I don't need this: Review of The Ordinary Vitamin C Suspension 23% + HA Spheres 2% and The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG

Yes, I just wrote a post about over-consumption in skincare, and now I'm reviewing a couple of products from one of the trendiest brands of the moment. But this is also a post about not trying to use things you I should know won't work for you me. Maybe you can learn from my mistakes, since I obviously can't.

The first of the two products I'm reviewing here is The Ordinary's Vitamin C Suspension 23% + HA Spheres 2%. Emi from Project Swatch kindly gave me her tube when I expressed interest after her review, in which she found she didn't like using it because of the grittiness. For some reason I wanted to test my mettle against the unappealing texture, since I can usually stand weird products so long as I use them at night. I won't go into all of the technical details of how this product is supposed to work, but I will direct you to this excellent and thorough review of 27 products from The Ordinary. You can also read about them on Deciem's website (the company that makes The Ordinary), but I will point out that that they often make little attempt to provide really accessible information--and in fact, I think this is part of their marketing plan. Is there a word like "greenwashing" for marketing that presents everything in a very technical, scientific way, to make it sound more advanced and unique? I mean look at the product names. Broken down to basics, maybe, but hardly ordinary.

In general, vitamin C is supposed to "brighten" by fading extra pigmentation, and to prevent or repair sun damage. Here's a great explanation of antioxidant effects from Lab Muffin (still sciency, but a much better presentation than Deciem's). And here's where I went wrong. How many products do I own that claim to "brighten" skin? I don't even want to count. How many times have I actually noticed a difference in my skin as a result of using a brightening product? Rarely-to-never. I don't have hyper-pigmentation or dark spots or the usual things that brightening products are meant to brighten. And so while I don't think that it was completely useless to use this particular product, because I probably got some invisible preventative effects from the antioxidants, I didn't see any noticeable improvements in my skin while using it. That doesn't mean that it doesn't work or that you won't love it! It means I didn't need it, because I already use other good antioxidant products.

Left: Review of The Ordinary Vitamin C Suspension 23% + HA Spheres 2%; Right: The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG

I can tell you something about my experience of applying the Vitamin C Suspension, however, since it is an unusual product. You can read on the product page about why it feels the way it does, but I would describe the texture as feeling like a small amount of baking soda mixed into a lotion. Deciem says that it "tingles," but I would describe the sensation as more of a mild burning. I don't recommend using this stuff if you have any broken skin on your face, like a recently scabbed-over zit, because it will sting like fuck. As I hoped, the texture doesn't bother me too much. I apply a thin layer and leave it for 15-20 minutes, and then lightly apply moisturizer on top. By the time I add the moisturizer, most of the grittiness has gone away, but I still prefer to add another layer, because it's quite greasy. In fact, I can still feel the oiliness on my hands even after washing them with soap. With a more pleasant moisturizer over it, however, it feels ok while I sleep, and it washes off easily in the morning. The product itself doesn't have any fragrance when I apply it, but by morning my face smells like it has fake tanner on it, which is interesting. That smell washes off with the product. Also, if you happen to get any of it on your lips, it has a very sour taste.

My story with the Caffeine Solution is similar. I purchased this stuff myself from Well.ca ($10 off with code brutallyhonestbeauty), and had it shipped to my sister in Canada along with a few other products from The Ordinary. I'd read a few brief reviews from people who said it really helped with their dark circles, but apparently I didn't pay close attention, or I would have known it wasn't likely to help me. It works by constricting blood vessels to reduce puffiness and it also reduces dark pigmentation under the eyes. My dark circles are not caused by either of those things--instead, the skin under my eyes is translucent, which makes it look purple-blue. (You can see what I mean here.) In addition, quite the opposite of puffy, my undereye area is somewhat sunken (you can see here). So in fact, I would benefit more from increased puffiness and pigment, not the opposite!

