Neutrogena Healthy Skin Anti Aging Perfector

thealtruisticface

In the words of Jeffree Star, “I’m not living for this”. This is a more-or-less a BB cream, in which the point of using this product is more about the added benefits (sunscreen and retinol) and less about the coverage. Unfortunately, the added benefits ended up not being benefits to me at all.

This foundation comes in a push-top tube. The liqui-cream comes out in a thin line, and, honestly, what you can get out in one or two pumps won’t really seem like enough product. It didn’t spread very evenly, and I kept having to go back to get more of the product, after feeling as though it had stopped short while I was spreading it. This might have been because the color isn’t really intended to be coverage, but more of a tint, thus causing me to think I simply hadn’t used enough. Which leads me to my next gripe.

What tint? Although my skin undertone skews yellow, I have a lot of redness due to my various skin sensitivities, but otherwise I’m a hard NC-15 during a good half of the year. I figured picking this up in the “ivory to fair” shade would be satisfactory. And again, I get that this isn’t intended to provide coverage, but I didn’t see any color at all, not even enough to provide any smallest amount of correction. Then, after twenty minutes, the weirdest thing happened: it oxidized, turning my face slightly orange. Suddenly, my face no longer matched my neck! But at this point I was already out of the house, so I soldiered on and continued to wear it.

Now, fortunately, any color that was on my face was relatively imperceptible by noon, although I had quite a bit of oil breakthrough. But then my skin started to itch, and by the time I was home to remove my makeup, I had broke out in a few spots. Now, there’s nothing unheard of in this product’s ingredient list, nor anything that I would say is bad. But it does contain both retinol and sunscreen. Retinol, even at low percentages, invokes an initial purging period. And sunscreen… I don’t know. I don’t have a good time with American sunscreens, personally, but I can’t put my finger on why that’s the case.

I can see why some people would like this product though. If you can tolerate the ingredients that provide the benefits, it seems like it could be a great product. Retinol is great for anti-aging, as is SPF (and you would need the SPF anyway if you planned on going out in the sun after applying retinol). If your skin can mesh well with the oxidation-orange tint, you’d be in luck with this. Otherwise, this foundation is personally hard pass for me. ~A

Perceived efficacy: 2/5

Longevity: 1/5

How much I actually like this product: 1/5

Recommended for sensitive skin: No

ELF Makeup Mist and Set

thealtruisticface

This is a good case study of “you get what you pay for”. At $4, this is one of the cheapest setting sprays on the market, but doesn’t exactly do anything at all.

This clear, fragrance-free makeup setter comes in a black plastic bottle with a sprayer. The sprayer is inconsistent at best, and shoots out either too much or too little of the product at a time no matter how hard or soft you’re pushing down. Too much will soak your skin too much to apply makeup, too little will defeat the purpose of “holding” the makeup.

I usually apply this after all of my moisturizers are put on, and before applying makeup. I’ve also tried it after my makeup’s been put on, but due to the inconsistency of the sprayer, you run the risk of it spritzing the makeup off altogether.

For maybe the first four hours my foundation seemed to hold tight without any breakthroughs, but when I thought about it, it seemed like that was more likely the longevity of the foundation hold itself. Hour five begins the breakdown of makeup, and breakthrough of makeup. Makeup holds on a little bit better than if you hadn’t spritzed this on, maybe, but not by much.

The reason I picked this up in the first place was because it was alcohol-free, but I’m going to say that alcohol is probably the main driver in why certain setters do work so well, like Ben Nye and Catrice. On the plus side, no alcohol = no breakouts, for me! Still, this ELF product is really more akin to just spraying a water-based toner on your face, without any added benefit. I’d skip it. ~A

Perceived efficacy: 1/5

Longevity: 1/5

How much I actually like this product: 1.5/5

Recommended for sensitive skin: Yes

The Ordinary 5% Lactic Acid + HA

thealtruisticface

The Ordinary’s had a lot of misses for me personally, but their 5% Lactic Acid + HA product absolutely knocks it out of the park, and for only $13. It’s on my very short list of their products that I would definitely re-buy if I ever ran out. I’ve never seen such visible, instant results in such a short period of time after usage.

Again: this is an acid, so exercise extreme caution. Your skin will probably burn a tiny bit, or purge, over the first couple of usages because… well, it’s an acid. There is a 10% formulation available, but I have absolutely zero confidence that my skin would survive it. Maybe someday!

