Skin Care

Keep Calm and Centered With the Relaxing, Redolent Aveda Shampure Line

December 7th, 2017 by Karen 11 Comments

There are so many redolent reasons to wander into Aveda, like the teas…

Oh, my gosh! — every time I walk in there and someone’s like, “Would you care for some tea?” I’m like Billy the Kid with how fast my had whips out for that cup. YUM!

But one of the best reasons to visit Aveda is their Shampure line. If you like lavender, peppermint and basically anything that smells herbal and earthly, I think you’ll love it. I know I do.

It’s a line of shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, body oil, and they also have a body mist now, all in the same scent, which is a potion of 25 pure plant and flower essences to soothe your senses.

The strongest notes to me are lavender, peppermint and ylang-ylang, which is a white, tropical flower from the Philippines (woo!), and they smell so cozy, calming and wintry together.

This is a great time of year for it. I love it.

aveda shampure composition oil — I really like this real-deal body oil for uber-dry legs.

The Shampure Shampoo and Conditioner ($14 each for decent-sized 8.5-oz. bottles) are my favorite things in the line. I use them once every other week as a clarifying set for my roots and my strands because they completely — like, I’m not kidding — get my hair squeaky clean.

Shampoo Ingredients:

Aqueous (Water\Aqua\Eau) Extracts\Extraits Aqueux:Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Extract, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract , Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate , Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate , Lauramidopropyl Betaine , PEG-6 Cocamide , Dimethicone PEG-7 Isostearate , Babassuamidopropyl Betaine , Hydroxypropyltrimonium Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein , Hydrolyzed Brazil Nut Protein , Wheat Amino Acids , Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil , Glycerin , Tocopheryl Acetate , Ascorbyl Palmitate , Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride , PEG-30 Castor Oil , Polyquaternium-7 , Sodium Sulfate , Fragrance (Parfum) , Geraniol , Linalool , Citronellol , Limonene , Sodium Chloride , Polysorbate 80 , Sodium Gluconate , Maltodextrin , Potassium Sorbate , Sodium Benzoate , Phenoxyethanol , Annatto (CI 75120)

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Getting to Know Kat Burki: The Vitamin C Intensive Face Cream and Retin-C Treatment Complex

December 6th, 2017 by Karen 21 Comments

kat burki vitamin c intensive face cream — Kat Burki Vitamin C Intensive Face Cream ($60, 1-oz.)

Everything I’ve ever smelled from Kat Burki makes me crave green juice like right NOW. I’m smelling the Vitamin C Face Cream and Retin-C Complex at the moment, and… Hold on. Must make self something in blender now…

BRB.

Spinach + cucumber + apple + lemon + pineapple

Cold processing

Ah! I’m back. I don’t know what it is about these products.

Actually, I think I do know what it is…. They smell so effing fantastic and fresh. They’re manufactured using something called “cold processing,” where the ingredients are heated to no more than 120 degrees, which is supposed to keep the nutrients intact. It’s like raw food skin care.

No synthetic fragrances, fillers, silicone, parabens, sulfates or petrolatum

Does it actually make the products more effective? Hard to say, but after using two of them for a few weeks, my face feels fab. It’s happily hydrated, and I think my skin tone looks slightly more even. Also, every time I rub one of the products into my skin, I really do get a hankering for a green smoothie, but I digress… The products smell fresh and raw, almost like someone whipped up a bunch of skin care in my kitchen and poured it into a jar.

High-end natural

I’ve been using the Vitamin C Intensive Face Cream, which is $60 for a 1-oz. jar, and the Retin-C Treatment Complex, which is $165 for a 1-oz. bottle with a pump.

Cray expensive, right?! Kat Burki products are pretty pricey for green and natural, similar to Sunday Riley, Tata Harper and Kristine Holey + Marie Veronique.

So what is the $165 Retin-C Treatment Complex?

Let’s start by talking about this, just because I can’t believe it hasn’t irritated my skin at all in three weeks.

