ProductWhores

Mocha Loca

It's really cold here in LA right now (yeah, yeah, I know, I'm ridiculous) but the drop in temperature really has made me crave hot cocoa.  As I was sipping my chocolatey goodness tonight I realized I had never blogged about one of my fave face peels (which just so happens to be chocolate) Mocha Loca by Sircuit Skin.  It's definitely pricey at $75.00 but it is so incredible!  First of all, the smell (absolute chocolate perfection) will make you think you're going to get fat and as soon as you smooth it on your face you are uplifted.  This acid peel is surprisingly gentle and definitely effective.  Every time I use it my skin feels smooth and looks healthy.  This is a definite must-have and with the holidays right around the corner I don't see why you couldn't ask Santa for it, right?  I mean, he's not going to look at a pricetag anyway.

Go Clean

The problem with my beauty addiction is that sometimes I'll either buy or get sent an awesome product, but then not use it for a really long time because I'm so bogged down testing other things.  And then I eventually do get around to trying it and I'm like, "Hey, this stuff is great!  Why haven't I been using it all along?"  That's the way I feel about L'Oreal's Go 360 Clean Deep Exfoliating Scrub.  I don't even know if I bought it or it was sent to me, but I just started using it last week and I love it.  I first tried it because I was really tired and I didn't want to do my normal Dermalogica cleanser and Clarisonic routine, but it worked so well (and took so little time) that I've been using it almost every night since.  (It's been a looong week and I just want to fall into bed at the end of every night).  I like its fresh fruity scent, the way it exfoliates without being harsh on my skin, and how clean my face feels after I'm done.  It's definitely getting all my makeup off too because there's nothing left on my ivory pillowcases after I sleep (which makes me very happy - my pillowcases were expensive!)  I think the scrublet thing attached to the bottle looks cool, but I haven't tried it out yet.  (I mean, if I'm going to do that, I might as well drag out my Clarisonic, right?)  Also?  It's like, $7 at your local drugstore.  A total bargain buy because I can tell that the bottle's going to last me a decent amount of time.  I love a good discovery like this (even if it was in my closet all along...)    

June Jacobs Spa At Home!

I started using June Jacob's Cucumber Reviving Day Cream and Mandarin Polishing Beads and I had to post immediately because they are amazing!  My skin has never looked or felt better.  The day cream smells slightly of cucumber (duh, as the name suggests) and contains milk protein, cucumber oil, pomegranate oil, as well as green tea oil (it all sounds like a new Snapple, doesn't it?).  All of the ingredients make for a medium weight moisturizer which immediately sinks into skin and leaves my face feeling so soft it's crazy.  It is such a wonderful face cream and is especially great for anyone with sensitive and dry skin!  My other new obsession is their Sensitive Formula Mandarin Polishing Beads which do not irritate my skin at all, yet, leave it silky smooth because they have removed all the dead skin.  I can't believe how gentle this exfoliator is and how fantastically well it works.  My blackheads have actually reduced because of this stuff.  A definite must-have for anyone who likes to use a face scrub but hates the stingy feeling a lot of them make you suffer through.  This one, on the other hand, is so gentle I've been able to use every day without a hint of irritation.  All June Jacobs products are paraben and preservative free and most of their collection is available right now on QVC.com!  So, so awesome.  Get shopping already!

Note:  Samples of these products were sent to me by a PR representative working with June Jacobs.

Facial Products My Skin Adores

 

