Gleam is loaded with good-for-you ingredients like olive oil, jojoba seed oil, green tea and white tea extracts, and aloe extracts. I wouldn’t use it as a straight-forward body lotion, but it feels nice on the skin. Bonus: it smells of vanilla cake, but not in that cloying, nauseating way; you have to really put your nose to your skin to smell it. The scent is light and subtle, just like the shimmer.

Gleam is available in four shades. Available for $40 per tube at GleambyMelanieMills.com

Olie Biologique – Certified organic body oils with a variety of healing benefits. Argan oil for anti-aging and revitalizing; rose hip oil for scars, spots, and vitamins; etc.
Pros: Love that it is organic.
Cons: Pricey for what it is.
Price Points: $22-$39
On the Web: OlieBiologique.com

Mini Organics – A certified-organic line of skin care for moms-to-be and babies. We tried the enriched moisturizer, which is supposed to nourish and improves skin elasticity.
Pros: I am not pregnant, but this is an amazing, rich moisturizer. It healed my cracked cuticles where regular lotions have failed.
Cons: I feel a little weird buying pregnancy skin care.
Price Point: $55.95
On the Web: MiniOrganics.com

Dermacyte – Oxygen-enriched serum used as a spot treater for blemishes, age spots, scars, and other skin imperfections.

Pros: It works fast, reducing redness on an ingrown hair almost immediately.
Cons: It’s a bit of an investment.
Price Point: $84.00
On the Web: BuyDermacyte.com

Lift Lab – Using Cell Protection Proteins, Lift Lab promise to reverse signs of aging.
Pros: The moisturizers are comfortable and absorb well.
Cons: I like to believe that I don’t have many signs of aging to correct.
Price Points: $85-$125
On the Web: TheLiftLab.com

]]> http://sporkbeauty.com/2011/06/skincare-roundup/feed/ 0 http://sporkbeauty.com/2011/03/skincare-made-from-earth/ http://sporkbeauty.com/2011/03/skincare-made-from-earth/#comments Tue, 15 Mar 2011 23:32:57 +0000 Alyse http://sporkbeauty.com/?p=660 Just how organic is organic? Made From Earth promises that their products are the purest you can buy. All ingredients are from certified organic farms. No paraffins, no petroleum, and nothing synthetic. Made From Earth’s facilities are FDA registered, USDA Organic Certified, Good Manufacturing Practices certified, sourced and made in the United States, cruelty-free and vegan. And they make sure their suppliers abide by the same strict standards. It really comes through in their products. We tried a few – and we loved them.

Green Tea Toxin Cleanser – A best-seller for the company, one use and I can see why. This gentle creme cleanser destroys dirt, even getting deep into those pesky nose pores. Yet it is never drying or irritating. Aloe vera, green tea, lavender, witch hazel, honey, willowbark, rosemary, grape seed oil, and vitamins A, B, C, and E all make up the very pronounceable ingredients list.

pH Equilibrant Moisturizer – This is a surprisingly rich moisturizer, yet it is light and absorbs quickly and completely. Free of mineral or vegetable oils, this moisturizer is loaded with aloe vera, shea butter, jojoba oil, almond oil, palm oil, and green tea.

Holistic Honey Body Lotion – I have tried a number of honey-based lotions, and they all feel sticky to one degree or another. Not this one. It is light, absorbs quickly, and moisturizes all day – even through multiple hand washing. Impressive. Truly organic honey is used in this lotion. Not only are the bees free of any kind of chemicals for removing honey, the bees are not killed to extract their honey, and they only pollinate certified organic or uncultivated crops.

For more info on Made From Earth’s process, and of course to order, visit MadeFromEarth.com

The shower gel comes in a variety of scents that I love. They are all clean and linger, but never smell perfumey. Lavender nectar and peony are my current favorite scents. You get ridiculous amounts of bubbles – and who doesn’t love bubbles? You get a bubble bath standing up. Plus with ingredients like shea butter and olive oil, the body wash formulas are very hydrating.

I am not crazy about the sponges themselves. The regular sponge-side is just perfect, but I found the buffer side (which isn’t on all sponges) to be almost painfully abrasive. The disposable nature of Spongeables is a little undesirable, as even the largest model will last less than a month. A traditional loofah may last me a year or more. Of course, with a Spongeable, I wouldn’t have to buy a separate body wash (in its own bottle and packaging), and I could probably use the sponge with my own shower gel. I will let someone else do the hardcore analysis.

