Now Foods 100% Pure Montmorillonite European Clay Review

Clay masks are a godsend for people with oily or acne prone skin. They are supposed to remove dead skin cells, absorb extra oils and impurities from the surface of the skin and give a natural glow to your face. As acne is caused by clogged pores (among other things), it is very important to keep the skin really clean without drying it.

There are a lot of of clay masks on the market, some of them very expensive. For instance, InStyle magazine's best 2012 mask for oily skin is SkinCeuticals Clarifying Clay mask which retails for $49. I have not tried that mask and I am sure it is very good, but for those of us who are on a budget it might be too much.

On advice of a Korean cosmetics store owner in my town (San Diego) who is probably 60 years old but has perfect wrinkle-free skin, I bought this European Clay mask, which is nothing more than 100% pure montmorillonite (a natural mineral silicate). It has no fillers, preservatives, additives or artificial colors. It is 100% natural!

It comes in a 6 ounce plastic jar in the form of grey powder. In order to make a mask you just have to mix it with water and voila! Directions say use one tablespoon of clay with one teaspoon of water. I find this ratio hard to mix, so I use a little less of clay and a little more of water.

When mixed this clay has the consistency of store-bought clay masks. You can make it more or less watery, of course. Apply to your face avoiding the area around the eyes and mouth and let it dry. It usually takes around 10 minutes for it to dry.  It is generally advisable not to allow clay masks to dry completely, as it is possible for them to end up drawing moisture from your skin, and you don't want that!

Rinse thoroughly using a washcloth if you want. Your skin will look amazing! Clean, translucent and ready for your moisturizers and serums. Since this clay does not have any artificial ingredients, your chances of having an adverse reaction to it are very low. I use it 2-3 times a week for maximum results.

I forgot to mention the best part: this clay is between $3-5 from online stores!

OVERALL: Highly recommended. Cheap and produces clean and healthy skin.

Holika Holika Silky Veil Primer Review

In my 35 years on this Earth I am just now discovering the joys of primers. For years I just wore powder to mask the oiliness on my skin, without bothering with foundations. Granted, my skin was not that bad at the time. Now, however, it is in its worst state ever. I am not sure what the problem is, but it is pretty embarrassing to be a grown woman with acne problems. All I can do now is pray and try not to get wrinkles in the process.

Since I have to cover up the constant redness on my face, I have to use foundation. Mostly I just use it to cover up the troubled area around my chin and nose. Used without a primer the foundation usually runs down my face after a few hours. By the end of the day at work, I just can't wait to get home to take my make up off and forget about constantly touching up my face with powder.

After doing some reading about cosmetics, I decided to try a primer. It can't hurt, right? I am currently trying out a bunch of Korean products and I heard good things about Holika Holika primer. Holika Holika is a lower end Korean brand famous for its enchanting purple designs. I ordered mine from Pretty and Cute, my go-to online store for cheap Korean cosmetics (but not cheap in quality!).

This primer promises oil control, matte finish and longer make up adherence. It is supposed to cover up pores and wrinkles to create a sort of a canvas for foundation and powder. I personally think primers are kind of magical and I don't know why I haven't used them before.

This one goes on the skin very smoothly and feels very hydrating when on. At first I was a little bit concerned because when I put it on, it felt a little dewy on my skin. I was not sure how long I had to wait for it to dry. I was preparing for a music festival that would last for eight hours, so I had to make sure that my make up was perfect. I was not patient enough to wait for the primer to dry ( and now I think may be I am not even supposed to) and put foundation all over my face with a technique I just learned (a topic for another post).

I don't want to sound overly excited but my foundation looked perfect. I had a few break outs that day, so I had a lot to cover up, but I was very happy with the result.  I still looked like I had heavy make up on, but my face looked as close to perfect as it could get in years.

Now, you ask, what happened with my face during those eight hours? Almost nothing! Well, except all the fun I had. Despite all the dancing and tons of people around, my make up stayed almost untouched for more than eight hours. I did have to blot slight shine a couple of times, but I could easily have gone without it. I have never been more impressed with cosmetics than this primer.

