REVIEW: Guerlain Abeille Royale Youth Serum

What an absolutely luxurious delight this serum has been! Often times we dismiss luxury brands as not having effective skincare, that you may just be paying for the "name" more than anything. 

This particular serum helps to dispel that notion! Yes, it costs $160 for an ounce. Yes, the gorgeous glass bottle is far larger and heavier than one would ever think an ounce of product would require. But for someone serious about anti-aging, with a little extra cash burning a hole in their pocket, this serum is a must have!

The gorgeous glass bottle has a hexagonal shape through the top of the gold lid. A golden dropper with a little embossed bee is built right into the lid, which is a thing of beauty in and of itself. The bottle is quite heavy, so keep it somewhere safe. A little knock could send it crashing to the floor! (I would cry)

The main active ingredient, Royal Jelly, is very close to the top of the ingredient list. There are also other goodies, like Hyaluronic Acid, Centella Asiatica, and various peptides. The promise from Guerlain is that tiny micro-tears in the skin cause wrinkles, and Royal Jelly helps to speed up the repair process.

What I do know is that after using this serum twice a day for just a few days my skin was positively glowing! After about 10 days there was a new firmness along my jaw line and my eyes felt brighter (I tapped this serum right up to the orbital bone). 

What most surprised me about this product is the lack of silicone. There is a Dimethicone blend in there, but it's most of the way near the bottom of the ingredient list! Often when anti-aging products claim such fast results (cough *Olay* cough) they are using loads of silicones in the creams (combined with non-scientific, in-house, perception studies...not independent clinical trials).

After about a month of using this amazing serum I have to say...I am definitely in love (wouldn't it be a shame if an expensive treatment sucked?!?). My skin glows! Hydration levels are definitely up (even though I have started occasional Retin-A...more on that another time), my moisturizer works better, and my eye area is luminized!

A little goes a long way with this product! If you are in the Toronto area, get yours from Murale at Shops at Don Mills...the girls there will hook you up with loads of great samples to make the purchase even moreso worth your while! 

If you are buying it online, click on the Sephora.com logo below

7 days! I made it, and....

...I miss it! To a degree.

My skin just glowed during the whole thing. The few tiny break-outs were done within the day each time, which makes me think it was just my skin purging the toxins it couldn't purge when I was putting more chemicals on it.

To be honest, I'm still washing my face with the soap I bought from the Farmers Market (www.EssenceDew.com), and I'm still using my facial toner (www.MadeYouLookCosmetics.etsy.com) and I even still masked with GwendolynForever's Honey & Glycerin Mask/Cleanser (www.GwendolynForever.etsy.com). I've switched up my moisturizers, going back to the stuff I was using before and even trying the newest addition to Biotherm's line-up (Aquasource Skin Perfection, which I'll review tomorrow).

Oddly enough I had a pimple today. It's still there. DAMMIT! LOL. I wonder if the oils finally caught up with me, or if my skin desperately wants the natural routine back? Hmmm...

Anyways, like I said yesterday - this was a pretty great experience for my skin. It was kinda tough at times because it's not very make-up-friendly, but it's definitely something that everyone can do for an occasional skin-detox!

I'm thinking about doing The Master Cleanse again soon... so maybe I'll line up my next facial detox to go along with my Master Cleanse! I'll keep y'all posted.

Au Naturel Day 5 - Hot Process Soap

My skin's been glowing you guys! 5 days of all-natural skincare and I gotta say - I'm pleasantly surprised! It's not always the easiest (for instance, I keep my Rose Hip Seed Oil in the fridge, because it spoils very easy - and the stuff aint cheap - So I wash in the bathroom, and moisturize in my kitchen) and I'm not used to the feeling of missing water from my moisturizer because I've only been moisturizing with oil thus far.

