Purify & Refresh (Philosophy gel cleanser and moisturizer review)

In my opinion, Philosophy is one of the best-smelling bath and body lines out there. The first product I purchased from them was their Raspberry Sorbet shower gel. You know how they say scent can trigger memory? That shower gel reminds me of my junior year of high school. Good times, haha.

Anyways, I digress.

My most recent Philosophy purchase was the Purify&Refresh set from the Impulse counter at Macy's. It contains the Purity Made Simple gel cleanser and Take a Deep Breath gel cream moisturizer.

Purity Made Simple gel cleanser

   I've been intrigued by the Purity Made Simple cleanser since I saw the original one-step facial cleanser in the shower caddy of one of my college housemates. Because I have oily skin, the SA recommended I use the gel cleanser, but she was also nice enough to provide me with a couple samples of the creamier original formula.

To be honest, I wasn't all that impressed by this product, especially since it was expensive. I'll admit I was sold by the claim that it could double as an eye makeup remover- in my ongoing quest to simplify and green my routine, I've decided to cut back on using the cleansing wipes, i.e. use them only when I end up crashing at a friend's place and am too tired/drunk to really wash up. Unfortunately, this only does a subpar job of removing eye makeup- especially liners/shadows with more pigment to them, a la MAC and Sugarpill. Not to mention, if it gets in your eyes, it stings!

I recently asked my mom what she uses to take off her makeup at night, and she said Cetaphil! D'oh! How did I not think of that? I've been using the Purity gel cleanser for almost three weeks now, and it hasn't caused me to break out, which I take as a good sign. Once I finish up with the tube, I think I'll make the swap to plain ol' Cetaphil. It's a tried and true classic, no?

Take a Deep Breath gel cream moisturizer- found in both tube and pot!

I was slightly more impressed by the moisturizer, but not by much. However, it didn't do a very good job of making my skin feel hydrated. I guess this is ideal for oily skin, but I'm used to the heavier texture of Origin's A Perfect World- a much better antioxidant moisturizer, imo. The microscopic sparkles give my skin a nice faux glow, which is kind of pointless when I'm just going straight to bed after I wash up. I would consider using this moisturizer during the day- IF it had SPF! Also, I was disappointed that this cheap plastic jar isn't even slated for recycling. (Its recycling program is another reason why I'm pro-Origins.)  

Overall, both products were just OK. If there's anything from Philosophy I'll repeatedly go back for, it'll be their shower gels, but not their facial products.     

Gimme the Fine One One (Product Review)

Benefit Cosmetics- one of my favorite brands. The quality, the retro packaging, the quirky names they give their products...unfortunately, they don't meet my requirement list (green packaging, no animal testing, etc), so Benefit makes it onto my guilty pleasures list.

During the last employee appreciation at Macy's (see previous post), I picked up one of their newer products, the Fine One One. It's a blush/highlighter that can also be used to give the lips some color.

The full product.

Product view from the top (shades L to R): pink champagne, sheer watermelon, soft coral.

I'm not the most confident blender, so I typically tend to stay away from cream products. However, the handy size of the product made it relatively easy to use. The colors are gorgeous, and give me a nice flush. It looks nice in person, but my crappy little camera does not do it justice.

Other reviewers have complained that the color doesn't last, but I also made sure to put on the POREfessional beforehand, so we'll see how it goes! The girl at the Benefit counter also recommended putting a powder blush over Fine One One, so I just used a MAC blush over it. I'll probably try it again tomorrow with the Nars Orgasm blush.

As I mentioned earlier, Fine One One can also be used on lips, but I think I'm just going to use it on my cheeks only. Call me a weirdo, but there's just something not right about putting a product on my lips that's been rubbed up my cheekbones.

Beauty Mini Haul (Macy's Edition)

I started working at Macy's during my first year of community college. One of the perks is employee appreciation! As I may have mentioned before, this is the only way I'm able to afford department store beauty products! Anyways, during the last employee appreciation I went on a mini-haul and came home with some goodies from Philosophy and Benefit. Here's what I ended up with (also got a pair of high-waisted shorts, which aren't included):

  (In no particular order): Philosophy "Purify & Refresh" kit, Benefit Fine One One, Philosophy freebies

 The Freebies. (Pictured left to right): Field of Flowers shampoo shower gel & bubble bath, Kiss Me Color tinted high-gloss lip shine in pink, Miracle Worker anti-aging moisturizer, Purity 3-in-1 cleanser

I'll do a product review of Fine One One in a separate post. I haven't tried any of the skin care products yet (I believe in using up old products before opening new ones ;p), but hopefully they work out! Have you tried any of these products? If so, did they work out for you? I'd like to hear what others think!  

E.L.F. Brow Kit product review and eyebrow herstory

This is an adapted version of the review I posted on makeupalley.

For most of my short life, I've had issues with my eyebrows. As demonstrated by the following pictures, they've gone from too bushy to too thin, with far too "just right" moments in between.