But I tried the serum anyway for about a week, since I had it, after all. I was curious. It didn't improve my dark circles, as I should have expected. I don't know if it made the sunken, shriveled skin under my eyes worse, but it certainly didn't help. Let me advise you to READ THE FUCKING PRODUCT DESCRIPTION BEFORE YOU BUY SOMETHING. Honestly, I don't think there are any products other than concealer out there that can help my ghoulish blue circles, though I'm trying some eye patches to see if they will plump up the skin temporarily (recommended by Mimi from Makeup Withdrawal).

The texture of the Caffeine Solution is lovely, by the way, in case it's the kind of thing that might be of use to you. It's a thin serum that absorbs quickly. The bottle ought to last forever, because you'll only need a drop max for each eye.

I need to stop using things simply because I'm intrigued by reviews, and think carefully about what will actually benefit my skin. I do that most of the time, but my curiosity got the better of me this time. The Ordinary is an interesting line of products, and I have a few more to test out in the coming months. It's a cheap way to try fairly basic formulations and ingredients and to rule out what doesn't work for you (I guess I've accomplished that), which can be difficult to do with more complex, often more expensive, products. I haven't done a price-per-ounce analysis here, and I might attempt one in the future, though I'm not sure exactly what would be best to compare these types of products to. Suggestions?

Have any of you have good luck with skincare from The Ordinary?

(I really would like to get up to two posts a week, instead of just one, but I haven't quite got the hang of my new schedule. Working on it!)

I Heart Hyaluronic Acid

Disclosure: Affiliate links. Product provided free for review.
Okay, I'm back for real this time. A massively busy week was capped off with a nasty cold, which I am finally recovering from. The combination of those two things meant I had no brains left over for blogging. My apologies if you have left a comment around here recently and didn't get a response. This is why! Now I have a huge backlog of ideas (and photos), so I hope to get back into the swing of things.

I want to talk about a skincare ingredient that's become one of my favorites in the last couple of years: hyaluronic acid. It's something that occurs naturally in skin tissue, and it has healing properties. It also a extremely effective humectant, meaning that it has the ability to hold moisture. Apparently one gram of HA (hereafter, because I am likely to spell it wrong repeatedly, otherwise) can hold up to six litres of water. It has anti-oxidants and and helps with inflammation. It's basically unicorn magic, okay? I mean, science. Unicorn science. You can read more about it here.

I find it difficult to judge the long term results of skincare products most of the time, partly because I don't know what my skin would look like if I hadn't used them. But this stuff is promising in the long run, and it has short term effects that I really like. HA helps the skin feel smoother and softer. That's my favorite thing about it. When I apply a product with HA in it, my skin feels "really fucking nice," as I've said before.

Because HA is a humectant, that means it draws moisture from the environment. Ideally, it will draw moisture from the air and put it on your skin. But if the environment is so dry that your skin has more moisture in it than the air, it can actually draw moisture out of your skin. This fact probably explains why when I first tried a serum with HA in it, I wasn't impressed. I was living in an apartment where I couldn't control the heat, and it was always cranked all the way up. That winter it was regularly -30 outside, and I still had to crack my windows open in order to be comfortable. SO DRY. It's the same winter I tested the Neutrogena hand cream that is mostly glycerin--another humectant--and wasn't impressed. Yet when I travelled to Seattle for a weekend and used it there, suddenly it was more effective. So if you live in desert-like conditions, your results may not be spectacular. Otherwise, I recommend giving HA a shot.

