I have been meaning to review several facial moisturizers I have been using and eliminating from my regimen. Here are a few I have tried for a while and recently have given a try.
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| Concha De Nacar Chamomile Vitamin E |
One of my favorite skin care line and facial moisturizer while growing up has been Concha de Nacar. You usually find them at beauty supply stores or Caribbean specialty stores throughout NYC.
I used this chamomile and Vitamin E moisturizer about two years ago until the place I usually got it from stopped stocking it. So this past summer I purchased it again after a long hiatus. This facial cream contains Vitamin E and chamomile and is very moisturizing. I did not use it much this time around because my skin was a bit on the oily side this summer when I repurchased it, but other than that I never had any complaints.
However there are several questionable ingredients (like parabens, DIAZOLIDINYL UREA and a whole bunch of other stuff). Not too much to my liking considering I’m trying to keep my skin care regimen as natural as possible. But it’s been kind of hard trying to find what’s right for me at this point.
Despite the ingredients I really like this facial moisturizer. It’s under ten bucks great for the winter time and it always leaves my skin very hydrated. There are also other products this line features like the bleach cream I stumbled upon last winter. Which I gave to my sister shortly after since she was dealing with many dark spots on her forehead since having her baby (hormones maybe). I asked her recently how it turned out and she said it helped as far as giving her a smoother and clearer complexion and she liked it was a scrub as well. As far as bleaching/lightening the dark spots the verdict is still out on that one.
I have been upset lately…..
because after many years using Neutrogena’s Tinted moisturizer faithfully for so long, Neutrogena decided to change the packaging (and I strongly suspect the formula too). Unfortunately I was unable to compare the ingredients with the old one since I cut it up to get the most product out of the old design, and of course cut the ingredients away too. Not thinking much of it I used it up until August, All summer long I kid you not I was dealing with major breakouts until I finally figured out it was my TM causing my break outs all summer.
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| Neutrogen Tinted Moisturizer (medium) |
The damage it was doing to my skin was insane but I never gave it a thought. I had eliminated a whole bunch of things from my regimen and even thought it was health related. But then Neutrogena’s TM was the last product from my regimen to eliminate (I was in denial) and lone and behold it was my holy grail causing such ugly nasty breakouts. So I have been on a whirlwind. I don’t understand what happened, this TM made my skin look sooo nice for yearssss, it was the right price and perfect for my complexion and oily skin type! Then suddenly bam! nasty breakouts. I’m thinking either my skin changed or the product…. Oh well…. On to the next….
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| Sonia Kashuk Tinted Moisturizer (Tan) |
I was in despair since I don’t ever wear foundation and feel like a TM is able to help balance my skin tone without the overdone feeling of a foundation. So I went out to Target and purchased Sonia Kashuk’s TM for 12 bucks. I’m not too crazy about this. It has this rather chalky feeling and kind of gives me this matte look which I don’t know if I like too much sometimes…but it tends to work considering my oily skin and I like the coloring. The formula is a bit watery but for know it will do.
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| Aveeno Tinted Moisturizer (medium) |
So in between my bad experience with my HG tinted moisturizer and Sonia Kashuks’ not so fabulous TM, I went out in my product junkie mode I get into sometimes and purchased Aveeno’s TM. Straight off this thing is horrible! Makes me look like a ghost, the formula is way too thick and the coloring is horrible. Did not like it and returned it after I gave it 2 chances…. the only thing I did like was that it covered the redness around my nose but other than that not an ideal tinted moisturizer for me.
Too thick and the color is way too light.
This stuff is aight and I say aightt because I neither hate or love it. I don’t have a go to cream for the evenings right now so I’m using Aloe Vera gel Straight from the plant at night or sometimes this clean and clear dual action moisturizer. It’s oil free and contains salicylic acid (one of the AHA’s mentioned here) which is ideal for those with acne prone and oily skin types.
When I use this at times I feel a tingling sensation which is most likely the salicylic acid at work. It moisturizes, although I feel like it just sits on my skin and it feels oily sometimes which defeats the purpose as to why I got it in the first place. So I don’t know really about this one. I paid just 5 bucks for it and find it does not do too much for me. If anything my Aloe Vera Gel works better….
I was a bit skeptical about this one, but left with no other choice I squeezed a good amount of aloe juice from this plant and put it on my face like a mask. However this time I did not rinse. I let it dry for a couple of minutes and used it as a moisturizer. Now I use it every evening and morning followed by Sonia Kashuk’s TM.
I have noticed it makes all the black heads on my nose almost squeeze them own selves out. And my complexion is much clearer. Definitely worth the try considering Aloe Vera Gel has a lot of great benefits when it concerns the skin. It moisturizers, heals and it’s natural.
Not only am I getting a natural hair regimen down, but also a skin care regimen based on natural organic products. As far as my hair, things are coming along but the skin can be tricky. So I was browsing organic products and came across Derma E.
I got this free sample pack I just paid the $4.95 in shipping. They are all natural, paraben free and they have all types of serums, cleansers, moisturizers and treatments for all skin types imaginable.
They even have moisturizers for hot flashes and all the skin related stuff it entails. A microdermabrasion sample and a few other interesting products and ingredients as well. I’m actually overwhelmed since I don’t know what product would work best for my skin type. I’ll keep doing a bit of research on it. So far I’m liking the tea tree cleanser. Helps with my oily skin but smells too much!
So hopefully I will have a regimen I’m most comfortable with. Especially limiting the amount of products. One thing I can’t do without Is a good Tinted Moisturizer. So right now I’m on the hunt.
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