See, that’s amazing to me because I’ve started and stopped quite a few retinol treatments because they were too aggressive for my combo skin. My skin would hurt, so I’d get discouraged and quit using them, but this one is so gentle.

Ingredients

KB5 Complex (Arnica Montana (Arnica), Centella Asiatica (Gotu Kola), Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender), Calendula Officinalis (Calendula), Matricaria Recutita (Chamomile)), Hamamelis Virginiana Water (Witch Hazel), Cassia Angustifolia Seed Extract (Botanical Hyaluronic Acid), Dimethyl Sulfone (MSM), Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate (Vitamin C), Borago Officinalis Seed Oil (Borage), Calophyllum Inophyllum Seed Oil (Tamanu Oil), Linum Usitatissimum Seed Oil (Flax Seed Oil), Oenothera Biennis Oil (Evening Primrose Oil), Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil (Jojoba Oil), Vitis Vinifera Seed Oil (Grapeseed Oil), Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice (Aloe), Rovisome Retinol, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract (Green Tea), Propolis Extract, Equisetum Arvense Extract (Horsetail), Geranium Maculatum Extract (Geranium), Taraxacum Officinale Extract (Dandelion), Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Pentylene Glycol, Sodium Hydroxide, Polysorbate 20, Lecithin, Phenoxyethanol (Preservative, less than 1%), Ethylhexylglycerin (Preservative, less than 1%), Natural Fragrance, Citronellol, Geraniol, Limonene

kat burki retin c treatment complex — Kat Burki Retin-C Treatment Complex

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A Quick Intro to the Origins Mega-Mushroom Skin Relief Collection

December 5th, 2017 by Karen 9 Comments

Shitaki, portabello, crimini — GIRL, can we just talk about my favorite mushrooms for a minute? (My favorite ones to eat.) I’ve got a small box of organic criminis waiting to be added to an omelet for lunch, yum!

None of these mushrooms have anything to do with the Dr. Andrew Weil for Origins Mega-Mushroom Skin Relief line…but maybe that’s a good thing, because if they did we’d be here talking about truffles (mmm, truffle mac and cheese) for days.

The Mega-Mushroom line

The Origins Mega-Mushroom line is a collection of cleansers ($31 each), a toner ($34), serums ($48-73) and moisturizers ($66 each) for sensitive, dry and red, irritated skin, and, if you’re curious, no, they do not smell like mushrooms.

Essential oils

The three products I tried (the Face Cleanser, Micellar Cleanser and Soothing Treatment Lotion, which is basically a toner) smell lightly of lavender, which I guess isn’t a surprise, since lavender oil is one of the ingredients, along with other essential oils, like orange and patchouli (FYI, I’ve listed the ingredients of the products I’ve tested at the bottom of this post).

Reishi mushroom

The star ingredient, though, is a mushroom called reishi, or lingzhi mushroom, which is used in traditional Chinese medicine for healing and longevity, and it’s supposed to soothe red, sensitive skin.

I know this because Origins has this kick-@ss plant finder for all of the botanical ingredients in their products on their website.

The last time they revamped their packaging, they also revamped their entire approach to the line. Now they place plant-based ingredients front and center, kinda like Aveda does, and they list all of their ingredient on the website, which is SO helpful. It lets you get to know their products on a deeper, more practical level.

So, who’s this Dr. Weil dude, anyway?
He’s an author and celebrity doctor known for championing a healthy lifestyle and alternative medicine, and he donates the profits from the line to the non-profit Weil Foundation, which promotes integrative medicine, or the combination of alternative medical treatments alongside conventional medicine.

Moisturizing

I haven’t had any sensitive, red patches lately (knock on wood), so I can’t assess how well these work to reduce redness and sensitivity, but after steadily using them for three weeks, I can say that my combo dry/oily face is content with the high level of hydration, and the products haven’t triggered any breakouts yet.

