March & April Skin Care Empties!

I know I’m a little late, but here are my skincare empties for the month of March & April! 🌈

Vanicream Gentle Facial Cleanser:

I finally finished the Vanicream Gentle Facial Cleanser. I used it for a week on my face then I stopped. This facial cleanser is exactly what it is. It’s gentle. I mean, very gentle. I didn’t think it cleaned my skin well. It’s not the type of product for me. The face wash also has some speckles of glitter in it too. Just an observation. I most likely won’t purchase this product again. It’s too gentle on my skin. I love gentle skin care products, but this was just way too gentle. I need a product that removes the excessive amount of grease that I have on my face, lol.

Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hydrating Cleansing Gel with Hyaluronic Acid Fragrance-Free:

I finished my first bottle of the Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hydrating Cleansing Gel. This is a gentle facial cleanser that’s somewhat moisturizing. It definitely cleans my skin well. It’s a gel. It does what it’s supposed to do. It doesn’t leave any residue behind. It cleanses and doesn’t irritate my skin. I’m on my last bottle. Who knows if I’m going to stick to this face wash or move on to another face wash.

CeraVe Renewing SA Cleanser:

I thought this face wash was working for me in the beginning, but it started to do weird things to my skin such as skin tightness and breakouts. That’s all I remember about it after I stopped using it. My skin went back to normal, and I started using another face wash. I really don’t think my skin likes CeraVe products. None has worked for me so far. This is one of them.

Purito Centella Green Level Buffet Serum:

I still have several bottles of the Purito Centella Green Level Buffet Serum left. I just finished another bottle. I’ve been using it on my body to get rid of it. I can’t use it on my facial skin because it clogs my pores and causes my skin to flare up. Something in this serum just doesn’t work well with my skin. I just wished I had known sooner.

The Ordinary Matrixyl 10% + HA:

I finished my last bottle of The Ordinary Matrixyl 10% + HA. I’m over this serum. I can’t use it on my facial skin, so I used the rest on my body. I haven’t noticed any changes in my skin. The texture of the serum is thick and tacky. I’m not sure how I even put up with the texture of this serum for such a long time. It’s finally done. I threw the bottle out!

Trader Joe’s Daily Facial Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 40:

I was able to finish one of the two Trader Joe’s Daily Facial Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 40 that I have. At first, I was hesitant on using it daily because I noticed clogged pores while using it. But, everything has been going well since I increased my use of my acne treatment. I’m using the sunscreen almost daily now. Just almost. I’m loving the soft, silky texture of this sunscreen. I hope it keeps on working and doesn’t cause any breakouts! The sunscreen is very easy to use. One of the easiest and fastest sunscreens to use in the morning before I start my day. It works great as well if I miss any spots.

Dr Jart+ Rejuvenating BB Beauty Balm Silver Label SPF 35 PA++:

I’m done with Dr Jart+ Rejuvenating BB Beauty Balm Silver Label SPF 35 PA++. I’m glad I’m done with this bb cream. It’s been a good run, but I won’t repurchase any time soon. I think it’s time to move on to something else after using it for goodness how many years. It’s not as good as it used to be anymore. Also, I wish the SPF was a little higher. I just think I’m over this product. I wasn’t satisfied with the results this time.

Melano CC Vitamin C Essence:

I still have several tubes of the Melano CC Vitamin C Essence left. I haven’t been using this product on my facial skin either. It breaks me out, and I’m not going to take another risk using it on my face. The texture of the product is oily and sits on my skin greasy. Just another product I’m also trying to finish up and throw out. I’m not sure why it’s so raved about. It hasn’t done much for my skin over the years. Too bad I still have plenty of tubes left.

Vanicream Daily Facial Moisturizer for Sensitive Skin:

One more product that I’m done with is the Vanicream Daily Facial Moisturizer for Sensitive Skin. I’m so happy to be done with this moisturizer. I stopped using it on my face also. It’s supposed to be a lightweight and moisturizing product. But, it just didn’t work out for me. It moisturized my skin, but I noticed breakouts after using it. My skin dislikes moisturizers. I stopped using moisturizers on my face, to be honest. It seems like my skin doesn’t need it. Here’s to another product that I won’t purchase again. It’s been a long run. 👋

Those are some of the products that I was able to get rid of. In the next few months…more to come! Stay tuned!

Tonight’s Update on Andalou Naturals Vitamin C Beauty Balm

I had Andalou Naturals Vitamin C Beauty Balm on all day. Here’s my first review on this bb cream right here. Now on to my thoughts on this bb cream! I thought it would take a week for me to make up my mind on this bb cream. Nope! Here are the results!

