Review: First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream

I was searching for a new moisturizer to help with dry, flaky, parched skin. This cream was constantly mentioned. It had good reviews too. I thought I would give it a try even after scanning the ingredients. It contains some comedogenic ingredients that I’ve had issues with before. But, I ignored it all and picked up a few bottles. They were on sale, hehe. The purpose of this product is to provide instant and long-term hydration for dry, distressed skin and eczema. It contains colloidal oatmeal, which is a skin protectant that helps to relieve itching caused by eczema, rashes, and other skin conditions. Shea butter to moisturize and protect the skin barrier with vitamins, minerals, and essential fatty acids. Allantoin to calm and soothe the skin. It’s vegan, cruelty-free, and gluten-free. Since the weather is colder and cooler, and I’ve been dealing with dry skin, this seemed like the type of product that could help with dry, itchy skin. Also, as I mentioned earlier, it had a ton of good reviews. Some even labeled it as their HG. Let’s see if this cream works or not. Here’s my experience with this product.

My Experience with First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream:

Texture & Application

The product is a cream. It feels soft, smooth, and creamy. When applied to the face, I didn’t apply it like my other moisturizers. It was a little difficult to spread across the face. What I did was place dots of the cream all over my face then gently pat it into the skin. The cream blends into the skin well. But only if it’s not used with other moisturizers. I tried using it with another moisturizer (underneath). The First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream started pilling. When I used it alone without any other moisturizer, it blended into the skin easily, no pilling. Even though the product blends into the skin well, it doesn’t fully absorb. It sits on top of the skin. I feel like there was a layer of product that’s sitting on top of my skin the whole night. It reminded me of CeraVe Moisturizing Cream. They feel very similar on the skin. They both sit on top of the skin.

Helps with dryness and flaky skin.

This cream helps with dry, cracked, flaky skin. Even wounded skin. I noticed that some parts of my face was over-exfoliated. After a day of using this cream, my skin felt a little better. The over-exfoliated parts of my face looked like it healed and peeled off. It wasn’t as dry anymore or reddish in color. It soothed my skin and helped to repair it.

A lightweight rich cream.

This is actually a rich cream even though it feels lightweight when applied and after it (somewhat) absorbs into the skin. My skin doesn’t feel like it has moisturizer on even though it’s sitting on top of my skin. It’s a different feeling. The cream feels and looks matte on my face. It doesn’t leave my skin looking glowy, shiny, or oily. The product feels very thin on the skin and a little goes a long way. I only used a little bit of product for my whole face and neck, chest. That amount of product was able to keep my skin from drying out and soothed it.

Did it clog my pores?

I only used this cream for 1 day and 6 hours on my face (nightly use). It should’ve been only one day. The first day, I noticed some clogged pores all over my oily t-zone. I didn’t think it was the First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream clogging my pores. I kept using it the next night. But, I eventually washed it off that same night because I noticed tons of blackheads out of nowhere. I developed pimples on my forehead, upper lip, chin, and a bunch of blackheads on my oily t-zone (especially my nose). The amount of blackheads I saw were disturbing. I washed the product off immediately and opted for my original moisturizer. The next morning, my skin looked much better. No new blackheads. I was going to leave First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream for the second night but something didn’t feel right. I was clearly breaking out from the cream. I’m glad I pulled the plug right before it got even worse than what I went through. Whew! If you have oily, acne-prone skin, do a patch test first. This product felt very occlusive on my skin (sits on top of the skin type of feeling). It was just bad for my skin.

It contains Eucalyptus globulus leaf oil.

The last ingredient in this product is eucalyptus. *pause* Why??!! On the bottle, it says that this product is safe for sensitive skin. If you have sensitive skin, do a patch test. I don’t have sensitive skin, but my skin has been sensitized by my acne products. When I applied this cream to my face, I can feel my face tingling and slightly burning. It’s the eucalyptus. The tingling/burning sensation fades away after a while, but why bother with this ingredient. I can’t imagine someone with sensitive skin using this. But everyone is different. I know my skin didn’t like it.

