Green Eye Products I Will NOT Be Re-Purchasing

I decided to write a post on natural eye products I've tried and didn't quite enjoy.  I realized all of my posts have been about my favorite things so far, and I sound like someone who loves everything I try. I'll say that 8 out of 10 things I try, I dislike, and those items get returned and get no review love.  There are plenty of products I've tried that I don't care for, and I want to include those honest reviews in case you get the itch to try these out:

1. Tarte Maracuja Eye Cream:  This eye cream for some reason doesn't spread very well and didn't feel hydrating enough around the eyes.  I felt like I had to apply a lot of product to get it to spread without me having to tug at my eyes.  It also claims to brighten the undereye area, which I didn't think it did.  I will use it up, but not be re-purchasing.  My sister has this and she seems to like it, so get a sample of it from Sephora if you're interested.  My sister's skin type is: perfect, but a little on the dryer side.  If this is your skin type, this may work for you. :)  

2. Pai Echium Anti Aging Eye Cream:  I'm on the fence about this one. It spreads easily and has a nice, light scent, but I don't think it does very much for the skin around my eyes. I like that it's natural, contains argan oil and hydrates a bit, but it doesn't do anything for fine lines or dark circles from what I can tell.   I'm currently trying out some other eye creams, so I'll keep you posted on what happens with those.  Maybe the skin around my eyes can't be helped, but I'm willing to try out a few more before I give up my search for the perfect, natural eye cream.  If I couldn't find anything else out there, I can see myself going back to this one due to it's good ingredients.

3. Mineral Fusion Eye Makeup Remover:  I did not like this at all.  First, it's a gel.  I hate gel eye makeup removers.  This and the MakeUpForEver Sens'Eyes are in the same bucket--anytime I try to use gel eye makeup removers, I get it IN MY EYES!! Tried this for the first time last night and I hated it.  Got it in my eyes AND it didn't remove eye makeup very well--I had to rub several times to get my mascara off, and even then, it didn't take it all off.  I felt like I aged my poor right eye by rubbing some wrinkles into it (for some reason, the right eye mascara was holding on for dear life last night).  Going back to my more chemical-laden liquid eye makeup removers until I find a good replacement  

Hello Healthy Bronzer!

My search for a non-shimmery, natural bronzer is finally over!! I've been using Josie Maran's Argan Brightening Bronzer Sun Spot Corrector for the past 2 months and I LOVE IT.  It comes in one universal color, "Golden Bronze" in a golden pink metallic compact.  I've sampled a few other bronzers at Sephora, but most of them were either not "green" enough or just made my face look dirty.  This one gives me a sun-kissed look as a blush or highlights my cheekbones perfectly as a contour powder.  It gives you the right amount of color that wakes your face up and gives the facade of a nice glow.  Added perk--it has natural SPF coverage!  

Here are some of the bronzer's claims:

"Reverse the appearance of sun damage while imparting a natural sunkissed glow with Argan Brightening Bronzer Sun Spot Corrector. The Argan oil-infused powder contains vitamin C and bearberry extract to brighten skin and help correct uneven skintone. Natural SPF protects from future sun damage." 

I can't say for certain that this has corrected any uneven skin tone (since my cheekbones weren't uneven to begin with), but I do like that it contains argan oil and vitamin C.  I think the hardest part about using this bronzer was figuring out which brush to use it with--if you ask 3 makeup artists this question, they'll all give you a different answer.  I ended up watching so many different videos on youtube on which brush to use with a bronzer it gave me a headache.  Ultimately, use what works for you.  I ended up picking a blush brush by Kevyn Aucoin and though expensive, I love way it applies the product on my skin.  The brush doesn't hold on to any of the powder and deposits it all on your face, so it doesn't waste any product.   Other's have recommended: 1) a flat round brush--tap some product on the edge and use that to hollow out your cheekbones; 2) an angled blush brush to hollow out the cheekbones; 3) large brush to use as an all over bronzer; 4) blush brush to use as blush.


Pros:

-beautiful color
-minimal product needed per application
-natural SPF
-contains vitamin C and argan oil
-hasn't caused any breakouts
-scores low on the EWG Skin Deep hazard scale

Cons:

-retails for $32

EWG Skindeep Rating: 1

Click here to read the report.

Six Beauty Tips To Live By in 2014

1. When testing out a new product, test it out on one part of your face only.  I typically test out new products on my forehead or half of my face.  This way, if something breaks me out, I can contain the breakout and know that it's the product that's causing the skin to act crazy.  Plus, you'll have to go into hiding for a lot longer if you breakout all over!

