Dewy, Plump & Soft Skin: Skinceuticals Hydrating B5 Gel

I am loving Skinceuticals more and more with every product I use. My latest love is for their moisturizing serum, Skinceuticals Hydrating B5 Gel. I am in love with this serum and can't imagine being without it. It's full of the goodness of healing and skin repairing B5, and helps bind moisture to the skin with hyaluronic acid. These simple and amazingly effective ingredients have helped my skin stay smooth and supple. Even after hot summer days of sun, sweating, swimming and just generally feeling dehydrated, this lovely soothing serum gives my skin a dewy glow.

It is recommended as a product to use in conjunction with a Vitamin C (brightening) product and it does seem to work beautifully with my skin routine. I may layer it with a slightly richer cream come the dry and mean days of winter, but for now, this serum is just what the doctor ordered. I am seriously in love with the simplicity and honesty of the Skinceuticals line. There are no empty promises, just simple effective products that deliver on what they promise. Verdict on the Hydrating B5 Gel? Love. 

Skinceuticals buying information is available on their website. US buyers check here and Canadian buyers here. 

Feel Silky Smooth & Beautiful in The Body Shop Beautifying Oils

We love The Body Shop. All of us have our fave prodz from this awesome shop - maybe it's a perfume (White Musk!), one of their luscious Body Butters (Shea Butter!), or perhaps a delicious shower gel (Satsuma!). Or if you are as old as I am, maybe you remember when they had their super cool perfume bar. It was like a little tower in the middle of the shop, full of wonderful perfumed oils that you could wear on their own, layer together, or, add to your fave body product from their unscented line. I mourned the end of those oils, and have even trolled Evil Bay to find some of them- Indian Gardenia, a old fave, is now "vintage" and hard to find for under $60. 

Marual Nut

Marual Nut Oil

So, imagine how happy was I to read about The Body Shop's new Beautifying Oils collection! From their site: "Beautifying Oil is pure beauty in a bottle. Made with a lightweight blend of nut oils including Community Fair Trade marula oil, it gives instant hydration and a shimmering finish". They are gorgeous and luxurious, can be used on hair or skin, and have a lovely scent that does not overwhelm or irritate. And "shimmering" is just the oil effect- there is no glitter or anything like that in the oil. I am huge fan of oils for skin and hair treatment. In the winter, they soothe, nourish and protect the skin, and in the summer, they do the same thing while making your skin glow. No dry ashy legs allowed in shorts/sundress season! That is right up there with the Open Toe Shoe Pledge. Friends don't let friends get flaky. 

Ok- so, my faves? Right now, Strawberry is in my top rotation. Yes! It's The Body Shop Strawberry we loved forevah! Also, Satsuma, which is probably one of the loveliest orange prodz out there, and Shea, which is sweet and comforting. Moringa, sort of a tropical-white floral-tiare scent, is quickly becoming another fave. The scents are very subtle and nowhere near what their small perfume bottles are, but that's ok as the texture and feel of the oil makes you want to slather yourself head to toe.

At under $15 for 100ml, these are easy on the wallet while making your skin glow and smell yummy. Verdict? Love. Obsessively. Go get- now.

Despite The Name, This Cream is Udderly Wonderful

Udderly Smooth Cream has been on the shelves for years. I never ever tried it because I find the name so off-putting. Yes, I have Bag Balm and love it for cuts & scraps and deep moisturizing of hands & feet in the dead of winter. But it at least has a cute and charming kitschy tin and some old fashioned farm-y appeal. Not the case with Udderly Smooth. I judged it for trying to cash in on the cow-moisturizer-for-humans trend, and found it's spotted cow hide styled packaging derivative. Silly me.

I'm not sure what made me try the original Udderly Smooth Cream when I was shopping last week, but I did. Maybe it was the under $3 price for a big 4oz tube. Maybe it was that I'd heard it had a lovely scent (which I didn't believe but anyways...). So- it actually does smell really nice- very soft, kind of old fashioned, like a gentle skin scent. I say old fashioned because it reminds me of something but I can't put my finger on it. The scent disappears within minutes which is too bad really, because I really like it. The cream itself soaks right into the skin beautifully, leaving zero residue behind, so if you really dislike a greasy feel on your hands, you will love this. It has a thick creamy texture but really melts away, leaving nothing behind. I now want the big container to use head to toe.

Verdict? I still kind of hate the name, but I adore the cream. Shopping info for the US here, and Canada here.

Baby Soft Lips- Overnight!

Remember the gorgeous Kim Bassinger in these ads? LOVED Kissing Potion.

