What have you found to be a great product (other than soap for all you smart-alecs out there!)?
I love to try new natural face care products from my local health food store but am loath to pay the $$ for some of them.
I’m always interested in what works for others. Anyone try or regularly use any of those expensive alpha-hydroxy things that cost an arm and a leg from the department stores?
One of the things I know I’ll spend money on is by Zia Natural Skin Care. It’s their “Fresh Papaya Enzyme Peel” and it’s great. I wouldn’t say it’s exactly a peel, more like a mask but I really notice the difference in my (extremely) dry skin after I use it. Now, I got this product free (as a result of doing some work for them) but it’s expensive (probably $20 for a 1 oz tub) so I wouldn’t have tried it on my own if I’d been the one coughing up the dough!
I don’t care much for my face so have few face care products. However, I do shave (occasionally… my GF says I should more often) and I’ve found the Kiss My Face minty shaving cream to be the best thing I’ve ever tried. In conjunction with my Mach 3 razor, I get a smooth, comfortable shave.
[/Commercial]
If you want me, I’ll be in my trailer, talking to my agent.
i use that Proactive solution, that’s avertised on tv. It keeps my face from being oily, and i don’t break out during my period as much as i used to. i love those info-mericals, and this is the first produce i ever bought from one. i really do like it. it works for me, but everyone is differant, ya know?
I used to use one of the Freeman (or is it Freedman?) facial mask/peel things, in cucumber. I could really feel the difference in my skin (it felt smoother, and even cooler to the touch) after using that stuff, but I got out of the habit of using it for some reason (hence my inability to remember the name!).
Lately I’ve been a fan of the Biore self-heating masks. You don’t have to leave them on for more than a few seconds once you apply them, and those suckers get hot. They really do seem to have a deep cleansing effect, but they don’t dry my skin out.
I use Neutrogena Moisture for Sensitive Skin, SPF 15, every day. It’s about $10 a bottle and that stuff is great. All the other face creams I’ve tried make me itch and sting like hell if they get in my eyes, but not this stuff. It’s cheap (compared to the expensive department-store stuff) but good. And the sunscreen in it keeps my pearly white skin free of wrinkles - nobody ever correctly guesses how old I am. I should buy stock in the company, I use it so much.
Oil of Olay Moisturizer - the stuff in the black and gold bottle, SPF 30, is great. My skin is combination - oily in some spots, dry in others, and it keeps me all even. It’s like $10 a bottle, I use it morning and night. Works great, lasts for months.
I usually wash my face with Dove soap, but sometimes I put on Neutrogena Deep Pore Cleanser for about twenty minutes. My skin gets all tingly and feels much cleaner. It’s too harsh for everyday use, but makes a good mask.
Anything by Origins is awesome, but a little more expensive.
Burt’s Bees Lip Balm is excellent. I order it from http://www.drugstore.com. The lipsticks they (he?) make are nice too, long-lasting and smooth, but pretty cheap.
And Vaseline is the all-time best buy for your buck - I slather it on my lips at night to keep them soft, rub it in my hands at night to cure dry skin, and use it to remove eye makeup (doesn’t burn, comes off easily).
Eucerin Moisturizer is expensive, but really really keeps your skin smooth and soft. I buy it from Price Club in huge, gallon-sized containers to save on the cost. If you slather it on after a shower, while you’re still wet, you’ll be soft and moisturized all day.
I’m not one for foofy face things, but I absolutely adore the Tea Tree facial cleanser from The Body Shop. It’s refreshing, it smells great, and it works.
When I was in high school, I used the Clinique 3-step program. I abandoned it as too…ordinary. After a 10 year hiatus, I have returned to it, and I am pleased as punch. I use the 7-day-scrub cream with it. It may seem expensive, but the products last a long time and the results are great, so it is worth it to me.
I’m very no-frills about this stuff. After some experimenting around, I really like Neutrogena soaps and cleansers for my face, but have settled on good ol’ Ponds as the best. Yes, how stodgy! How grandmother used it, fercryinouloud, but she also had skin like a baby.
I use the foaming cleanser to get my face clean, then use the lotion as a moisturizer. (What a beauty routine, huh?)
I used to work in a salon and had many discussions along these lines.
For drugstore lines Oil of Olay and Ponds tie for first place. I love OoO’s sunscreens and they have a good beta hydroxy one as well. Their foaming cleanser is great too.
For alpha hydroxy products I like Pond’s Prevent and Correct or their anti-aging cream. A lot of acid products smell really bad over time, but these are clean and sweet.
Incidentally, if you don’t know the difference, beta hydroxys are a little easier on your skin, they don’t irritate as much as alphas. They are also good for acne. “Beta hydroxy” is another name for salicylic acid, the same stuff in zit cream.
I have recently become addicted to 5S products. It’s Shiseido’s drugstore line in Japan. I think you can only get it in a couple of boutiques here, but you can find it online. It’s not too spendy and lasts forever.
Once a week or so, usually more around my period, I cleanse my face with Biore Gentle Scub face gel, then exfoliate with Clinque exfoliating scrub, and use Origin’s Charcole Mask. I let it dry completely, then wash it off and Moisturizer from Clean and Clear. It has salicylic acid in it, and doesn’t over-dry or make my face greasy.
The rest of the time I just use the face cleanser and the moisturizer. But the Origin’s mask is AMAZING. My face can look blochy and horrid before and shiney and pink afterwards. I want to buy box loads of that stuff.
I try and use Clearasil Daily Face Wash twice a day. I still get some pimples, but only around my period.
Body-Oil of Olay Moisterizing Bar in Pink. It smells heavenly…light, feminine and old fashioned. Not cloying and perfumey.
I also like St. Ives Swisse Vanilla handcream.
Oil of Olay body wash is wonderful… I don’t even need lotion afterwards.
The Pond’s Makeup Remover Towelettes and Olay’s Facial Towelettes are great too, since I’m lazy about taking makeup off at the end of the day.
I also use Nivea Tinted Moisturizer instead of foundation, and St. Ive’s Cucumber and something Cooling Eye Gel, since I tend to have dark circles. Works like a charm.
I like coconut oil (it’s solid at room temp, so not really an oil, but liquifies in your hands at body temp). Use the stuff on face, hands, legs, and everywhere. When I go walking in the morning and it’s chilly outside, I slather it on my face first as a protective coating. In smaller amounts, makes face dewy.
I really like Clean and Clear for my face (moisturizer, face wash, and spot treatment). The moisturizer is light and not greasy like some other ones I’ve tried, and I like how the face wash leaves my skin tingly afterward. I don’t know if that’s the result of it cleaning my face properly or just some kind of placebo effect, but my skin looks good, so I don’t really care.
St. Ives is my favorite for body wash. I used to use the Mineral Therapy, but all the stores around me stopped carrying it seemingly at once, so now I use the Renewing Collagen Elastin.