2. Read expiration dates on your cosmetics and throw them out if they are expired. There will typically be a jar symbol with "6m" or "12m" on it.  This means it expires 6 months or 12 months from the day you open it.  Especially with more natural cosmetics that don't use preservatives, you want to be careful that you don't push your luck and pay attention to the expiration dates--there may be a bacteria farm in there.  If there's no expiration indicator, ask the sales person or the company--they should have an answer for you.

3. More is not more.  If the directions say to "apply a thin layer," apply a thin layer.  I used to do the opposite with zit creams--I thought if i slathered it on thicker, it would destroy the bacteria quicker.  Actually not the case--the only thing it does is dry the skin surrounding the invader, and you don't want to dry out the skin that's doing fine.  You're also wasting product, because putting on more won't help get you there quicker. It's a shame, I know. 

4. When applying eye creams, use your fourth ring finger to apply the eye cream to tap on the eye cream.  The tapping should be so light, that you barely see your eye skin move.  Any sort of pulling to your eye area is bad, as the skin around your eye is extremely delicate.  I'm in my early thirties now and I'm definitely seeing the effects of how pulling/rubbing/daily use of eyeliner on my bottom lid can cause fine lines.  Prevention is key, as I haven't found any eye creams that miraculously make my eyes look younger….yet!  

5.  Take care of your neck and décolleté.  You don't want to have a wrinkly, saggy neck and a perfect complexion.  I've read several articles and all of them confirm that you don't need a special neck and décolleté moisturizer--just use the same moisturizer you use for your face and that should suffice.  Don't forget to put SPF on your neck and décolleté as well--this area needs as much sun protection as everything else!

6. Lastly, sample, sample, sample!  Try samples of things you want to try and test them out on your face for a week or two.  If you get good results, buy the full size item.  As good as Sephora's return policy is, you don't want to be the person who is constantly trying things and returning them.  This ends up becoming a time killer because you have to make another trip back to the store, and who doesn't need more hours back in their lives? :) Plus,  lot of organic, more natural cosmetic lines will offer small sample sizes for purchase at a reasonable price.  

My Favorite Facial Oil

Oils.  Have you noticed the advertising of facial oils has been blowing up over the past year??  I walked by Sephora and the big window advertisement is now focusing on oils--it is finally being given its 15 minutes of fame!  The funny thing is, the use of facial oils has been around for a long time.  I myself started looking into facial oils about a year ago, even though I was deathly afraid to try them--I have sensitive, acne-prone, dehydrated but oily skin (I know I'm painting a pretty picture for myself here) which I have to manage very carefully.  Putting oil on an already oily face seemed counterintuitive to me, and it was not something I was willing to do….until I started doing more research.  

Here are some of the things I learned about oils:

1. Some oils have antioxidants and can protect your healthy cells from damage caused by free-radicals. 

2. Oil can help re-balance your skin.  My oily skin was oily because it was dehydrated underneath.  I spent so much time trying to dry out my skin to stop the blemishes that my skin was trying to compensate by creating more oil.  When you apply oil to your skin, your skin won't feel as parched, thus decreasing oil production.

3. Oil allows for deeper penetration of skin care products into your skin.  

4.  If you chose the right oil for your skin type, it will NOT cause breakouts.  

I read 15 more articles on the benefits of oils before I decided to take the plunge and give it a try--the inner product junkie in me won out over my fear of breaking out and I started researching different brands.  I decided to start with Argan oil and  I noticed there was one brand of Argan oil that both consistently got good reviews AND all the reviewers indicated they didn't get a break out.  This was my first foray into face oils:  Kahina Giving Beauty Argan Oil.  I tried several different types of oils (Fresh's Seabuckthorn, Meadowfoam oil, and Rice Bran oil) and these all caused me to break out.  I'm trying out some One Love Organics oils as well, and the jury's still out on the results.  I'm giving it a few more tries before I write a review. 

Back to Kahina's Argan Oil--from the first time I used it, I got no breakouts, which is HUGE for me!  I'm pretty sensitive (read: breakout prone) to most products, but not the case with this oil.  It didn't cause any breakouts, and the next morning, my skin looked smoother and less oily.  I've been using this oil in the evenings about 2-3x/week for the past 8 months and I still love it!  It comes in a nice black, thick glass bottle with a dropper.

