H&M Body Treats Exfoliating Shower Gel Macadamia Nut & Vanilla 300 ml Review

Ingredients:

Water, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Acrylates Copolymer, Prunus Armeniaca Seed Powder, Fragrance, Acrylates/Palmeth-25 Acrylate Copolymer, Luffa Cylindrica Fruit, Phenoxyethanol, Styrene/acrylates copolymer, Sodium Hydroxide, Methylparaben, Macadamia Ternifolia Seed Oil, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract

I try to mark the sunscreen ingredients in red and other possible irritants in lilac. Ingredients thought to be good and useful for skin I mark green.  Learning as I go, google is my friend etc...

Thoughts:

- I didn't feel it did much exfoliating

- Could have cleaned a bit better, I felt sometimes I used another soap because I wanted to be clean clean, not soft clean



+ Smells just divine, I felt like I wanted to eat it everytime!

+ Very gentle feeling, doesn't make skin dry

+ Turns into soft foam

+ Cleans ok

+ Bottle is so cute to me, it has charm

+ A little goes a long way and I did want it to last long... and it did forever to get it empty, I tried to save it too much probably

* I have to say I was very sceptical of clothing store cosmetics so I was very surprised

* I was also surprised I liked the fragrance, I usually never do, and I liked it until the very last drop

* I admit I had this soap for probably two years until I finished and yeah, I'm not going to save anything ever like that again, but it did not get bad or different in smell or consistency

Price: 

3,95 € / 300 ml, bought it half price

Bought from: 

H&M

Buy again? 

Probably and all the other versions if they still would be available... sadly, limited stuff.

Worth the money? 

Yes and yes! Do not underestimate cheap things from clothing stores.

Nivea Daily Essentials Wash Off Effective Cleansing Gel 200 ml + Stay Clear Pyrifying Toner 200 ml Review

Ingredients:

Nivea Daily Essentials Wash Off Effective Cleansing Gel 

Aqua, Glycerin, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Sodium Carbomer, Magnolia Officinalis Bark Extract, Glyceryl Glucoside, Sodium Methyl Cocoyl Taurate, Decyl Glucoside, PEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate, Xanthan Gum, Benzophenone- 4, Phenoxyethanol,Methylparaben, Ethylparaben, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Citronellol, Hexyl Cinnamal, Parfum, CI 42090

Nivea Daily Essentials Stay Clear Pyrifying Toner 

Aqua, Alcohol Denat., PEG-8, Glycerin, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Magnolia Officinalis Bark Extract, Glyceryl Glucoside, Polyquaternium-10, Citric Acid, Trisodium EDTA, Phenoxyethanol, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Benzyl Salicylate, Benzyl Alcohol, ButylphenylMethylpropional, Citronellol, Hexyl Cinnamal, Limonene, Linalool, Parfum

I try to mark the sunscreen ingredients in red and other possible irritants in lilac. Ingredients thought to be good and useful for skin I mark green.  Learning as I go, google is my friend etc...

Thoughts:

- Cleansing gel doesn't properly remove all the make-up and dirt like it promises and it was probably one reason I used to have more pimples: I didn't really like toners or double cleansing back in the day

- Toner doesn't clean as well as Neutrogena's Blackhead Eliminating Toner, I was shocked when I tested Neutrogena for the first time and the cotton pad got dark!

- The gel is difficult to wash off if I use too much - it just seems to slide all over my face

- Toner feels like a lost product a bit - it's not properly cleansing and not hydrating, what is it supposed to do?

- Ingredient lists aren't very appealing on their own: Alcohol, Sodium Laureth Sulfate...



+ Neither gel or toner don't seem to dry my skin at all

+ Especially the cleansing gel is very gentle

+ Affordable, almost always on sale, can get them everywhere

+ Big bottles and they seem to last forever as a little goes long way

+ Hardly any smell, very inoffensive products in every way

+ I like gel cleansers

+ Not long ingredient lists, not lots of ferments, plant extracts, or other exotic stuff

* Again, these two are products I've been buying, oh I don't know, for 7 years?!

* For their price point and gentleness, easy to get, almost always on sale... they are almost unbeatable

* Maybe they are a bit bland and not exciting products, very basic

Price: 

Between 4-7 € / 200 ml, usually I buy on sale

Bought from: 

Everywhere

Buy again? 

Yes, old habits die hard. Will probably buy them until something that makes my skin amazing will appear. 

Worth the money? 

Yes, absolutely.