I'm a huge fan of La Roche Posay products. Cicaplast is actually miraculous at healing skin issues of any kind, and even though I used it on my lips, it really isn't heavy enough. So while standing in front of the wall of delicious La Roche Posay beauty products, I spied Ceralip. I whipped out my iPhone and used my handy dandy Make Up Alley product reviews app and wouldn't you know- Ceralip had a great rating. Do you have the free Make Up Alley app? Or, if you don't have the app, do you read reviews there? They are amazing and I don't go shopping without reading there first.

I can't really find any scientific explanation as to what it does and how other than it has "considerable lipid replenishing powers". It is recommended for people on Accutane or retinoids, which can cause extreme dryness and peeling, and apparently its designed to stop the peeling. I have been using it at night and LOVE it. My lips are definitely smoother and amazingly, the product is still noticeable on my lips in the morning. It is fragrance and paraben free, so perfect for sensitive skin as well. This will be amazing after a day in the sun this summer. 

I got my La Roche Posay at the drugstore for around $15.

I'm All Soft & Silky Thanks To LUSH Ro's Argan Body Conditioner

Skincare fanatic that I am, how could I NOT try LUSH Ro's Argan Body Conditioner? A cream you apply in the shower just before hopping out then rinse off to feel all moisturized and soft? Yes please. In spite of the silly name. 

Firstly, the "Ro's" is a play on words and by that I mean ROSE. This product has rose coming out the yin- yang, even though it was created by a lovely lady named Rowena. Rose, as we know, is basically heaven for your skin and senses and is full of all kinds of goodness. It's also one of my favourite beauty ingredients, perfume and skincare-wise. Combined with a skin beautifying cocktail of coco butter, almond oil and the miraculou argan oil, the scent becomes like a sort of candied rose but also warm and comforting. I love it. Unlike many LUSH products, Ro's Argan Body Conditioner is actually softly scented and the scent stays close to the skin. It is uber concentrated so one needs only the tiniest amount to spread head to toe to reap the benefits. Trust me- I applied way too much the first time. I was doubtful that this product would actually deliver what a million drugstore body washes promise to and fail to do. You know, moisturize in the shower? Before rinsing off? How does that even work? Well, it does. Amazing, frankly. 

Rose Harvest ~ Henry Siddons Mowbray 1887

This product would be perfect for someone who doesn't feel like putting on lotion after the shower (hello- most men?!) or if your skin is so dry you need to seal in that moisture. This is serious moisture therapy and I am loving it. No itchy dry skin! LUSH Ro's Argan Body Conditioner comes in a big tub for around $30.  My only complaint would be that it would be better in a squirt bottle. I hate repeatedly dipping my fingers into any beauty product, and it gets water in it in the shower. But whatever, not a deal breaker.

Olay Classic Moisturizing Cream is Simply Beautiful

As with most women, I have one criteria for my beauty products. I like them to work. So I don’t discriminate between high end department store lines and the more humble drugstore lines. Olay Classic Moisturizing Cream (not the lotion in the bottle but the jar of cream) is one of the humble products I love.   I’ll get this out of the way immediately- it has some unpopular ingredients ( if you scroll down on the page I linked above there is a full list of ingredients). And, while I try to avoid silicone and mineral oil as they make me break out, somehow, miraculously, they don’t seem to be an issue in Olay Classic. And, even La Mer has silicone so lets not get crazy here.  The silicone I avoid is the thick spackle-y make up primer type, which is thick, feels uber slippery and covers your face like a mask. Hello zits!

I used Olay on my neck twice a day after cleansing, and around my eyes. I have yet to find an eye cream that impresses me enough to re-purchase. I’m still trying but so far- nada. I also use the Olay on my décolletage with a low or plunging neck top. When the weather gets as vile as it has been lately, with temperatures plummeting and indoor heat making my house drier than the Sahara, its time to bump it up a notch, moisturizing-wise. I use a serum under my daily lotion for extra moisture (more on those in another post) but when it “feels like” minus 35 outside I have to get serious. Once I’ve done my routine, and before doing my minimal make up, I take a small amount of the Olay Classic Cream and rub it between my hands like one would do with La Mer. Making sure it is well emulsified and warm, I then gently roll and press it into my skin, all over my face. It really feels amazing and does not sit like a layer of grease on the skin. It sinks in and feels soft and dewy and makes a nice smooth canvas for my make up.

I have a sample size jar (from Sephora) full of Olay that I keep in my purse and have been known to re-apply halfway through the day. Especially if I haven’t been able to drink and feel/look dehydrated. Added bonus- if you use the Olay Classic Cream that is pink and lightly scented, you will briefly smell like powdery roses. I don't know if my mother or aunt used this but it somehow takes me back... I love the scent but I can totally see that some people would not, so there is an unscented "sensitive skin" version. So, feeling dry? Get thee to Shoppers Drug Mart and go nuts- spend $11 for a pink jar of goodness that will last months and months.