Cures without Creams: Review of Neutrogena Light Therapy Acne Spot Treatment Pen

Affiliate Links

I admit I'm not much of a gadget or tech person. My computer is old, my phone is old, and when I'm home alone talking to something, it's a cat, not a smart device. I don't really do any type of beauty treatment that doesn't just involve smearing some kind of liquid or cream on my face. I've never lasered or needled anything. But hey, this is just a light, so after reading a positive review of it from Bad Outfit, Great Lipstick, I figured it wasn't beyond my capacity to understand and use. And it's only about $20, so not beyond my budget either.

With a consistent skincare routine that includes lots of moisture along with BHA and azelaic acid (review here), I'm lucky that I have very few breakouts these days. But I still have an average of one pimple, even if it's a small one, somewhere on my face at most times. Sometimes these are deep, cystic pimples (usually on my chin, usually around PMS time), and there's not a whole lot to be done about them, except to let the azelaic acid do its work and shorten their life span. Inflammatory zits--i.e. the scabby ones where the infection is near the surface of the skin--respond better to spot treatments. When they first appear, I usually dab on a little tea tree oil to kill some of the bacteria. If they are oozing or scabby, I'll use a hydrocolloid patch (review here) to absorb the goo and protect the surface. Both of those things help my inflammatory acne clear up more quickly.

This light pen fits into the same category. I've noticed absolutely no effect when I've tried it on cystic pimples, but it has definitely helped inflammatory pimples heal faster. That is exactly what it claims it will and will not do, so thumbs up.

There's not too much to explain in terms of how to use it. You just put a couple of batteries in it, cover the pimple with the light end of the pen, and hold the button for a couple of seconds to turn it on. It will beep to let you know when it comes on and goes off, but chances are you will be able to see the light out of the corner of your eye--it's very bright. Then you hold it in place for two minutes while you watch The Good Place, and it automatically shuts off when the time is up. You move it to the next spot and repeat as necessary. You're supposed to use it twice a day, but I usually forget and only use it once. Nonetheless, I'll find that if I use it before bed, my zit is less inflamed and starting to heal by morning. It's not an instant fix, but it does make a noticeable improvement.

As for the science behind how this thing actually works, here's how I understand it. The LED light has anti-microbial and anti-bacterial effects on the skin, and so, much like a topical cream or other treatment, it kills some of the infection in the pore and also calms down the redness and inflammation so that it looks and feels better. The blue light kills bacteria on the surface and the red light penetrates a little more to help with inflammation. You can see both colors in the photo below. Apparently a device like this isn't powerful enough to penetrate the skin enough to treat a cystic pimple, which is why it really only works for those inflammatory zits on surface. You can find more information here and here.

Also, the instructions say to use it on clean, dry skin. Sometimes I forget and apply moisturizer or something else, so then I don't use it. I'm just not sure what effect the light would have on the product. Any thoughts? Am I being too cautious? One (popular) article I read advised not using it on the same day/day after using a product that can cause photosensitivity, so I guess I would be careful about using it in conjunction with an AHA in particular. That said, there are no UV rays in these things, so again I'm not sure how much of a concern that should be.

Overall, I think this Neutrogena pen is a good option for spot treatment in addition to more holistic (not in the woo-sense of the word) skincare products. For me, it also helps to have an alternative to picking, in addition to the zit patches--or at least something to use after I've picked and I'm worried I've made things worse. I got my pen with a 20% off coupon from Ulta, but the cheapest I've seen it is $17 on Amazon.

Have you used any other skincare treatments that are not creams or other stuff slathered on your skin? What works? What's bullshit?

Review of Neutrogena Light Therapy Acne Spot Treatment Pen

An easy, affordable skincare routine for normal skin

Affiliate Links

My sister asked me last year to suggest a skincare routine for her. Her skin isn't like mine (combination on the oily side, prone to breakouts); instead, she has that elusive "normal" skin. Not too dry, not too oily, rarely breaks out. The only issues she specifically wanted to address were wrinkle prevention, pore reduction, and occasional redness. She has this great skin in her early 30s despite never having to do much to it--usually just cleansing with water and sometimes moisturizing when she feels like she needs it. It's also useful to know that she doesn't typically wear a lot of makeup and never wears a base (foundation/tinted moisturizer, etc.).