The Body Shop Tea Tree Skin Mattifying Lotion 50 ml + Tea Tree Night Lotion 30 ml Review

Ingredients:

Tea Tree Skin Mattifying:

Aqua, Cyclopentasiloxane, Cyclohexasiloxane, Aluminum Starch Octenylsuccinate, Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Caprylyl Glycol, Melaleuca Alternifolia Leaf Oil, Acrylamide/Ammonium Acrylate Copolymer, Calophyllum Inophyllum Seed Oil, Salix Alba Bark Extract, Polyisobutene, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Polysorbate 20, Sorbitan Isostearate, Sodium Hydroxide, Limonene, Laureth-4, Peg-30 Dipolyhydroxystearate, Trideceth-6, Citral, Citronellol, Leptospermum Petersonii Oil, Tocopherol

Tea Tree Night Lotion:

Aqua/Water/Eau, Propanediol, Glycerin, Tapioca Starch, Calophyllum Inophyllum Seed Oil, Acrylamide/ Ammonium Acrylate Copolymer, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Melaleuca Afternifolia Leaf Oil/ Melaleuca Afternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Oil, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylic/ Capric Triglyceride, Caprylyl Glycol, Polyisobutene, Phytosphingosine HCI, Polysorbate 20, Sorbitan Isostearate, Polymethylsilsesguioxane, Limonene, Citral, Citronellol, Leptospermum Petersonii Oil, Tocopherol

I try to mark the sunscreen ingredients in red and other possible irritants in lilac. Learning as I go, google is my friend etc...

Thoughts:

- Neither of the lotions really moisturize or hydrate

- Mattifying day lotion actually makes skin feel quite dry

- They can't be used on their own

- They cause a little tingling on the skin, I have thought that it's because of tea tree?

- Because of tingling, they can't be used after exfoliating or treatments, or it feels like they burn the skin for about 10 minutes

- They both cause massive pilling, horrible under makeup and uncomfortable so they need another cream on top of them to balance it



+ I think my skin likes tea tree: these lotions really do help with sebum and shine

+ They do make pores look smaller, it was more noticeable before when I didn't target the pores with so many products

+ They help with keeping my skin more clear as well, I think I started to have less blemishes when I incorporated these

+ They dry fast

+ They are very light

* The Night Lotion is definitely better and more moisturizing

* They smell of tea tree a bit, someone likes the smell, someone doesn't - I don't mind, better than grandma fragrance

* I have just ordered LJH's Tea Tree Essence that everyone has been raving about, I wonder if it replaces other tea tree products in my routine!

* I'm glad I came upon tea tree products as I think my skin really likes them

Price: 

Tea Tree Skin Mattifying:

14.90 € / 50 ml

Tea Tree Night Lotion:

15.90 € / 30 ml

Bought from: 

The Body Shop stores, webstore, got as gifts...

Buy again? 

No to Mattifying Lotion, maybe to Night Lotion.

Worth the money? 

I think yes, quite expensive still, but both did improve my skin. I'm cringing a bit at the price of night lotion, even though it's the better one. So the price quality ratio is a real question here. That's why I'm hoping LJH Essence would work for me (50 ml for USD 15.50 including shipping). So maybe they are quite not worth the money they cost because I want to find alternatives.

Neutrogena Visibly Clear Oil-Free Moisturiser 50 ml + Pink Grapefruit Oil-Free Moisturiser 50 ml Review

New packaging and name, Spot Proofing Oil Free Moisturiser. The formula hasn't changed.

Ingredients:

Visibly Clear Oil-Free Moisturiser

[PR-015105] Aqua, Glycerin, Propylene Glycol, Cetyl Alcohol, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Stearyl Alcohol, Glyceryl Stearate, PEG-100 Stearate, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Chamomilla Recutita Flower Extract, Menthyl Lactate, Cetyl Lactate Cocamidopropyl PG- Dimonium Chloride Phosphate, C12-15 Alkyl Lactate, Dimethicone, Sodium Isostearoyl Lactylate, Propylene Glycerol Isostearate, Cyclohexasiloxane, Cyclopentasiloxane, Palmitic Acid, Stearic Acid, Salicylic Acid, Carbomer, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Sodium Chloride, Disodium EDTA, Sodium Hydroxide, Lactic Acid, Benzalkonium Chloride, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Ethylparaben, Parfum, Benzyl Alcohol

Pink Grapefruit Oil-Free Moisturiser

[PR-015516] Aqua, Glycerin, Propylene Glycol, Cetyl Alcohol, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Glyceryl Stearate, PEG-100 Stearate, Stearyl Alcohol, Salicylic Acid, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Chamomilla Recutita Flower Extract, Menthyl Lactate, Cetyl Lactate, Cocamidopropyl PG-Dimonium Chloride Phosphate, C12-15 Alkyl Lactate, Dimethicone, Sodium Isostearoyl Lactylate, Propylene Glycol Isostearate, Palmitic Acid, Stearic Acid, Carbomer, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Sodium Chloride, Disodium EDTA, Sodium Hydroxide, Lactic Acid, Benzalkonium Chloride, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Ethylparaben, Parfum, Benzyl Alcohol.

