Behind the Mirror: Empties August

Hello My Dear Readers,

I do hope you are all doing fine wherever you are!

I have been through some changes in July - I decided to take a Roaccutane treatment, I will post my experience in some months, after I will finish the treatment.

But today I will share with you what products I have been using up lately (since my last post about Empties in May) and what my experience was with them, because I discovered I have a pretty big collection of beauty “garbage” I need to send to the recycling bin.

M.A.C. Select Moisture Cover in NW15
I am actually an NC15, but the girl at the store suggested that some warmth will do my under eye area some good. I got this product in February and in the middle of July I discovered without any warnings that I finished it. I believe that this was mainly due to the packaging of which I am no big fan. I used it on my under eye area and on my acne spots. It made the under eye area look fresh, but it was not that good at covering the acne spots. I got another M.A.C. concealer in my color when I went to get one, after I unexpectedly ran out of this one.

Color & Soin Natural – 10R Shining Red

This is a bit of a cheat, because I used this in April, but somehow I forgot to mention it in the May Empties post. I got it from a local Pharmacy, when I could not get hold of my preferred henna from Mayam for about 2 months in a row.
PLUS: Very easy to apply, with strong natural pigments (it colored even dark hair like mine). It did not interact in a bad way with the parts of the hair that were dyed with henna (but if you want to use it, I recommend at least 2 months of pause between a henna mask and this dye). It is already prepared. It has no ammonia and silicones. The hair conditioner it comes with smelled really nice and had rosemary and eucalyptus oils.
MINUS: Double the price of henna and dried the hair pretty badly. The color disappeared in four weeks.

Balea Totes Meer Salz Dusche

I got this from DM at a time when my skin was very dry and irritated, because it stated on the label to be a good product for this skin type. It smells lovely of red fruits and is enriched with minerals. I could see that my skin felt better after this shower gel than it did before. I generally like the Balea products, because they are cheap and they work. This product had 300ml and was almost twice as cheap as a Nivea 250 ml shower gel.

NIVEA Powerfruit Relax

Speaking of Nivea shower gels, I fell in love with this shower gel that has Acai scent and Blueberry antioxidants. I am not sure if really has all these, but it smells heavenly (I also repurchased it) and keeps my skin from drying.

Alverde Ultrasensitiv Dushcreme

I also got this product in the winter, to calm down my highly allergic skin and I still used it on and off until spring, when I finally used it up completely. It is a very good product for very sensitive skin, it calms it down and keeps it from drying. It has no perfume, no colorants and preservatives. It is slightly more expensive than  the Balea products, but for an all natural product it is rather cheap.

Dettol Moisture Liquid Soap

I got this product to clean my brushes, because I am a freak and I clean my face brushes after every use, since I had some bad experiences with acne outbreaks. This liquid soap is supposed to kill 99.9% of bacteria. It is not as moisturizing as I would wish, but for the brushes it did a pretty good job.

Balea Wellness Fuß Badekristalle

I got this salt mixture for swollen feet after I did the half marathon in May. This bag is for 2 usages, I used one right after the run and another one sometime after to do my pedicure. I like the fact that it helped with the swollen feet and that the feet felt refreshed after using this. It contains camphor, mint and rosemary oils and aloe vera leaf powder, which help with swollen tissue and calm down any irritations. As with their shower gels, this Balea product is good worth for its money. I will get it again.

Balea Urea Handcreme

I liked this hand cream, it was very moisturizing, because of the urea and shea butter. It also smelled really nice. I used it mainly in the evenings, because I wanted something luxurious for my hands. I think you can also use this products without any problems during the day, as it is not heavy. I got this in winter and used it on and off until spring-summer. It is also a good product for its money.

Balea Hand Balsam

This product contains monoï oil and shea butter and in the same time has no perfume. I liked that it was like a balm and protected the skin from drying. I also used this product at night to get the same SPA-feeling I was mentioning about earlier. It had only 50 ml and costs as much as the Urea hand cream, but it is worth it, you get a good hand cream.

Alverde Körperbutter

I got this body butter in the winter when I wanted to use it for my hands at night, but eventually I ended using it on my body, after the winter allergies passed. It smells lovely of red oranges and elder flower, but it also has shea butter and glycerin. It penetrates the skin very fast and doesn’t leave it oily or creamy, but hydrated. The price is very good compared with other body butters from other brands. I really recommend it.