I recently asked her how the routine was working for her, and since she reported that she's happy with it, I thought I'd share it here, in case someone out there is in a similar situation. I actually think this routine would work well as a starter for someone with oily or combination skin, and maybe even dry skin, since these products will address a variety of concerns. All of the products I've recommended are either things I've tried myself or have been recommended to me by trusted, knowledgeable friends. You don't need dozens of shiny, $50+ bottles to look after your skin! Each product is $20 or less. and most of it is closer to $10, but I've provided alternatives in case one item isn't easy for you to access, or you prefer certain qualities of one over the other. The main exception is the Paula's Choice 2% BHA Liquid, which holy shit, I didn't realize it had gone up to almost $30 now! I'd really like to see a graph charting the price increases of their core products vs. inflation, because that seems like a lot. Definitely buy that shit on sale--I've also provided an alternative below.

There are three products in the photo above, but it's actually a (minimum) four-product routine, split into one-to-two steps in the morning and three at night. I just don't personally own all of the things I recommended at the moment.

Here's what I suggested (I added links to previous reviews):

I'd recommend only introducing one new product at a time and using it for a few days before adding anything new. That way if your skin responds poorly to it, you'll know what caused it. 

Morning:

1. Just rinse with water. (If you feel like your skin needs more cleansing, see Night step 1.)  

2. Sunscreen. It's best to use this even on days when you'll mostly be inside, and especially when you're driving to work. You'll get lots of sun through the windows of the car and probably in your office, and sunscreen is the most effective skincare product out there to prevent "signs of aging." It's worth trying to find one that's comfortable enough to use every day. I really like the one linked below--it's light and not greasy. It's better to use SPF 15 that feels good enough to wear every day than to buy SPF 30 or 50 and only use it once or twice a month. 

$10 Simple Light Protecting Moisturizer SPF 15 (reviewed here and here)

But if you do want to go with a higher SPF, which is never a bad idea, this is my favorite:

$20 Kinesys Performance Sunscreen SPF 30 (reviewed here and here)

Night:  

1. Wipe your face with a cotton pad/ball soaked in micellar water, instead of using a cleanser. The bottle will say that it doesn't need to be rinsed, but it does contain a little cleanser, so it's better to splash some water on your face afterwards anyway. If you want to be extra eco-friendly, I use little rectangles of flannel that I cut up and folded in half instead of disposable cotton balls (more info here). I put them in a mesh lingerie bag and wash and dry them in the machine. Baby flannel is really soft and you might be able to get a small piece for cheap at the fabric store, or just cut up some old clothes you have. 

$5-10 Simple Micellar Cleansing Water; $15 Bioderma Sensibio Micellar Water (pink lid) 

2. BHA exfoliant to get rid of dead skin that makes your skin look dull or clogs pores (and makes them look larger). It can also soothe redness and make your skin feel smoother. You can wipe this over your whole face (avoiding eye area) or just on places that you think need it. Leave it on for 10-20 minutes while you brush your teeth or pet the cats or do whatever else you do while you get ready for bed. 

$4 Stridex Alcohol-Free Maximum Strength Acne Pads (red box); $29 Paula's Choice 2% BHA Liquid

3. Moisturizer with anti-wrinkle ingredients. Apply it on top of the BHA after you've let it soak in a little. Since you don't have dry skin, use something light, and don't feel like you need to use a lot--just as much as feels comfortable. Make sure to use it around your eyes too. It will also get rid of the sticky feeling from the BHA, if you use the Paula's Choice option. The moisturizers I've listed below have vitamins and antioxidants in them so that you don't need to add extra steps like serum etc. (unless you want to!). 

