely be stocking up on their sunscreen and this Milk Wash exfoliating Jelly Cleanser.

My Favorite New Travel Item

Let me introduce you to my favorite new travel item, The soap Sheet packet from SOS Studios on the Shop Miss A site. I know soap sheets are not a stunningly new item in the world, they have been around a while. However this is my first real experience with them.

I picked this set up from Shop Miss A a while back when I went and just decided to order a whole lot that interested me from the site. As pretty much everything is a dollar it is a shopping spree where I got a lot for very little money. And I found several items I will most certainly be ordering again.

To be honest, I slipped this set of soap sheets into my order simply because I was curious. I’d heard of soap sheets bet never tried them/. The Shop Miss A site had many scents to choose from and I went with the Peach. And to be fair the soap sheets smell like peach. Slightly. Mostly they smell like soap that might have once been placed next to some peaches.

The sheets are thin and feel a bit like wax paper. I put one in my hand and then added water. The sheet starts to dissolve almost immediately. one quick hand rub and the sheet dissolved into bubbles. I rubbed my hands together, washing them and then rinsing them off.

Any peach scent went down the drain with the suds and my hands were just left freshly washed. I suspect that would happen with any scent that you tried these soap sheets in. Some might be stronger than others but i am pretty sure it is the soap that will count.

It is just soap. It isn’t a moisturizing soap, nor is it a terribly drying one. I did end up using hand cream after using the soap, but as after washing my hands I generally sprayed hand sanitizer on them, the lotion was more to do with the hand sanitizer than the soap sheets.

While I was traveling for Thanksgiving and this did let me avoid the mostly empty soap dispensers in the restrooms on the drive. While I was home I ended up washing my hands a lot more than when I was here. There were several children with stick fingers around, mostly because we had a make your own caramel apple event on the Saturday post thanksgiving while several parents went out shopping. There were also several people who had recent operations moving in and out of my visit so the washing and sanitizing was intense. Beyond that, this was an amazingly useful product to have on hand, not just for the trip but in everyday life.

I may have purchased this set of soap sheets from Shop Miss A on a whim, but it is now one of my favorite items and I will be stocking up so that I can keep one in my purse, one in the car and one in my travel kit. Sometimes it is the simple things that make all the difference.

Using the IsoClean Cosmetic Sponge Cleaner

I have a confession to make. I have always taken a pretty lazy approach to cleaning my makeup sponges. I keep several around that I can rotate through and then at the end of the week, I put them in a net mesh bag and put it into the laundry with my jeans for a good washing. The mesh bag keeps hair and lint from sticking to the makeup sponges and then once they come out of the washer I take them out of the bag, do a quick squeeze and rinse in the sink to make sure all of the laundry soap is out of them, and then I let them dry while my jeans go onto the dryer.

The bag I use is this one from the Laundry bags site. It is less than $3 and really useful to have around. I also use them for washing delicates. In all fairness I should admit that I wash my makeup brushes with Ivory soap. I put a bar in a cheap plastic soap dish and just use it like any other brush cleanser. I have used official brush cleanser before and it worked fine, but then so does the ivory soap and the hardware store around the corner from me sells them for $0.98 per bar.

However I recently received this ISO Clean Cosmetic Sponge Cleanser in a subscription box so I thought why not give it a try. This size is listed for $10 and it’s description runs…

Make your sponges sparkle! ISOCLEAN’s cosmetic sponge cleaner expertly eliminates harmful bacteria, dirt and stubborn makeup stains, making your cosmetic sponges look as good as new in just 60 seconds!

And so to test I took two makeup sponges into the bathroom to give them a good clean. One started out damp from my makeup application today and the other started the test dry. Both had seen some heavy use and had foundation, cream blush and powder on them.

One of the makeup sponges was from Luxie and has a slightly rubberized tip while the other is from Shop Miss A. It is the Mochi Wonder Blender with the cut edge. Both are actually quite nice and are the ones I tend to reach for the most actually. The shop Miss A sponge is a little softer and less dense. The Luxie is firmer and I happen to find both useful. Actually Luxie is having a sale. (Their sponge set is currently only $16 instead of $40. Actually so is their Florals Brush set (now $16 instead of $40) Most of my favorite shadow brushes come from this set actually). The Firmer sponges tend to work well with blending cream blush products while the softer ones I like for powder.