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Kristina Holey + Marie Veronique: Get to Know This Up-and-Coming Green Line of Skin Care Superstars

November 28th, 2017 by Karen 21 Comments

The setting: Novato, about a month ago. I was breaking out around my mouth. Fearing for my face, while also wanting to try something new, as I often do, I decided to try the Kristina Holey + Marie Veronique skin care line, because I’d heard some good things about it.

I’m not kidding — my skin got better overnight, which sounds an awfully lot like an infomercial when I say it out loud, but dramatic changes like that never happen that quickly with my skin.

Meet my latest skin care love.

Botany babes

The seven-piece Kristina Holey + Marie Veronique skin care line is the Bay Area botanical brainchild of two natural skin care gurus — San Francisco facialist Kristina Holey (she’s been ballyhooed about in all the big mags), and Berkeley chemist/skin care formulator/former high school science teacher Marie Veronique, who also has her own separate skin care line (I’ve got my eye on their Vitamin C+E Ferulic serum), which you can find, along with Kristina Holey products, at the Berkeley Marie Veronique store and online at the Marie Veronique website.

kristina holey marie veronique 4 — Kristina Holey + Marie VeroniqueMicronutrient + Hydro Mask

Props to the plants

With products and prices comparable to Tata Harper, Kat Burki and Sunday Riley, Kristina Holey + Marie Veronique is all about fancy foliage, tried-and-true compounds and high-end greens. There’s a face oil cleanser ($40), a toner ($45), three serums ($90-$110 each), a face oil ($95) and a mask ($135).

Marvels of microbiology

Beneficial bacteria is a big deal in skin care these days, and brands like Tula are even putting probiotics into their products. Kristina Holey + Maria Veronique puts a different spin on your microbiome by concentrating on keeping it balanced, with the idea being that your mug’s microbiome is unbalanced if you’re experiencing dryness or breakouts or inflammation. Their products are formulated to bring your bacteria back in balance for clearer, hydrated, even-toned skin.

Familiar faces headline the list of ingredients

All of their products are manufactured in small batches in Berkeley, and they’re good for six months once they’ve been opened. They contain familiar compounds to exfoliate and maintain moisture levels. Some of the ingredients include salicylic acid, glycolic acid, niacinamide, vitamin B3 and B6, and that’s just for starters (there’s a complete list of the ingredients below).

I was happy to see these ingredients front and center, because I know that a lot of people, including me and my combo dry, acne-prone skin, respond well to them.

Kristina Holey + Marie Veronique products also avoid potentially irritating ingredients, like essential oils and synthetic fragrances.

It took me a while to get used to the scents

Not to say that the products are unscented. Some of them are, or at least they have such a natural, nondescript scent that it makes very little impression, but a couple of them smell “earthy.” The Barrier Lipid Complex, for example, smells like a bottle of fish oil, and for the first week I felt like I was slathering cat food on my face.

I mostly don’t notice it now (mostly)…

Clearer, more moisturized skin and less noticeable pigmentation

I’ve been using everything from the line for four weeks, but I saw positive results immediately, especially on the painful red pimple that was on my top lip.

It usually takes about a week for pimples to come to a head and start drying out on my face, but I dabbed the Intensive Repair Serum, which is the treatment for breakout-prone skin, on the pimple on the first night, and it came to a head by the next morning. It was completely dried out within two days, and by two weeks I could barely see any post-acne pigment (to put it in perspective, it usually takes about three to six months for those post-acne dark spots to disappear on me).

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#FancyLadyThings: $165 Fresh Crème Ancienne Supreme Eye Serum

November 14th, 2017 by Karen 19 Comments

fresh creme ancienne supreme — Fresh Crème Ancienne Supreme

European monks toiled over each and every drop of this $165 (!) eye serum to make it by hand.

BY HAND.

I can’t figure out if that’s marketing creativity at its best, or if it’s just craziness. (Side note: why monks and not nuns?)

#FancyLadyThings is a scandalous (not really) new series where we talk about old money, family intrigue and fancy, high-end beauty products… Or, at least the latter.