I wore it a few times after that and it had the same effect on my skin. Do yourself a favor and buy this product if you want your foundation to look good!

OVERALL: Highly recommended. Will make your make up look perfect.

Naruko Tea Tree Oil Out Balancing Moisturizer Review.

If anyone ever told you that oily skin does not need moisturizers, do not listen to that person. Your skin has to be constantly moisturized, day and night.  Of course, people with oily skin should be careful about what kind of moisturizer they use, but that does not mean you can abandon it all together.

Case in point: I never used moisturizer because I was under the impression that my level of hydration was good enough without it. My skin at the time was the worst I have ever had: break outs and dry patches all over the place. I went to a cosmetologist who told me that my skin was very dehydrated and that I should start using moisturizers day and night.  After I started using two different types of moisturizers for the morning and the evening, I noticed a great difference in my skin tone and skin elasticity. Even though I still get break outs, I do not suffer from dry patches and my break outs are easier to cover up because my skin is smoother.

Fast forward a year, and I am looking for a good day moisturizer that can help keep my skin moisturized at the same time reducing oil production. I found Naruko Tea Tree Oil Out Balancing Moisturizer while I was doing research about Korean cosmetics. While Naruko is a Taiwanese brand, it is a well known brand in Asia that has great reviews from bloggers.

I ordered the moisturizer from Pretty and Cute, an online store specializing in Korean cosmetics. It arrived pretty fast and I was treated to a nice plastic bottle with cute colors:

This moisturizer is designed specifically for oily, acne prone skin and is promised to decrease oil production and make the skin less shiny. Here is the description from  the company's website:

The instructions of their website ask to use a cotton pad to pat the face with the moisturizer, but I don't use a cotton pad for this step as it seems wasteful to me. I just distribute a few drops of the lotion in the palm of my hand, rubs my hands together and pat gently on my face. 

As you can see, this moisturizer's texture is very watery, almost transparent. It is definitely a moisturizer meant for already oily skin.

Upon contact with the skin it feels extremely light-weight and leaves a slightly cooling sensation that I am assuming is due to the mint essential oil content. It is absorbed quickly into the skin and hardly leaves any trace. I have been using it for a couple of weeks and I think it is definitely making a difference in the oiliness of my skin. My skin feels moisturized and supple. I notice that towards the end of the day, it is just barely shiny and my make up stays on longer. 

I feel good about this product, especially considering that it has no parabens, preservatives or artificial ingredients. I will definitely use it in the future provided I dont get any weird break outs from it. I am not sure it would suit dry skin very well though as it seems like it is more suited to oily/combination skin.

OVERALL: Highly recommended. Keeps the skin moisturized while making it less oily.

Ingredients:

Purified Water (Aqua), Phytoferulin® Extract [Kalanchoe Spathulata Extract, Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract, Alpine Skullcap (Scutellaria Alpina) Flower/Leaf/Stem Extract, Masterwort (Peucedanum Ostruthium) Leaf Extract, Ginkgo Biloba Leaf Extract, Alps Wormwood (Artemisia Umbelliformis) Extract, Leontopodium Alpinum Extract, Alpine Willowherb (Epilobium Fleischeri) Extract, Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract, Chamolmilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract, Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea) Leaf Extract], Lens Esculenta (Lentil) Seed Extract, Witch Hazel (Hammamelis Virginiana) Extract, Tranexamic Acid, Phragmites Kharka Extract, Poria Cocos Extract, Cellulose, Propanediol, Silica, DImethicone, Zinc PCA, Ethyl Alcohol, Prioctone Olamine, Methylisothiazolinone, Phenoxyethanol, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, Essential Oils of Tea Tree (Melaleuca Alternifolia), Orange (Citrus Nobilis), Spearmint (Mentha Viridis), Lemon (Citrus Limonum), Lime (Citrus Aurantifolia), Peppermint (Mentha Piperita), Grapefruit (Citrus Paradise), Niaouli (Melaleuca Viridiflora)

Naruko Tea Tree Oil Out Balancing Serum Review.

