Kiehl's Ultra Moisturizing Eye Stick SPF 30

This is the best daytime eye "cream" I have found that I have used consistently for several years now. Granted, I don't really care about or need super creamy stuff and the only three criteria I had for a daytime eye cream was to have SPF, be easy to put on, and not melt down into my eyes where it can mingle with my hard contacts, which a lot of them do.
This was a perfect solution.
It's a stick! So i just smear it on and it's awesome. I love that it has such a high SPF and I think it works incredibly well. I also love the portability, the ease of use and the fact that it has never travelled down to my eyes throughout the day. This may very well be the eye stick of choice until I see any reason to move onto something more heavy duty.
Pretty good price too!

Haejung's Daily Regimen

I haven't had a pimple in months and my skin looks relatively good. So I wanted to remember what products I'm using right now.

Morning: SkinCeuticals CE Ferulic (serum) or SkinCeuticals Phloretin CF (serum), Ayur-Medic Enrichment Cream and Clarins UV Plus HP (sunscreen).

Evening: La Roche-Posay Mela-D Serum and Ayur-Medic Retinol Cream.

Cleansers on rotation: Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant or Mychelle Apple Brightening Cleanser.

Eye cream (when I can remember to):SK II Signs Eye Cream.

Jane Iredale Lip Drink SPF 15

Who else makes a nice lip balm with a mineral sunscreen? Most lip balms use chemical sunscreens so for that alone, I think this one stands out. I love the smell and feel. Now let's see if it keeps my lips moisturized as long as Caudalie's lip balm.

Jonathan Product Shampoo Weightless Smooth and Conditioner

What's the point of labeling your product "VEGAN?" This duo rates a "7" on EWG's toxicity scale even though it "vegan." It's kind of annoying- I feel like it's a green marketing ploy. Well, I guess the two things don't have much to do with each other. Don't be fooled into thinking otherwise. It just means that it doesnt contain animal products. That's good to know if I ever decide to eat my hair products.

As for the actual products- yes, I liked them but I wont buy them again- I feel like I was suckered by the "vegan" label.

Mychelle Apple Brightening Cleanser

This sulfate-free gentle cleanser leaves my skin feeling nice and clean without overstripping. I've never thought that cleansers were that important in the overall skincare regimen and I still dont. I'm not too picky about my cleansers- usually I'm fine with any gel-based formula. I just like that this one has almost no toxic ingredients according to EWG's cosmetic database and that it's pretty inexpensive. As for the claims of brightening your skin? I doubt it...

Earth Science Herbal Tonic Mist

This is a mild, gentle toner that restores your facial skin's ph to 5.5. As a spray mist I actually couldn't stand the smell so I poured it into another bottle and used it with cotton pads. I've been told that your face will naturally balance itself out after a washing so I tend to use this toner only after an exfoliation. It's a nice basic, inexpensive product. I was looking into Phytomer's Rose Visage Toning Lotion which is also a nice, natural toner, but do I really need to spend $30 on a toner?!

Neutrogena Pure & Free Baby Sunblock SPF 60+

I like that it's a non-chemical sunscreen- the main active ingredients are titanium dioxide and zinc oxide. It's generally an OK sunblock however it rates a high "7" on the EWG Cosmetic Database. For a baby product, it sure contains a lot of toxic ingredients!

Yu-Be Cream (Yuskin A)

Another awesome glycerin-based cream. It's great for dry skin or chapped lips. It's a little thick for an all-over body lotion but perfect for smaller target areas like elbows or feet. In the jar, it smells a little menthol-y but the smell goes away pretty quickly. Some may find it a bit greasy for hand lotion but I'd say it has a silky texture.

Ahava Dermud Intensive Foot Cream

It's the best foot cream for dry feet. It even closes up cracked skin! It's nice to put it on at night before bed.

La Roche-Posay Lipikar Baume

This is an extremely rich cream for very dry skin. I love it in the winter or summer. It's slightly greasy but I dont mind too much because I feel like it really penetrates my skin's top layer and softens the dry spots. The first three ingredients are water, shea butter and glycerin- three very good things for your skin. It also rates a "3" on EWG's cosmetic database-which is a pretty low toxicity number.

Dermalogica Lip Treatment

Only used it because it was free...would not pay for it. A very mediocre lip balm...

Here are the ingredients: Anti-Ozonate complex, Shea Butter and Vitamin E. I guess anti-ozonate complex is a propriety blend.