This pink-orange liquid comes in a clear glass bottle with a dropper that you use to pull up the product and drop onto your face. One drop goes a long way, so I generally drop one on each side of my cheeks, my forehead (careful not to let it run into my eyes, of course!), and any small excess droplets can go on my chin.

I’ve seen results in as quick as an hour from this. My skin is noticeably brighter, and some of the errant texture is gone. Fine lines are at least superficially dimmer, and hyperpigmentation appears to have noticeably faded. My skin in general just seems more uniform in color and texture.

As I mentioned before this will probably burn a little bit unless you’re built up a tolerance already. I’ll wait about 30 minutes before applying my next step in my routine (usually moisturizer). As long as it’s dry, it shouldn’t pill with the next product.

Not going to lie, I did experience some trepidation when I applied this for the first time. I’ve had bad experiences with glycolic acid, and have heard mixed reviews on lactic acid as an exfoliant. So I reiterate to sensitive skin users to start at 5% if they’re going to try this, and remember to exercise the usual rules: try to avoid the sunlight, use sunscreen if you must go outside, build up your tolerance SLOWLY (even now, I only use this product twice a week, and it took two weeks for my skin to be comfortable with it’s usage) and don’t be shocked if there’s a brief purging period. Other than those standard exfoliant caveats, I think this product is totally worth the buy! ~A

Buy The Ordinary’s 5% Lactic Acid here:
https://amzn.to/2SDSCtA


Perceived efficacy: 5/5

Longevity: 4/5 – results are noticeable for at least a day or two

How much I actually like this product: 4.5/5

Recommended for sensitive skin: Maybe

Eva NYC Mane Magic 10-in-1 Primer

thealtruisticface

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not super well-versed in hair products. For a long time I was always a big fan of air-dry and go, but things have changed in the past two years: I like straighteners and hairdryers, and heat.  That said, I needed a thermal protectant — but I also now use this on days I don’t style my hair, and I’ve noticed an overall increase in my hair quality.

This comes in a spray bottle — when you pull the trigger, a very fine mist will come out of the bottle, enough to cover a pretty big portion of your hair. Obviously the amount you use is dependent on your hair thickness and length, but I don’t feel that I need to use a lot of it to get the full effect. The smell is very pleasant and not overpowering. It smells like a lot of other argan oil products I’ve used — I’ve also been informed that my hair “smells like a dryer sheet” when I’ve used it. I’m going to chalk that up as a good thing, I guess.

This really does do everything it says it will. It works great as a detangler. My straight hair is extremely knotty right out of the shower, and it’s easy to push a comb through once I’ve spritzed this on. As a thermal protectant, it’s definitely doing it’s job, and the amount of split ends I’ve incurred have been reduced dramatically, had I not been using this, or had I been using another product. This is pretty good for frizz control also — not necessarily a long lasting frizz control, but certainly longer than any I’ve used in the past.

This product is NOT heavy at all, unless you go overboard with application. That was my biggest gripe with other detanglers and heat protectants: they were way too greasy! Your hair will feel silky to touch and look shiny for the first 4-5 hours, and I don’t ever lapse into that “ugh I really have to wash this out” feeling. Now again, note that I said 4-5 hours — this is really the prime window for this product in terms of “seeing the results” for all of it’s purported benefits, but even past that time frame, I can still say that the overall health and quality of my hair is increased.

Now the only thing I wanted to note about this product is that it contains the ingredient “lilial”. It can be a skin irritant for some individuals, and cause the potential for skin issues on your scalp or near your hair line.

The price point on this is pretty good — $12, and this bottle will hold up for about three months even if you’re using it daily. And for the final bonus, the very tall sprayer on this bottle has survived many unintentional drops on the ground, and didn’t break. Tresemme Thermal Creations had failed me many times in this regard 🙂 ~A

Buy this hair primer on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/2U5ONim

Perceived efficacy: 5/5

Longevity: 3.5/5

How much I actually like this product: 5/5

Tanceuticals Self Tanner

thealtruisticface

Tanceuticals is probably one of the best self-tanners I’ve ever tried, at the recommendation of http://www.selftanning.com, where it was one of the only products with a true 5/5 rating. But as with any self-tanner, you still have to play by a few rules to get a good application.

The price point for this product is steep ($28), and honestly, there isn’t a whole ton of product in it — perhaps only 5 to 6 full-body applications worth. The liquid is runny and brown when it comes out of the tube, although, in my opinion, for being so thin, the product doesn’t spread very far and you’ll feel like you need to keep going back to the bottle to get more product. The initial smell is standard fare sunscreen-coconut smell, devolving into equally standard fare DHA-stink after hour eight.