I've always been a huge fan of Origin's Never A Dull Moment facial scrub because it is gentle, works really well, and honestly, I hadn't come across anything comparable... until now.  Collective Wellbeing has made the perfect scrub (sorry Origins) and it's less expensive, uses all-natural ingredients, and is so gentle I've used it every day without any irritation.  First off, I have to talk about the company, Collective Wellbeing, because they definitely practice what they preach - they have taken all these wonderful things in nature (such as carbon - who knew this could be a cleanser) and bottled them up into totally effective products.  1% of their revenue goes to environmental organizations (gotta love that), they are cruelty free and none of their products contain parabens.  Okay, back to the real reason I am posting - their Honey Buff scrub.  This stuff is ridiculously awesome and at only $15.00 for the full-size tube, it's a total steal.  It contains honey (duh), rose hip seeds and orange peel powder (which gives it this lovely citrus scent) and after only using it for a few days, my skin was brighter and felt incredible.  The scrub also just launched in a travel size ($4.99) which I love because it means you can try it for next to nothing.  The other stand-out from this line is their Night Balm ($27.00) which is like silk on your skin.  Made up of Shea Butter and Lavender, this thick yet non-greasy cream goes on smooth and boosts hydration overnight.  I am a religious follower now and have been using it every single night.  In fact, I'm so obsessed that I actually went out to Whole Foods this weekend to see if I could find Collective Wellbeing so I could try their day creams (FYI, Whole Foods does carry the line, just not the FULL line ).  Anyway, look past the dull packaging (which definitely does not do the line justice - I wish I could see some white packaging with delicate flowers or something) and give it a try.  You will be seriously hooked- I promise!

Note:  Samples of these products were sent to me by a PR representative working with Collective Wellbeing

Autumn Scrub

 

With fall on the horizon (I'm so damn excited, I have to say!) it means new boots, the Starbucks fall drinks, new cosmetic palettes and the Elastology Thermal Pumpkin Facial Scrub by Clientele.  Okay, the last one seems a bit tagged on but I'm adding it for this year because I just tried it and it definitely reminds me of fall.  This scrub contains pumpkin enzymes, honey, apple and cinnamon and smells like pumpkin pie mixed with a men's cologne (I know, that sounds weird but the after-smell is definitely extremely masculine - not sure why)  It did take care of dead skin and left my face feeling soft.  Plus, the granules are very fine so there was no harsh scraping involved.  Bonus - if you go to Clientele Beauty and enter GLAM you can try this scrub for FREE (just have to pay the shipping).  Or, call them at (800)-327-4660 for the same deal.

Note:  A sample of this product was sent to me by a PR representative working with Clientele

Instant Gratification

I'd heard so many people raving about Prescriptives' new Instant Gratification Skin Renewal Peel that I was kinda nervous to try it because I was worried that it wouldn't live up to the hype.  I was totally wrong.  It's fantastic - a quick fix for when your skin needs a little pick me up.  It's super easy to use (which makes it even better, because as much as I love some of the peel treatments that I have, when it takes seven different steps to make a product work, I inevitably get lazy and stop using it).  With Instant Gratification, you just apply it to your damp skin and it warms on contact.  You leave it on for five minutes, then massage it into your face for another 30 seconds or so, then rinse it off.  It's as easy as that.  When you take it off, your skin is super glowy and refreshed-looking.  It's like getting a quick, simple facial without spending the $150 it usually costs.  (The $45 tube will last you a long time, so it's very cost effective).  I've been using it once a week and I absolutely love it.  This is a definite re-purchase, which I don't often say.  (Also, I kind of want a second tube to take on trips with me.  I always find myself wanting to use a mask when I'm in a hotel and I never have one, but this container would be easy to pack).  If only all products had such instant gratification...   

Green Tea is Great on the Face

I have fallen passionately in love with a new product.  I know I must sound like a broken record, but I have finally found a face scrub that is gentle, yet highly effective.  In just a few weeks of use, my skin is glowing and my blackheads are less noticible.  Also, those nasty dry patches (a big "thank you" to winter air) have all but disappeared.  Green Tea Exfoliating Scrub by local brand Fenix (they are out of Irvine) has changed the way I look at facial scrubs!  It smells magnificent and the little granules feel wonderful on the skin (not that horrible scraping feel some facial scrubs produce).  It's gentle enough to use a few times a week and a little goes a long way, so the 4 oz tube will last you a long time.  There are tons of online retailers that carry the product and if you live in the LA area, the entire line can be found at Blue Medi Spa in Sherman Oaks.  Seriously do not just take my word for it - this stuff is the best.  I even added it to my wish list on Amazon (oh, I hope my family is reading this post) and marked it as a top priority.  Now I just have to try the rest of the line, which I'm sure is equally as wonderful.

