Josie Maran Argan Beautiful Eyes Beautiful Smoke

Brand Overview:  ”A beautiful compact featuring four color coordinated eye shadows and one shadow liner.”

My Thoughts: I love all of the colors in the Beautiful Smoke Palette. It gave off pretty good pigment and the liner was a great touch, but I would suggest using a primer with it for sure!

Formulated Without: Parabens, Sulfates, GMO’s, Petrochemicals

Price Tag: $36.00

Shop: Josie Maran Argan Beautiful Eyes in Beautiful Smoke

 

Ever since I stopped taking birth control over 3 years ago, my skin has gone from being normal to dry to extremely oily, and as a result, quite acne prone. On top of that, I've always had sensitive skin that was easily rubbed the wrong way (no pun intended!) by harsh facial or skincare products. With those things in mind and my desire to only use organic skincare, I decided to pick up the Juice Beauty Organics to Clear Skin try-me set to see if it could work magic on my face. I purchased my kit from ULTA, but I believe it's also sold at Sephora and Bloom.com, among other retailers.

The kit runs for almost $40 but it contains fairly large size products, especially compared to other try-me type kits (it says on the packaging that the products are sized as shown, which is also nice since so many companies show big sizes on the front and then you open the box to find they are a LOT smaller than you thought). Inside you get a face wash/cleanser, a blemish clearing serum, an oil-free moisturizer, a peel for sensitive skin and a little soft sham. You also get a nice, detailed instruction page that shows you how often and when to use each of the products. Essentially, the recommendation is that you wash your face twice as day, along with applying the serum and moisturizer. The peel is meant to be used once a week.

I'll start by saying that I thought the cleanser was really wonderful. It has a very light, subtle citrus scent and lathers just enough. It rinses clean, removed all specks of makeup and didn't make my skin feel tight, rough or stripped (a big pet peeve!). It also only took one pump of product for me to wash my face, so the trial size product I received in the kit wound up lasting me two months instead of 30 days (which is the promise).

The blemish clearing serum also really impressed me. It says you can spot treat, but my skin was so bad at the time that I just applied a light layer all over my face. The serum had a light tightening effect as it sank into my skin, so I would let it sit for about 10 minutes until I felt the tightness and then I'd go back to apply the moisturizer. The serum definitely makes a difference! Although I don't think it did as much for me in the realm of preventing new pimples, it most certainly helped existing pimples heal much more quickly. My only complaint is that I couldn't use it twice a day because it didn't sit well with my foundation and would cause my face makeup to speckle all over my face rather than sinking in. I've read some other reviews of this kit and some folks have said it works great under their makeup, so if you buy it, give it a try on the weekend when you have time to go back and wash your face again if it doesn't work well with your foundation. :)

The oil-free moisturizer I could give or take. I found that it could be a bit splotchy, so I'd rub the product between my hands for a few seconds to warm it up before applying it and that helped. It also sinks in really quickly and doesn't leave a greasy feeling on your skin (probably because it's oil-free), so that was nice. Unfortunately it doesn't have SPF, so you'll want to make sure your foundation does, or you'll want to apply a sunscreen separately. Personally, I just enjoy a bit more luxurious of a face cream -- something that feels nourishing to apply -- so this thinner formula didn't strike my fancy as much.

The only product in the kit that I really felt was wasted on me was the green apple peel. Now, granted it's made for sensitive skin, so it may just be that it was toosensitive for me, although given my history with skincare products that seems to be a bit of a stretch. The instructions say to apply a thin layer on your skin and let it sit for 10-15 minutes before rinsing. It hardens on your face as most masks do, but it's clear in color so you don't actually notice any product on your face. Apparently it's supposed to peel off the top layer of your skin to reveal the glowing skin underneath and help heal acne scars, but I really didn't notice any difference, even after using the peel once a week, as recommended, for a full two months.

At the end of the day, the Juice Beauty kit never 100% cleared my skin, especially around that time of the month, but I DO think that it made a pretty dramatic difference and would recommend it to anyone struggling with mild to moderate acne. I've actually gone ahead and purchased the full sizes of the cleanser and blemish clearing serum and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. I've also stocked up on a few other Juice Beauty products to try, including their Perfecting Foundation, so stay tuned for a review on those products soon!

I have always been on the lookout for products that promise to give smoother skin especially for the face. Previously, I've posted something about a soap that I've been using for quite a long time and I have said that it totally worked for me. If you want to read my post, then click Beauty Secret Spilled.

In connection to the paragraph above, some weeks ago, I received a generous package of beauty loot from Miss Lei of Flawless Beauty. If this is the first time you've heard about Flawless Beauty, the let me tell you about this online store.

Flawless Beauty Online started their business of selling dermatologically tested skincare products on June of 2009. Their beauty products are formulated by licensed doctors and chemists using only quality raw materials. What’s uniquely good about them is that some of their soaps are exclusively manufactured only for Flawless Beauty! 

Credits to Miss Lei Arsad for the photo! :>

The package the sent me contained the following beauty products -- Flawless Beauty Whitening Soap, Alpha Arbutin Whitening Lotion and some soap scraps of Gluta Strawberry Milk Bar. Now onto the review for these goodies!

Flawless Beauty Whitening Soap

• I used this soap the next day after receiving the package. I was using the Beauche soap already prior to using the new soap so I wouldn't be able to fully judge if this is effective in whitening. However, I guess it maintained my fairness and breakouts did not occur during the period of soap usage.
• The packaging for this soap is nothing special though however what is nice about this soap is that it comes in a bigger size which means more goodness in a bar!
• Another strong point is that after using the soap on my face, you won’t feel any tautness and it doesn't dry my skin too much. Plus I love soaps that are naturally sudsy! :))
• The downside is it melts easily especially if you just leave it on a soap dish without draining water. So I wasn't able to use it that much - it only lasted around 2 weeks :(
• I also wish that they added a favorable scent/fragrance to the formula though.
• Final verdict -- totally worth your money! My skin's already on the fairer side so I can't say that my skin has lightened that much and besides one bar is barely enough! But with all the benefits you can get from this beauty bar, it’s worth a try!

Alpha Arbutin Whitening Lotion

• I am never a lotion-person or a lotion enthusiast largely because lotion feels so icky! But my mom always tells me that I have to really load up on lotion because my skin tends to get dry! I am not a water person as well so maybe lotion can at least help to retain some moisture on my skin. Unlike other lotions I’ve tried, the Alpha Arbutin lotion dries immediately so I didn’t have to stand in front of the fan to dry the lotion on my skin.
• Now, this lotion Miss Lei sent me is totally amazing! For one, the lotion's scent is totally yummy - in vanilla plus it's long lasting. The scent lasts all day long that I don't even have to use perfume on top of it. 
• After application, aside from the pleasantly yummy smell, my skin felt soft and smooth and totally moisturized. Up until now I’ve been using the lotion and I’m quite “matipid” on the usage because I totally want it to last!
• Since the bottle is relatively small, I easily pop it inside my bag wherever I go because I am fond of “retouches” just because it smells so good!
• It’s quite pricey though for a small bottle of product but I think it’s totally worth your money! I love this product and if I run out of it, I will definitely buy another bottle!

Aside from the products I reviewed, the online store also offers a variety of soaps that fits your skin’s needs. Miss Lei also sent some soap scraps such as the  Gluta Strawberry Milk Bar  which smells really good! J