I try to mark the sunscreen ingredients in red and other possible irritants in lilac. Learning as I go, google is my friend etc...

Thoughts:

- The grapefruit moisturizer smells bad and too strong to me but I've been able to ignore it

- After any scrubs or other exfoliants (or sometimes sauna, even) they both cause intense tingling or burning that usually subsides in ten minutes - however, I learned from a couple of times not to use them after those treatments

- They are not moisturizing enough on their own or with other product for night for me anymore

- Their preservatives seem to be parabens?



+ I had worse skin acne wise back then and I was afraid of trying anything new, but I took the risk and bought the basic oil-free moisturiser and my skin got better within days

+ Even still, a week without these moisturisers affect my skin

+ They both absorb and dry fast, within 1-3 minutes

+ They feel moisturizing but leave a nice, even, soft matte-ish finish

+ They don't cause any pilling and look very good under make-up

+ Don't clog the pores

* The Grapefruit one feels a touch more moisturizing but otherwise they are pretty much the same to me

* Last winter was the first time I felt these moisturizers weren't enough alone for my aging skin

* Great for combination, oily and acne-prone skin, like what I used to have

* Even though they are not ideal products for me anymore, I can trust them not to break me out and I will probably always repurchase out of habit...

* I have probably been using these for closer to 6 years already, I wonder if they are as good as I make them out to be? Or I have gotten used to them and been too lazy to compare to other things?

Price: 

About 6,5 € / 50 ml

Bought from: 

Everywhere, basically.

Buy again? 

Yes

Worth the money? 

Absolutely, they are effective for acne-prone skin! The price-quality ratio works. However, for dry and aging skin they just are not moisturizing enough, even though for such light and non-clogging moisturizers they truly are packing a wonder.

Neutrogena Visibly Clear Blackhead Eliminating Toner 200 ml Review

Ingredients:

[PR-013490] Aqua, Alcohol Denat., PPG-5-Ceteth-20, Glycerine, Salicylic Acid, Menthyl Lactate, Potassium Lactate, Sodium Citrate, Parfum.

I try to mark the sunscreen ingredients in red and other possible irritants in lilac. Ingredients thought to be good and useful for skin I mark green.  Learning as I go, google is my friend etc...

Thoughts:

- If used everyday, makes my skin dry

- Most of the product is water and alcohol denat

- If I have painful blemishes/irritated skin/have been picking my face (yes I'm sorry) this toner stings

- Doesn't help with blackheads/sebaceous filaments like it states in the name

- Sometimes makes my skin slightly red/irritated if I put it on already dry and irritated skin but I don't do it anymore



+ So, this toner has so many negatives... why do I still use it? First bottle I bought a long time ago to fight blackheads and oiliness and noticed that this alcohol bomb cleans skin so, so well!

+ Has salicylic acid (but probably not right pH to actually exfoliate?)

+ Has helped with oiliness, pores and overall condition of skin if not overused

+ Perfect cleaning toner to take to travels when it might be a challenge to take care of skin due to time or other limits

+ Has a short list of ingredients and not over ambitious use of plant extracts and yeasts and whatnot that leaves me guessing which one hates me

+ Cheap, lasts forever because can't be used everyday

* Everytime I use this toner I sight to myself that I have to find something less irritating but as effective but it's not easy to test new things

* It's also difficult to give up things you've been using a long time even though they might not be the perfect choice anymore

* Neutrogena as a brand seems to be quite cheap and reliable, at least I have never been disappointed in their products, then again in my country it's quite limited what you can get, compared to USA for example

Price: 

About 6 € / 200 ml

Bought from: 

Anywhere

Buy again? 

Maybe?

Worth the money? 

Well, it doesn't do what it says it does, but it's not a waste of money either. I have repurchased it several times so it must kinda be or I'm an idiot! 