How I use the oil:
-Cleanse face
-Leave face damp with water or a misting spray (this step is ESSENTIAL, as oil does not spread well on dry skin and may cause you to break out).  The spray that I use is from 302 and it's called "Calming Mist Rx."
-Put 2-4 drops of oil on your palms and rub your palms together to warm the oil
-Pat oil on to face
-If you need additional moisture, feel free to add.  I don't use anything afterwards, but skin is individual and you know your skin best!  However, for the first week of use, I wouldn't recommend using anything on top of this oil, just to figure out if it works for your skin or causes a breakout. 

Additional things to note:
-I did get a small spot/zit or two when I first started using the oil.  Not a major breakout or crazy, angry pimples (the red giant ones).  This typically happens to me when I first start using any new product, so this didn't scare me.  Now if you break out all over, I would not continue using the product. 

Pros:
-does not clog pores
-skin tone seems improved
-less oil production (this may not apply to everyone, but this helped me because my skin type was on the oilier side)
-wake up to skin that seems better than it was the night before
-certified organic and fair trade 

Cons:
-some may find it to be pricey ($36 for a 30ml bottle)
-glass bottle may make it heavy for travel

Information from EWG/Skin-deep:
Hazard Score: 0; Data Available: Limited

Click here if you want to see the ingredient hazard information from EWG/Skindeep:  Argan Oil

If you want to read more about oils, here's an interesting link I found!

The GREEN Re-boot and Natural Chapstick!

Hi everyone!

It's been a while since I've posted, but I am coming back and re-booting my blog as a GREENER beauty blog (*insert applause sound effect*)!

Over the past two years, I have been trying tons of more "natural" products in an attempt to have cleaner makeup and skin care.  With all the research I've been doing on EWG.org, you realize how many chemicals there are in all the everyday products we use.  In the process of trying to go greener with my beauty products, I've tried things I love, and products I wanted to love (but didn't), which will all be blogged about soon!  

Don't get me wrong, I'm not 100% green--there are a few things in my make-up arsenal I can't manage to give up just yet, but I'm trying to limit my beauty vices.  Until I can find a good, more natural alternative that gives me similar results to the more chemical-y, mainstream counterparts, I'll keep them in my regiment.  You still have to live, right? :)  I'll be posting weekly--stay tuned for greener (and my not-as-green) beauty reviews!

Here is my first GREENER post for 2014:

My natural lip balm remedy:

Dr. Bronner's Magic Organic Lip Balm!! 

I was lucky enough to purchase this on a whim at Target and am I glad I did!  My eyes were drawn to the word "organic" and who am I kidding, more often than not, I will buy any lip product if it feels right (which is way to often).  Most of the time, I'll try a new lip balm, use it a few times, find it doesn't hydrate my dry lips enough, and that's the end of it.  I have a graveyard of barely used lip balms (I know, not so green of me, tsk tsk).  This one was different--from the first time I used this Magic Organic Lip Balm, my lips felt very hydrated and my lips sighed in relief!  I felt this way not just with the first use, but every time thereafter--hence, it's been my lip balm of choice for the past 1.5 years--MAGIC!  I normally can't stay faithful to a lip balm for more than a month or two because it seems that lip balms just stop working for me, but Dr. Bronner's and I are going strong!  I've gone through 4 tubes of this stuff--I've tried the Lemon Lime, Naked and the Orange Ginger.  Lemon Lime and Naked are fabulous--Naked just smells like nothing (if you ever wondered what nothing smells like, purchase one of these).  Orange Ginger on the other hand--not so much--the ginger smell was too overpowering and I couldn't handle it.  I personally don't like to eat ginger, so the thought of having to smell it all day made me feel a bit queasy.  But if you're a ginger fan, you may LOVE it, and in that case, please purchase!  

The only downside to this lip balm is that it doesn't contain any SPF, so you may want to look into something else for when you're out in the sun.  Otherwise, it has managed to sneak it's way into my "staples" list--which is tough, considering how annoyingly dry my lips are!

Pros:
-works on very dry lips
-inexpensive (I buy mine online or at Whole Foods)
-contains less than 10 ingredients
-I can pronounce every ingredient on the label

Cons:
-none so far

Information from EWG/Skin-deep:
Hazard Score: 1; Data Available: Limited

http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/product/176372/Dr._Bronner%27s_Magic_Organic_Naked_Lip_Balm_%282008_formulation%29/

Buying this lip balm has opened the floodgates for me and the Dr. Bronner's line.  I'll be posting soon about the other products I use from his line and what my thoughts are on those too!