The perfect use for Spongeables is travel – I don’t think I could ever go back to packing separate body wash. With no liquid, Spongeables will pass through security with no problems, and there is no risk of leakage in your bag. Small Spongeables are good for week-long trips, and even longer trips that will necessitate a bigger Spongeable still won’t consume too much pack space. At the end of the trip, you can throw it away, and use that space for extra souvenirs.

Spongeables.com

For The Lips: Lypsyl LypMoisturizer is made with Swedish beeswax and SPF 15 for soft and safe lips. It goes on clear with no shine or stickiness, making it a great unisex balm. The scent is called honeyberry – it is a light, sweet blend of both scents, with no real taste. The oval shaped tube slips into your pocket more easily than traditional round balms, and rather that a twist-up stick, the balm pushes up with a tiny switch shaped like a bumblebee. Adorable.

For The Body: One Skin Conditioner Bar is good for your skin and the earth. The solid moisturizer softens the moment it touches your skin to impart a soothing blend of shea butter, cocoa butter, beeswax, linseed oil, lanolin, and coconut oil. The lavender scent is soothing and meant to be used before bed. One Skin Conditioner is all natural and cruelty-free. The bar itself is wrapped in paper and packaged in a recyclable, biodegradable box – kind of like a flat egg carton – with not a hint of plastic anywhere.

For The Face: After a long day by the pool, slather your face with Lavera Balancing Cream. No SPF makes this a nighttime moisturizer. Using an all-natural blend that includes organic calendula, witch hazel, mango seed butter, and avocado oil, Lavera Balancing Cream goes on lightly, yet moisturizes perfectly. Not too greasy, not too dry. It is soothing to stressed-out skin and I noticed a reduction in minor redness. Definitely a top-notch moisturizer.

For the feet: Sand is the best foot exfoliator, but it is often drying. Soften up after a tough day on the beach with Curel Target Therapy Foot Cream. Thick, rich moisturizing cream gives deep moisture without greasiness or stickiness. It works best when applied overnight so it can absorb and not send you sliding down uncarpeted hallways. Bonus: I woke up with buttery-soft hands after massaging Curel Target Therapy into my feet.

Huge Lips Skinny Hips Lipgloss – From Purple Labs NYC, HLSH has everything you could want in a lip gloss – plus some stuff you never realized you missed! The “huge lips” come from vitamin B3 to plump your lips without the sting or burn, and the “skinny hips” comes from Hoodia extract, a natural appetite suppressant. The formula is light, creamy, and non-tacky – perfect for smooching away. Our favorite shade: Kitty Poledancer, a wonderfully neutral pink with just a hint of shimmer.

Sexy Smile – If your lips don’t need any more plumping, try Sexy Smile. This double duty gloss contains a long lasting blue-based gloss on one side (to avoid making teeth look unnaturally yellow). The other side contains a breath-freshening mild tooth whitener. Drink that red wine with confidence!

Maison Francis Kurkdjian Perfume – If you can’t get away to France, smell like it, with APOM fragrance from Maison Francis Kurkdjian. At once sensuous and light, this Oriental whiff combines orange flower, cedar wood, and ylang ylang flower. It will have him going “oh la la!”

Scandle – Finish the evening off with a Scandle. These wonderfully fragrant soy candles double as body oil. The wax burns two degrees higher than normal body temp, and is formulated with soy, shea, jojoba, and vitamin E. Pour a little bit for a moisturizing and fragrant massage – just remember to extinguish the flame first!

Dr. Perricone High Potency Eye Lift – Perfect for the morning after a night full of champagne and chocolates, High Potency Eye Lift has Perricone’s patented DMAE as well as phospholipids and pycnogenol to increase collagen, reduce dark circles, hydrate, reduce the appearance of wrinkles, and fights the loss of skin elasticity.

Hovan’s Gold utilizes resorcinol, bromelain, vitamin A, and tea tree oil to soothe the skin, and encourage straight hair growth. It is also good to soothe skin irritated by shaving or waxing. I noticed a difference in my skin after just one use – of course, continued use is recommended. Unlike other, similar products, Hovan’s Gold is emollient, so it won’t cause dry or flaky skin, and a small amount goes a long way.

Hovan’s Gold is safe to use on all areas of the body: legs, face, bikini line, wherever.