 $15 CeraVe PM Facial Moisturizing Lotion; $12 Neutrogena Healthy Skin Anti-Wrinkle Night Cream/Moisturizer

If you wear more makeup than my sister does, you're probably going to want to go with a traditional cleanser. I think Neutrogena makes some great cleansers, especially their Ultra Gentle Daily Cleanser or Ultra Gentle Hydrating Cleanser. Obviously, you can also add as many additional products and steps into this routine as you like (for example, see my skincare tag), but this is designed for people who feel like doing something for their skin, but don't want to spend a lot of time and money on it.

I'm curious: do you have a minimal skincare routine, or are you more intense about it? Also, if you'd like to suggest alternate products in these same categories, that would be great! I know people like the CosRx BHA, but I don't know if it might be too strong for a beginner.

Review of Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Liquid Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 70

Affiliate Links

Recently, on a trip to Canada to visit my family, I spent almost $60 on sunscreen. I'm going to need some good shit for the coming year, because at the end of this month I'll be moving to Texas for 3 months, and then from there to southern California for 9 months. It'll be an adventure, and a sunnier one than the last decade I've spent in the Midwest (my entire life in the U.S. to date!). It seems a little odd to stock up on sunscreen in Canada for travels in the hottest parts of America, but there are some formulas and ingredients that are available there and not here. More on those another day!

Before my trip, however, I had already run out of my previous sunscreen and tried a new one that I wasn't feeling (reviewed here). So I decided to buy something local, affordable, and accessible: Neutrogena. Neutrogena must be one of the best-selling sunscreen brands in North America, and they have come out with a lot of new products in the years since my go-to facial sunscreen was their Dry Touch Lotion. That's a decent product, but after some consideration, I decided to try the Ultra Sheer Liquid SPF 70, which comes highly reviewed and recommended.

It is a liquid formula, as you can see below, and the narrow dispenser works very well. It's not too runny, which makes it easy to apply without making a mess.

It's spreadable, but not super-slick. I wouldn't be able to spread the amount shown above over my entire face, for instance, which I would probably be able to do with most sunscreens. It absorbs quickly, so you will need to work in sections. I think this is actually a good thing--it ensures that you apply enough product to cover your whole face in a good layer, instead of spreading it too thin. I do find that even though it absorbs well, it leaves my face looking and feeling a bit greasy, so I like to set it with a translucent powder even if I'm not wearing any other makeup. It works well under makeup, too, and I haven't noticed any balling up/pilling like you can sometimes get with sunscreens (though that will probably depend on what other products you use under it). It's also effective--I've worn it for prolonged periods in the sun with no burning or tanning.

Overall, the Ultra Sheer Liquid is very similar to most other "chemical" sunscreens I've tried from Neutrogena. It has a strong sunscreen smell and it burns slightly, especially around my eyes, when I first apply it. Both of those things subside after a few minutes. It is somewhat prone to smear into my eyes and sting if I make the mistake of touching them, though not as easily as some other sunscreens. Its advantage over the regular Neutrogena lotions is that, as their SPF rises, the lotions tend to get greasier, heavier, and less pleasant to use. This SPF 70 sunscreen feels about as comfortable to me as an SPF 30-45 lotion. If you like those, I think you will like this one too. I didn't enjoy it as much as the Bioré Water Gel (reviewed here), though the Neutrogena has the advantage of no fragrance or alcohol and being available just about everywhere for around $10 (I got mine at Walmart). This sunscreen won't be my new staple, but it was a great stopgap option.

What's your favorite facial sunscreen? I have pretty strong preferences, but I'm always interested in what else is out there!

Reviews in Fifty Words or Less

Affiliate Links

I got this idea from the wonderful Makeup Withdrawal, and I'm going to give it a shot. It will be a challenge for someone as wordy as I am, but I don't think I have a lot to say about these products, so here we go!

Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat Radiance Perfecting Pen in Luminous Ivory

Sheer, slightly luminous concealer that I use on lazy days. Makes me look less dead but doesn’t cover my dark circles completely. Faint lavender fragrance. Came from a Sephora Favorites set, but I wouldn’t buy it at full price. Lots of cheap equivalents work exactly the same way.

            

Maybelline The Falsies Volum'Express Mascara

Decent volume and length without clumping. The curved brush and length of the bristles work well.

