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.
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.
Beauty Guru
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?
Ingredients of concern
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.
UK Brand Sleek Cosmetics has introduced a lip crayon that has a satin finish, six colours and has the lip plumping effect which it describes as an "addictive tingling" feel to it.
The shades available are mainly bright reds and pinks with one nude shade. To see these lip crayons in action be sure to check out this video by LiveLoveLaugh on Youtube Sleek Makeup Lip Crayon Review
The buzzing sensation? What is it you ask? The product that causes this reaction on your lips is Menthone Glycerin Acetal. It is a derivative of menthol so it has the cooling effects that you experience with menthol and the tingly feelings as well. The tingly feeling is skin irritation which can cause issue with some people and their skin sensitivities. However, it is noted that this form of menthol derivative is known to be less irritant forming. To find out more on Menthone Glycerin Acetal
Thankyou for reading.
Image via Google via reallyree.com
Not sponsored.
Sleek Makeup
So excited for this secret squirrel Kat Von D Alchemist palette! According to Kat, the palette is not for release yet but is in the prototype stage of development and is a project she has been working hard on for several years with a secret formula. Intriguing much!!! Refinery29 featured this news on their website Refinery29
Will keep up with Kat Von D on this pending release!
Thankyou for reading
Not sponsored
Beauty Bites!
I have a GHD Ionic straightener which I love but I only use it when necessary. I bought alongside the GHD, the heat protection spray. I found the best way to get the best use of my heat protectant spray is not just spraying it all over your hair haphazardly, but by spraying sections of hair, brushing the product through and separating the sections of hair with hair clips. Once you have done your whole head of hair with the spray you can go ahead with your styling tools knowing that all of your hair is being protected as much as possible.
Thankyou for reading!
Not sponsored.
Storytime
Since venturing into wearing more "face" makeup rather than just my "eyes and lips" only, I quickly ran into a face product dilemma. Greasy sunscreen and foundation don't get along. Using both during the day always made my face a greasy mess which is cerrtainly a less than desirable effect. I always wear sunscreen for various reasons. A) Cancer, b) accelerated ageing, c) subsequent burning. Yes I could wear a foundation with sunscreen included but at the moment I can't afford to buy too expensive foundations so I googled matte look sunscreen products. The products that fit the bill were not the best fit for me for a variety of reasons for example I either can't access them easily or they are super expensive. At the moment, I am unemployed and really can't afford to buy expensive foundation in the off chance it is a bad fit. Australia is not as lenient with returns as it seems so in other countries. I again went online to the Beautypedia app and while randomly reading different product reviews by less expensive brands, I happened upon Revlon Photoready Bb Cream Skin Perfector
It had a great review and it contains a SPF30, easy to find and inexpensive. WIN!
Beauty Guru
When I tried this product the first time it really impressed me because it is EXACTLY what I wanted and needed. It comes in three shades which is the only downside to the product range. I purchased the 010 Light Pale shade. You can see a preview of the shade on the actual product as there is a clear rectangle on the front of the tube which can assist in shade selection. It blends well with my skin and its is light and fragrance free too. It does not dry to a complete matte finish just a slightly dewy look. I continue on to then use the Revlon Nearly Naked Pressed Powder in 010 Fair/Clair. I get the perfect base for me after I use that powder. The BB Cream and the powder are both Holy Grail products for myself.
Being a BB Cream please do not expect complete coverage of any blemishes or scarring - it will cover of course but not to a full coverage foundation extent. It does cover some of my smaller and lighter freckles and definitely evens out my complexion shade and hides the redness in some areas like my chin and one part of my forehead and the top of my nose. It does not dry my skin out or cause me any issues whatsoever. It does not highlight pores or lines which is always great in my book!
To recap the benefits
- Perfect BB Cream with sunscreen
- Fragrance Free
- Moisturising
- Blends well into skin quickly
- Inexpensive
- SPF 30 that is in sufficient amounts
- Light dewy finish very natural
- Flattering - does not highlight pores or lines
- Squeeze tube
I definitely recommend this product by Revlon, it is my daytime go to product since I found it earlier this year.