My current HA is a Vitamin C serum (pictured above) from a company called Maple Holistics, who sent it to me, along with a shampoo and conditioner, for free. This is one of only two times I have ever been sent what could be termed "press samples." Now you know I'm not much for "natural" nonsense when it comes to skincare. Even weirder, Maple Holistics markets some of their beauty products as "homeopathic," which . . . I'm not even going to get into that. What could that even mean? But the proof is in the ingredients, I think. The Maple Holistics Vitamin C Anti-Aging Serum ingredients list looks like this:

Water, Vitamin C (Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate) 10%, Vegetable Glycerin, Hyaluronic Acid, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf, Vitamin E Acetate, Retinyl Palmitate, Algae Extract, Pullulan Xanthum Gum, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Caprylhydroxamic Acid, Glyceryl Caprylate

Looks good! I actually can't really say much about this stuff as a Vitamin C serum. I've never had much luck with Vit C in skincare. Either it doesn't do anything for me, or I just don't have the issues it's meant to help with (my skin is already "bright," etc.). Plus, the first ingredient is water, and Vitamin C works better in formulas without water. However, ignoring that, this is great as a HA product. I smooth on a few drops in the morning, and my skin feels lovely. You can see from the photo above that I've almost finished my bottle. I've been using it since about September, 4-5 times a week, so I've tested it pretty thoroughly.

At under $12 for an ounce of product, it's not a bad price, either. In fact, you can test it out for free in return for an Amazon review (info here). Amazon is actually a decent source for products with HA in them. There are a lot of smaller companies out there selling stuff like this. The potential downside is that a lot of them trade free product for reviews, and even though they specifically request "honest" reviews, most people seem to be paranoid that a negative review will mean no more free stuff. (I hope you can trust that I am not one of those people, because I have amassed very little free stuff after years of negative reviews here. Which maybe means that concern is not so paranoid . . . ) Anyway, I would advise caution when looking at the options available on Amazon. Maybe assume the ratings are inflated or at least read the reviews with fewer stars.

If you don't want to venture into uncharted (or weirdly-charted) Amazon territory, there are HA options from more mainstream brands. For example, I recently read good things from auxiliary beauty about CeraVe's PM Facial Moisturizing Lotion, which contains HA. It costs about $13 for 3 oz. and contains other good things like niacinamide and ceramides. That seems like a particularly affordable option. If you want something separate from a moisturizer, there's the Paula's Choice Ultra-Light Super Antioxidant Serum (that I reviewed before), which has a bunch of other promising ingredients. Not cheap, though. Or if you have a regimen that you already like and just want to add HA to it, there's Paula's Choice Hyaluronic Acid Booster (damn, I had to spell it again), which allows you just to add some drops to whatever product you're already using. I've tried it and it seemed effective. It's also not cheap, but it should last a long time, since you only use a couple of drops at a time.

Whatever source you get it from, I do recommend giving a product with hyaluronic acid a try. It combines making your skin feel awesome immediately with (probably?) having excellent long term effects.

ADDENDUM: Please see this additional short post about another benefit of HA.

Anyone else a big fan of this stuff? Are there other good (affordable) sources of HA out there that you've tried?

Review: Paula's Choice Resist Ultra-Light Super Antioxidant Concentrate Serum

I'm not going to blog about all the Black Friday sales, even though they are great for being cheap. First, I don't want to know about all the good deals out there right now, because I am trying to avoid buying more things. If I listed sales here, I would almost certainly have to buy something. Or things. I own too much shit, and I need to stop. Second, it would be redundant, because Nouveau Cheap has you covered.

I am, however, going to take advantage of the 15% off + free shipping deal from Paula's Choice to replace a couple of things that I needed to buy anyway. I always wait for them to offer free shipping before I order anything, and even though 15% off isn't huge, it's a nice bonus. (The free shipping applies to both US and Canadian orders, by the way.) I need some more 2% BHA liquid (review here). I'm also tempted to try the 4% BHA foam, which had been out of stock for a while. It's back and has great reviews. I have a few days to decide, since the sale goes until the end of the week (it's a little unclear exactly how long, but they call it "cyber week"). There's no code. If it's your first time ordering from them, you can also get $10 off by signing up through my invite link (I also get $10). Ebates (referral link) also has 6% cash back, which I will definitely be using (more info on using Ebates here and here).

Paula's Choice Resist Ultra-Light Super Antioxidant Concentrate Serum (empty!)