I've been liking this better in month two as it gets drier. Too much flaking for me to repurchase, though.

Wet N Wild Mattifying Powder

Does the job: mattifies, invisible on my skin, fine texture. The main problem is that it contains very little product. I've used it only a couple dozen times.

It looks thick because there’s a sponge in the bottom compartment, but the pan is shallow.

For less than $5 you can get more product from Essence.

Bobbie Brown Long-Wear Cream Shadow Stick in Golden Pink

Got this in a Sephora Play! box. Not really pink--I'd call it peachy-beige. It's a nice, all-over-the-lid eyeshadow, and it lasts better than any other cream eyeshadow I've used, even without primer. Could make a good highlighter, too.

Swatched:

Blended out:

Neutrogena Ultra Light Cleansing Oil

It's ok. I bought it for double cleansing, but it's a little drying, so I only use it combined with gentle micellar water. It removes most of my makeup. The generic fruity-floral scent is a bit strong--and I always end up tasting it after I've rinsed my face. Blech.

Success! Of course, if you have questions about any of these products, I'd be happy to fill in the blanks. I'm also interested to hear your experiences with them, or recommendations for alternatives, as always. 

Conditioner and serum that will probably make your hair better

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon affiliate links.
In my attempt to use up shit that I already had sitting around before buying anything new, I'd been using some mediocre conditioners for several months. My hair has been pretty sad looking for those corresponding months. I assumed it was from over-processing more than from the products I was using on it. After the crappy conditioners were empty, I moved on to using up sample packets of deep conditioners I'd accumulated (Fekkai, John Freida, L'Oreal, etc.). They made a little improvement, but not a lot, which confirmed my apathy about improving my hair without just cutting it all off. My hair was [insert list of marketing words describing not pretty hair here]. But really, it was the paradigmatic "dull, lifeless, dry, damaged, limp, frizzy, straw-like, rough" sad state.

I finally finished up the samples and allowed myself to buy a conditioner that had been on my shopping list for a long, long time: Neutrogena Triple Moisture Deep Recovery Hair Mask. I should have picked it up a long time ago, because it's fucking good. I could have been alternating this with the bad crap all along and looking much better. Even though I had been doing the occasional coconut oil treatment and using some ridiculously expensive Aveda deep conditioner that I got suckered into buying (this one, if you're curious - don't buy it) now and then, nothing worked as well as the Neutrogena stuff has done. My hair feels softer and smoother, it looks shinier and healthier, etc. I don't like sounding like a commercial, because I'm really not, but it looks and feels and performs better in the ways that people typical want their hair to do. The best part is that its effects last a few days, even after shampooing and conditioning with something less spectacular in the meantime. So your money will go a long way - and you can get this from about $6-10. Shop around.

The downside is that it's in a stupid jar with a screw-off lid. So you have to pick up the jar and screw off the lid, scoop some out with your fingers, and then try to screw the lid back on without getting the jar all full of shower water or dropping it or whatever. Fucking annoying. I guess the jar is, as usual, meant to convince us that this is totally more special than something in a much more practical bottle or tube. Ugh.

But if your hair has been making you sad lately, or if you are less melodramatic and it's just kind of blah, I suggest giving this a shot. I am impressed, personally.

I've also been using John Frieda Frizz Ease Expert Finish Polishing Serum. It does a nice job of adding some extra shine and smoothness. It can be a little heavy for my fairly fine, straight hair, though, and leaves it looking a bit stringy if I don't use the lightest possible touch. Just a drop is all I need. Maybe I should have tried the original version? But it's your basic silicone finishing serum. You don't really need to get into fancier oil serums and shit, since the ingredient that makes most of those works so well is the silicone anyway. This stuff is about $8 (and there's an extra $3 off coupon from Amazon at the moment) and it works well.

So that's how I went from being resigned to having unimpressive hair to petting my own head at regular intervals. Ooooh, soft. Thought you might like to know.

