Could be grosser: Review of Tony Moly Changing U Magic Foot Peeling Shoes

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After three months of Texas living, the majority of which time I spent in sandals, my feet were rough. I call them velcro feet when my soles are so scratchy that they stick to my socks and bedsheets. Shudder. Usually O'Keeffe's Healthy Feet (reviewed here) is enough to keep my feet soft, but this was beyond.

I considered buying the classic Baby Foot for a short time, until I noticed Tony Moly's version at Ulta for a fraction of the price. The reviews were similar, but I could get two packs of the Tony Moly Changing U Magic Foot Peeling Shoes for less than one Baby Foot. (The cheapest place I've seen Changing U Magic Foot is Hollar for $4.) Since my husband's feet were gross too, we both decided to try these out. The back of the envelope states that the product will, "transform an average-looking woman into an attractive lady," but I'm not sure either of us achieved that lofty goal, much to our mutual dismay.

Here's the full back of the envelope:

The packaging doesn't show the full list of ingredients in English, so here they are:

Alcohol, Water, Propylene Glycol, Lactic Acid, Urea, Glycolic Acid, Betaine, Isopropyl Alcohol, PEG-60 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Salicylic Acid, Hydroxypropylcellulose,Tocopheryl Acetate, Allantoin,Disodium EDTA, Menthol, Onsen-Sui, Nelumbium Speciosum Flower Extract, Rosa Canina Fruit Oil, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Althaea Rosea Root Extract, Pyrus Malus (Apple) Fruit Extract, Citrus Limon (Lemon) Fruit Extract, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Fruit Extract, Scutellaria Baicalensis Root Extract, Honey Extract, Ginkgo Biloba Nut Extract, Angelica Gigas Root Extract, Paeonia Lactiflora Bark / Sap Extract, Zizyphus Jujuba Fruit Extract, Laminaria Japonica Extract, Punica Granatum Fruit Extract, Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract, Artemisia Vulgaris Extract, Yeast Extract, Fragrance.

As you can see, the main active ingredients are a mix of AHAs and BHA in high concentration, aided by a number of other ingredients, some of which may have a soothing effect, depending on how much is in there. There's also a lot of alcohol, which can be drying (and definitely was, in my case).

Here's what's inside:

You get two booties, plastic bags with fabric soaked in the solution lining them. They're sealed at the top, and you peel them open, side your foot in, and use the stickers to hold them in place.

I wear size 10.5 shoes, and my husband's feet are bigger, and neither of us had any trouble fitting these on. They feel a little cold and slimy, but I didn't notice any tingling or other sensations while I was wearing them. The instructions say to keep them on for 1 to 1.5 hours, and I went with the longer time. It was possible to walk with the bags on my feet, but not exactly pleasant, so I wouldn't recommend it. They're pretty slippery. After a couple of episodes of whatever it was I was watching at the time, I made my way carefully to the bathtub, took off the booties, and thoroughly rinsed my feet in warm water.

There was no immediately noticeable effect, but by the next morning my feet felt really dry. By the second day they started to look even more scaly than they had been, but they didn't start to peel yet. According to the instructions, they will begin peeling in 4-6 days, and the process will be complete in two weeks. The skin on my feet felt dry to the point of slight discomfort for the first several days, maybe because there's so much alcohol in these things in addition to the acids. I had to lotion them a few times.

Here's the part where I show you nasty foot photos. If you're not here for that, just close your eyes and scroll to the end for my final assessment. (And if you got here from a strange google search and you're going to get weird with it . . . um, at least click my affiliate links?)

Celebrity skin

I found this website, Celebrity Close-Up, via Tumblr today, which is just a series of photos of celebrity faces zoomed in close enough that you can see all the detail and texture of their makeup and skin. I'm not in it to make fun of anyone, but it's reassuring to be reminded that everyone, even Beyonce (gasp!), has pores and spots and/or visible foundation. And that our quest for invisible but flawless base makeup is bound to fail if even these people don't have access to such a thing.

Plus, there are some excellent sources of makeup inspiration here, and you can see how the products were applied in detail.

Be warned: there is a Trump close-up on the first page!