Below there is a link that prompted me to write this blog post. The products referenced in the article are the same ones I saw when I did a Google search on 'matte suncreams face'. When I get a new job I will probably eventually try some of these products out, but for now I am very happy with Revlon.
Thankyou for reading
Not sponsored
Photos by me
For More Revlon
In
2 in 1,
brands
Rimmel London Match Perfection 2 in 1 Highlighter and Concealer in Ivory 010 - The Concealer Series #1
I recently tried the Match Perfection foundation and I was interested to see how this concealer and highlighter two in one product fared. It is available in three shades from what I know.
Beauty Guru
I fell in love with this product immediately; as you can see on the left hand side I am wearing the product with Revlon Nearly Naked Pressed Powder in 01 Clair/Fair. I will include a photo of my face without the powder as well.
I really love a lot about this product. It is very easy to blend into your skin. The tone was perfect for me. The product is fragrance free, it covered my under eye area to my satisfaction. I prefer it over the Match Perfection Foundation. Its not too expensive, still under $20.00. The only thing I don't like about it is the packaging. Its hard to squeeze the tube to get product out of it, and if you keep pressing to push it out, it can explode out quickly and could cause a difficult mess and a large waste of product. A doe foot applicator would be a great alternative or similar. This tube's pressure is not right. Do I recommend? Absolutely! One other bone to pick: There is only three shades which is actually more than these brands like Rimmel, Maybelline etc usually proffer, there is a light medium shade and a medium I think.
The additional products on my face are the following: L'Oreal Lumi Magique Base Pure Light Primer, Revlon Photoready BB Cream SPF 30 in 010 Pale Light and to set the concealer I used Revlon Nearly Naked pressed powder in 010 Fair/Clair.
Recapping the good bits:
- Blends seamlessly
- Fragrance free
- Inexpensive
- Three shades so a bit better than the average two shades offered
- Product can "POP" out of the applicator when you keep pushing for product out
- More shades would always be a good thing for any brand to include for more options for customers
- The highlight the product is supposed to have is non existant
- It is scientifically impossible for the product to 'adapt' to my individual skin tone - pure marketing!
To avoid too much creasing, I prep the eye area with some non silicone moisturiser as I find they become troublesome afterwards when you use other products on top of them. After a couple of layers of moisturiser, I then apply the primer, base and now the concealer. Then I set with a minimal amount of powder to try and avoid as much as possible creasing, fine line exaggeration and excessive dry looking texture. It can take a little bit of experimentation for each person but this system should at least be workable.
I definitely recommend this product!
Not sponsored.
Photos by me.
More Rimmel London Australia
Lipstick Queen continues the romantic story of the Frog Prince Green Lipstick that turns a bespoke pink just made for your very own lips to include a green cream blush housed in a pink compact and a vivid green lip gloss!
The products are so pretty and striking in their packaging! Don't be scared the green shall turn you a beautiful pink hue worthy of the attentions of royalty!
To see it in action emilynoel83
To find your fairytale Frog Prince
Storytime
This is The Volume Mascara by Kevyn Aucoin, the second mascara release from this brand. I have reviewed the first mascara the brand brought out previously, you can read that review here Kevyn Aucoin's The Curling Mascara
I was hoping that the brand would come out with a volumising mascara because I did really like Kevyn Aucoin's The Curling Mascara but I really wanted it to do more than what it did as it is an expensive product.
Beauty Guru
UPDATE!!: I have been wearing this on my eye that I was not testing the VolumeColourist by Rimmel mascara on the other eye and I kept going with this one. At first I thought it was allergies or something else but I have now realised that this mascara makes my eyes water; especially when worn on both eyes. I don't know if it is getting into my eye membranes or something but it definitely does that so if you have sensitive eyes I don't advise wearing this particular mascara. I also noticed that it had a caution warning on the tube which says if eye irritation occurs to please see your doctor. I DID NOT have this reaction to The Curling Mascara by Kevyn Aucoin
The wand is very different to The Curling Mascara, as you can see in the photo it is a slimline brush and it does have bristles on the brush. Now I really like this mascara but I wish it was more thickening too. Aarrghh I know I am nit picking. Maybelline's Lash Sensational is my chemist/drugstore holy grail mascara product and it does all the things I want from mascara.