Caudalie Lip Conditioner

The BEST lip balm for ME (matte yet slighty waxy), though I'm always on the lookout for a better one. My friend S says that Dr. Haushka has an awesome one. I'll have to try that one soon.

UPDATE: The first ingredient is Sunflower Seed Oil. I like that most of the ingredients are natural.

Decleor Vitaroma Wrinkle Prevention and Radiance Face Emulsion

Nice and thick and has a great aromatherapy-ish smell, but gave me pimples. Bummer. Now I just use it as a hand lotion.

Burt's Bees Natural Toothpaste

It may be 100% natural but it's so haaarddd to squeeze out of the tube! And it's super thick...can't say I really like it. Probably wont buy it again. : (

Jason Natural Finishing Spray

I had high hopes for all things natural when I first began switching out my normal products for organic, natural ones. Jason's all natural, organic finishing spray made with aloe vera and bergamot was no exception. Just the idea of getting hair control while only spraying natural things like aloe into my hair seemed too good to be true... and it was.

I could blame myself, I suppose - my high expections. I had visions of Aqua Net strength spray able to hold hair in gravity defying lengths... but really, this was aloe. and bergamot. what did I expect?

At best, this is a nice spray that sort of coats your hair in a type of gloss so that they slightly stick together. At worst, it's the worst hair spray you've ever bought.

So I would say, if you don't need height (and who really does these days), and you don't need ultra control and say you just want to keep a style locked in (as in finish the hairstyle), then this "might" work for you. It's a hard call. I think it all depends on your past relationship to hair products and what kind of baggage you bring with you! :)

Juice Beauty Moisturizer

life could better...

After going through a serious desire to go all natural, I finally relented my moisturizers with hard to pronounce ingredients and decided to give two Oil Free Moisturizers a go. The Juice Beauty Moisturizer is the first one I tried. As you can see in the photo, I was about half done when I took the photo and now, after having turned the bottle upside down to get the very last drops ( i hate to waste), I can safely, definitively say, I DO NOT LIKE THIS MOISTURIZER. I am very glad I'm blogging about this because I know that had I not, maybe two years later, after general amnesia sets in, I will wonder if I should try Juice again for it's all naturalness but this time, I will not be fooled.

This moisturizer is basic at best. It is a moisturizer and yes it's oil free and that's it. Considering that even my oily skin needs a little more than just moisturizing, I found this to be extremely insufficient. Because of the dry weather here in SoCal, although I tend to be oily, I also need a bit of something else that other moisturizers usually provide. Maybe this is my fault. Maybe I'm asking for too much. Maybe I've already been spoiled by all the other multi-tasking chemicals that I'm used to. It's possible. I would only recommend this to someone who just wanted to moisturize. say, you got out of the shower and you could care less about your skin but you just want to stop that tight skin feeling so you reach for a basic moisturizer - well, this is it. But if you want anything else. I would not recommend this. In fact, I will probably never buy this again.

I hope the second one I'm trying doesn't disappoint. We shall see...

Clarins UV Plus HP

I love this sunscreen. Silky, fluid and light when you put it on...then dries to a matte but not overly dry texture afterwards. High SPF and oil-free. The only downside is that it's 42 dollars for ONE OUNCE! Is it worth it?

Labello lip balm

Creamy, moisturizing and healing. My second favorite to Caudalie's lip balm.

Dr Haushka Regenerating Day Cream

It felt really good and moisturizing as I put it on, but then after 5 minutes, my face got red and slightly flushed. I think all the essential oils might have irritated my skin. Though it calmed down after awhile, I dont think this lotion is for me.

Skin Medica Rejuvenize Peel

I got a chemical peel on Tuesday. It's the last of a three-pack that I bought. Good riddance- I cant tell if chemical peels are actually good for you or not. I'm on day 4 of the peel and I am in the thick of it. After a day of your skin soaking in the chemicals, your face starts to peel for about 4 days revealing a new layer of skin. However the new skin that is coming out is slightly red and dry. I cant tell if it's the weather or the peel but my face does not feel good. All this for one month of make-up free skin. And on top of it, your skin is ultra- sensitive to the sun so I end up feeling like a paranoid sun scared girl. If it didnt look so silly, I'd carry a parasol around. Well hopefully the redness will go away soon. I dont remember my skin getting so red on my last two peels though. I am slightly nervous... : (

UPDATE: It's been a full week and my skin looks good. It feels super soft and the sun spots look a little lighter. The general tone is more even and more absorbent. Now I just have to slather on the SPF 50.