It retails for around $30.00 and can be found online at www.amazon.com, www.b-glowing.com and www.fenixcosmetics.com.

Scrub a dub dub

I love strawberries.  On ice cream, in salads, by themselves, it doesn't matter because I just love them.  I even made my brother's girlfriend buy me a cute stuffed seal dressed as a strawberry when she was in Japan.  Anyway, enough about my boring obsession.  The real point here is that I had to try Mario Badescu's Strawberry Face Scrub and it was love at first scrub.  The exfoliator smells of fresh strawberries and actual strawberry seeds do the exfoliating for you.  (Who knew my beloved strawberries could handle that task.)  While the scrub may not feel like it's sloughing off dead skin, after using the scrub for a week I noticed a big difference in the texture of my skin.  My face looks and feels fabulous and I owe it all to the deliciously sweet strawberry - oh, and I suppose to my bud Mario.  So you can eat strawberries and make your skin soft?  The wonder fruit truly is a multi-tasker.  I'd like to see a tangerine try that one.  Yeah, I didn't think so.

Just Add Milk

The other day I realized that I have a ridiculous amount of face scrubs. I mean, how many exfoliating products can one forehead handle? But asking me to choose between them would be like asking me to choose between my Joe's jeans and my Seven jeans. Or maybe my True Religion's. Possibly my Citizen of Humanity's. See? I can't even do it in writing, much less in reality. But lucky for me, face scrubs cost less than denim, so I can continue to keep adding to my product collection (relatively) guilt free. My latest acquisition is Kiehl's Milk, Honey and Almond Scrub. It's definitely more of what I consider a "special" product - one that I only use every two weeks or so, but that's only because it works so well, that's all that's necessary. It's much thicker than most of the scrubs I've bought before - it's almost solid, so when you scoop it out, you only need to use a tiny bit to get the job done. And it smells exactly like it sounds, like something you should be putting in the oven instead of on your face. I'm such a sucker for products that smell like food. Seriously, Sephora could probably sell me cheeseburger lotion if they just put it in a cute bottle and marketed it right. I also like that the almonds in this scrub are finely ground, so it does its job without making my face all scratchy. Plus, my face always feels really smooth and soft after I use it and I love products that do that. And there's nothing better than visiting a Kiehl's store because of all the free samples. I love, love, love free samples. You can try out something expensive that you don't want to invest in just yet, or go for the always awesome Blue Astringent in portable, vacation friendly little packages. So you're gonna go out and buy it, right? Okay, good. Now, let's get back to talking about that cheeseburger lotion idea...

Pineapple Goodness

I don't really like to eat pineapple. It's one of those odd fruits that I would never buy at the supermarket, even if it was already neatly cut up for me and ready to go. Of course, throw chunks of it on a pizza with ham and cheese and I'm all over it, but that's a different story because all pizza is good pizza, even the kind that tries to fool you into eating your vegetables by using broccoli as a topping. But even though I don't like to eat pineapple, I love the smell of it, which explains why I like Benefit's Pineapple Facial Polish so much. It's a facial scrub/exfoliator that smells exactly like one of those tropical drinks you get when you're on vacation sitting on a beach oogling half-naked foreign men who don't speak English but know how to communicate in the universal language of love (Damn, there I go oversharing again. Moving along...) The scrub is a great exfoliator, but it's gentle enough to use every day, or as often as you like to exfoliate because really, who does that every day? I feel like if I exfoliated as much as some magazines tell me to, I'd have no skin left on my face and that would make putting on makeup a lot harder. Although I would save money on foundation, I guess. Plus, the scrub is $24 for a 5.5 ounce container, so you might want to space it out a little so you don't blow through it in a week. There's nothing more annoying than getting to the end of a product you love, especially when it's kind of pricey. After all, you need to save some money to buy those tropical men. Uhm, tropical drinks. Oh, you know what I mean.