Fresh’s new Crème Ancienne Supreme Eye Serum is supposed to do a bit of everything — moisturize, lighten dark circles, and make fine lines look less noticeable. All that good stuff. And it’s supposed to do it for all skin types.

The Fresh fam loves using plant products in their skin care, and this has red ginger and silk tree bark, among other botanicals, and most of the plant extracts and oils appear in the top half of the ingredient list, which is always a promising sign.

Ingredients

Water, Glycerin, Butylene Glycol, Cetearyl Isononanoate, Ethylene/Acrylic Acid Copolymer, Propanediol, Limnanthes Alba (Meadowfoam) Seed Oil, Albizia Julibrissin Bark Extract, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Alpinia Galanga Leaf Extract, Commiphora Mukul Resin Extract, Zingiber Officinale (Ginger) Root Extract, Panax Ginseng Root Extract, Siegesbeckia Orientalis Extract, Tocopherol, Adenosine, Diglycerin, Polyacrylate-13, Hydrogenated Palm Kernel Glycerides, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Chlorphenesin, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Polyisobutene, Poloxamer 407, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Hydroxide, Parfum (Fragrance), Disodium EDTA, Sorbitan Isostearate, Hydrogenated Palm Glycerides, Glyceryl Acrylate/Acrylic Acid Copolymer, Polysorbate 20, Biosaccharide Gum-2, Caramel, Sodium Metabisulfite, Sodium Benzoate, Phenoxyethanol, Benzyl Salicylate

The first thing I noticed when I started using this is how moisturizing it is. It’s a heavy-duty hydrating formula, so it’s not like those eye serums that you put on your eyes and you’re like, “What? Did I just splash water on my face?” I feel confident that I can actually skip eye cream when I use this. It’s that moisturizing.

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#FancyLadyThings: Oribe Côte d’Azur Polishing Body Scrub

November 3rd, 2017 by Karen 8 Comments

oribe body scrub — Oribe Côte d’Azur Polishing Body Scrub ($65 for a 6.8-oz. jar)

Hey, so I’ve been walking around for the past few days smelling like I summer at the family beach house and winter at the chalet (both untrue), and both houses in this scenario, BTW, are mansions (of course). Both have also been in the family for generations (ridiculous), and this is entirely because I’ve been using a fancy-schmancy body scrub, of all things!

Oribe Côte d’Azur Polishing Body Scrub is $65 for a 6.8-oz. jar, which is crazy bad for a budget, but hey, this is #fancyladythings. If I were a lady who lunched in Chanel suits and pearls, I’d keep a jar of it in my bathroom on the regular, no doubt.

#FancyLadyThings is a scandalous (not really) new series where we’ll talk about old money, family intrigue and fancy, high-end beauty products… Or, at least the latter.

You might be familiar with Oribe. They’re a hair care line known for their expensive and high quality products (I like their Foundation Mist, Dry Texturizing Spray and their Root Touch Up Spray), all of which come in very perfume-like scents.

To me, everything they make smells like it was envisioned by a world-renowned Paris perfumer who caters to royalty and Rockefellers.

Côte d’Azur has notes of jasmine, bergamot and sandalwood, so it’s bright and summery. Those are the official notes. The unofficial note — the only one! — is old money.

It’s a sugar scrub made of fine sugar, so when I rub it on my skin, it feels soft, not sandpapery at all, and, after I rinse it off, there’s a thin layer of moisturizing oil left behind, as well as a scent that lingers — I’m not kidding — for at least a day.

Not to say that it’s a potent or obnoxious scent. It’s just VERY long lasting. After I dry myself off, I can smell it on my towels, on my robe, on my clothes, and I’m assuming that if you keep a boy toy around for kicks, you’d probably smell it on him, too, after you smothered him with your naked bod (!).

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A Few Current Clarins Loves (Oh, and My Face Is So Dry Right Now That It Hurts to Smile)

September 29th, 2017 by Karen 9 Comments

It’s been like this for a couple weeks now, I think because the weather’s changing, and we had to turn on the heater at night, bluh. So my skin is very, very, very upset about it, and it hurts, especially around my nostrils, where the skin is this close to cracking. It even hurts to smile, so whatever you do, don’t say anything funny… Haha! Ouch! I made myself laugh.

