Beauty Grail

One way that I often procrastinate is by going through junk mail. They mainly are just that - “rubbish”, but from time to time, you get one that piques your interest. Such an ad that I received yesterday was a flier from Elegance Beauty Canberra advertising their limited offer of - ” $290 of Anti-Ageing Beauty Treatments for only $99”!! The only catch? It’s only for the first 23 takers!!!

I was very tempted to take them up on their generous offer :

“This exclusive facial includes microdermabrasion crystals to remove dead skin cells, boost collagen and cell renewal; a dermal peel to re-texture skin and smooth away fine lines, and a repairing and restoring mask to further boost collagen renewal and repair…”

(source: Anti-Aging Psychology)

Perhaps I may not be able to take advantage of what I believe to be good offer (I’m saving up in preparation of studying Dermal Therapies at Melbourne Uni, you see), but you may?

Else, have you had this service done? I’m very eager to hear your experience.

picture: Adore Beauty

There are two products I absolutely can’t do without. 1 is a lip balm. Yes, having full lips do have it’s cons in that it’s susceptible to wind/sun burn!! I may never have to get lip injections but dry lips is a constant battle for me.

The 2nd is sunscreen. I think we all very well know by now the importance of slathering SPF!!

As a day sun protection, I used to use Clinique’s Super City Block SPF 30+, a gift from my sister in law. On its packaging, City block claims that it has a “remarkable sheer and weightless formula”, it is great for sensitve skin, contains antioxidants, is oil free, safe to use near the eye area and can be worn as a makeup primer. Sounds fantastic, no? I did find it agreed with my rather sensitive skin. However, it did make my skin go rather shiny by midday. It also had a whitish tinge when applied to my skin and I found it difficult to blend with makeup.

I made a special trip to my local David Jones, determined to find a better than good SPF. That’s where I came across Megan Gale Tinted Day wear Sunscreen. This is not the first time I’ve come across the product. My best friend, Orchid, already uses the product and the book I’m currently reading, “The Skin Type Solution” by Dr Leslie Baumann, actually recommends this product for my skin type (which turns out to be Sensitive, Oily, Pigmented and Tight - more on this later).

I paid about $30 AU and put it to use right away. It’s been about a week since using this product and I found some ++ over Clinique City Block.

• I found it to be be more sheer to apply
• No more whitish tinge
• It felt less tacky on my skin
• It’s moisturising wich is great for the fine lines around my eye area
• The tint provides enough hint of colour for me to forgo foundation (for days where ‘minimal’ is my choice of look. Perfect for giving my skin a break from heavy makeup)
• On the days that I do want a more ‘made-up’ look, I can mix a little (or as much) of my foundation with it without having to worry about blending

I give it a BeautyGrail rating of:

image credit: shielaz413 It’s my birthday in 5 days and I’ve organized a “Sex and The City” style celebration with my girlfriends. Problem is I haven’t exactly been a very good girl, going without exercise and good food for the past 2 months! Not only did I feel it (the consequence of an unhealthy lifestyle), I certainly saw it as well, especially in my face!

The skin doesn’t lie and mine told the story of a chocolate and ice cream eating marathon! With my “Girls’ Night” fast approaching, I decided to buy some decent foundation to try to mask the junk food-induced fine lines. Even the makeup consultant couldn’t help but describe the skin around my eyes as ”crepey”.

Crepey?! This wasn’t exactly how I wanted to look on my b-day!! I needed to get serious and tackle the problem PROPERLY - via anti aging packed nutrition.

It’s a dreary day, perfect for keeping dry indoors and reading up on blogs. I’m currently checking out the blog directory, BlogCatalog, and one post that caught my attention was Four Stupidest Things Americans Do To Their Skin at Anti-Aging Psychology Blog .

After being side-tracked into having a self debate about the title (“Most Stupid” versus “Stupidest”), I managed to read on and find out what the 4 stupid things were.

According to the author, Dr. Michael Brickey, some common mistakes Americans make (where it comes to skin care) were:

#1 Using Soap

image credit: Jon Evans I once declined a friend’s offer of her soap come time to shower after an exhausting workout. I decided I’d rather risk smelling bad from just a warm shower rather than lathering up with soap. Why? It’s because (some) soaps are alkaline and strip the skin of natural oils thus an be drying.

#2 Mineral Oils

There seems to be a debate on just how bad mineral oil is. Dr. Michael Brickey is obviously part of the camp that is totally against it. The downside he mentioned were:

” Mineral oil coats your skin, clogs your pores, and prevents your skin from breathing. It keeps your skin from exfoliating dead skin cells and toxins. It keeps your skin from absorbing vitamins, nutrients, and antioxidants in a moisturizer.”

(source: Anti-Aging Psychology)

Beauty Brains sits on the end of the pole on this debate citing that the bad rap on mineral oils is totally bogus.

One that sits in the middle is FutureDerm . She says it is okay so long as it is not used in conjunction with other products containing comedogenic (pore-clogging) ingredients and that it’s benefits are not blown beyond ‘hydrating’.

I find myself sitting somewhere in the middle too. My fav lipbalm to date happens to be Vaseline Lip Therapy and most of my body and hand lotions contain Mineral Oil. I prefer my face products however to be Mineral Oil free as it is tends to be very sensitive and fussy.

#3 Fragrances and Dyes

What good is a cream that smells like a dream if it causes irritation to the skin? That unfortunately is the side effect for some people to fragrances as well as dyes. It is therefore advised that to keep your skin happy, best to try to steer clear of these.

#4 Sun Damage

image credit: Alan Light

The effects of over exposure to the sun can be very detrimental. We’re not just talking about a bit of reddening or peeling of skin. There’s premature aging and more importantly, increased chances of skin cancer and other skin disorders. These just make baking out on the sun totally unglamorous and uncool.

picture: Amazon

I just love starting my Mondays with a package!! One was delivered to my door early this morning. Like an excited little girl on Christmas, I ripped open the box, very curious to see what was inside.

There I found 3 bottles of Neutrogena Healthy Skin Anti-Wrinkle Creams. I almost forgot that I won these through eBay about 2 weeks ago! Undeterred by my recent negative MAC eBay experience, I went ahead and purchased these after reading a post about it in one of my fav blogs, FutureDerm.

In the blog, Nicki Zevola of Future Derm, compared 3 products containing retinol. They were Skinceuticals Retinol 0.5, Philosophy Help Me Retinol Night Treatment and Neutrogena Healthy Skin Anti-Wrinkle Cream. Out of the three, she found Neutrogena to be the best value for money whilst containing a high percentage of retinol!

After carefully cleansing my face, I applied a pea-size amount. I really liked how it glided onto my skin and left no sticky feeling afterwards.

I did experience some mild stinging sensation. However, like it says on the packaging, it’s only temporary and it quickly went away.

So far so good. I do hope it proves effective for me so I can add it to my (ever growing) list of top skin care product “must haves” instead of “money waster”. Stay tuned.

October ‘08 Update: I’ve actually added this product to my beauty night regime ( my retinoid product of choice during my rest days from retin-A).