Save Your Face Review: Cetaphil Dermacontrol Oil Control Moisturizer with SPF 30

I'm on a mission to find the best possible replacement for my beloved, discontinued sunscreen, and this was my first attempt. Verdict? Fail. And here's why . . .

Review: Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Hand Cream, Part II

Disclosure: I got these products free from BzzAgent.
Final Thoughts:

Here is my hand and nails after using this hand cream exclusively, two or more times a day, for about 10 days. I took this immediately after applying the cream.

Smoother, but still the same peeling nails and hangnails.

Better, but the poor quality of this photo also sort of airbrushes out some of the problems. It's hard to photograph your own dominant hand! Why did I decide to do that? Here is the before shot, for reference.

This is what my tube says on the back: It is so concentrated that only a small amount instantly leaves dry, cracked hands noticeably softer and smoother after just one application. Used daily, it heals and helps keep dry skin from returning.

So what do I think about that? Well, a small amount did make my hands feel "noticeably" smoother after the first use, but it wasn't because my skin itself was softer. It just left a smooth film on the surface. It never felt greasy, though, which I appreciated. I could pretty much immediately go about my business without feeling like my hands were slick and gross. The unscented variety was also truly unscented - another plus. No smell at all. The original variety, which has scent, is very, very subtle. Unless you are extremely sensitive to fragrance, you should be fine with that one too.

After several days, it did improve my skin, but no better than any other hand cream I've used. I never really felt like my hands were being deeply moisturized. They remained kind of shriveled and almost calloused feeling, though my cuticles improved. So I don't know what I think about the use of the word "heals" here. That's just what my hands are like in the middle of winter, and this didn't fix it. After a few days, I wished that my testing period was over so that I could go back to my old hand cream. This just wasn't doing it for me.

The other marketing claim that the Neutrogena campaign put out was that this would "extend the life of manicures". I'm not sure exactly what that means. It certainly didn't make my nail polish stay on any longer than usual. And my nails still broke and peeled just as much as they usually do. So I'm going to say it failed on that account.

I wonder if this stuff would work better in a more humid environment. If one of the ways glycerin works is by attracting moisture from the environment, it wouldn't have had much opportunity to do so, in the parched, furnace-heated air of my house in the winter. Maybe that's why the Norwegian fishermen were more into it than I was.

Overall, this is a decent product. Not great, but fine. I think it would work well in conjunction with another hand cream, but I would prefer to just use a single product that smoothes the surface of my skin AND provides moisture that soaks in. I'll be going back to my trusty Avon lotion. But if you're not already using something that works well, this could be an upgrade.

I'd give Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Hand Cream 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Review: Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Hand Cream, Part II

Disclosure: I got these products free from BzzAgent.

See Part I here.

First impressions:

The marketing copy for this stuff says that you only need a "small dab" to repair damaged skin and nails. So I decided I would use this amount, at least twice a day (but really whenever my hands felt dry):

I start by rubbing it into my finger tips and nails, and then spreading over the rest of my hands. I'm not using any other hand creams/lotions on my hands during the testing period of one week. I'm also following my normal routine, which means a couple of nail polish changes during the week. Ultimately I want to see if this stuff works as well as my favorite hand cream (which is really a foot cream), Avon Foot Works Beautiful Lavender Overnight Cream. The Neutrogena cream's main claim to effectiveness is that it contains glycerin. Glycerin is a standard ingredient in moisturizers (for more info, see Part I). The Avon cream also contains glycerin. 

The first time I used the cream, my hands were very, very dry, as you can see in the photo in Part I. After putting on the hand cream, they felt smoother and slipperier, but not immediately more moisturized. It was like having a layer of soft stuff on the surface of my skin, but underneath it was still rough and leathery. Even after a few days of use, I still didn't feel like it was soaking into my skin and improving the texture and moisturizing the deeper levels. Okay, I don't know if lotion normally does that, but it normally doesn't leave my fingertips still feeling just as shriveled and tough. I definitely didn't feel like their claims of instant soothing and healing were panning out. But maybe long term use will have a transformative, healing effect! I can be patient.

Stay tuned soon for the final result of my week(+) of testing.