Complainy Monday: Come Bitch With Me

It's not alliterative, but do you think I can make #CMCBWM take off? No? Probably not. Anyway, this is not a post where I recommend something to you or show you anything helpful. It's a mostly just a self-indulgent post where I complain, and I invite you to complain too. Positive thinking is more of a Saturday thing. (If it's no longer Monday by the time you see this, complain anyway!)

Here's my thing: my skin fucking sucks right now, and it's really annoying. The texture is bad, lines are becoming wrinkles, pores are clogged, breakouts won't fucking die. I guess those are things I complained about late last winter/spring too. So maybe it's seasonal? But added to those, this year I have a new treat: dry patches! Hooray for aging! At least I think that's what's causing the dry flaky skin under my eyes that I've never dealt with before. My nose is a disaster of dryness, too. Usually some Smith's Rosebud Salve every night keeps it under control, but the last 2-3 weeks, it's an unrelenting mess. And chapped lips. I am a delight to behold, let me tell you.

I don't know if it's the weather (but don't these seem more like winter than spring issues?), or stress, or aging, or slacking off on the sunscreen (there was a lot of 6 am rushing and skipping real sunscreen in favor of SPF 20 tinted moisturizer this winter), or the fact that everyone in my fucking apartment complex smokes even though it's not allowed and that can't be good for anything. Or all of the above.

Anyway, hopefully I will figure something out, because right now I'm just frowning in the mirror a lot and that's only making the lines deeper. Until them I am moisturizing like a maniac.

Now you go. Any beauty problems frustrating you these days? Anything else pissing you off? Let it all out.

Can your skin sense how oily it is and adjust its oil production accordingly? (from Lab Muffin)

No.

You're sciencing wrong: Sunscreen does not cause cancer (from I Fucking Love Science)

You might have seen an article going around Facebook and other places claiming that a recent major study has shown that wearing sunscreen can give you cancer. You might have been thinking, "Oh shit." Calm yourself. I had a moment of apprehension myself, before I took a closer look. (Or you might have been thinking from the beginning, "That's bullshit," in which case, yes, very good, you're very smart and special.)

This post from I Fucking Love Science (brilliant blog name, obviously) debunks the scaremongering anti-sunscreen bullshit. There's lots of good stuff in there, but this is one of the most important parts, I think:

"The claim that more people who use sunscreen develop melanoma is based on a study that tracked sun exposure and sunscreen use in nearly 1500 people over a span of two years. The results did show that those who used sunscreen were more likely to develop melanoma, but there was a massive caveat left out of RF’s article. The median sun protection factor (SPF) was 6 (the CDC recommends SPF 15 or higher) and those who used sunscreen the most spent considerably more time in the sun than those who rarely use sunscreen.
RF’s implication that sunscreen is causing the melanoma is dead wrong; the paper itself states “sunscreen use, by permitting more time sunbathing, is associated with melanoma occurrence,” particularly when using sunscreen with a low SPF that isn’t as protective." 

Correlation is not causation and all that. People wore low SPF sunscreen, felt like that meant they could sunbathe longer, and ended up with melanoma. The sunscreen did not cause the melanoma. Sigh. It's a typical misreading of what some scientific study actually says.

Yes, you need Vitamin D. You can get that from the sun. You can also get it in your diet. If you want to get it from the sun, you don't need to spend a ton of time baking to get what you need. The epidemiologist in this article says that pale people (like me) only need a few minutes of sun exposure a day, tan/medium skin tones could use 15-20 minutes, and people with dark skin tones need quite a bit more, maybe 6 times as much as the pale people (6 x "a few" = 18 to 24 minutes?). It all depends on how much clothing you're wearing, what time of day it is, etc. Still, that does not mean never wear sunscreen. I mean, if you don't want to, it's your call. Not everyone has the same risk for skin cancer, and not everyone cares about their skin showing the ominous "signs of aging", and that's cool. But don't avoid sunscreen because you think it's cancerous. Personally, I always wear it on my face and neck, because if I'm going to be pasty anyway, I might as well try to avoid skin damage. But I don't wear it on other parts of my body on a regular basis - only when I'm going to be in the sun for more than 20 minutes at a time. I'll get my Vitamin D walking to the market or whatever.

Anyway, you're all smart people and you didn't need me to tell you all this, but sometimes it's nice to have a link like this IFLS one to paste into the comments of your annoying cousin's Facebook status about how he's been right all along not to wear sunscreen because all the rest of you are going to get cancer and he's not, see? SHEEPLE.