This seems like a good time for a review of the Paula's Choice Resist Ultra-Light Super Antioxidant Concentrate Serum, since I already had the photos on my phone waiting for me to scrounge up some free time. I have almost a week off! Amazing. I mean, I do have to write up and send out seven job applications and also try to plan the courses I'm teaching next semester, but I get to do most of that from home in while wearing yoga pants.

I just started my second tube of this serum. I've been using it 4-5 times a week in the mornings since September, so I think that's a pretty decent amount of time for it to last, even though the tube is small. I actually started it back in July, when I mentioned it here, but didn't start using it regularly until the fall. Back then I said I wouldn't be buying it again unless it did something "really impressive" . . . and here we are.

I don't actually know how to tell if it's having any long term results. That's true of most (all?) products I use. I guess if my skin stays looking about the same over time, then at least the big bad environment isn't damaging it too much, so maybe it's protected or whatever.

I absolutely love the immediate results that this serum gives me, though. I think the difference is that I'm now using it first thing in the morning, rather than before bed, and so I have a chance to observe its effects on my skin while I'm awake. I still find it moisturizing enough that I don't need an additional moisturizer, even though it's getting wintery and the furnace is running all the time. I use it after washing my face and applying BHA liquid with a glamorous piece of flannel. The antioxidant serum makes my skin feel really fucking nice. I never understood what people meant when they wrote in skin care reviews that their skin felt "plump" after using something. Swollen? Sounded weird to me. But I think this is it! It's softer and more cushiony, but definitely not tight. Like your face is a beauty blender that you ran under water once. Except without swelling. DOES THAT HELP? Sorry. Let me start over.

This shit makes my skin feel significantly smoother and softer after I apply it in the morning. So soft. So fucking soft. The other great thing is that it smoothes out dry, flaky patches. I usually have those on my chin and almost always around my nose. This cures those flakes in a way no moisturizer I've used has ever done, and it means I can put makeup over those parts of my face without it looking gross. It makes my face happy. Oh, and it has a really, um, appetizing appearance. This is about 5 drops, which is what I use on my face and neck each day.

Paula's Choice Resist Ultra-Light Super Antioxidant Concentrate Serum

I'm guessing it's the hyaluronic acid that's responsible for most of the effects I like. If you can find a cheaper product with that ingredient in it, you might want to try that instead. And let me know if it's wonderful? For now, since I really, really like this shit, I am not inclined to experiment and potentially spend even more money buying a bunch of other slightly less expensive stuff that may not work. At around $30 (or more) for 1 oz., I realize that it is definitely not cheap. Even breaking it down to $8-10 or slightly per month is kind of shockingly expensive. But if you're feeling fancy, this might also make your face feel fancy. I just want you to know that. Please don't yell at me. I'm still cheap. I swear.

On the other hand, the Skin Balancing Antioxidant Serum with Retinol is less pleasant. It has that thick, gelatinous-yet-siliconey texture that doesn't feel great to apply and doesn't have many immediately noticeable results. It does mattify, so they suggest that you can use it as a primer. There's that. Maybe it's doing something long term, but maybe my beloved Resist antioxidant serum is also doing something long term, and it's instantly goddamned miraculous.

A bunch of Paula's Choice reviews

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
I've been very lucky during the past few months of my unemployment that I was able to keep using my regular Paula's Choice routine, even though the products are not particularly cheap. That's because lots of people signed up through my invite link, and I really, really appreciate that. As a result, I've been able to replace the things I was already using when they ran out, as well as try a few new things. In return, I figured I should at least review some of the Paula's Choice (PC hereafter) products I've used. (I'm also hoping to do a PC giveaway sometime in the future as further thanks, but that will have to wait until I can swing the shipping costs.)

This week also seems like a good time for this post, since PC has a 15% off everything + free shipping on all orders sale going on (use code EDDVIPJUL14).

