Girls Only: Product Review (February)

First and foremost, before I get into the heart of the "Girls Only: Product Review," I just want to apologize to the ladies out there. It is quite possible in the last few months that without my guidance you've gone astray and purchased products that aren't worth your money. I can't reimburse you, but never fear! I'm back, and I'm here to tell you about two face washes that I aren't for me, and one that I love.

Since October, I've tried purchasing a few different face washes. The first was from Aveda, and on a recent trip to Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance, Inc., I had a discussion with a Beauty Consultant who used to work at an Aveda salon. She agreed with me that Aveda’s hair care products are amazing, but the skin care is not worth the price. First of all, the name is ridiculously difficult to type: "botanical kinetics: purifying gel cleanser." Second of all, it smells like a wet twig, you know those ones that are green on the inside? But the truth of the matter is, it just doesn't do much for your face. I saw zero improvement as far as blackhead, pimple or redness reduction. Also, it's $20-40 depending on the size bottle you get.

The second product had much the same effect on my skin, which is to say my skin was exactly the same mess after the entire bottle was gone. "Yes to blueberries: Age Refresh, daily cleanser" came highly recommended by Beauty Consultant, so I was pretty disappointed that it wasn't worth its salt. Coming in at $18 per bottle (or you can order it online for as little as $10 for 4.5 fl oz.), it's a little less expensive, but it smells like pottery clay. What really bothered me is that it completely disappears once you start to work it into your skin, which gives you this overwhelming urge to use more just to make sure you're covering your entire face. The worst part is the rinse: it does not come off cleanly. You need to use a washcloth to remove it, and even after you do your skin still feels like it has a greasy film on it. The feeling does go away once you dry your face off, but I was pretty tempted to re-wash my face with a real cleanser.

Now I'm happy to announce that I have a found an awesome face wash that I will continue to buy! Not only is it super cheap, about $4.50 per 6 fl oz bottle, but it spreads well and you don't have to use very much. It's "Pond's: Luminous Clean, Cream Cleanser." I know it's superficial, but it has a very pretty metallic sheen because of the Kaolin Clay. The smell is fresh and perfumy, but light, and just overall pleasant. Most of all, it rinses off cleanly and I have seen a reduction in blackheads, pimples popping out of nowhere, and redness.

However, I feel like it does leave my face feeling particularly dry afterward, which brings me to that part of the Product Review where I give you a tip! (Also, it turns out that the dryness might be attributed to the Kaolin Clay, which you can read in this article from Truth In Skincare.)

Always moisturize your face after you wash it. To some of you this may seem obvious, and to others like myself, you may wonder, "They have moisturizer that goes on your face?" The answer is not just "yes," but the answer is, "Yes, and it's called 'Mary Kay: Timewise, age-fighting moisturizer.'" Do not skip this step. I have very oily skin, and I recently learned that the reason is because the glands in my face over-produce sebum. If I were to skip the moisturizer, my skin would kick in double-time to replace the sebum that was stripped during the recent cleanse, plus the fact that it's already overachieving.

I’ve been using Mary Kay’s product for two years, and I go hours and hours and hours before my face starts to look or feel greasy. Because I get bored quickly—even with tried and true products—I decided to try Aveda’s biokenetics moisturizer in September, and my face was shiny and felt suffocated in less than 2 hours. However, it got great reviews from a lot of people, so it may just be my specific skin type that it doesn’t work for? It works well for my feet, knees and elbows, though! But if you're going to buy a moisturizer for your face, it's going to be Mary Kay. I will never to stray from the brilliance of this moisturizer ever again!

All images not taken from my phone were found using Google's search engine.