I cleansed with GwendolynForever's Honey & Glycerin cleanser this morning. I love this stuff in the morning...it's a light cleanser and my skin feels soft and glowing after I cleanse with it. I take my time with it, I massage for a good 30-60 seconds, then leave it on while I brush my teeth before rinsing it all off. I can't recommend this cleanser enough! It comes in a small bottle (4oz - which lasts forever anyways) so you don't have to committ to the huge jar right off the bat. Pick it up here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/34338193/honey-glycerin-cleanser-and-mask-4-oz

I miss a regular oil/water moisturizer though. I make a body butter using a classic cold cream formula, but it would be way too heavy for my face. There are some "natural" brands out there, but they have preservatives - and rightfully so, it is inevitable to have SOME FORM of preservative in any product that has water in it. I have a Green Beaver brand moisturizer kicking around here somewhere - they make FANTASTIC natural products. I'll try that out after my 7 days of completely natural are up. Their website is: http://www.greenbeaver.com/

Today I found a hot-process soap that I bought at the Withrow Farmers Market. This one had a strawberry fragrance oil in it and I normally don't like fragranced stuff for my face, but I wanted bubbles! I missed a lathering cleanser, so I figure this is natural - it's an old-fashioned soap, right? I LOVED IT. It was gentle, it was thorough, it rinsed completely clean, but my skin didn't feel like it was stretching over my skull afterwards! A wonderful and NATURAL cleansing!!! Except I have no idea who the seller was. I'll have to go back to the Farmers Market tomorrow to (a) buy an unscented one for my face and (b) get their name! ha.

While this endeavour has definitely been interesting, I'm looking forward to going back to regular moisturizer (even if my cleansers and toners stay all-natural). Wearing blush and concealer with oily moisturizers is a real pain in the butt. I haven't really broken out - just a couple of tiny pimples that self-correct within 24 hours (maybe its my skin detoxifying?), but my blush and concealer just disappear off my face!

Check out my skincare products in my etsy shop here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/MadeYouLookCosmetics

Au Naturel Day 3

I went to a Biotherm school today. Ah the irony. I came home with a bunch of chemical-laden skincare goodies that I can't wait to slather on myself!

But first...I have to make it through my 7 days of all-natural skincare!!!

My skin is radiant. My BF tells me my skin has never glowed so much before. I don't have a pimple in sight and I really do feel like there's a peachy tone to my complexion... maybe it's just the power of suggestion?

Yesterday I used my Baking Soda/Activated Charcoal/Rosemary EO concoction as a MASK! I mixed it with my GwendolynForever Honey & Glycerin cleanser/mask that I got on ETSY. I let it sit on my skin for about 3 or 4 minutes before I massaged it in and rinsed it off.

The beauty about Baking Soda is that it's alkalizing. Most germs and bacteria like acidic environments. So just by using a little baking soda on your face you're doing yourself a huge service! To be honest, I had a little red mark (obvious pimple) starting to creep up on my right cheek just south of the eye area... IDK if it was my little "mask" that I did, but it's almost gone now! I'm going to have to test this "alkalizing theory" again when a pimple starts to show up.

Baking Soda is also one of the most potent, and amazing, super-fine exfoliatiors that you could ever use! I bet you have some in your pantry right now! Use it tonight! And that's an order! ;o)

I've been moisturizing with Rose Hip Seed Oil, and still using that DRUIDE Shea Butter/Argan Oil cream as my eye cream.

Today I wore lots of make-up for going to the Biotherm school. For me, a lot of make-up is (but isn't limited to): Eyeshadow, Eyebrow powder, mascara, concealer, powder, blush and bronzer. I could have worn a lot more make-up... but compared to my every day - this is a lot for me :). Anyway, I'm rambling. The point being - the make-up is holding up! Despite the oil I'd been putting on my face for the past few days.

As much as I love my GwendolynForever Honey & Glycerin cleanser - I know it won't work to take my make-up off tonight... so I shall Oil Cleanse! Have you ever Oil Cleansed before?