Cheap and effective BHA exfoliant! Stridex Maximum Soft Touch Pads (from Lab Muffin)

Disclosure: This post contain an Amazon affiliate link.
I've posted before about BHA/beta-hydroxy acid/salicylic acid. Quick summary: it works great not only for improving the texture and appearance of the skin and making it look smoother, but also for clearing blackheads and acne and soothing redness. Good stuff. But effective products containing BHAs have to have a certain pH level to really work. On my previous post, Emi from Project Swatch recommended the Stridex pads in the comments, and I was intrigued. The cheapest I've found them online is $3.49. But without knowing the pH, how could I tell if they would be as effective as the more expensive products I'd been using? Lab Muffin to the rescue! She tested the pads and found that the ones in the red package have both the right concentration (2%) of BHA and the right pH (below 4) to work well.

These are something worth trying not only for people dealing with acne, but for anyone who wants their skin to appear less dull, pores to be smaller, wrinkles to be less prominent, to reduce redness or hyperpigmentation . . . the list goes on. Just start out slow and make sure your skin can handle it. I've never had any irritation from BHA at all, but that's not the case for everyone. I'm definitely going to pick up a jar of this stuff when I run out of my Paula's Choice 2% BHA. The PC versions sells for $23 and works fantastically, I admit.

It's hard to compare the Stridex and the PC prices per unit, since the Stridex is measured in number of pads. On Amazon, the Stridex pads are described as 8 oz., but I don't know if that reflects the volume of liquid they contain (shipping weight is 8.8 oz., says Amazon). The PC BHA is 4 oz. and costs about 6 times as much. Either way, the Stridex is looking good in this comparison. I'll let you know my results once I've tried the Stridex pads myself, but since that will be a while, I wanted to give you the heads up. They come highly recommended by trustworthy sources, as you can see!

ETA: I just noticed that these have menthol in them. I hate skincare products that make my face tingly purely for the sake of making it tingly. Now I'm grumpy and I might just have to stick to the more expensive options after all.

Not all 100% Tea Tree Oil is equal, apparently

Disclosure: This post contains an Amazon affiliate link.
I've posted about my love for pure tea tree oil as a spot treatment for zits before. I won't repeat everything I said there, but basically benzoyl peroxide never does anything for me (plus I can't manage to ever use it without bleaching the fuck out of all my towels and sheets). Tea tree oil, on the other hand, works. YMMV etc. That's just what works for me.

Anyway, in the winter I ran out of my Mason Naturals tea tree oil, and so I ordered a different brand from Amazon, since it was about a dollar cheaper at the time: Now Foods. Both of them say that they are 100% tea tree oil, so what's the difference? Honestly, I have no idea, but the Now Foods stuff didn't do shit. It says on the bottle that it's meant for "aromatherapy," whereas the Mason one says "pharmaceutical grade," but that doesn't seem very meaningful to me. I mean, 100% tea tree oil with nothing else in it should be the same thing either way, right?

Remember when I was complaining earlier this year about giant cystic pimples that would not fucking die? I couldn't figure out why tea tree oil had stopped working for me. But you know, the Now Foods version didn't have the same very slight tingle when I applied it, and it didn't do something that I actually found annoying about the Mason stuff - when I dab it near my mouth, but not too near, say a centimeter away or so, it would always migrate to my lips so I could taste it. Bleh. The Now Foods stuff didn't do that. These two things alone suggest that something different was going on. I thought maybe I was misremembering or imagining how well the previous bottle had worked on my acne, but eventually I got so fed up that I just ordered another bottle of Mason tea tree oil.

And what do you know? It fucking works. Used daily only directly on top of a zit, dabbed on with a q-tip, it will stop a pimple in its tracks and force it into retreat. So what I'm saying is that if you are considering trying tea tree oil for acne, you should try the Mason Naturals one. It's about $8 on Amazon right now, though the price fluctuates, and you might be able to find it cheaper if you shop around. I don't know what is in that Now Foods bottle, but it doesn't work the same. I've been using the remainder a few drops at a time in my garbage cans to freshen them up. Aromatherapy, I guess.