Biore Hard Day’s Night overnight moisturizer – This is quite possibly my favorite moisturizer ever, day or night. Part of their “inbetween skin” line (too old for acne products; too young for serious anti-wrinkle formulas), this moisturizer is like a thick serum. It is oil free, which allows it to give serious hydration without being heavy or greasy. I do not have particularly dry skin, but when I use this cream my skin feels well-balanced, soft, even toned, and healthy. From a sciency standpoint, Biore’s exclusive Botanamide technology strengthens and hydrates skin while protecting it from free radicals. All I know is that I simply love this moisturizer. If it had a sunscreen in it, I would use it as a day lotion, too.

Zo Oraser Overnight Hand Recovery – This hand lotion is loaded with super-retinol, vitamin C and E, and coenzyme-10 to relieve dryness, brighten skin, improve elasticity, and fights signs of aging. What I find interesting is that it definitely is meant as an overnight treatment. When I first put it on, it doesn’t feel particularly moisturizing. But when I wake up in the morning, my hands feel smooth, hydrated, and generally healthy. Cracked portions of skin on the ball of my palm are virtually healed by morning. It is definitely a worthwhile product, just understand when to use it and know what to expect. Once I got over the initial “WTF?” stage, I was in love.

John Frieda Creme Serum Overnight Repair Formula – I wasn’t really expecting much by way of results with this product. I don’t process my hair in any way, so it is pretty healthy, if a touch frizzy. But after one night of using this hair serum, I was amazed with the results. You rub a few drops on dry hair before bed, and shampoo in the morning. The light serum absorbed quickly and didn’t leave a mess on my pillow. The next day I washed my hair, added a couple drops of anti-frizz serum and let it air dry. When it was dry I was amazed. My hair was extra-shiny, bouncy, and silky. No frizz or fly aways. I had that “feel like you just stepped out of a salon” hair at a much lower price.

Sally Hansen Overnight Lip Recovery – Another product that was surprisingly awesome. You know how sometimes when you go to sleep with lip balm on, you wake up with puckery lips, like fingers that have been in water too long. This thick lip conditioner was a little heavy, but by morning, my lips just felt plump and soft and healthy. I have very sensitive lips and was worried I would have an allergic reaction – I didn’t. What is more, that healthy feeling lasted most of the day – I only needed to apply balm once. Another winner!

My favorite is the Hand and Body lotion. I have dozens of lotions that seem to work well for hands OR bodies, but not both. I have lotions that I apply to my legs, then have to wash it off my hands because it just doesn’t do the trick. The Hand Therapy Cream does a good job, but it doesn’t feel any different than the hand & body lotion. I was highly unimpressed with the Sugar Scrub. It wasn’t bad, it just seemed to be an average cleanser, average exfoliator, average moisturize. The scents are wonderful – light, fresh, and flowery.

For under $10 per item, Inspire by Dionis is an inexpensive luxury.

Inspire by Dionis is currently on sale for 50%. To purchase, visit DionisSoap.com

Organic, high-quality, eco-aware products that cost less than typical drugstore products – yup, it’s a reality, and it is called EOS. Evolution of Smooth.

Currently the EOS line consists of only two products, but they have obviously put a lot of attention into each. The Ultra-Rich Shave Cream is loaded with aloe, shea butter, and vitamins to offer a moisturizing shave. The product applies more like a lotion than a typical shave cream, so don’t expect a thick coat of suds. But you get a close, easy shave. The company also promises that the shave cream can be used on dry skin as well as wet. Best of all, the shave cream comes in a recyclable, soft-touch plastic bottle with a one-touch pump top. It is easy to use and won’t rust out in the shower – the most important feature for me.

The 95% organic, 100% natural lip balm is loaded with vitamin E and shea butter, and gives long-lasting moisture and feels light on the lips. Don’t let the boy in your life use it: it’s non-colored, non-glossy coverage means you may never get it back. EOS comes in a half-dozen flavors, and two shapes: a traditional stick, and a bulbous sphere. I love the sphere because it is so different and applies easily. I also love that EOS balms don’t come in pots, so you don’t have to stick your grubby little fingers in. Both balm styles come in the same soft-touch packaging.

Shave cream retails for $4.99. Lip balms retail for $3.99. To purchase, visit the EOS store at Drugstore.com or Amazon.com