The Body Shop Absinthe Purifying Hand Cream
I fell in love with this cream the first time I tested it in the store. It smelled absolutely lovely. It has Brazilian nut (due to its highly hydrating properties) and marula (which has purifying properties) oils and absinthe extraxt. I like t use this hand cream during the day, because it is a very light cream, it is immediately absorbed in the skin and it leaves a lovely scent. I alway get a lot of compliments when I use this cream. I repurchased it in a bigger size.

Oriflame Feetup Foot Cream

This product has 10% urea and is a very heavy cream for feet. I used it at night and it was pretty good during the winter time. It kept the feet hydrated and fresh. But I went through it pretty fast and decided to use it on and off towards spring time. It is an ok product, I am not sure if I will repurchase it.

Kiss my Face Sport broad spectrum SPF 50

I managed to finish this product in a month, because we have summer in Bucharest and because I have very fair skin. I used it every time I left the house. I liked this product. I loved the smell and the fresh feeling I got when I used it. More details about where I got it from you can find in my post here. Unfortunately when I wanted to repurchase it from iHerb, they were out, so I had to get a similar product from another brand locally.

Garnier Mineral Intensive 72h

Now, normally I would not talk about antiperspirants, but I felt this was worth a small mention. The reason being the fact that it was pretty impressive how it behaved itself during the hard gym classes. I felt fresh even after the classes. It says on the bottle that it is “enriched with absorbent mineralite, regulates perspiration peaks”, is good for sensitive skin and has no alcohol. Nothing to contradict there.

Vichy Capital Soleil SPF 50

This cream is for oily skin, I got it last year (yes, I know, I shall not use last year’s sun protection, but this one was in the fridge) and used it when I went to the sea side and every day during summer. I was so happy when I finished it, because the smell drove me crazy. I cannot understand why some dermatological-cosmetic brands insist on adding perfume to some of their formulations, when they mention “hypoallergenic” on their packages. Sensitive skin being mostly allergic to perfumes (even natural ones). But in any case this product did its job and protected me from the sun and in the same time it kept my skin from getting too greasy. Unfortunately, I will not get this again.

Logona Bio Calendula Lip Balm

I love this product! It is perfect! Do you know how some of the lip products hydrate the lips, but in the same time you don’t feel that they are moisturized? Like the product only makes the first skin layer smoother, by coating it? Well this one doesn’t. You really feel like your lips are hydrated to the fullest. The only downside of it is that it does not have a SPF. I used it during the nights to keep my lips from drying. Oh… and this is my 2^nd finished tube.

OptiFree Replenish and Refresh Eye drops

I spoke about these products before, but this is the last time I will mention them. Because my doctor changed my lenses solution and eye drops.

Coconut Oil

I have been using this oil (that is solid at temperatures under 21 degrees) in a variety of mixtures (body oil, henna, hair oil and lip butter) because of its hydrating properties. I also applied this product in the evenings directly on my skin and hair, but I am no big fan of coconut smell, but in the morning the effect was wonderful – both the hair and skin were feeling hydrated and smooth and I still could detect a faint scent of coconuts. It is not a heavy oil and penetrates the skin very fast.

Castor Oil

This is a very heavy oil. I used it mainly in hair compositions (henna, hair oil) and applied it directly on my eyelashes each evening after I removed my make-up and applied the eye cream. At one point I even made an eye make-up remover with castor oil and cornflower water. I like what this hair does to the hairs: the hair is much shinier and the roots are strengthened.

Cornflower water

Besides using this water in the above mentioned eye make-up remover, I used it in eye cream and eye gel compositions. I talked about them here.

Argan Oil

Everybody without exception loves this oil. It is the perfect oil for hydrating any skin types and for preventing wrinkles. It is also very good for the hair. I used it in body oils and hair oils mixtures. I haven’t used it by itself on my face skin yet, because until recently my skin was oily, but now that it is drier I am thinking of using it in face massages.

Tahiti Monoï Oil

I know everybody is crazy after Monoï oil. I am not sure how many know, that this oil is composed of coconut oil with a specific natural fragrance, which makes it so unique and even good for dry and sensitive skin. I used it in body oil mixtures and as it is directly on the skin in the evenings. The smell is not overpowering, it actually is very soothing and calming and the skin felt amazing.

Pomegranate Oil

This is a very potent oil and needs to be added 1 to 10% in other oils. It has a very strong antioxidant effect, thus preventing wrinkles and premature skin ageing. I mixed it with various oils for body oil mixtures and added it also in face masks.