Paula's Choice BHA exfoliant for $18 (or less) with free shipping

I just saw that Paula's Choice has a magazine ad promoting their 2% BHA exfoliant, which links to this page. It's on sale right now for $18, plus you get free shipping without reaching the $50 minimum using that link. I haven't posted my review of it yet (sorry), but I will say that I think it's definitely worth trying for that price, and I have noticed an improvement while using it. It's probably their most popular item.

If you don't have a Paula's Choice account already, you can use my invite link to sign up, and you'll get a $10 credit (I get one too). Then go back and use the link above with the $10 credit in your account. That will make this stuff $8 with free shipping. Pretty sweet, considering the regular price is $23.

Note: This is exactly the same product as their CLEAR Extra Strength Acne Exfoliant - it just has different labeling, because that's required for products that claim to treat acne (PC confirmed this recently on Facebook). So if you usually use that as your BHA exfoliator, you can get this one with free shipping now and it will do the same thing. The rest of the Paula's Choice exfoliants are also 20% off right now, but I think you have to have that specific one in your basket to get the free shipping offer.

When Good Skin Goes Bad, Part II

Disclosure: This post contains an Amazon affiliate link.
In my previous post, I began my quest to figure out why my skin has started to fuck with me. Click back there if you want to know exactly what I'm talking about, but in short, I'd been getting worse acne, blackheads, clogged and enlarged pores, fine lines/wrinkles, rough texture, etc., over a really short period of time, and it sucked. I mentioned that I had identified four possible causes for my skin's shittiness. To recap:

• Increased use of moisturizer to combat seasonal dryness.
• Discontinued use of BHA exfoliant.
• Increased consumption of delicious, delicious wheat.
• Use of battery-powered, rotating face brush for cleansing.

I started to address the second item on the list in Part I, and I'll return to it in a future post. For now, I thought I'd explain what the hell I was talking about with the other three. The thing about wheat probably sounds particularly weird.

First: moisturizer. I don't really think this was a major culprit. The moisturizers I was using didn't contain ingredients that differed much from anything I'd used successfully in the past. Plus, while this could, perhaps, explain an increase in clogged pores, it doesn't explain other problems, like lines/wrinkles.

At any rate, I've scaled way back on the moisturizing, simply because my skin seems to be adapting to the dryness and I don't need as much. That started before I took the other steps described below, and it didn't make much difference in my skin's condition.

Second: The wheat. Okay, here's the thing: my body just has a problem with wheat. I am not gluten-intolerant (I've been tested), but eating wheat does cause issues for me. The main problem is that it severely worsens the inflammation in my joints, which is pretty bad to begin with. I'm not imagining this. Wheat is inflammatory. Plus, I have tested whether or not it has a negative effect on me very extensively, like so: (1) I feel shitty (mainly joint pain in my hands, wrists, and arms - but there are other things too) so I stop eating wheat. (2) I feel dramatically better. (3) Wheat constantly taunts me with its seductive perfection and I begin to forget how shitty I felt when I was eating it. (4) I gradually start incorporating more and more wheat into my diet (bread! pizza! just a little pasta!) until . . . (5) I feel really shitty again. And repeat. And repeat and repeat and repeat. At this point it is abundantly clear that wheat hurts me.

So what does this have to do with my skin? I'm not completely positive, but I have a theory that isn't any more sophisticated than this: Wheat is aggravates inflammation (at least for me). Inflammation is bad for the skin (for example, an inflamed, clogged pore = a pimple). Therefore, inflammation caused by eating wheat makes my skin worse.

Quick question: What's your favorite moisturizer?

So I find myself, for really the first time in my life, dealing with dry/tight skin. I'm thinking it must be an age thing. It's dry in my apartment because the heat is on all the time now, and my face also get a little chapped from walking out in the wind everyday. But neither of these things are new. I have always lived in dry and/or cold and/or windy places. And I've always had oily/combination skin year-round. For the last month or so, it's been sliding toward the dry end of the combination spectrum.

My Paula's Choice Skin Balancing Moisture Gel, which has always served me admirably in the past if I ever felt a little dry, really isn't cutting it right now. So I thought I'd ask:

What's your favorite moisturizer? Cheap is good, of course.

I'm particularly interested in hearing from people who deal with a little oiliness and some breakouts too. Real combination skin havers.