Final Thoughts

Unfortunately, the First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream didn’t work for me. I really wanted to like it, since I was searching for a new moisturizer. I picked my bottles up when they were on sale. The retail price is $46 each. Thank goodness I didn’t pay that much for it. Because it was not worth it at all. I mean, it helped with dry, parched skin that’s irritated, but it ended up clogging my pores and giving me tons of blackheads. My nose looked like a strawberry after I used it for a day and 6 hours (lol). It made my acne 10x worse than the actual dryness itself. What’s the point of moisturizing when it causes blemishes? Ugh! And eucalyptus? I should’ve listened to the very few negative reviews I saw. But, in my mind, I just wanted to try it out for myself, haha. Now I’m left with full bottles of this cream that I can’t use on my face. I’ll use the rest of it on my body or as a hand cream instead. My hands are pretty crusty and dry right now due to the dry, cool weather. Anything helps. I won’t repurchase First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream again even if it was on sale. I feel that the CeraVe Moisturizing Cream works the same way without the eucalyptus. I’ve been using my last jar of CeraVe as my body cream.

Let’s talk about the comedogenic ingredients. This is something I ignored (shouldn’t have) thinking that it could work for me. Here are the ingredients that popped out when I was looking at the ingredients list. They are Glyceryl Stearate SE, Shea Butter, and Squalane. I’ve always avoided products with Glyceryl Stearate SE. This particular ingredient has always clogged my pores. Don’t mistake this ingredient with Glyceryl Stearate. Glyceryl Stearate SE can cause acne issues if you’re acne-prone. At least it did on my skin. Shea Butter is another culprit. I know Shea Butter and my skin don’t go well together, especially for the face. I had this issue with another product not so long ago. Squalane is a hit or miss on my skin. I’m currently using a moisturizer (Vanicream Daily Moisturizer for Sensitive Skin) with squalane, and it seems like it’s working better on my skin than the First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream. I don’t think it’s entirely squalane’s fault in clogging my pores. I think it’s the Glyceryl Stearate SE and Shea Butter in combination with squalane that made my skin break out in acne. On top of that, Eucalyptus just adds into the mix and causes irritation.

I was hoping that the First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream was one of those products that could work since it costs more, could possibly have higher quality ingredients. This cream is 46 bucks. It should be good, right? It’s also a highly raved product! Nope, nope, nope, I was wrong. I developed terrible acne from this cream. I wouldn’t recommend this product to anyone that is prone to clogged pores. Save your 46 dollars and spend it on something else. There are better moisturizers out there that are less expensive than this cream. I’m not a huge fan of the texture of the product either. It’s odd that I don’t see that many negative reviews on this product. Here is one, lol.

Back of the packaging.

Products came sealed. Left, opened. Right, sealed.

This is what the cream looks like.

My Acne Journey: 4 Weeks Results!

It’s been quite a journey! I honestly can’t believe it’s the 4th week! Time just flew by! After 3 weeks, my skin is nearly clear! I’m only dealing with some odd pimples here there. Nothing major like cystic acne. Now I’m just battling tiny pimples, blackheads/sebaceous filaments, acne marks, and this darn oily skin! My skin looks pretty soft and smooth overall! Everything is going well so far! Just need to kick some of the other issues out of the way or at least keep them at bay! After 4 weeks, I’ve made more changes! Here are my thoughts and my experience!

My 4th Week Experience

The 4th week was a breeze since I’ve decreased my use of tret. I didn’t experience red, irritating, burning skin this week. All went pretty well. I said I was going to use tret 2-3 times a week, but it turns out that I could use it every other day. My moisture barrier is healthy. It’s not burning or red. It looks really good! So! Tret has helped my acne by a ton, but I decided to add a couple of exfoliants in my routine. They are The Ordinary Lactic Acid 10% + HA and a glycolic acid product. I haven’t talked much about this glycolic acid product, but I will soon.