Wear gloves with this product!! I mistakenly tricked myself into believing this could operate similarly to a true gradual self tanner. Do not do that. It will create crazy brown deposits if you aren’t spreading this out thinly, and avoiding the “thin skin” areas.

I think what I love most about this product is that there’s essentially no dry time. It absorbs really quickly, cutting down on the potential to rub your skin against something on accident and smear the color. The color starts showing after a few hours of application. It doesn’t stop there, either: it continues to get darker as the day goes on. It does skew brown, not orange, and never gets too dark, just dark enough to be noticeable to other people.

Onto a few more weird quirks about this product. You CANNOT stack any other product with this in an effort to “enhance” the tan. This will cause extreme streaking and blotching with the original product. My normal MO is to use Jergens Self Tanner every morning to keep the underlying base color, and if I’m going out somewhere special at night, I’ll use a mousse. Forget all of that with this product. It does not play well with others, in fact, I would say don’t even reapply the product itself until day 3 or 4. Also, this product dries the heck out of your skin by hour eight, even if you end up using a regular body lotion later on in the day. This seems strange to me, since the ingredient listing is actually relatively tame (no alcohol, many plant-based ingredients).

For all you sensitive skin users: I did not experience any DHA rashes on my body, but this stuff will definitely make your face break out. I did, however, just recently purchase the face tanner of this product (which is advertised as “gentler”?), so I’ll be reviewing that separately and we’ll see if that does any better!

I know it seemed like there were a lot of complaints in this review, but self-tanners are honestly so hit or miss. There are a lot of components to them working correctly, and every product is different. Overall, though, I was really blown away with the fast dry time and the overall color, particularly because that color does stay steadily intact for three to four days. I also appreciate that the ingredient listing seems more plant-based than most. ~A

Click here to buy Tanceuticals on Amazon:  https://amzn.to/2NrW61o

Perceived efficacy: 5/5

Longevity: 4/5

How much I actually like this product: 4/5

Recommended for sensitive skin: Yes — on body only.

Clean and Clear Continuous Control Acne Cleanser

thealtruisticface

Clean and Clear knows their target demographic very well: teens who are struggling with acne for the first time in their lives, and their parents who don’t know much about skin care. They have what seems to be an astronomical budget for their marketing campaigns (probably because their parent company is Johnson & Johnson), which make it seem like all you need to do is put the product on, dramatically splash some water over your face, and you’ll be out the door with clear skin in no time. That’s not to say Clean and Clear is pumping their products full of stuff that doesn’t work, but it seems like their preference is to hook the consumer with loud-colored product lines instead of having them focus on the ingredients in the products themselves.

That brings me to talking about this product. This is a white-cream cleanser that you mask your face with (or your problem areas), leave it on for 20-30 seconds, and then wash it off. The idea is that the 10%(!!!!!) benzoyl peroxide should eradicate active, or about-to-be active breakouts.

The reason I bolded 10% BP is because 10% is A LOT. That is the maximum percentage benzoyl peroxide can be sold at. For me personally, a 2.5% spot treatment is enough to make my skin peel. Now that I think about it, even the prescription-only Epiduo gel is only 2.5%! I use the Clean and Clear product MAYBE twice a year, and the way I view it is kind of like a nuclear bomb — if I’ve gotten to the point of using it, that means I’ve had a very terrible breakout, and I’m prepared to accept the consequences of my skin burning and peeling to help turn over the breakout faster.

Imagine you are a teenager who is embarrassed by their first onset of acne. You walk into Walgreens, and find a cleanser that promises clear skin. You don’t really know what the 10% truly implies, but Clean and Clear is a very popular brand, and it’s cheap ($6), so you should buy it too, right? Once you use it, you notice your skin is burning and peeling, but the adage is that “if it hurts, that means it’s working”, so you keep on cleansing your face with it, hoping to see clear skin the next day.

But it doesn’t work like that — with repeated usage of this product you’ll only experience more irritation, and the dryness of your skin will likely create even more breakouts. Just because you’re washing it off after 20 seconds doesn’t mean you’ve reduced your exposure to the BP. You’ve more or less entered into a never-ending cycle, because the product simultaneously causes the problem, and also cures it.

I know that Clean and Clear is not the only brand that sells 10% BP in this form, as a cleanser. Other brands yet sell this percentage as a spot treatment, which makes a little more sense since the idea is to “target” the problem area and not put it all over your face. The spot treatment idea I can get behind, as long as the user has education about the strength that they’re using. But as a cleanser — I can’t back that as a well-intended product.