So I had OK results the first time I used it. The only thing that truly bothered me about the bb cream is that it would accentuate dry patchy skin. Well, sadly, that didn’t change as the day went on having this bb cream on my face. My skin looked worse by the end of the night. I think the zinc oxide in this product is way too drying for my skin. I love how it protected my skin from the harsh UVA and UVB rays, but I’m not going to walk around with dry patches of skin on my face like I did today. That’s one aspect I didn’t like about the bb cream — it accentuates dry skin/patches on my face. There are other aspects of this bb cream that I tried to make work but couldn’t, but it started to bother me real quick. My skin just looked terrible with this bb cream on in many other ways.

The bb cream felt too moisturizing and heavy on my skin. Even though this bb cream feels very moisturizing (and accentuated dry skin at the same time). It’s a combination of moisturizing and making it look dry. It’s has a weird moisture/dry effect on the skin. I didn’t like it at all. So the bb cream felt too heavy on my skin. I’ve used other bb creams before that provided more, better coverage and felt more lightweight on the skin. The instructions on this product does state that it can be used daily alone or under makeup. Apply liberally 15 minutes before sun exposure and as needed. I only used it alone this time. I used it as a makeup primer before (under makeup). It just made my skin look so fake and caked. Also, applying liberally and as needed, with this bb cream, is a bit too much. It felt like there’s a thick layer of makeup every time I apply this bb cream to my face. Layer after layer. No, just no. haha.

As mentioned before, it dried my skin out. I want to elaborate more on that. The bb cream didn’t just accentuate dry patches, but it made the overall appearance of my skin look drier even though it didn’t leave my skin feeling dry. Visually, the bb cream did not look nice on my skin. I want my makeup to look neat when applied to my skin. This bb cream just made it look like a huge mess. And I applied it correctly to my face. How can anyone mess up on that? It just didn’t look good in the end. Just a huge pile of goop on the face. Yuck! The zinc oxide is definitely the culprit of the dryness. I’ve used other skin care products and makeup with zinc oxide, and they all dried my skin out and made it look aged. Also, the bb cream didn’t stay put on my skin. After applying the bb cream to my face, it would swish around. It doesn’t sit and cling on to the skin well. It moves around. It would transfer on to my clothes. If I gently just itched my face, the bb cream would smear and leave a makeupless spot on my face. It creased on my eyelids too. I found a thick chunk of product in the crease of my eyelids, lol.

Last but not least, it made me breakout! I don’t recall this product making me breakout last summer, but it did by the end of the day. I noticed two little pimples on my chin. Ugh! Why did I bother trying this bb cream again??!! 😭 Hopefully it goes away soon! I feel that the bb cream is way too heavy, way too moisturizing, and way too cakey for my skin. It’s thick, oily, and greasy. It felt like thick makeup suffocating my skin. I won’t be trying it again. It didn’t work before. It didn’t work this time around. Never again. On to something new…

My First Time Trying Andalou Naturals Vitamin C Beauty Balm Again Since Last Summer! 🌞

Here’s a beauty balm that I used last summer. It’s been sitting in my makeup bag unused. I still have ton of product left. I decided to try it again to see if it works. I didn’t like it the first time. Let’s see if it’s any different this time around. I didn’t want to let it go to waste. Either way! Let’s try it! The makeup product is Andalou Naturals Vitamin C Beauty Balm. Yep, another Andalou Naturals product. I did a bunch of reviews on this brand in the past week or so. Check them out if you haven’t yet!

Andalou Naturals 1000 Roses Eye Revive Contour Gel

Andalou Naturals 1000 Roses Pearl Exfoliator

Andalou Naturals 1000 Roses Rosewater Mask

Andalou Naturals Luminous Eye Serum

Andalou Naturals Clear Skin Lemon Sugar Facial Scrub

Here’s some info on Andalou Naturals Vitamin C Beauty Balm real quick! >>> It’s a bb cream that contains fruit stem cell complex and vitamin c. A multi-benefit balm providing broad spectrum from zinc oxide. A natural, sheer mineral tint for flawless coverage in one easy step! 98% nature derived, vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, and cruelty-free.

That’s awesome! I was attracted to this bb cream because it contains vitamin c and utilizes zinc oxide to protect the skin from harmful UVA and UVB rays! I wanted a bb cream that’ll improve my complexion and also has some good SPF in it. This bb cream just looked so appealing and natural, so that’s why I purchased it in the first place. This is round 2 of using the bb cream. And, also, it’s the first day. Here are my thoughts! 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻

My experience

This bb cream comes in a 2 fl. oz. (58 mL) tube with a twist cap. The product is a thick cream when dispensed from the tube. It feels soft and creamy. The shade is light-medium beige. It has a citrus smell to it. It smells really good. It makes me think of oranges. 🍊 YUM! This bb cream goes on the skin very well. It soft, blendable, and leaves the skin feeling moisturized due to how thick and rich the bb cream feels. Does it feel heavy on the skin? I would say it’s between lightweight and heavy, so in the middle. Not too light and not too heavy. It leaves a dewy finish behind. Makes the skin feel a bit sticky though. It feels very moisturizing on the skin.