I chose The Ordinary Lactic Acid 10% + HA because lactic acid is one of my favorite alpha hydroxy acids. It’s gentle and has worked for me before in the past. I once had a lactic acid serum that was super elegant in texture and delivered results. Too bad it’s been discontinued. 😔 Since I’m using other The Ordinary skin care products that are working on my skin, I thought I would try The Ordinary’s lactic acid product (again, lol) too. I planned on using it 2 times a week, but my skin is tolerating it much better than I thought! What I’m doing is using it every other day along with tret. Now more on this lactic acid product that I’m speaking of!

Here’s my experience using The Ordinary Lactic Acid 10% + HA!

I didn’t know I wasn’t going to start using a lactic acid product. It just popped up out of the blue that I wanted to add one in. It’s because I’m not using tret every single day anymore, and my skin felt, looked really oily on the days off. My skin started to get clogged during those days off due to the amount of moisturizers I use plus how oily my skin is. I had to do something about it. With the lactic acid serum, I don’t apply it directly to my skin. Just not yet. I apply it after I apply my heaviest moisturizer. I know that’s sort of weird, but the lactic acid serum does a great job at absorbing excess oil from my skin and tames the shininess from the moisturizer I’m using. This also helps to prevent any skin irritation and breakouts from the excess oil. Amazingly this worked! I woke up the next morning with skin peeling off of my face in my acne-prone areas. I also had some new blemishes due to the exfoliation, but it’s doing exactly what tret does! I didn’t get any breakouts from the product itself either! Awesome!

The other product I’m using is RoC Retinol Correxion Deep Wrinkle Night Cream.

This product contains retinol, zinc gluconate, copper gluconate, shea butter, glycolic acid, ascorbic acid, and a bunch of other anti-aging ingredients. I’m only using this product 1-2 times a week. I tried using it separately from the lactic acid, but it didn’t yield good results. The product feels a little heavy on the skin and makes my skin appear oily. It’s a bit too moisturizing when applied to the skin on my particular skin type. It’s a little too much on my skin that’s all. That’s when I decided to use it in combination with lactic acid. Lactic acid is already gentle. My skin didn’t dry out from layering these two products together. I’m getting the benefits from the RoC Retinol Correxion Deep Wrinkle Night Cream and getting the exfoliation from the lactic acid at the same time. RoC Retinol Correxion Deep Wrinkle Night Cream helps to soften the skin. It exfoliates (sort of, haha) and makes my skin appear softer and smoother the next day. Honestly, I feel that it’s more moisturizing than exfoliating.

How about tret?

I’m still using it. Just not every single day (as I mentioned earlier). I don’t need to use it every day. I feel like using it every day doesn’t give me the results I like. It dries my skin out, leaves my skin feeling like it’s burning, and my skin feels and looks like it thins out when used too often. I prefer it when my skin appears more fuller and healthy rather than thin and gaunt. It’s really difficult to explain but more of tret doesn’t mean better or faster results. I’m just going to take tret for what it is right now. Maybe that’ll change in the next couple of weeks! But I’m really happy that I started to incorporate other products into my routine, especially lactic acid. It has done wonders for my skin in combination with tret within a single week. I could even say it’s helping a lot more with my acne than tret at the moment. My skin looks clearer and smoother after a day of using it! I’m really happy with the results so far! I can’t wait to see how much my skin will transform after the 5th week! SO EXCITED!! 🥳

Coming up! Week 5! 😃

If you missed out on my new acne/tret experience…

My Acne Journey: 1 Week In…

My Acne Journey: 2 WEEKS!! 🙌🏻

My Acne Journey: 3 Weeks Results!

My Acne Journey: 3 Weeks Results!

It’s been 3 weeks on this acne journey! Remember to catch up on WEEK 1 and WEEK 2 if you haven’t yet! Now here’s my experience during the 3rd week!

What’s going on?? My results after 3 weeks!!

