like sunshine in a bottle...

Although I have a very strict product regimen for my face due to obnoxious breakout issues if I vary from said regimen, I also buy facewash for my fiance to use, and thus am able to still get my testing jones out to a certain extent. My latest find is Vitamin C Refreshing Cleansing Gel from Avalon Organics (the same company that makes my beloved ALBA products)

This stuff was a good deal, $10.95 for 8.5 fl oz, and boasts that it "gently removes impurities and nourishes skin with organic Aloe. Fortified with the synergistic action of Vitamin C plus Lemon Bioflavonoids, Melatonin and organic White Tea to refresh and balance for healthy, radiant skin." It also explains that "Magnesium Ascorbal Phosphate is a form of vitamin C that is readily utilized by the skin cells to protect against damaging free radicals, and stimulate collagen and elastin production. One of the most stable forms of vitamin C, it will remain active over the shelf life of the product", which is something that I never even thought about (the stability of something like Vitamin C) but it makes sense.

Lasty, it is scented with organic sweet orange essential oil and it SMELLS FRIGGIN FANTASTIC!!! If I wasn't on a Proactiv (or possibly AcneFree) regimen I would TOTALLY use this product like a FIEND. PS - I had to use it the first day I got it because I was out of Proactiv and hadn't found AcneFree yet, and it did a super job, skin was really clean but not dry. :-)

THE GREAT FACE PRODUCT EXPERIMENT UPDATE

I figured I would update you all on how I was liking the Alba night cream and mineral face powder I bought a few weeks ago...

First, the night cream. A few weeks ago I bought Alba's Sea Plus Renewal Cream as a new night creamand I must say that so far I love it! Now I must admit that before I got this cream I was guilty of not always washing my makeup off my face at night (SHOCK!). This is bad, I know, and most nights I tried to, but sometimes when I got home late my pillow was just too enticing. Since I got this, however, I have been totally steller on the night face care routine tip, so that may have had an overall effect too. Now, back to the cream: I have NOT broken out, and it has already made my skin softer. NICE! It smells good, and is really really thick (sort of a body butter consistancy). It tingles when I put it on, which freaked me out a little bit at first, but I have had nothing but good results. I noticed yesterday in the mirror that the texture of my skin just looks nicer. YAY ALBA! It has only been a few weeks, so we shall see what sort of an end result I get with a little more time, but so far so good.

During that same CVS trip, I also purchased both Revlon and NYC mineral face powders. I am still deciding on these. The Revlon powder was the first to be tried. I have had a bit of a problem getting very much to come out when I shake it, which is annoying, but once I get it on my face, I do have to say it looks really really nice. It gives me a subtle finish ALL DAY (seriously no shine for hours) and actually provides more coverage than I had expected. I think it works best on a good skin day, since it is still more subtle than the ol' foundation/powder combo, but I really dig it for daily wear.

I have only tried the NYC powder once so far, so I still need to do a few more tests with this one. It went on easy and lasted well, but I think the color I got (which was light) might actually be a bit too dark for my face still. Not sure, only had a chance to look at it for a minute or two. But neither has made me break out, which is nice, and both really keep my face matte for many hours (hallelujah!).

Back on the Alba tip (I think I am getting obsessed with Alba products), I was so impressed with the face cream experiment that yesterday I bought their Green Tea Eye Gel

It promises the combined impact of aloe vera (with skin-building amino acid and protein compounds) and green tea (loaded with antioxidants) will soothe, smooth and protect while cucumber and kelp extracts will firm and tone my eye area. It also has chamomile and papaya extract, and Vitamin C. Sounds good to me. I have never used an eye GEL before, only creams, so using it this morning was weird. The consistancy was definitely very reminiscent on using an aloe vera gel, which felt weird. And I squirted out too much, bummer. BUT I have to say that my eye area actually feels really really hydrated and firm right now, several hours into the day. At $16.95 for 1 fl oz ( a LOT of bang for your buck for eye cream) I could get used to this.

Dreaming of swaying palms on a Monday morning

Perhaps it is the fact that I am sitting in my office on a beautiful Monday morning, but all things coconut or otherwise tropical sound especially appealing to me today. I must say that I have been very impressed with everything I have bought from Alba (http://www.albabotanica.com/) so far, including my weeklong night cream experiment, so while perusing their website this morning, this product sounded divine ($11.95 for 20 oz)

Their Coconut Milk Cream Body Wash, from their Hawaiian Spa line, sounds soooo relaxing and good for my skin, with cocoa butter, shea butter and flax, safflower and borage oils, as well as coconut and aloe, all packed in to 7 fl oz of tropical goodness for only $8.95! WOO HOO!

This sounds de-lish as well - their Passion Fruit Bath Salt (also from their Hawaiian Spa line) is a blend of epsom salt and sea salts combined with passion fruit, pinapple, mango, vanilla and papaya extracts (and some hibiscus too!) for what sounds like a really really nice bath experience.

I am also currently completely addicted to Alba's Terragloss in Bloom (42 oz for $5.95)
This substantial but subtle gloss is once again a perfect shade of JUST SLIGHTLY blushed pink, totally natural looking and soothing to wear with lots of shea butter and vitamin E in it. Plus it smells like vanilla (good vanilla, not bad vanilla). Yesssssss......

Time to test

Ok, so at lunch I had to go to CVS to pick up a new nightguard so I stop grinding my teeth, and while there I grabbed a couple more things as well.



1. Mineral Makeup: First I picked up the NYC mineral makeup powder I blogged about earlier. Then, for good measure, I grabbed the Revlon version of the same thing in "fair", just so I could compare the two. I put the Revlon one on in the car after I left, and at first was sort of frustrated because as most loose powders are, it was a little messy. But that is just klutzy me, probably. I looked in the mirror and thought it pretty much looked like powder, but I realize that I put it on a half day old face, which is not the best testing ground for this sort of thing. Once I got back to the office though, I checked it out in the mirror in the bathroom and it does look smoother and more substantial than regular powder, but without the makeup look of foundation. Not sure yet, must experiment. I will let you know.



2. I also needed a new night cream, and wasn't yet decided on what I wanted, being relatively new to high tech night creams (for years I avoided them for fear of breaking out). So after perusing the aisle, I settled on Alba's Sea Plus Renewal Cream.

This retails for $14.95, which was within my budget (some nightcreams are insanely expensive!), and I like that it includes Alpha Lipoic Acid (derived from vegetables), avocado and kukui oils, and their unique Marine Complex (several kinds of algae extracts), which I secretly think I dig on all the more because I am a pisces. HA! This is my first non-Proactiv high tech night cream, so we shall see how it goes. I dig Alba's other products, however, and their cruelty free, nature-based stance combined with their ok prices. Sweet.