Vitamin C Goodness

Review on high-end acne skincare: Peter Roth

by Lucy Zhu / Sunday, March 23, 2014 / Posted in Beauty, review, skin care

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FTC: I purchased both of these products with my own money. I am not compensated for this review.

Lately I've been pretty curious about high-end skincare products. Thus, why not try two at the same time?

Peter Roth's BHA 2% Acne Wash and Anti-Aging Cleansing Gel seemed to have good reviews, so I decided to try them out.

Ingredients:

BHA (Beta-Hydroxy Acid) 2%:

Salicylic Acid 2.00%, Water (Aqua), Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Lauryl Glucoside, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Propylene Glycol, Allantoin, Panthenol (Pro Vitamin B5), Quaternium-15, Methylparaben.

Anti-Aging Cleansing Gel:

Water, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Coco-Glucoside, Propylene Glycol, Salicylic Acid (Beta Hydroxy Acid), Glycolic Acid/Arginine, Peach Fruit Extract, White Oak Bark Extract, Lemon Fruit Extract, Lime Fruit Extract, Linden Flower Extract, Grapefruit Fruit Extract, Citric Acid, Citrus Bioflavonoids, Allantoin, Methylparaben, Quaternium-15, Red #40, Yellow #5, Fragrance.

My first impression: My skin definitely took some time to get used to both of these products, particularly the BHA than the anti-aging. This is ironic because initially the BHA wash made my skin break out - just the opposite of what it was intended to do!

Here are my thoughts:

BHA face wash:

Pros:

Got rid of acne (eventually)
2% salicylic acid for combating acne

Cons:

Made my face break out initially
Ingredients: SLES (Sodium Laureth Sulfate) was present - not a very good sign for such a detergent to be present
Cost - $35 for 8 oz, that's perhaps 4-5 times the price of a drugstore face wash that has similar efficacy at the same size. This means I can get 1.5 years worth of product for the price of this product itself. Not so good.

Anti-aging cleansing gel:

Pros:

Did not make me break out
Brightened and illuminated my skin
Cleared up my face

Cons:

Ingredients - also had SLES
Cost - Once again, $35 for 8 oz. Enough said.

Overall, I liked the anti-aging cleansing gel better than the BHA face wash. Despite this, I do not think I would purchase the anti-aging cleansing gel due to the cost and the fact that I can find a similar product at drugstore price for the same efficacy and results. I would recommend the anti-aging cleansing gel to those who can afford it and want illuminated skin, though!

Review: bliss Lemon+Sage Body Butter

by Lucy Zhu / Thursday, March 20, 2014 / Posted in review, skin care

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FTC: I received this product as a deluxe-sized sample from Sephora (with purchase). I am not compensated for any reviews.

During the winter I am constantly searching for a good body butter, oil, cream, or thick moisturizer of some sort. Whenever I curl up in bed without a moisturizer, my skin feels scaly and dried up, as if I were a shriveled up prune that had baked in a dessicator for hours.

So thus, when I received a deluxe sample of this from Sephora, I was very eager to try it out.

Ingredients:

Water, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Glyceryl Stearate, Dimethicone, Stearic Acid, Isopropyl Myristate, Cetyl Alcohol, PEG-40 Stearate, Trimethylolpropane Triisostearate, Sorbitan Tristearate, Phenoxyethanol, Retinyl Palmitate, Tocopherol, Butylene Glycol, Triethanolamine, Caprylyl Glycol, Algae Extract, Tetrasodium EDTA, Carbomer, Ethyl Acetate, Cyclohexane, Arnica Montana Flower Extract, Calluna Vulgaris Extract, Propylene Glycol, Sodium Hyaluronate, Citral, Limonene.

What did I think of it?

Pros:

Glided on super smoothly onto my skin
Did not feel sticky or leave a sticky residue
Had a light lemon scent that was not too strong
Moisturized my skin very well and was very emollient
Did not give me body acne or make my skin erupt in a rash

Con:

COST. $29 for 6.7 fl oz. I could buy Tree Hut Coconut Lime Body Butter, a body butter with similar efficacy and liking for a quarter of the price. I did find this body butter as part of a holiday gift set (perhaps 3 of these body butters for perhaps around $35) so if I were to buy that set I might actually consider getting the full price, especially since I do like this product, and especially because it is not sticky.

Bottom line, I guess I'm waiting for the next big holiday special for this :3

Review: fresh Lotus Youth Preserve Face Cream with Super 7 Complex

by Lucy Zhu / Thursday, March 13, 2014 / Posted in review, skin care

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FTC: I received a sample of this product from Sephora.

This product is one of a series of samples I recently received from Sephora. It is an interesting product made by fresh, a company known for their awesome lip balms and chapsticks. So, how well did the company make their skincare products?

Ingredients:

-Super 7 Complex: Fresh’s proprietary age-defying, hydrating, and radiance-boosting blend of seven super-charged ingredients: Lotus flower extract, blue-green algae extract, hibiscus fruit extract, fig fruit extract, vitamins C and E, and vegetable glycerol.

-Maca Root Extract: Enhances luminosity and cell turnover.

Water, Glycerin, Propylene Glycol Dicaprylate/Dicaprate, Pentylene Glycol, Cetearyl Alcohol, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Cetearyl Isononanoate, Betaine, Polymethyl Methacrylate, Steareth-21, Phenoxyethanol, Behenyl Alcohol, Cetearyl Glucoside, Sorbitol, Dimethicone, Sodium Pca, Tocopheryl Acetate, Caprylyl Glycol, Carbomer, Tromethamine, Cetyl Alcohol, Stearyl Alcohol, Butylene Glycol, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Hyaluronate, Limonene, Ficus Carica (Fig) Fruit Extract, Lepidium Meyenii Root Extract, Citrus Limon (Lemon) Peel Oil, Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract, Ascorbyl Tetraisopalmitate, Caramel, Algae Extract, Citric Acid, Nelumbo Nucifera Flower Extract, Citral, Potassium Sorbate, Hibiscus Esculentus Fruit Extract, Sorbic Acid, Tocopherol.

I looked at the list of ingredients, and the top 10 include the everyday, run-of-the-mill water-based ingredients - glycerin and fatty alcohols for emollient properties and hydrations, with propylene glycol for better skin penetration. All of the "special ingredients" featuring the "Super 7 Complex" are actually toward the bottom of the list, so honestly I don't know how much of a difference it would make in the overall product.

Pros:

Emollient, helped hydrate my skin
Did not break me out

Cons:

Felt really thick - as if I were piling paint or foundation on my skin
Price - $42 for 1.7 oz!

Honestly, while it does do a good job of moisturizing my face without making me break out, it does just as well as most drugstore moisturizers with the kick of the 7 extra ingredients which inherently would most likely not contribute too much given their limited quantity of percentage in ingredients to make up the whole product. So thus, I will pass on getting the full-sized version of this product.