Ylang Ylang Essential Oil

I used this essential oil in hair mixtures. It makes the hair oil mixture and the henna mask smell better and even after you wash the hair and condition it, a faint smell of ylang-ylang can still be felt. One of its advantages is that it does not dry out the hair.

Red vine extract

I got this product with the idea of mixing it in eye creams, but after looking at the recipes I came to the conclusion I cannot add it. But after doing some more research, I found that I can use it in a make-up remover. So I added it and enjoyed the result very much. This is an active ingredient, which helps improve the blood flow in the capillaries and helps reduce dark circles around the eye. The overall effect of this ingredient is of fresh looking skin, because the skin gets more oxygen.

Tea Tree Essential Oil

I used this product in a face gommage cream, face masks, face oils for massage and make-up removal. I also used this product directly on the spots at night after the face oil. However only until after I started on the Roaccutane treatment I could notice an improvement for my skin due to this oil. I know that normally this product takes longer than its medical alternative (benzoyl peroxide) to show a real effect on the skin, but until recently I only felt that my skin was feeling slightly refreshed after using it, but with no other benefit. Now, I can really see what it can do. I am happy that I could really make use of this product and make my skin get over the chemical alternative that is benzoyl peroxide (or not, as it is now the case in Romania, that we cannot find Brevoxyl, the product containing this active ingredient anywhere).

I know it has been a very long post, but I do hope you can find some useful information within it. All these products were purchased by me during some months. This post is in no way a sponsored post.

Please let me know if you used or use some of these products. I would love to read what your experience was with them!

Until next time,
Smile, it is good for the skin!
Love,
Alex.

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Behind the Mirror: Empties

My Dear Readers,

I think it is about time I presented to you some of the products I finished since I posted my last finished products post. It has been a very long time and for some products I don't have the packages anymore, because I had to get rid of them when I moved.
This is why the first products I will talk about don't have photos.

Goldwell Dualsenses Green Pure Repair 60 sec treatment
I haven't been using any conditioner in more than 1 year, because I was using this product. I got the big bottle (1.500 ml) in December 2011 and it lasted until about February 2013 - so yes, more than 1 year. I loved it because it was all natural, it had goji berries, argan oil and shea butter extracts an no parabens, no silicones and it smelled divine. This is a hair mask, which should be used for damaged hair. My hair felt smooth, flexible and very silky by using this. I managed to grow it very long. When I used this hair treatment after henna, my hair felt amazing. I used it 2 times a week and during all this time, I did not use it entirely alone.
I recommend it to everybody who wants to have naturally beautiful hair. It really works.

elemental Mayam Apricot oil
I used this oil on its own to massage it into my neck and necklace areas in the evenings before I went to sleep, after I did my cleansing routine - being a rather heavy oil for my taste - compared to castor oil it is light - and entering slower into the skin I could not use it during the day. I wasn't very happy with the scent of this oil, but I liked the results of using it. The skin was brightened and looked much better - it is great for sensitive skin, because it calms it down and keeps it hydrated. I also used this oil in a combination with other oils (Aloe, Macadamia Nut, Tea Tree, Raspberry seed oil) when I was on the sea side, to help regenerate and calm down my skin after being to the beach.
It is an oil that can be used mostly on all skin types (in massages, for its illuminating effects), but if you have an oily skin I would not use it during the day and if it is acne prone, I would not use it more than 2-3 times a week.

Balea Med Creme-Öl Körperlotion
I got this body lotion last winter, when it was really cold and I got a horrible cold allergy. I used products from Balea Med before this one. Especially the products for highly sensitive skin (which have no smell and no parabens and have helped me with this allergy), but I wanted a bigger bottle than the one available for the highly sensitive skin products - this one was 400 ml. I got this and was not at all disappointed. The product even thought it has a thick consistency, it is almost immediately very well absorbed by the skin. The skin was hydrated in a way in which only the body oils I made did, without the oily sensations.
In the summer however I don't think I'll use this product, because it is somewhat too thick.

Alverde Deo mit Acerolakirsche
It has a 24h lasting effect and smells divine. I got this because it leaves no marks on the skin and has no aluminium  I recently purchased it again. I recommend it, but in the high summer, I think this product needs to be reapplied during the day.