Both had seen some use. As per instructions I coated the makeup sponge with product, massaged it in and rinsed it off. I ended up washing each sponge twice. The first wash took off the surface stuff but then when I was squeezing the last of the soap and water out, there was still product coming out from the interior of the sponge. so I gave it a second wash. After the second wash both sponges were pretty clean. There were a few stained spots that I suspect will easily wash out in the wash, but for a hand washing this IsoClean worked well. The second wash was really needed to make sure all of the product got out of the sponges, but in the end it did. Also for the purpose of this test i used both of these sponges as my only two sponges for a full week instead of my usual switching out.

I will say that even a single wash took a bit longer than a minute. I times it at 98 seconds to get the soap all out of the makeup sponge from the first wash. Which isn’t that much longer when you think about it. The second wash took pretty much the same amount of time. And it was after the second wash that I felt the makeup sponges were clean enough to use again.

All in all this was a good product. It has no scent, took the makeup out of the sponge and didn’t leave a soapy residue on the skin. I like having this makeup sponge cleanser around, but for me this is going to be something I use when I’m traveling more than when i am at home. For me, I find it more convenient to have a bunch of makeup sponges, use each one once before putting it in the mesh bag and then at the end of the week just putting it in the washing machine. If you are only using one or two sponges and want to wash them during the week to keep them fresh (without doing a load of laundry – and I wash them with jeans and other gardening clothes so potential staining will never be an issue).

Over all, I think this is a good product to use. After washing I did use the makeup sponges again and found I had no allergic reaction to the product and indeed there is no scent to cause issue as well. As an added bonus, the container is sturdy and reusable while the company sells refill pouches. While I did have to wash these sponges twice to get rid of all of the makeup, there is only a pinkie’s width of product used out of the container for two sponges. However if I were to use this Iso Clean to clean these two sponges once a week this small 110mL bottle would last for 12-14 weeks. which is not bad, especially considering this $10 bottle is their smallest size.

I was impressed with this IsoClean Cosmetic Sponge Cleanser. While it probably won’t change the way i clean my makeup[ sponges, I like having it as an option and will certainly be using it again.

First Use: GlamGlow SuperCleanse

There are several products by Glamglow that I really like. Their Youthmud face mask is one of my go to facemasks and one I really enjoy using when I really need a fresh faced feeling and a deep cleanse. A while back however I did try a cleanser from Glamglow that I wasn’t too fond of so I have to say I did approach this cleanser wondering which side of the spectrum it would fall into.

The Glamglow Supercleanse Clearing Cream to Foam Cleanser is described as…

A daily deep cleaning cream-to-foam cleanser with detoxifying charcoal, lactic acid and glycolic acid that blasts away pore-clogging oils, debris and face makeup for super clean skin.

Ingredients: Water\Aqua\Eau, Sodium C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate, Magnesium Aluminum Silicate, Sodium Cocoamphoacetate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Glyceryl Stearate, Glycerin, Charcoal Powder, Propanediol, Kaolin, Carbon, Eucalyptus Globulus Leaf Powder, Mentha Piperita (Peppermint) Oil, Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract, Nigella Sativa Seed Extract, Ethylhexylglycerin, Sodium Chloride, Glyceryl Polyacrylate, Cocamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine, Xanthan Gum, Caprylyl Glycol, Lactic Acid, Glycolic Acid, Fragrance (Parfum), Linalool, Benzyl Benzoate, Phenoxyethanol, Titanium Dioxide (Ci 77891) <ILN44277>
Glamglow

The description is fairly typical for a cleanser. It is meant to cleanse the face. What I found interesting is that many of the Ingredients in my favorite Glamglow Youth Mud Mask are also here. The kaolin clay, Eucalyptus, Peppermint and licorice root are all items i associate with their face mask. When I opened and dispensed the cleanser for the first time I discovered the cleanser smells more or less like the mask.

Personally i found this exciting. Licorice is the dominant scent with the eucalyptus and peppermint blending in as back notes. It is a clean and fresh scent that pairs well with the slightly earthy notes from the clay. Unlike the mask it is a smooth paste with no leafy bits from the herbs, which is nice to have in a cleanser.

I really liked that it applied in a similar way to a mask. I could dispense it into my hands and massage it into my skin and it looked as though I applied a mask. Personally I enjoy this thicker sort of cleanser as it lets me know I have covered my entire face with the cleanser. Once applied to damp skin I wet my hands and began washing my face. The clay turned to foam and rinsed away clearly and cleanly from the skin.