During the 3rd week, I had to change things up again. Using the sandwich method wasn’t yielding results like it did before. I started noticing some new breakouts (not from the medication unclogging my pores). They were new breakouts, since it seemed like tret stopped working due to having too much moisture in my skin or using too many moisturizers. My skin did appear more oily than usual too. *sigh* All of that moisture I needed to protect my skin from irritation, such as redness, dryness, stinging, and tons of peeling. Tret just wasn’t as strong compared to applying it directly to the skin anymore. I went on and started applying tret directly on my skin. This was my experience doing this…

It worked! The acne I developed disappeared. My skin peeled once again. My skin looked smoother and brighter. I loved the results, but it came along with other skin problems, such as dryness, irritation, redness, burning. I tried buffering the next day after a night of using tret directly on my skin. That went OK. I did that for two days but decided not to anymore. Using tret (buffered) wasn’t making any changes in my skin. I needed to use tret directly (unbuffered) on my skin to see results. SO! I went the rest of the week not using tret. I didn’t think I needed it. My skin was peeling, and I wanted my skin to heal. I also got really tired of having dead skin peeling/falling off of my face when talking to people. It was just embarrassing. The dryness made my skin look more aged too even when I’m moisturizing my skin a ton!

After giving my skin a break, my skin peeled and flakes disappeared. My skin actually looks healthy again. It’s so soft and smooth. I still have some problem areas, but my overall complexion looks pretty good. Much better than I expected (this time around of using tret). I also noticed that some of the clogged pores are unclogging while I just moisturize at night (skipping tret). Hmmm! Since this is working for me, I think I’m going to only use tret 2-3 times a week. Maybe just 2 times a week. I don’t think I need to peel my skin any more than that. My main goal isn’t anti-aging. It’ll be nice if it works for that too. But my goal is actually to maintain a clear complexion. I’m using tret mainly for my acne. So far, after 3 weeks, so good!

Since I’m applying tret directly to my skin 2-3 times a week now, this is what I’m doing.

👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻

Moisturize a ton! 💦

Remember the skin care products I discontinued? If not, here they are again…

Skin Care Products I Stopped Using

Continued: Skin Care Products I Stopped Using

My Review on Coxir Ultra Hyaluronic Acid Cleansing Oil + More Skin Care Products I Stopped Using!

I started applying them to my neck area and along my jawline, which are the areas that are prone to irritation from tret. Tret seems to migrate down to my neck area and cause major irritation, since that area of my skin tend to be more sensitive. Take note, I don’t even apply tret on those areas either. As I mentioned, tret just migrates down. To solve this issue, I heavily apply moisturizers to my neck and jawline first before I apply tret. I make sure I cover those areas evenly and thoroughly. Irritation from tret is so annoying. I can’t stand the itchiness. It’s possibly one of the worst feelings when it comes to using tret. I can deal with some sensitivity but when my skin gets super itchy and develops a rash…it’s annoying. I have to baby those areas a lot more to prevent myself from scratching them. I have to keep my nails short too to prevent scratching/itching my skin at night.

Other moisturizers that I picked up on using are…

Horse oil (it’s back! lol) and shea butter. Sometimes I use horse oil on my face, especially when my face is more sensitive than usual. I don’t use shea butter on my face but my neck area. It helps to seal in moisture and heal the skin. I don’t use horse oil that often. It’s oily (of course) and greasy. It’s a once a week type of thing. Any more than that, I’ll most likely breakout in acne. CeraVe Moisturizing Cream has helped too. I use the cream on my neck to prevent my skin from drying out and itchiness. Honestly, I just apply whatever moisturizers I have, lol. Anything and everything that moisturizes works. It’s a good thing that I know that I’m not wasting them but using them for something good!

There are other areas of my face I have to worry about too, such as my eye area and ears. Those are also sensitive areas of the face. I make sure I moisturize those sections of my face before applying tret as well.

That’s a wrap up for my 3 weeks experience and results! I hope this was helpful! Stay tuned for my 4 WEEKS experience! Coming up soon!