Alverde Feuchtigkeitslotion Quitte und Brombeere
I got this product with the idea in mind, that it will be good for the winter time. Unfortunately I got a very bad allergy to the cold and had to switch to non-scented products, because it irritated my skin very much due to the smell. Even though it is an all natural product, my skin was that affected by the cold that no perfume (natural or not) was tolerated.
Once the cold was over I could use this product normally and I really enjoyed it's perfume without being affected by it. It has a light texture and it was very well absorbed by the skin, however not as hydrating as I would have wished.

Vichy Normaderm Solution Mincellaire
This is a product I bought last summer, shortly before my horrible acne breakout and which I haven't used since. I wanted to use it at the gym to remove the make-up before I worked out. I must admit I did not like this product very much, mainly because it dried my skin pretty badly. I decided to finish this product so I started using it again until I finished it, but I did not find it especially good. I did not see a big improvement on clearing or soothing my skin - I used it on a cotton pad to remove the first make-up layer, before using a face gel to deeply cleanse the skin.

La Roche-Posay Effaclar Gel Moussant
I got this 400 ml bottle shortly before last Christmas and I used it up just at the beginning of April. I must admit I got completely hooked by this product - no wonder since it has citric acid (which helps gently exfoliate the skin) and zinc (which helps restore the skin tissue and heal the skin marks). It cleanses my skin without drying and it also keeps it from getting too fat. I think this is the best face wash I ever used and I highly recommend it to all those who have sensitive acne prone skin.
When I started using this product, in December my skin was starting to heal from the acne outbreak, but it was very dried out because of the treatment I received from the doctor. This gel helped by not over-drying and also by preventing the appearance of other blemishes. I also like the package it comes with and that it is really good value for money in this 400 ml size. I already got a new bottle.

astellas Zineryt
This is one of the products I received from my doctor to help cure the acne blemishes. It contains erythromycin (an antibiotic which helps cure a large range of bacteria) and zinc acetate (which helps hydrate and restore the affected tissue) as active ingredients. However the whole mixture is in alcohol and after about 5 weeks the product loses its effectiveness.
It did its job in a decent way, however I got to use a better product along the way. In any case this product is used during the day after cleansing the face, as a toner and before the make-up. During the colder months it is recommended to use a hydrating cream above it and in the summer a cream with SPF (30 or above).
Is you feel you need to use this product, ask your dermatologist first, because it is medicine.

Alcon Opti-Free Replenish
This is another bottle of the lenses solution I have used up. More details, on this can be found in this post.

Bourjois Volume Glamour Ultra Curl
I think this is the 4th one of these rimmels I have used up. I still love it, the only thing that bugs me with it, is that they added a perfume to this product. This disappointed me, because I do not like all things scented and especially not on the eyes, because I wear lenses and they are pretty sensitive. Otherwise it still does its job, but I am wondering, if I should not look for something non-scented, in order to prevent a possible allergy. Do you have a suggestion for a non scented rimmel that gives volume and curl to your lashes?
You can also find a blog post on this product here.

M.A.C. Blot Powder/ Pressed
This is my first ever M.A.C. product I used up. It lasted me for about 1 year and I loved it all the way. I had the color "Medium". It was a really good product for my oily skin (as its name, it blotted the skin) and it is very translucent, so it blended very well with all the foundations I used. I would most likely get this product again.
When I got this product at the M.A.C. counter, the lady was very nice and she was very helpful and supportive. It made me go again to the M.A.C. shop when I needed a new powder an later when I needed a foundation and concealer, but more on this to come.

La Roche-Posay Anthelios AC, SPF 30
It took me a year to finish this product, mainly because I started using it when I got the acne breakout and then had to switch to a 50 SPF and I had to abandon this product. I started using it again ever since the sun started burning on the sky again this spring and I finished it out. Another blog post on this product, you can find here.

What are your empties?
Smile, it is good for the skin!
Alex.

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Behind the Mirror: EMPTIES

Here is a list of the products I have been using in the last months. Feel free to comment back or ask questions, if you need more info. Enjoy!

TRIACNÉAL by Avène

This cream helps healing blemishes and treating spots, it also prevents the appearance of scars. The active ingredients in this cream are glycolic acid (helps eliminating the blemished through its peeling effect), retinaldehyde (limits the appearance of new eruptions and that of scars) and Efectiose®.

This product should be applied only of perfectly cleansed and dried skin and only on the blemish, not the entire face. I used it over Cleanance K from Avène on the blemishes. I really liked this product because it helped with the healing of the blemishes and also did not irritate the skin. I will definitely use it again.