The Ordinary Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate 10% 30ml Review

Ingredients:


Aqua (Water), Coco Caprylate/caprate, Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate, Isodecyl Neopentanoate, Plukenetia Volubilis Seed Oil, Coconut Alkanes, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Polyglyceryl-3 Diisostearate, Polyglycerol-3 Polyricinoleate, Glycerin, Hexamethyldisiloxane, Terminalia Ferdinandiana Fruit Extract, Tocopherol, Sodium Chloride, Phenoxyethanol, Chlorphenesin.

I try to mark the sunscreen ingredients in red and other possible irritants in lilac. Learning as I go, google is my friend etc...

Thoughts:

- Pills to hell and back no matter how or how little I apply

- Definitely impossible to use during the day, even if you put only a little and pat it in: it will pill, if not now, then later with makeup; so only possible to use during night

- Still I'm not quite on the clear if this cream causes little bumps, it could be Advanced Retinoid on my chin area, but everything also can be hormonal, however nothing goes into "safe list" unless I'm 100% sure it's safe

- Silicones...



+ Doesn't irritate skin at all, just like putting normal cream

+ Spreads evenly to skin, nice and easy (but why does it start to pill immediately when it dries?)

+ Don't have to build tolerance to it, it feels so mild it's possible to use it almost every day... er, night

+ Strangely, I noticed after a little while of use that my milia (? not sure what it is, a skin colored spot on my cheek I've had a while) halved in size! Not even AHA had helped those! Now it's down to 1/3 or 1/4 in size

+ I think I have to credit this product some of the new brightness/glow I have, not sure how much because I do play with AHA, Advanced Retinoid and Niacinamide as well, but I feel like they all contribute to slightly different things

* I chose MAP as my first vitamin c products because I wanted something that wouldn't irritate and would be stable

* The Ordinary has just introduced more strong antioxidant products: it's very difficult to tell, if I should just move to those instead of vitamin c derivates

* I'm suspicious of Coco Caprylate/caprate and Coconut Alkanes, it seems like Tonymoly Sun Oil had coconut oil and that one gave me little bumps as well: however they were mostly on my cheeks but I don't know if it makes difference. Also nothing else I'm using has coconut things

* This product convinced me that antioxidant products are useful and you never know the results, YMMV is so true even though I hate that acronym, as I haven't noticed that many people would have liked The Ordinary's MAP and here I am, thinking about buying it again!

* I'm open to searching other MAP formulas in case they work for me even better! However I have less free time to think about skincare during winter

Price: 

9,60 €

Bought from: 

The Ordinary website

Buy again? 

Very much on the verge of maybe and yes, I would like to test other vitamin c products (stronger), but it is always a hassle with new things, it takes time and patience to make sure they work for my skin. If my new chin bumps go away after I run out of this product, I think I might not repurchase, or repurchase after a while to see if the same happens again.

Worth the money? 

Yes, I think so. It delivers what it promises plus it's the first product so far that gets rid of maybe-milia-or-some-other-bumps!

Korean Skincare Sample Reviews Part 3 Feat Tonymoly

This time I didn't have that much luck with the samples. Might be a while when I dare to try more. Still, I'm happy I discovered I probably can't use saccharomyces because I had been eyeing so many fermented products. Also I don't think I will be buying any hand/body creams from abroad without testing samples, I had been considering them too. I don't mind fragrance, I love shopping for perfumes and using them, I'm just very sensitive to certain smells.

TONYMOLY Panda's Dream White Hand Cream

Ingredients:

Water, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Glycerin, Cetyl Ethylhexanoate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Butylene Glycol, Niacinamide, Glyceryl Stearate, Polysorbate 60, PEG/PPG-17/6 Copolymer, Cyclopentasiloxane, Hydrogenated Polydecene, Beeswax, Cyclohexasiloxane, Palmitic Acid, Stearic Acid, Xanthan Gum, Dimethicone, PEG-100 Stearate, Fragrance, Phenoxyethanol, Tocopheryl Acetate, Polyacrylate-13, Chlorphenesin, Polyisobutene, Ethylhexylglycerin, Sorbitan Stearate, Caprylyl Glycol, Honey Extract, Phyllostachis Bambusoides Juice, Sorbitan Isostearate, Polysorbate 20, Disodium EDTA, Alcohol, Polyglutamic Acid, Citric Acid

* Tried 1 sample, threw the rest to trash

* Smells so cheap, strong, perfume like, sickly sweet!