My recommendation to someone new to skincare who is struggling with acne or possibly has a limited budget is to try to stick to a basic routine. Use a gentle cleanser like Cetaphil, an oil-free moisturizer like Cerave PM, and, if you must, sparingly use a spot treatment that isn’t more than 2.5% BP. Unless you already have a very high tolerance to benzoyl peroxide, slathering 10% of it on your face is only going to lend itself to trouble. ~A

Perceived efficacy: 4/5 (with CAREFUL use)

Longevity: n/a

How much I actually like this product: 2/5

Recommended for sensitive skin: No

Beauty Products and User Subjectivity

thealtruisticface

I wanted to write a disclaimer on the sidebar about how I am not a doctor or a cosmetologist, I’m simply a beauty product enthusiast, and that all of my opinions should be taken with a grain of salt. Everyone will have a slightly different experience than I did with all of the products I’ve mentioned on this page. But I also wanted to add my personal take on “everyone’s needs are different/everyone is different” and “you should never fully take the advice of someone on the Internet.”

My favorite makeup and skincare YouTubers are Jeffree Star and thataylaa. Jeffree Star is probably my prime example of “everyone is different”. He tries on makeup that he loves, that I generally think is tacky and god awful. Now Jeffree, I’m sure, has sponsorships of all kinds, even if he doesn’t directly promote them. But whether he likes, or dislikes, the product, he makes himself completely clear as to why. His videos allow you to actually see how the product performs alongside his, ah, very opinionated commentary. Whether or not you agree with him, that’s up for you to decide. But I find that his brand of brutal honesty is preferable to most of the other channels that exist, where the creator is seems almost hesitant to mention the drawbacks of the product, likely because they’re trying to upsell in order for you to click their affiliate links.

Next, there’s thataylaa. I also like her for her honesty, and her head-on approach with to dealing with cystic acne: she put her makeup-free face on display for thousands of viewers at it’s very worst, and demonstrated how to use and find makeup for people with similar skin issues. It helped that she had similar skin tone/eye color/hair color as me. As a result, much of my Amazon and Ulta shopping was fueled by her recommendations.

I found Catrice Prime and Fine finishing spray through her! It worked magnificently — until I broke out, read the ingredient list (yep, after buying it, of course… my fault), and noticed it had benzoyl alcohol in it. No, it wasn’t at the very top of the list, so the chances of it being an irritant were slightly less, but I still felt weirdly jilted. I mean, didn’t she know benzoyl alcohol is a common adversary for those who suffer from cystic acne?! How dare she! In the most petty way possible, I felt disappointed in her.

Then I opened my bathroom closet a few days later and realized that my favorite self-tanner had alcohol denat listed somewhere along the second line. But I loved that self-tanner! I was never going to give it up! Double-standards galore. I digress: it made me realize that everyone’s needs and likes are going to be different. Thataylaa probably wasn’t having issues the same way I was with the finishing spray, and why would she? She isn’t me.

So when you read any review, or watch a video that demonstrates the product, just keep in mind. Your results are probably not going to be the same. A popular product won’t always be guaranteed to work for you, just the same as a lower-rated product might be your personal holy grail. I’d take a guess and say that 98% of reviewers are not professionally certified in any way to give a completely accurate dissertation (including myself!), so digest those reviews accordingly. 🙂 ~A

Thayer’s Witch Hazel

thealtruisticface3 Comments

You really don’t know what you have until it’s gone! Or until you put it in the back-most corner of your closet for an extended period of time.

This is an alcohol-free (!) toner. If you flip the plastic bottle that it comes in on it’s side, the toner comes out in drops. It’s basically water. You can apply this with a cotton ball or a tissue, it’s not recommended to use your hands because of how quickly it absorbs into skin. I liked to use it after I washed my face, to take off any residual dirt or makeup.

The claim is that Thayer’s Witch Hazel will reduce your pore size. I trialed this for about four months to see if that was really true — it wasn’t. It did make my skin feel “refreshed” (and it’s rose scented, so of course I love the smell), and it does a really good job of removing makeup. And it didn’t break me out! But I didn’t feel like my skin was making any significant changes with it. In fact, if I didn’t immediately follow this up with moisturizer, I felt that my face was getting very tight (obvious solution: apply moisturizer within a few minutes of using this toner). Convinced that swiping my face with a tissue with this product every day was doing more damage than good, I shelved this for a few weeks.