SÉBIUM Gel Moussant by BIODERMA

I used this product before and I got along pretty well with it. Even though starting to use Avène’s Cleanance gel immediately after might speak against my previous statement. J

It has a lighter consistency than the Avène one and the bottle is bigger and lasts longer, so the pay-out is much better. But I did not get along very well with it, my skin literally exploded (also due to other causes, but it did not exfoliate as good as the Avène one – it does not contain lactic acid – so it had its own contribution to the overall boom! effect) and it dried the skin pretty badly.

On the other hand as all Bioderma products it contains Rhamnose (you can check here more info about Rhamnose).

SUN Invisible Protection SPF 30 from NIVEA

I liked this product because it did not leave traces on the skin and because it was absorbed pretty fast. However it was greasy on my skin and the smell made me queasy (yes, that nasty smell-problem of mine shows its ugly head again).

From the Sun Protection point of view I got along very well with it in the May, June months before the sun started to really burn. You should know that my skin is very fair and that I use sun protection from May until the sun decides to stop burning, because living in Bucharest in the summer you can get sunburned very fast and easy otherwise.

Photoderm Kid 50+ from BIODERMA

From June until August I used this product. I know it says it is for Kids, but it also says “Very High Protection Delicate Skin”. It had no fragrance and we got along very well, the only downside (with which I learned to live) was that it did leave some white traces, but massaging the product in the skin left no white traces.

Since the sun burned horribly from July until August in Bucharest and this product kept me from getting toasted, I think it was a very good product.

Sensibio H2O from BIODERMA

I wrote about this product before here, what I wanted to add is that I started keeping the product in the fridge and using it cold to remove the eye make-up in the evening. This helped relax the eyes and reduce the swollen feel after one day in the heat & sun.

Ultra-Sensitive Body Lotion from ALVERDE

This is recommended for very sensitive skin, all its ingredients are obtained from Biological cultures. It contains Jojoba and Shea butter, its consistency is very light and very fast absorbing. However I would have expected more hydration from the main ingredients  Otherwise it was very good in calming the skin after walking in the sun in the hot Bucharest summer.

Cellulite Shower Gel from BALEA

I am not one of those cellulite obsessed girls, I like using shower gels that claim to reduce the cellulite because they help keep the skin elastic. They contain caffeine and other ingredients that claim to reduce the cellulite. I use them with a massaging brush and as a body scrub. Since I started using them for this purpose the skin is much elastic and clean.

And coming to cellulite, I think I am one of those blessed girls that don’t over-obsess about this and don’t have also a visible problem with it.

Apricot Shower Gel by YVES ROCHER

I fell in love with the smell of this shower gel! I like the shower gels from “Les Plaisirs Nature” product range. They are perfect for summer days – they hydrate and refresh the skin. They fragrances reinvigorate my senses after one long day. So I definitely recommend one of these, if you want to pamper yourself.

Shea Butter Shower Gel from ELMIPLANT

I love this shower gel! It is the only shower gel I used that keeps my very dry and sensitive skin hydrated and happy! I used it in the Summer when I went to the beach, I use it now, when it’s colder outside and it is my go-to shower gel. It smells very fresh and natural and the skin feels happy! No more cracks (yes, you read correctly – cracks, that’s how dry my skin is and feels sometimes) and no more burns after hair removal processes. If you can find it, get it! Another thing I like about this shower gel is that it has no Parabens and Silicones.

On the other hand the Shea Butter is perfect for restoring damaged tissue and it also has a natural SPF of about 6. It also fights against free radicals.

Cellufight Exfoliating Shower Cream by ELMIPLANT

I used this up and got another one mainly because of the way it smelled and because it did not irritate my skin. like I mentioned above, I use these sort of shower gels mainly for body scrub purposes and not for their cellulite fighting abilities.

This one has caffeine, Crushed olive stones, guarana and Vitamin E (a very powerful natural antioxidant).

Lavender Floral Water from MAYAM
I got this product because Lavender is very good to care for oily acne prone skin and because I never used a floral water until now and wanted to see how it felt. But I hated the smell of Lavender all the way, it made me slightly queasy. It has calming, regenerating and purifying effects, also it is antimicrobial and antiseptic.
I used it sprayed directly on the face and mixed with clay for face masks.

Smile, it is good for the skin!
Alex.

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