2013: Finally more or less at peace with my brows, thanks to the Benefit Brow Bar and E.L.F. brow kit. (I'm on the left.)

2007: Best friend and I, back when our only makeup strategy was black pencil eyeliner. (I'm on the right.)  I had my eyebrows waxed once at the beginning of high school; this picture was taken right after our first semester/quarter of college. Clearly I didn't keep up with plucking.

Summer 2007..or 2008? Strategy to avoid dealing with caterpillar brows: wear sunglasses so oversized, they cover your brows entirely! (Still not really a good look.)

Early 2009: More of a shape, but my brows still look a little funky. Also, why am I not wearing more eyeliner? I can't believe I thought I looked cute when I went out like this! 

Summer 2009: 20th birthday. Overplucked.

Fall 2010: Another strategy to avoid brow issues: grow out your bangs so they're covered! This was more or less my go-to solution, til my bangs grew out, I couldn't afford as many trims, and I was forced to confront the situation..

Enter the e.l.f. Studio Eyebrow Kit. With this product, they finally feel just right. (That being said, I could stand to take a trip to Benefit and get them cleaned up!) Anyways, I digress...

This is the first brow kit I've ever purchased. I usually like to start with cheapie drugstore brands before investing in the more expensive stuff, but as far as brow products go, I'm content to stick with E.L.F. This product does a good job of making my dark hairs look more polished/keeping them in line, which is more than I ever expected for $3. Because my brows are naturally on the thicker side, I feel I have to use a lot of the gel. But like I said, luckily this product is cheap! 

I've laughed at the E.L.F. Studio line for its dupe NARS packaging, especially when the product was terrible. But because the Eyebrow Kit actually works, it deserves to look luxe! 

My only issues is that the brush is TINY. But we all know that's a problem easily solved. :)

Personal Beauty Buying Guide

This list was compiled by another beauty blogger. I'm taking this list with a grain of salt, as I know some of the companies here are questionable. But it's a good place to start!

Call me a little late, but I've finally decided collect my thoughts and put down my beauty resolutions in (virtual) writing. This year, I want to become more conscious about the products I use on my face, hair, body and nails. And if I can accomplish this while lessening my impact on the environment, that's even better.

My goal is to buy products that meet as many of the following standards as possible (if it's only meets one, that's cool, but the more it meets, the higher its chances are of becoming a product I rebuy in the future)

1) environmentally friendly* (including recyclable packaging)
2) cruelty free*
3) benefits a charity of some sort

*I know there's broaaad definitions of "environmentally friendly" and "cruelty free"- believe me, I will take more time to read up on the topic.

I know and openly acknowledge that I am not perfect- a lot of the products I still own do conduct animal testing and contain questionable sounding ingredients. But this year, I will take the time to research and support companies that do not test their products on animals/support green policies, and cut down on products that do.

While doing a Blackle search (a "green" search engine option), I came across multiple lists of beauty companies that supposedly do not test on animals. I notice that many of the brands are still questionable (see above photo), so for now, I'm going to list brands that I personally use and that I've done research on, and provide links that lead directly to their policy page. I'll be editing this post again soon- I use way more than the two I have below, but I'm too lazy to add everything right now. ;p


Burt's Bees
-e.l.f. cosmetics
LUSH Cosmetics
-Rimmel London
-Sugarpill
-tarte
-Too Faced
-Urban Decay
-Yes To

product review: evolution of smooth (eos) shave cream

"pretty remarkable." Living in Davis is rough on skin- just ask my legs. Since moving here last September, I've noticed that my skin's become more dry and sensitive than it ever was at home in the Bay Area. I've always used Skintimate because it was cheap and smelled good- not because I thought it produced particularly great results ( soft, smooth legs that didn't itch!) I'd heard of EOS before- a friend of mine used the lip balm and I thought the egg-shaped container it came in was cute- but had never gotten around to trying it.
I bought a bottle last week- and I'm not going back!

When I picked a bottle of the pomegranate raspberry off the shelf, the first thing I did was remove the cap to see if it passed the scent test. (So I'm a little strange...but scent is definitely important to me!) It smelled just as good as any Skintimate product. More benefits: the shaving cream came in a bottle that could a) be recycled and b) wouldn't leave rust rings around my tub. I also read on the label that the company doesn't test on animals, nor does it contain any animal by-products. SOLD.

According to the product description (both on the bottle and the eos website) "this non-foaming cream boosts skin's moisture content and keeps it smooth long after you're done shaving. It's so moisturizing, you can shave wet or dry. And eos provides a closer shave, even helping to prevent those little razor bumps."

I haven't yet tried a dry shave (Oh my gahhhh- sounds like a recipe for disaster! At least on my sensitive skin) but as far as I'm concerned, these claims have been met. Finally, a product that does what it says it will!

EOS shave cream is a tiny bit pricier than Skintimate, but in my opinion, it's worth every penny!