As for coverage, it is a sheer tint (as it claims to be), so it doesn’t provide any coverage for dark under eye circles, blemishes, acne marks, and so on. It does help even out the skin tone a little bit and makes it appear brighter. I think that has to do with the zinc oxide in this product. If you’re worried if this bb cream leaves a white cast on the skin, I’m sorry, it does! So if you have a darker, richer complexion, this may not work for you, but you can try it out if you want. It made my skin look a little whiter. Back to the zinc oxide, I love zinc oxide, but since it contains zinc oxide, if you have dry patches or dry skin in general, it might accentuate those areas. I noticed some dry skin on my face looking more obvious after applying this bb cream. The bb cream feels moisturizing on the skin, but it makes dry patches more noticeable. Something else about this bb cream I noticed is that it moves around on the face and settles into creases easily.

The bb cream utilizes vitamin c in the form of magnesium ascorbyl phosphate. This isn’t the most effective vitamin c on my skin, but I love that it still has it. I love makeup and skin care that have vitamin c. Vitamin c helps to even out the skin tone, brighten it, and fights against free radicals and aging. But, unfortunately, I haven’t noticed a difference in my complexion after using this product (today and last year). My skin didn’t look brighter, more even toned, or even better. But it’s nice to have it in the product along with my skin care. I just can’t get enough of vitamin c, lol.

This is what the bb cream looks like. It’s a light-medium beige color.

Pros & Cons

✅ Pros

• Moisturizing
• Contains SPF 30 (20.0% Zinc Oxide)
• Contains vitamin c (magnesium ascorbyl phosphate)
• Makes the skin look brighter (visually)

❌ Cons

• Feels sticky on the skin
• No coverage at all
• Not long-lasting during the summer months
• Not made for humid weather
• Doesn’t sit on the skin well, creases

Conclusion

My first time trying this bb cream wasn’t too bad. My previous experience with this bb cream was much worse. I wonder if it has to do with the change in weather (summer vs winter). So I’m glad things are turning out differently this time. I would love for this bb cream to work. I’ve been searching for one that contains vitamin c and zinc oxide to brighten my skin and protect my skin from the sun. This hits both of those points. Also, it feels moisturizing on the skin. I’ll put up with the stickiness and creasing if it works out. haha. All in all, the only thing that bothers me about this bb cream is that it settles into dry patches on the skin. I hope it stops doing that, but we’ll have to see. Stick around for a new update in a week. See you all there! 😊

For more reviews on bb creams and makeup click here.

Review: NYX BB Cream Beauty Balm

It’s time for me to do a review on NYX BB Cream Beauty Balm. I’ve been using this BB Cream for about a week. That seems like a short time, but it’s not. So, I really liked the texture of this BB Cream. It’s creamy, soft, and smooth. It has a fragrance, but the smell fades away quick. It slightly brightens my complexion once applied to the skin. Sadly, the brightening effect doesn’t last after a few minutes. In my opinion, NYX BB Cream Beauty Balm is not a BB Cream. It’s far from it. It’s not a tinted moisturizer either. It is basically a makeup primer. It feels silicon-y to touch. There is absolutely no coverage when wearing this BB Cream. With NYX BB Cream Beauty Balm, my face became an oily mess every time I wore it. It seems to trap sebum within my pores. This mechanism caused acne to form. Even though I can’t use NYX BB Cream Beauty Balm on my facial skin due to it causing me to break out in acne, I can use it as an eyeshadow primer or around my eyes before applying concealer.

It does help to diminish fine lines and wrinkles. Honestly, I really loved the way it moisturized my skin and how it made the appearance of my skin smoother-looking! Even with no coverage! It’s a shame that it didn’t work. It’s not made for my particular skin type. The oily, acne-prone skin type. It claims to be for All Skin Types too, lol. NYX BB Cream Beauty Balm is more suitable for dry to normal skin. Lucky you if you have that skin type! Acne sufferers, if you’re interested in this BB Cream, use with caution! In conclusion, I still think my current BB Creams are better. I use Skin 79 and Dr Jart+. Both are Asian-based BB Creams, by the way. Asian-based BB Creams are the best! I really, really wanted NYX BB Cream Beauty Balm to work for me. It just didn’t. ? Have you tried NYX BB Cream Beauty Balm? Did it work for you? Share your thoughts!

Love, Jen