April 2020 Favorites

April 2020 Favorites

(L to R: CosRx One Step, Farmacy Lip Bloom, Gua Sha,
Kylie Skin Vitamin C Serum, Pond's Cleansing  Balm)

Farmacy Lip Bloom in Strawberry Basil: picked this up at a Farmacy Friends and Family sale. It is a glossy slightly sticky lip balm. It has a nice shine. Lasting power is okay. The strawberry basil scent is unique. Think this is only available on the brand's website.

Where to buy: Farmacy Beauty (link)

Kylie Skin Vitamin C Serum: Kylie Skin is now available in store at Ulta and I picked this up at my local Ulta. The size of this is small for the price, 0.7 oz for $28. It uses a stable form of vitamin C as tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate. It also contains vitamin E and ferulic acid. It's housed in a hefty pump bottle. This will probably go quickly for me. There is no scent that I can discern.

Where to buy: Ulta (in store only), Kylie Skin (link)

Pond's Cold Cream Cleansing Balm: this is an exact dupe for the Banila Co Clean it Zero cleansing balm. The shape of the packaging is the same and the sherbert texture and scent are also identical. The product works just as well as the Banila Co product, but is half the price at $10 instead of $20.

Where to buy: Amazon (link)

CosRx One Step Original Clear Pad: these smell lightly of tea tree. It contains a BHA and tea tree extract to treat breakouts. One container has 70 pads and they are all quite damp as the container has a lot of liquid. These won't dry out like the Trish McEvoy daily exfoliator pads I reviewed in January. I find these to be quite gentle.

Where to buy: Amazon (link)

Gua Sha: I purchased this green aventurine gua sha off Amazon. Use the contoured sides to massage your face and get lymphatic drainage. Apply oil prior to use to help the gua sha glide down your face. This video from Gothamista is a good guide to how to use: video. I also have a rose quartz one from SkinGym, not shown here.  

Where to buy: Amazon (link)

March 2020 Favorites

March 2020 Favorites

(Jason Naturals Cocoa Butter Lotion, Kypris Antioxidant Dew,
Vaseline Lip Therapy, Frank Body Lip Scrub)

I don't have too many favorites for this month, but here they are.

Jason Naturals Softening Cocoa Butter Body Lotion: I picked this up at Harmon's, although you can purchase online at the links below. The lotion is a little more liquid-y than I would like given the packaging. I think it would've been better in a  pump bottle because I am always afraid to squeeze out too much. It has a strong chocolate scent. The top ingredients are aloe, sunflower seed oil, and of course cocoa butter. It also contains avocado oil. The product is formulated without parabans, sulfates, petrolatum, and phthalates. I would say it is pretty moisturizing and keeps my skin hydrated. It absorbs pretty quickly and isn't sticky.

Where to buy: iHerb (link), Walmart (link)

Kypris Antioxidant Dew: this is an nice antioxidant serum in a glass dropper package. The bottle is so pretty. It is pricey at $90, but I managed to purchase mine off Mercari from someone who was selling theirs from a BoxyCharm box so I paid substantially less, only $36. It has a silky texture and absorbs quickly. No fragrance detected either. The antioxidants mostly come from various fruit and herb extracts.

Where to buy: The Detox Market (link), Nordstrom (link)

Vaseline Lip Therapy Cocoa Butter Stick: there are 4 versions of this new stick lip balm from Vaseline: regular, aloe, rosy, and cocoa butter. I picked up this cocoa butter one at Harmon's. It has a sweet scent and moisturizes well. It doesn't last too long though. The formula is reminiscent of Nivea's lip balm in the blue tube. The package and swivel stick are exactly the same. This product is made in Korea. The stick has a slight yellow tint because of the cocoa butter but it smells more sweet than chocolatey like cocoa butter. Definitely interested in picking up the other versions. 

Where to buy: Amazon (link)

Frank Body Lip Scrub: this is the original version. They also have one called "cherry bomb". This one contains sugar and coffee grounds to exfoliate. It smells super sweet with a nice coffee scent. It works well and leaves a slight moisturizing residue. Use on dry lips for the best effect.

Where to buy: Frank Body (link), Ulta (link)

New Vitamin C Products

New Vitamin C Products

Here is my updated vitamin c regimen.

Pixi Skintreats Vitamin C Serum: I love the smell of this serum. It has a nice fresh citrus scent, like grapefruit. It's great because usually serums that have the same ingredients as this one smell like hot dog water. The combo of ferulic acid, vitamin C, and vitamin E in serums like these is common and has that weird hot dog water smell, but this one doesn't. It includes citrus peel extracts that probably give the scent. It's slightly yellow and sinks in quickly imparting a nice glow. The price point ($24) for the ingredients is awesome too.

Where to buy: Pixi Beauty (link)

Beauty Pie Superactive Capsules Pure Double Vitamin C & Vitamin E: I am obsessed with Beauty Pie. Their membership prices are so great, its hard to resist the urge to add everything to your cart. These capsules contain a silicone based vitamin C serum. The active in here is ascorbic acid. I find the capsules to be rather small and they don't seem to contain enough serum to cover my entire face, so I like to mix it with the below moisturizer. 

Where to buy: Beauty Pie (link)

Primark P.S. Daily Brightening Moisturizer: I picked this up on a whim the last time I visited Primark. It is their in-house brand called P.S. They make a matching serum which I have already used up. The moisturizer was super cheap at $2 for 1.7 oz. This too has an amazing scent. It smells like fresh oranges. This one uses a more stable form of vitamin C than ascorbic acid and I mix one pump with one of the superactive capsules before applying to my face. It's a light gel moisturizer.

Where to buy: Primark in store (link)