My skin was crazy congested during those few weeks. Coincidence?! Maybe. But I really overlooked how well this removes makeup and dirt, thus eliminating some of the catalysts for breakouts. My face cleansers just can’t get into my pores the same way this stuff does.

So, back into my regular rotation this goes. For $7-9 at basically any drug or grocery store, I absolutely recommend this product. ~A

Buy Thayer’s Witch Hazel here:https://amzn.to/2Ef8ajr

Perceived efficacy: 4/5

Longevity: 5/5

How much I actually like this product: 4.5/5

Recommended for sensitive skin: Yes (just make sure to use a moisturizer right after!)

Rimmel Stay Matte Long Lasting Pressed Powder

thealtruisticface

Rimmel Stay Matte pressed powder gets a lot of hype on reddit. I think it’s well-deserved — for being so cheap, this powder provides some of the most complete and flawless coverage I’ve ever seen.

Sadly, I have a complaint right out the gate at the point of purchase: the shade I’ve most recently used, “transparent”, isn’t exactly, um, transparent. There are such things as transparent or transcluent powders, and this is not that — it is an extremely fair/ivory powder that actually will provide color. So I do kind of wish they’d change the name. Also, although there are seven or eight different shades in this line, it doesn’t get any darker than creamy beige, which obviously doesn’t lend to being inclusive of many other skin pigments.

For $4, you get quite a bit of product with this, and you don’t need to go overboard loading up your brush with powder to get coverage. It’s a pressed powder so you’re not going to get a lot of excess dust after dabbing the pan, which is always a plus. And, I’ve run my own (unintentional, actually) “break test” where I’ve dropped the pan on the floor several times — the powder is still intact!

Once the powder is on your face, the fullness of coverage is immediately evident. After another or minute or two, this will oxidize just a bit, and the color will become a little bit darker, but I’m also convinced that the oxidation process spreads the color out more uniformly, and maximizes the coverage. With that said, I almost recommend picking a shade lighter from your usual, but it’s not imperative.

Longevity of this powder isn’t quite as long lasting as the product label might claim. If you’re in a humid or hot climate (or the sun breaks through your office window for 2 hours a day and beats down on your face!), forget it: this powder absolutely does not stand a chance, and the breakdown will be rapid. In a true winter/overcast day, this fares a bit better, and will come close to the 6 hour mark of coverage. At this point you can expect a bit of oil breakthrough, or notably dry areas of your skin that make you feel like your skin will crack if you smile. Fortunately, it seemed like this did a good job of keeping my liquid foundation underneath set, even after the powder had clearly worn off.

But the coverage, though! It’s amazing. Too bad that this powder isn’t as long lasting as Rimmel may insinuate, and that the shade range isn’t better, or else this would come a lot closer to a 5. ~A

Buy this high coverage powder on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/2I5fhyY

Perceived efficacy: 4.5/5

Longevity: 3/5

How much I actually like this product: 4/5

Recommended for sensitive skin: Maybe (won’t cause breakouts, but you may experience some irritation as the product dries out on your skin)

Neutrogena Hydro Boost Body Gel Cream

thealtruisticface1 Comment

Neutrogena must have had a pretty good run with the original hydro boost moisturizer, as they’ve rather substantially increased their product offerings under this namesake. As they should! This is an easily accessible (ie: found in most grocers or drug stores), good-smelling alcohol-free option for close to every single skin type there is.

For a lotion, this is a tad bit expensive ($9) and the amount of product for that price point won’t overwhelm you — that’s probably my only gripe with this product. The lotion comes out of the pump white, and very quickly sinks into your skin with no residue. The lotion thins out quickly and becomes easily spreadable, so you won’t feel like you’re wasting product as you’re using it.

What I consider to be a good lotion is one that doesn’t make you feel like you need to re-apply every 5 minutes, or make you feel like your skin is extremely tacky. This is neither of them. I never have the feeling that I need to reapply this.

The smell is the same as the others in the Hydroboost line — light, fresh, almost like a … bubble bath? I personally love it, but there is a fragrance free option available as well.

Overall, this is definitely worth a bit of a splurge. You wouldn’t think it would be so tough to find a lotion that actually, you know, puts moisture into your skin and retains it, but it is. Fortunately, this is that lotion!

Buy Neutrogena Hydro Boost Body Gel Cream here:  https://amzn.to/2I4Y20z

Perceived efficacy: 5/5

Longevity: 4.5/5

How much I actually like this product: 4.5/5

Recommended for sensitive skin: Yes