- Defines and separates your lashes
- No flaking
- No smudging
- Easy to use wand
- No smell
- No clumps
- Does curl too
- Almost perfect
Thankyou for reading!
Not sponsored.
Photos by me.
More Kevyn Aucoin
Storytime
Australis is an Australian cosmetics brand that has been in operation for almost 30 years the website does not give an actual date for their establishment of business.
I have used their products over the years mainly lipsticks and liquid eyeliners. I recently changed to cream liner and using a brush to apply it but I wanted to see why I stopped liking it.
Beauty Guru
This liquid eyeliner has a nice ink like look, not a watery formulation. The wand is hard with a flexible tip and its quite short. This is a regular formulation, it is not a long wearing product but it does not purport to be a long wearing product.
One issue I have though with it, is that when you are lining your eye, it skips and creates a ragged edge which no body wants with liquid eyeliner. I wore this to lunch and it was warm and I started to sweat and it dropped on to my eye and the liner just disintegrated.
This type of wand with flexible slightly thicker tip gives you the ability to create a thick or thin line.
Start time Australis Liquid Eyeliner 11am to 1:30pm.
I recommend this product only because you can work with it.
Check out Australis
Photo by me.
Thank-you for reading.
Not sponsored.
Beauty Guru
My holy grail face pressed powder is by Revlon Nearly Naked in Fair/Clair and I didn't realise how much I appreciated it until I started to experiment and review products for this blog to assist you guys out there on products and their performance.
This is a mineral pressed powder compact sans mirror, as I am very fair I chose Porcelain. There is a very limited colour selection in all the skin focused products. This colour is slightly ever so yellowish. I applied it to my face with the sides of my blush brush from Eco Tools and I also tried it with a Manicare powder velour puff.
I did not really like the finish, it seemed unrefined. The powder does not attest to any special qualities when you use it. After two to three hours, I had a lot of oily patches all over my face come through so you would need to bring this with you to touch up whilst out and about.
After four hours plus, I found that it settled into my open pores on my cheeks where my pores are the most prominent. It definitely has a yellowish tinge to it no doubt.
Unfortunately I found that this powder did not work for me, my skin is normal to combination with a very oily T-Zone and fair with pink tones and freckles, blue eyes and blonde hair.
Thankyou for reading.
Photo by me.
Not Sponsored.
CROP Naturals Pressed Powder Compact
In
beauty,
brands
Essenzza Health Fuss Free Naturals - Natural Silk Facial Masks Moisturise & Smooth Carrot Seed + Coconut Oil
Beauty Guru
This is the third of the three Essenzza Health Fuss Free Naturals - Natural Silk Facial Masks, and it is targeted at Moisturising and Smoothing with Carrot Seed and Coconut Oils.
Some of the great ingredients in this mask are the following:
- Hylauronic Acid, what is it?
- Tremella Fuciformis extract, what is it?
- Avena Sativa Kernel extract, what is it?
- Portulaca Oleracea extract, what is it?
- Ascorbic Acid, what is it?
- Hydrolyzed Collagen, what is it?
- Cocoyl Glutamate, what is it?
- Daucus Carota Sativus, what is it?
- Prunus Armeniaca Kernel, what is it?
- Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate. what is it?
- Argania Spinosa Kernel, what is it?
- Prunus Serotina, what is it?
Once again I was impressed how it plumped up my fine lines, and generally gave a great boost in moisture. I have been using one of the three masks, once every week thus far, but I have decided to start using them twice a week as the benefits are so obvious to my eyes.
I definitely recommend this product.
Photo from Essenzza Naturals
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