*If you missed out on the first two weeks, here they are once again!*

My Acne Journey: 1 Week In…

My Acne Journey: 2 WEEKS!! 🙌🏻

I Stopped Using Horse Cream. What Happened?

I decided to stop using horse cream this morning. This cream (GUERISSON 9 Complex Cream) has done wonders for my skin. It deeply moisturized, helped to minimize dry skin and flakes, strengthened my skin, made it look more vibrant and elastic, and simply made it look wonderous. I think it helped with fine lines and wrinkles as well! I noticed that my skin appeared more bouncy, glowy, and more plump! My skin looked softer and smoother while using this cream! I truly loved the results! All of that is great, and I wish I could continue to use the cream, but all good things must come to an end. Well, that applies to this cream. 😢 This is what happened…

After nearly 2 weeks of using this cream, I noticed clogged pores on my forehead and nose (t-zone area). I didn’t notice any breakouts anywhere else. So, they were mainly in my oily areas. I think this cream is making my skin more oily and sealing in that moisture that it’s providing including my natural sebum. Honestly, I think the problem is how this cream has too much of a silicone feel to it. It contains dimethicone, cyclopentasiloxane (not once but twice!), and beeswax. Beeswax might’ve been a big issue. I don’t use any other skin care products with this ingredient (not that I know of) because it clogs my pores. It didn’t feel like the cream ever fully absorbed into my skin. It sat on my skin, so to speak. Yeah, I just took the risk and tried out the cream, lol. It also contains oils, such as Bixa Orellana Seed Oil, Jojoba Seed Oil, and Soybean Oil. And of course, horse fat/oil. So, it’s not a very oily skin-friendly product. Still, I went forth with the cream. hah.

So, the results were spectacular until my skin started to get bumpy. I’m just glad that the clogged pores aren’t all over my face. It’s just in a few spots. They should clear up after a few days of discontinuing the cream. Currently, since I’m not using it on my face anymore (very disappointed!!!), I’ll use the rest of the cream as an eye cream and neck cream, which was essentially what I was doing before. Wow, it was just too good to be true. 😭 Well! On to something that’s more suitable for my skin type!

Trying Horse Cream for the First Time. My Experience!

My Results After Using Horse Cream on My Face for a Night!

Tonight’s Results From Using Horse Cream.

Tonight’s Results From Using Horse Cream.

My results were really good from last night. I was really ecstatic because of this. You can read more about my experience right here. So I just washed my face. My skin feels SO SOFT! I had dry skin and flakes that were easily removed due to how the cream moisturized my skin. It’s like it healed my skin from dryness. I love it! Also, I noticed that this cream prevents my sunscreen from drying my skin out or at least minimize the drying effect I get from it. My sunscreen contains mineral filters! They’re effective at protecting the skin from UVA and UVB rays, but I can’t stand the drying effect it has on my skin. It makes my skin look terrible, especially when my makeup dries my skin out too. That’s a double whammy! But this cream helps to reverse that dryness and flakiness that I experience. So, this cream did a great job at making my skin look nourished and hydrated during the day. Yay!

So, it looks like I like the cream and what it does to/for my skin. The results are very nice. But I’m just worried that it might break me out. After today, I noticed a single pimple on my forehead but that’s it. I didn’t see any other pimples anywhere. My skin is pretty much clear all over. I’m not sure if it’s from the cream or not. SO! I decided to go on and continue to use the cream. I also was able to increase my use of chemical exfoliants tonight to fight against breakouts in general plus that random pimple, haha! Since the cream is just so deeply moisturizing and nourishing. It’s such an amazing cream that seems to work. Well! I hope the pimple reduces in size tomorrow. My skin feels and looks healthy overall. It’s strengthening my moisture barrier. My face was burning a little bit from my acne treatments but not anymore. Now let’s see what’s going to happen tomorrow! Stay tuned for the next update!

If you missed out, here it is again!

Trying Horse Cream for the First Time. My Experience!

My Results After Using Horse Cream on My Face for a Night!