(Isn't it interesting how "skin type" can be a part of identity, especially for those of us who are really into performing/doing femininity? It seems to be correlated to gender identity. It's not, "My skin feels a little dry lately," so much as, "I am now the type of person who has dry skin." Does that make sense to anyone but me?)

Is the oil-cleansing method right for you?

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
I know lots of people have tried it and loved it. I tried it and it did absolutely nothing for me. My skin didn't get worse, but it didn't get better either, and it was a lot more work than my usual routine of washing my face in the shower. I do use facial oils (particularly rosehip oil), and I like them, but this routine just didn't give me results. And now I'm stuck with this big bottle of nearly-expired castor oil that I don't know what to do with.

If you follow this link (from Paula's Choice), you can find a detailed critique of the claims made by proponents of this skincare routine, and you can also find a link to the routine itself, in case you want to give it a try (it is pretty cheap). I'm linking to the critique first, because the fans of this method can have a weird, almost religious, way of trying to spread the word, so I think it's better to start with the negatives before you get sucked in completely. There are people who like it, but the same thing won't work for everyone, even people who seem to have the same skin type.

Have you tried the oil-cleansing method? What did you think?

Cheap sulfur mask for acne (from Makeup Withdrawal)

If, like me, benzoyl peroxide does nothing for your zits, and, unlike me, neither does tea tree oil, another option is sulfur. Skip the overpriced Mario Badescu shit, and try this $4 version that Makeup Withdrawal reviewed.

I'll stick with my tea tree oil, since it works great for me, but everyone's skin is different. You just have to figure out what works for you.

No, don't make your own fucking sunscreen.

At least, don't expect it to protect you properly if you do.

Don't be afraid of silicones for hair or skin! (From The Beauty Brains)

See why they're good here.

Quick Review: Simple Protecting Light Moisturizer SPF 15 (good for oily/combination skin)

Disclosure: I got this product for free in the mail. I have no idea why - it just appeared on my doorstep one day. It's possible that I requested it from a free sample site, but I got a full-size bottle. There was no accompanying information with it. No one asked me to review it. This post contains an Amazon affiliate link.

I've been recommending this stuff to friends for at least a month now, so I figured I should probably get around to reviewing it here already. This is a nice, light moisturizer that is ideal for oily/combination skin like mine. Sometimes when I get out of the shower, my skin is a little tight and dry, and this adds just the right amount of moisture. It starts to absorb immediately, and after about 2 minutes, you're left with a completely matte finish and no greasiness. But softer skin. It feels really good.

Why you shouldn't buy eye creams (from Paula's Choice)

Basically, they're just selling you a smaller amount of moisturizer for a higher cost. You don't need a separate product for the skin around your eyes. It's skin. More info here.

DON'T BUY: Beyond the Rack has marked-down MAC Cosmetics

ETA: See the comments section of this post below before you decide to buy anything!

Lipsticks and glosses for $12, eyeshadow for $11, blush for $17, etc. It's not a huge discount, but I don't know how easy it is to get MAC products for below retail, if you've been wanting to try them.

There's also a section with Clarins, Lancome, La Prairie, and Nars marked down, but I think they're still way too fucking expensive, personally. No judgement if you want to save a few bucks on those, though.

Here's my invite link, if you don't already have an account.

How to figure out how much sunscreen you need to put on your face using MATH (from FutureDerm)

Ugh, math. This tells you how much you have to use to get the actual SPF on the packaging. Okay, I'm not going to measure and calculate it for my face. I'm going to guess that most people's faces are roughly the same size. You need to use quite a bit! This is why you should buy a sunscreen that is not too expensive and that feels good on your face, otherwise you are not going to get the protection you need.

What's your favorite sunscreen?

40% off all orders from The Body Shop until Sunday (April 28)

Disclosure: This post contains an affiliate link.
Use code SAVE40. You get free shipping over $50.

But if you're buying something, would you mind telling me what? Because I don't even know what's worthwhile at The Body Shop anymore. I used to wear the Dewberry perfume in high school, but I don't think they have that anymore. I bought a candle there a while ago, because I had a Living Social thing, and it's okay. But not very special.

Commenter boopmynose gives a shout-out to Freeman's Goji Berry Hydrating Mask

If you have dry skin, there's another cheap mask to try! Sounds great. See the comment here.