Holy Grail Beautyy . . .

Storytime

I used to have very obvious pores and I once got stopped in a department store by a Clinique sales assistant and was offered to sample a pore blurring product.  This was at least eight years ago.  I ended up purchasing it I can't remember the exact name of the product but it was a blurring product of a light mousse texture in the shade light.  I didn't think anything of it to be honest, but as I got older *I will be 37 in Sept* it was becoming more of an issue.  I have mentioned my current regime in other posts, especially ones pertaining to the products I used or use now.

***The AHA I am still using has been discontinued now by Olay under the Regenerist range, but apparently it has been re-released under the Olay Pro X range.  I have yet to be able to buy off the shelf in Australia and when I run out of my last bottle of it I will need to find a replacement product.

Beauty Guru

Once I started paying more attention to my skin my large pores did look better but it was not until I introduced my essential trifecta: Neutrogena Anti-wrinkle deep wrinkle night SA Moisturiser, Olay Regenerist Night Resurfacing Elixir and a Vitamin C product.  PLUS I also use my Swisse Skincare Argan Face Oil  nightly also.  The vitamin C was the kicker, it took my skin to another level.

I am waiting for my new Vitamin C product to arrive from America from Skin Actives, so I am leaving a specific product out of the regime description.

Vitamin C is a potent anti-oxidant for the skin; it can remove dullness, diminishes discoloration, refines the surface for a younger skin look, it assists the skin with a robust barrier from your environment which aids the skin in conjunction with sun protection products. It softens fine lines and wrinkles, I had one horrible line under my left eye and now with five months of using vitamin C with my Olay Regenerist Resurfacing Night Elixir, Neutrogena Anti-wrinkle Deep Wrinkle Night SA Moisturiser and now the Swisse Skincare Argan Oil as well; the wrinkle has really improved and my skin overall is on another level.

I believe in using good ingredients but you do not have to spend crazy amounts.  I like products that have factual empirical research on the efficacy of the ingredients not just the potential and hyperbole advertising to work in the hopes that I might be the lucky person the ingredient that may work, works on me.  Most people don't have money to spend on inefficient products.  Below is my simple skincare regime:

I now rarely use a face primer that is pore hiding specific.


PRODUCTS AND PRICES

The Neutrogena Anti-wrinkle Deep Wrinkle Night SA Moisturiser is $30, the Olay Regenerist Resurfacing Night Elixir was $50,  Serumtologie C Serum 22 Treat/Correct incl shipping to Australia and a small exchange rate was $50 dollars and the Answers From Nature Peptide C Serum was very expensive but that was a markup from the chemist selling it from US $35 to AUD $84.95 which was crazy! The Swisse Skincare Argan Face Oil  is $15.99.  The Skin Actives Vitamin C product was AUD $23.

DAYTIME 

In the morning I use Neutrogena extra gentle cleanser.  Twice a week  This leaves my face feeling good and not stripped dry.  If its daytime, I will also use Klara Cosmetics RESET Instant New Skin to remove any left over dead skin so I can then apply my daily face product of choice Revlon Photoready BB Cream Skin Perfector SPF 30.

EVENING

I cleanse again with the Neutrogena Extra Gentle Cleanser, dry my face off and I apply my Olay Regenerist Night Resurfacing Elixir  next and leave that for a while before applying my Swisse Skincare Argan Face Oil ( I alternate between oil or the retinol moisturiser), as the face oil does not layer very well with the previous products and will start to ball up in places.  Same thing for when I use my Neutrogena Anti Wrinkle Deep Wrinkle Night SA Moisturiser.  I always use the cream last as anything you put on top of creams will not be able to be absorbed as well as it could be as there is a thick barrier to the skin now created by the cream.

WEEKLY

Twice a week I will use Neutrogena Pore Refining Cleanser, I only use it a few times a week because daily use is too harsh and leaves the skin tight and dry feeling.
I use a face mask once a week.  My next mask is by Skin Physics Spot + Blemish Anti-Spot & Pore Refining

DIET & EXERCISE

I do not drink full sugar sodas or juices only water and a dietary fizzing supplement called Berocca.  I only drink alcohol probably twice a year as it causes premature ageing and I quit smoking a year ago.  Sugar is an anti-ageing enemy as it breaks down the collagen fibers in our skin which leads to our skin ageing. Sugar and Your Skin


I also exercise very regularly doing step aerobics, yoga, Pilates and walking, which is important for many reasons one being efficient circulation through out your body and the sweat that is produced to enable toxins to be removed regularly.
So really all you need is to have a solid skin care regimen coupled with healthy lifestyle choices with alcohol in moderation to follow plus consistency in your regimen *Sunscreen is mandatory* and soon you will be ditching those extra products to cover pores which will save you money, time and vanity desk space.

Thank-you for reading.
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Photos by me.

Storytime

I was running out of my first vitamin C serum, Answers From Nature Peptide C Serum  and I was unable to purchase another, so I was on the hunt for another good vitamin C product.  I ended up on Amazon after reading good reviews on Serumtologie Vitamin C 22% on a few websites devoted to skin care products.  I bit the bullet and ordered it from Amazon.  It took two weeks to get to me as I live in Australia.  It was in perfect condition on arrival. 
I paid $50 in total with some of that being shipping to Australia and the exchange rate.  It arrived in two weeks with no issue and I received tracking information and updates throughout the two weeks.



Serumtologie C Serum is an off white liquid, with an inoffensive light smell that dissipates quite fast.  You draw up as much as you can  in the dropper and apply to your face, neck, decolletage and tops of hands.  Its absorbed very quickly, and can give a tight feeling when applied over the whole face which does dissipate after a little while.  Due to its formulation its best to use this by itself and not immediately layer products on top of it for at least half an hour. The directions say to use morning and night but I found that if I used it in the morning, it would not react well with my Revlon Photoready BB Cream Skin Perfector as I tried to apply it on top of the serum it started to ball up everywhere.  I need to protect my skin over using this serum in the daytime so I changed to evening only or on days when I am not leaving the house only application.  Oils are also not advised to be applied afterwards as the serum balls up and off the skin.