This is my first post and I am really excited to share my thoughts with you. In my first post I am going to write about Naruko Tea Tree Oil Out Balancing Serum.

My skin is generally troubled with acne and enlarged pores and I have spent literally years trying to find something that works, to no avail. In the last year or so I pretty much gave up on skin care and was pretty lackluster in cleansing and moisturizing my skin. I guess the point was, why should I care if nothing really works? The only thing that I use religiously is sunscreen. I put it on every day, regardless of weather or my activities.

In my search for a new and better sunscreen I came across a few blogs regarding Korean cosmetics. Apparently, Korean women have a very elaborate skin care routine which results in amazing and clear skin. This is actually a topic for a separate post!

Long story short, I was convinced to completely revamp my almost non-existent skin care routine and purchase a whole bunch of Korean products to be used on top of each other in the evening and daytime. Among those products was Naruko Tea Tree Oil Out Balancing Serum.

To be honest, when I bought the serum I did not realize that it was made by a Taiwanese company. But no worries, apparently Taiwanese cosmetic companies are quite famous in Asia and utilize latest research in skin care, the same as Korea. Naruko was founded by Niuer, a Taiwanese beauty expert, who is extremely popular there.

Here is the product description from Naruko website:

As you can see, serums are used after your basic cleansing and toning steps. It is an extra step that is usually omitted from a normal Western routine, but is considered very important in Korea. Serum is a much more concentrated product than a typical moisturizer and contains a lot more active ingredients. Serums are intended to be used prior to a moisturizer as a way to prepare your skin to further steps in your routine. Serums target different skin problems and should be chosen according to your skin needs.

This particular serum is intended to keep your oil balance under control. Its consistency is very watery and light and it goes on the skin very smoothly.  It has a strong herbal smell and produces a slightly cooling sensation when it touches the skin. It dries almost immediately leaving the slightest layer on the skin which I am assuming absorbs the excess oil. I have been using it for a couple of weeks now and can honestly say that it definitely controls oil production during the day. My skin still breaks out, but not so much and it does not look very shiny. I am not sure whether it's the combination of all the new products I am using or this product in particular, but my skin looks healthier and smoother.

I actually want to see how my skin feels after a couple of months of using it. I am super excited to have better skin for the summer, so I don't have to wear so much make-up.

OVERALL: Highly recommended. Makes skin less oily during the day.

Ingredients (from Naruko USA website):


Purified Water (Aqua), Phytoferulin® Extract [Kalanchoe Spathulata Extract, Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract, Alpine Skullcap (Scutellaria Alpina) Flower/Leaf/Stem Extract, Masterwort (Peucedanum Ostruthium) Leaf Extract, Ginkgo Biloba Leaf Extract, Alps Wormwood (Artemisia Umbelliformis) Extract, Leontopodium Alpinum Extract, Alpine Willowherb (Epilobium Fleischeri) Extract, Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract, Chamolmilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract, Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea) Leaf Extract], Snow Fungus (Tremella Fuciformis) Extract, Lens Esculenta (Lentil) Seed Extract, Witch Hazel (Hammamelis Virginiana) Extract, Gluconolactone, Glycolic Acid, Citrus Grandis Seed Extract, Tranexamic Acid, Alpha-Arbutin, Vitamine B3 (Niacinaminde), Palmitoyl Tripeptide-5, Panthenol, Saccharide Isomerate, Pentylene Glycol, Glyceryl Polymethacrylate, Menthyl Lactate, Menthol, Ethyl Alcohol, PEG-20 Glyceryl Triisostearate, Sorbeth-60 Tetraoleate, Sorbitan Sesquioleate, Dimethicone, Sclerotium Gum, Piroctone Olamine, Phenoxyethanol, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, Essential Oils of Tea Tree (Melaleuca Alternifolia), Orange (Citrus Nobilis), Spearmint (Mentha Viridis), Lemon (Citrus Limonum), Lime (Citrus Aurantifolia), Peppermint (Mentha Piperita), Grapefruit (Citrus Paradise), Niaouli (Melaleuca Viridiflora)