Not fun.

Whenever my skin gets like this, I always turn to Clarins. I’ve been using their moisturizers and serums for years. I also used their Tonic Oil on my tummy when I was pregnant with Connor, and I didn’t get any stretch marks at all. I don’t know if it helped, but who knows? Maybe.

Anywho, I love their moisturizing products, and I know they won’t make my skin freak out while it adjusts to the new fall normal.

Here’s my current Clarins arsenal:
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Neutrogena HydroBoost Exfoliating Cleanser and Hydrating Serum

September 27th, 2017 by Karen 12 Comments

Nobody ever sat me down and told me this — I wish they had, because it was hard-learned knowledge: one day, your skin will probably change.

Mine did. I used to have very oily skin. When I was teenager, I was oil slick city, and my skin stayed that way throughout my 20s. Now, though, it’s mostly dry, except for my oily forehead and nose.

If I still had that same skin I had back in the day, I’d probably love new Neutrogena Hydro Boost Exfoliating Cleanser ($8.99) and Hydrating Serum ($19.99).

I think that both of these additions to the Neutrogena Hydro Boost line are mid-level moisturizers. If you have oily or normal skin that still likes/needs some extra moisturizing, but never quite gets so dry that it hurts to smile, then either of these might be a good fit for your face.

Buuut, before we go any further, can we just talk about the packaging for a second?

It’s beautiful, isn’t it? Bright, blue and cheerful? But, like, if you look at both of the bottles, they say “HYALURONIC ACID” right there on the front with a little squiggly symbol to get your attention.

Hyaluronid acid shows up in many highly rated moisturizing skin care products (here’s an excellent post on The Beauty Brains about it), but it’s listed down at the bottom of the ingredients for the Exfoliating Cleanser…

Neutrogena Hydro Boost Exfoliating Cleanser: Ingredients
Water, Sodium C14-16, Olefin Sulfonate, Cocamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine, Glycerin, Sodium Hydrolyzed Potato Starch Dodecenylsuccinate, Acrylates Crosspolymer-4, Cellulose, Polysorbate 20, Citric Acid Sodium Benzoate, Glycolic Acid, Fragrance, Lactic Acid, Sodium Hydroxide, Disodium EDTA, Carica Papaya (Papaya) Fruit Extract, —-> Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid

And it’s also halfway down the list for the Hydro Boost Serum…

Neutrogena Hydro Boost Serum: Ingredients
Water, Glycerin, Dimethicone, Butylene Glycol, Neopentyl Glycol Diheptanoate, Aluminum Starch Octenylsuccinate, Isododecane, Dimethiconol, Ammonium Acryloyldimethyltaurate/VP Copolymer, Ethylhexylglycerin, Benzyl Alcohol, Sodium Lactate, Cetearyl Olivate, Bisabolol, Chlorphenesin, Sorbitan Olivate, Sodium PCA, Fragrance, —-> Sodium Hyaluronate, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Sorbitol, Chondrus Crispus Extract, Sodium Hydroxide, Proline, Portulaca Oleracea Extract, Propylene Glycol, Citric Acid, Magnesium Aspartate, Zinc Gluconate, Copper Gluconate

So it sure doesn’t look like one of the main ingredients in either of these… I’m just sayin’.

Neutrogena Hydro Boost Exfoliating Cleanser

This face wash , which feels like a jelly, exfoliates in two ways — one physical, and one chemical. The physical way seems to be via little beads, but the back of the bottle says that this doesn’t contain plastic microbeads.

I’ve been trying to figure out which ingredient actual does the physical exfoliating, but I haven’t figured it out yet. If you can tell from the list what’s doing the deed, let me know.

Whatever it is, the particles feel small, soft and mildly gritty, and they aren’t painful. This feels like an expensive exfoliating product from a high-end brand.

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