My skin felt really good. It isn’t as intensely clean as when the mask is rinsed off the face, but it has some of that same freshness. Since this was a first use, I don’t have any real results to share other than this was a cleanly rinsing mask that did go from cream to foam. It made my skin feel clean and not stripped. when I used a toner after cleansing my face there was a bit of charcoal left on the toner pad, but my face was clean. I will be using this cleanser, well, until it is gone. I can say that I am honestly looking forward to it. My big problem with the last toner I tried from Glamglow was that it left a bit of a residue on the skin so it never really felt clean. This Supercleanse from Glamglow does not seem to have this problem and I am happy to keep it in my skincare line up. It will be interesting to see if there are more, longer term use benefits other than just clean skin.

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Using the Beekman 1802 Goat Milk Body Soap with CBD

That’s right my darlings, the testing of the Beekman 1802 products from the quarterly box continues as I try to decide if this quarterly box is worth keeping for a while. Thus far i have actually quite enjoyed the items I have used so I am leaning towards a positive feel for the brand in general.

Prior to using the products in this box, I tried out a small hand soap bar from them. It was quite a while ago and it might have possibly been a trial sized bar of soap but i remember thinking it was quite nice. So I was pretty eager to try out this Goat milk Body Soap with CBD.

When you go on the website there are a variety of soaps. The body soaps like this one are 9 ounces. The other soaps seem to be a bit smaller and I am guessing they are more hand soaps. While I love a large amount of product, this is a big bar of soap. I’m not mad at it, but I also do not have the biggest hands in the world. For me there is no picking up this bar and using it against my skin. At least not until it becomes a much smaller bar.

This is the sort of block of soap you put on a shelf in the shower out of the reach of the spray and rub a wash cloth over to get product on it and then use the wash cloth. I know that for many people this is how you use body soap any way. For me when I use a bar of soap in the shower I tend to lather up my hands and then put the soap down.

Given the size it isn’t really workable for me with this bar. It is also a really soft soap. A minute in the range of the spray and it was starting to get really soft around the edges. This is a soft enough formula that it needs to be kept out of the spray. I think what will be interesting is if I keep this subscription, comparing it to other versions of the soap that might come in the box. It will be interesting to see if all of their soaps are like this or if it is just the CBD one. Providing of course that there are more soaps sent while I have the subscription.

And to be honest, even if they aren’t I might actually pick up another bar on my own. This CBD Goat Milk Body soap had zero scent to it, but I see several scents in their soap line up that I wouldn’t mind trying and even though this is an over sized bar that goes a bit melty in the spray, it was a really good soap. There was no soap residue left on my skin and my skin feels soft and hydrated.

I only got to use the bar a few times as my baby doll claimed it for his own. Which was interesting. He really likes the scented soaps from Squatch and I am sure I will continue to pick them up. One of the reason he likes them is that they are just sort of plain square bars. This too is a plain square bar of soap. It has the b1802 imprinted on it, but that was hard to see before the bar was used and gone after a few uses. My baby doll doesn’t like what he considers ‘fru fru bath stuff’.

Well let me correct that. He likes the effects of the items, he just doesn’t want it to look fancy. So he can pretend it is a basic item. He really liked using the bar. His hands are larger so he had no trouble with the size and in fact I think that is what made him think it was a ‘manly sized’ bar and there for best for him. He did think it was a bit on the soft side so he put it on the shelf out of the spray. Once dry it is no longer so soft and it works well. I asked him if he wanted to know what was in it and he said ‘no, but we can get this again.’

Which more or less means that he likes it, wants me to reorder it, but wants to think of it like a larger version of unscented Ivory soap. He also wants to think that it costs less than a dollar, which is what the hardware store around the corner from us sells hand sized bars of Ivory soap for. He doesn’t want the details because then he fears he’ll be in ‘fru fru’ territory again and have to give up a product he likes because anything but basic Ivory soap is too much.

Which is, to be honest, very high praise from him.

So I liked it enough to try out another bar to see if the firmness when wet remains a consistent factor. I liked the way it made my skin feel although it was a little large for my hand and my baby doll really liked it. I’d say, that was a pretty positive response for the Beekman 1802 Goat Milk Body Soap with CBD.