* Had to wash my hands almost immediately as the smell made me gag, also felt some tingling on my skin, but the smell wouldn't go away! It lingers like glue

* Horrible, avoid


TONYMOLY Bio EX Multi-Cell Energy

Ingredients:

Saccharomyces/Rice Ferment Filtrate Extract, Dicaprylyl Carbonate, Alcohol Denat, Glycerin, Butylene Glycol Dicaprylate/Dicaprate, Cetearyl Ethylhexanoate, Niacinamide, Dipropylene Glycol, Pentylene Glycol, Silica, Polyglyceryl-6 Stearate, Citrus Limon (Lemon) Peel Oil, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Peel Oil, Citrus Aurantium Bergamia (Bergamot) Fruit Oil, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Pinus Sylvestris Leaf Oil, Salvia Sclarea (Clary) Oil, Aniba Rosaeodora (Rosewood) Wood Oil, Eucalyptus Globulus Leaf Oil, Neopentyl Glycol Dicaprate, Polyglyceryl-3 Diisostearate, PEG-32, Beheneth-25, Panthenol, Sucrose Polystearate, Ammonium Acryloyldimethyltaurate/VP Copolymer, Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Polyglyceryl-6 Behenate, Sodium Stearoyl Glutamate, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Tromethamine, Adenosine, Water, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Butylene Glycol, Hydrogenated Lecithin, 1,2-Hexanediol, Phospholipids, Ceramide 3, Cholesterol, Arginine, Phytosterols, Xanthan Gum, Phenoxyethanol.


* Tried 1 sample

* Quite disgusting, sweet smell, but not strong

* Moisturized quite well! Almost felt like no moisturizer was necessary

* Light milky gel consistency, spreads well

* Skin looked surprisingly smooth and bright

* No immediate irritation, less redness than what I usually experience when touching my face?

* Next morning, I had about 10 new small whiteheads, a couple of them turned into big painful pimples, it took over two weeks (!!) for my skin to heal and look "normal" again, and a lot of pampering as for the first couple of days, the pimples wouldn't go away and new ones popped up in hours...

* I'm guessing my skin can't tolerate saccharomyces? What about galactomyces, then? I don't think I got reaction of Cosrx Galactomyces essence samples


LUKE Charcoal Nose Cleansing Strips

Ingredients:

Charcoal, vitamin E, Aloe Vera Extract, Green Tea Extract, Hamamelis Virginiana Extract, etc


* Tried 1

* Couldn't find full ingredients

* I know strips are not good for your skin but I just had to try once since they were free and just sitting there in the sample pile...

* Easy to put to nose, good instructions

* Too small strip, didn't cover all the problem areas (yes I might have a huge potato nose...)

* Dries fast and immediately starts pulling skin, couldn't keep it the recommended time

* Extracted maybe only one or two blackheads (or sebaceous filaments)

* Pores did look smaller and finer after

* But my skin felt so dry and irritated otherwise that it didn't matter that pores looked smaller

* The rest of the strips? To trash they go

TONYMOLY Banana Hand Milk

Ingredients:

Water, Glycerin, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Pentaerythrityl Tetraethylhexanoate, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Butylene Glycol, Macadamia Integrifolia Seed Oil, Cetearyl Alcohol, Musa Sapientum (Banana) Fruit Extract, Urea, Pentylene Glycol, Polyglyceryl-3 Methylglucose Distearate, Cetearyl Glucoside, Hydroxypropyl Starch Phosphate, Milk Protein Extract, 1,2-Hexanediol, Disodium EDTA, Tocopheryl Acetate,Phenoxyethanol, Yellow 5 (CI 19140), Yellow 6 (CI 15985).


* Shares the same off-putting banana yoghurt smell as the banana sleeping pack

* As the pack, the smell fades soon

* Even though it's called milk (I would have thought something more in liquid form) it looked and felt like regular cream

* Actually absorbs and moisturizes quite nicely

* Didn't irritate or tingle like panda hand cream

* However, I have decided that there's no way I will rub anything that smells like sweet fake banana on my face or hands again because skincare isn't about trying to hold your breath for several minutes... to trash they go, too



TONYMOLY Make HD Silk Argan Oil

Ingredients:

Argan oil, etc

* Tried 1 sample

* Couldn't find full ingredients

* There should be more hair care samples as well, this is the only one I have received!

* Well, felt like oil but the sample was so small I was able to rub it only a small part of my hair

* Did make hair feel somewhat softer but it wasn't really rough to begin with

* Absorbed really nicely and quickly, didn't leave hair sticky at all!

* However, the smell of this sample was so, so weirdly sweet and strong, like not bad but just weird for oil product

* Will not purchase based on this sample