I've been using a few PC products for almost a decade now. I found out about Paula Begoun via a Canadian TV show called The Shopping Bags, which was almost like a shopping/consumer review blog in TV format, before there were blogs (it's still on TV somewhere in Canada, I think).  Paula was one of their regular consultants on makeup, skin, and hair care. I even owned one of her enormous books at one point. At the time, there weren't really many other sources of the kinds of information she provides, especially in terms of evaluating the marketing claims made by cosmetics companies. Now there are more options, but I still use the ingredients dictionary on the PC website all the time, because it's really comprehensive and easy to use.

Paula herself is a bit of a polarizing figure. She can be a little dogmatic and extreme at times. For instance, she used to insist that no one, no matter who they were, should ever wear any color of eye makeup other than neutrals and maybe, if you wanted to get a little crazy, plum. No shimmer, either. I get that it was a reaction against the frosty blue eyeshadows of the 80s, but come on (she's slackened only slightly on that point since then). There's more to life than matte neutrals. Because she was one of the first to do what she does, she can come across as a bit self important, too. In one of her radio shows from this year, she complained that she's seen other people online repeating information about cosmetics that originated with her. Well, do you want to inform people, or not?

These days, I'm a little more critical about the PC proclamations. I don't like fragrance in my skin care either, and I'd rather err on the side of caution for ingredients that cause irritation, but I think the their NO FRAGRANCE EVER OH MY GOD YOU'RE GOING TO BECOME A HAG IF YOU USE SOMETHING SMELLY stance is a bit much. Give me all the scented body lotion and lip balm! I also don't rely heavily on Beautypedia's ratings of makeup, because they often hinge on one or two details that have little to do with the actual performance of the product (I'll write something more about that another day). Today, PC/Beautypedia is one of many sources of information I consult.

All that said, I have had really, really good luck with the majority of the PC brand products I've tried. I get that they are trying to sell me shit just like every other company, but I appreciate their accessibility and transparency about why they formulated things the way they did and why they think the ingredients will be effective. That's still pretty rare. It's a brand I personally like, even though it's not the cheapest. They do have a lot of sales, at least.

Below are reviews of several PC products I've used, and I've indicated roughly how long I've been using them, in case that's useful information. I didn't bother to take photos of the packages, because I didn't think that would be particularly helpful (and a little too advertorial for a post like this). So this is a text heavy post. You might want to grab a cup of coffee before you read on (or spread it out over three days because, let's face it, after writing all that I'm going to need some time off). I'm not going to go into detail about the ingredients, because you can find all of that information at the links, so I won't repeat it here.

Moisturizers

Comparison of three Paula's Choice Moisturizers (left to right): Skin Balancing Moisture Gel, Hydralight Moisture Infusing Lotion, and Skin Recovery Replenishing Moisturizer 

Skin Balancing Moisture Gel: I've been using this stuff the longest of anything from PC: at least 8 years, maybe 10. I absolutely love it. It's an ideal moisturizer for oily/combination skin like mine. It's a really light gel that soaks in quickly and leaves absolutely no greasiness or shine. It feels really refreshing. I've described it as a "drink of water for your face" to my boyfriend (though he continues to use his generic Lubriderm knockoff).

The downside of this particular moisturizer is that it burns if I apply it anywhere near my eyes. It's annoying. I can see from reviews that this doesn't happen with most people who use it, but apparently there's something in it that my eyes hate. If I want to moisturize the eye area, I have to pick something else. This gel is my usual daytime moisturizer, nevertheless. I put it on when I get out of the shower and it leaves my skin soft and gets rid of whatever tightness was caused by the heat and water.

It's not cheap ($24), but I've continued using it because I haven't been able to find a comparable gel moisturizer at a more affordable price. The only ones I'd encountered until recently were more expensive, packaged in a jar, and/or highly fragranced. I came across this Simple brand gel moisturizer a few weeks ago, though, so I might try it when I run out of the PC. (Has anyone else used it?)

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.