Trying out the Julep Love your Face Hydrating Bamboo Water Cleansing Wipes

I know we have discussed this before. Once I loved using cleansing wipes. I used them for makeup correction and removal. I kept a packet in the car to keep my fingers clean. I kept them around for the mid afternoon grimy skin feel. You know when it is hot outside and you go to the mail box and comeback not quite sweaty enough to call your self sweaty but you still feel like your skin feels kind of gross?

they are useful things.

they just produce a lot of waste and I did my best to ween myself off of using them. The problem is that I still know how good they are. While I no longer purchase them, I do occasionally receive a pack in a subscription box.

This set of Julep Love your bare face Hydrating Bamboo Water Cleansing wipes came to me in a subscription box a while back. I really like the brand Julep. I generally think of them as just good clean Korean makeup even though they are also heavily into skincare. Their cream to powder shadow sticks are amazing if you ever get a chance to try those out. I actually put one of their trios as one of my weight loss rewards. I try to give myself a reward for every ten pounds i lose and this shadow trio is on my rewards list.

These wipes are not listed on the Julep site. They are available and may other retailers though. I’m not sure if Juelp discontinued them or not. They were listed at Walmart.

These wipes are really good actually. They have only a light fresh scent to them. They are gentle on the skin and take off makeup very easily. I tried it on black eyeshadow and read lipstick and everything disappeared like a dream. they also didn’t dry out my skin which was nice. There was no alsohol residue in these wipes.

The wipes themselves are wet but not overly saturated. After using them on your face the skin is damp but not dripping and the liquid soon dries without needing to be wiped off. There is no residue feeling left behind when they dry.

While i liked using these wipes, I like using them a bit too much. I really don’t want to bring disposable cleansing wipes back to my routine and with first the Beekman 1802 that came in a subscription and now these, I feel myself falling into old habits. So even though there are still plenty left in this packet, I will be relocating this packet of cleansing wipes to my car rather than keeping them in my bathroom. I think they will be much better used on sticky fingers instead of letting myself fall back into the habit and convenience of daily disposables.

they are however quite fabulous.

Testing out the Beekman 1802 Cleansing Wipes

As I have mentioned before I have been trying out a lot of the Beekman 1802 products because I signed up for their quarterly subscription box. I loved getting the box as it is beautiful and everything looked lovely, but the box is only worth getting if I also like using the pretty, pretty products.

I will admit that the Beekman 1802 Facial Cleansing wipes weren’t my favorite item in the box. It isn’t that I don’t like cleansing wipes. I do. they are really convenient and great to have around. They are a very useful product to have around. However they are single use products and I have been trying to use fewer single use products.

I am a little relived though as these are 100% biodegradable. It makes the guilt less, but I am still trying to keep the habit of reusable.

It was actually difficult for me to ween myself off using facial cleansing wipes because they are a great convenience product. So I am torn about having them here. I like them but i don’t want to get back into the habit of using them. But they are here and so I will be using them. This pack is the unscented variety. The link will take you to the page where all of their various facial wipes are located and you can see the scents (including unscented) that are available.

I’ll admit the Honeyed Grapefruit is calling to me. I am trying to resist.

But more people should use grapefruit as a scent. I’m just saying.

These cleansing wipes have no scent. which is nice for general use. While I am using this for my makeup I did also use one to get what I think was jam off of a small child’s hands when i was asked to watch him for a moment. His mother said it was fine. There was no cleansing without permission. She didn’t notice he was sticky until the emergency pass over and these were designed for sensitive skin, unlike the soap that we currently had in the bathroom.

We’ll call that a victory for cleansing wipes.

Actually, I really enjoyed these wipes. The pack has 100 in them so they will last a while. The cloths were damp but not overly saturated. They are slightly textured do they were better able to remove makeup. And of course, they are convenient.

I did have to do a double cleanse. I went for my tube of cleanser after using this to remove the makeup, but it did do a good job of removing the bulk of the makeup without leaving any excess cleansing formula or stickiness behind.

And to be honest, while I am attracted to the scents on the website, I am happy with the unscented. The unscented worked out well for these. It makes them more multipurpose and so I feel more comfortable using them for things other than removing my makeup. (Like sticky fingers). The biodegradable makes me feel less guilty about the single use product.

While I will never go out and purchase these Facial Cleansing Wipes from Beekman 1802 and i really hope they aren’t a routine item in the subscription box, I am okay with using this one pack.it is a good product, it just happens to be one that I will not routinely buy.