After two months of using this serum every night my thoughts are that this serum is not as powerful as the Answers From Nature Peptide C Serum I used previously which contains a different form of Vitamin C which is L-Ascorbic Acid.  It did not exfoliate my skin like a good amount of Vitamin C should be doing alone and in conjunction with my other products like AHA and the Retinol.  So I decided to check out what these 'beneficial' ingredients are as it was obvious to me it wasn't as great as I hoped it would be or some of its excellent reviews online.   Here are the ingredients contained within:

Deionized water Why is it used?
Organic Centella Asiatica (Gotu Kola) What are the benefits?
Wildcrafted Equisetum Arvense (Horsetail) What are the benefits?
Wildcrafted Taraxacum Officinale (Danedelion) Is this beneficial?
Wildcrafted Geranium Maculatum (Wild Geranium) What are the benefits?
Organic Aloe Barbadensis Leaf (Aloe) What are the benefits?
Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate (Vitamin C) What are the benefits?
Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) What are the benefits?
Cassia Angustifolia Seed Polysaccharide (Botanical Hylauronic Acid) What are the benefits?
Hamamelis Virginiana (Witch Hazel) Is this beneficial?
Carbomer What is it for?
(2s)-2-Amino-5-guanidinopentanoic Acid (L-Arginine) What are the benefits?
Ferulic Acid What are the benefits?
d-Alpha Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E) What are the benefits?
Organic Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba Oil) What are the benefits?
Phenoxyethanol What is it for?
Ethyl Hexyl Glycerin What is it for?


What I noticed was when I applied this formula it would plump out my skin but when it was not freshly applied to my face; my skin did not look like it was actually changing my skin so it would look progressively better as it should with vitamin c being part of the formula. 

Vitamin C  IN the form of Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate is not proven to be a very effective version of Vitamin C - compared to the more common forms.  It was not exfoliating my skin and apart from plumping my skin temporarily it wasn't actually doing much of anything.  It is an antioxidant but that is not enough to exfoliate the skin successfully.  Gotu Kola is part of the base of the serum and that too is not empirically proven to successfully help skin's appearance like retinols, AHA's etc.  It is said to have potential to help.

This blog article from The Beauty Brains delves into the different types of Vitamin C in skincare and it shows that the type of Vitamin C in Serumtologie C Serum does not penetrate the skin and has limited ability in being effective. Various types of Vitamin C in skincare


Witch Hazel is a known irritant even though it contains anti oxidants from the tannin in the bark the alcohol added is for distillation of the bark  and it also includes alcohol in its formulation.  Alcohol is a big no no for healthy skin.

Horsetail Extract is a very common ingredient in skincare but it is not proven to have any skin soothing or anti oxidant activity on the skin. 


I found the dropper applicator to not be the best dispensing tool for vitamin C products as you are constantly opening the bottle top to access the dropper.  A pump dispenser for products like this is the best kind as well as having an opaque container to avoid sunlight deterioration of the product contents.  This bottle is dark blue which is good.  Ideally you should keep any products like this in dark cool areas for preservation. 

I feel after two months of use I can conclude it is not a good Vitamin C product for skin.  The vitamin C is supposed to be the star ingredients of this product and it does fall short.  I don't recommend it however it does have some good ingredients that make up somewhat for it.

I have ordered a new product from a company called Skin Actives so my next vitamin C product review will be after trying that product.

* If you have sensitive skin you should patch test a little of the product on yourself first before applying to your face and ALWAYS use sunscreen.


Thank-you for reading.
Not sponsored.
Image my own.

Storytime

I was really happy with my skincare routine and recently we have all seen and read how glycerin products, particularly the Nivea Post Shave Balm, have been a holy grail product for so many because it's main ingredient is glycerin and it helps adhere your foundation to your skin better than a lot of silicone primer products.  I didn't use the Nivea Post Shave Balm because of the heavy fragrance its too much for my nose and asthma.  However, I did find a glycerin containing moisturiser and I started featuring it in my daily morning makeup routine.

Beauty Guru

I don't often get pimples except for that time of the month, but I started to get little bumps over my cheeks above pores.  They were very small kind of like a tiny see through pimple.  However,it was not pimples it was blocked pores.  But from what? Then I happened across a video by YouTube'r beauty blogger Michael Finch Michael Finch - The Truth About Nivea Post Shave Balm  and his video addressed the craze of using glycerin containing products and how he too was getting these little bumps over the face and he started to discuss the benefits of glycerin in regards to skincare and makeup application but you can overdo it.  I was over doing it.  I was using one moisturiser by Malin & Goetz and my new vitamin C serum by Serumtologie *review coming after I have used it for three months* as well as my Olay Regenerist Night Resurfacing Elixir, Neutrogena Anti Wrinkle Deep Wrinkle Night SA Moisturiser, Revlon Photoready BB Cream Skin Perfector so that is five products all great products but all containing glycerin!

I removed the daytime moisturiser to start off with and did not replace it.  I used night time products on alternate nights so I could see if it made a genuine difference to my skin.  It did, it was remarkable!

This is only a problem if you are seeing these tiny bumps on top of your pores.  Unfortunately, my skin gets annoyed by too much glycerin and if you suspect your skin does too, check out your daily products ingredients to see if your over doing the glycerin and try removing them from your routine and see if you get the same result as I did or similar.

Thank-you for reading.
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Does glycerin clog pores?