Essentially, you wash and dry your hands - then you put a special oil blend in your hand and apply it to your DRY (and dirty) face. Massage for 2 minutes (put the lid down on the toilet and sit - you might as well get comfy). Then you take a washcloth and soak it in hot hot hot water. Carefully (trying to not scald yourself) wring out the washcloth and slowly bring it near your face. Let it steam your skin. After about 30 seconds it'll be cool enough to actually make contact with your face. Hold it there for about another 30 seconds. Then massage it into your skin, and watch in amazement as it takes EVERYTHING off. All your eye make up (even the waterproof stuff), concealer, silicone-based-primers, foundation, etc. Everything comes off!!! Then rinse out the washcloth, and once again soak it in hot hot water. Repeat the whole steaming and massing your skin bit. Sit back and adore your glowing complexion!!! Read more about Oil Cleansing here: http://beauty-treatments.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_oil_cleansing_method

Most people don't feel the need to moisturize after oil cleansing. But I would recommend a drop of your favorite oil (or moisturizer, if you're not on a crazy 7-day-let-me-see-if-I-can-do-this kick like I am) and eye cream.

Have you ever Oil Cleansed? What did you think about it?

Thinking of going All Natural?

So I've been thinking... I love my skincare routine. I use a gazillion different products every day, I vary the routine from day-to-day (partly because I have so much crap and partly because...I am Aries? - IDK...but somethings gotta get the blame) and I obviously vary it from night to day.

But sometimes when I over-do it, I get these thumb sized patches of dry spots just outside of my nose between my mouth and my nose - for those in the know it's called the Nasolabial fold. Dry skin = aging. And the lines in my nasolabial fold have been really starting to show up. I blame the dry skin. which comes from abusing my skincare...

Anyway... I've been thinking. I make natural skin-care. (http://www.madeyoulookcosmetics.etsy.com/) I also buy natural skincare. I'm obsessed with skincare and I'm a junkie for trying new stuff out all the time! Thankfully I have an amazing manager at my pt job who loves to play the role of my crack-dealer and she sends me home with new stuff to try all the time.

I'm not talking about drugs people... SKINCARE! Stay with me...

Anyway, I'm wondering how I can incorporate completely natural skincare into my day-to-day (and day-to-night) routine. I'm talking COMPLETELY natural. Hand-made. No chemicals...

This can be difficult to do where moisturizers are concerned. After all, a heavier oily based product wouldn't work very well under make-up.

So I started last night... I came up with the idea AFTER I had washed my face with my NeoStrata face wash (which has 4% glycolic acid AND SLS - sigh). See ya in a little while NeoStrata!

I moisturized my eye area with a Shea Butter/Argan Oil cream by Druide that is rich, and thick, and creamy...and to DIE FOR. Those are literally the only two ingredients. You can buy a tiny 5mL size for $5, or a huge container of it for not much more.

You can find the product here: http://www.druide.ca/Product.aspx?ProductID=49008&Langue=En

To tone my skin I used my own "Oily Skin Toner" that's all natural. It has witch hazel, aloe vera gel, sage, lavender, and Calendule. You can find the product here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/55464096/oily-skin-toner-sage-aloe-witch-hazel

For my face I used a tiny bit of coconut oil and just massaged it in very well. At first it didn't have that "plumping" effect that you get with products that have water in them. You know that "aaaahhhh" cold-water-feeling of moisture being pushed into your skin? But after an hour or so, my skin felt rehydrated again, even though I hadn't actually added any more water...

I woke up with morning with beautiful skin! The lines around my eyes have disappeared (the Druide cream is THICK - and soooo refreshing, despite it's shocking lack of water) and my skin doesn't look congested after only using oil to moisturize.

I washed my face this morning with an amazing Honey & Glycerin cleanser I bought from another seller on Etsy. Her name is Gwendolyn and this cleanser and mask are AMAZING!!! The link for it is here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/34338193/honey-glycerin-cleanser-and-mask-4-oz?ref=v1_other_2

The small 4oz size lasts forever! You can use it as a cleanser or as a mask. Both the honey and the glycerin are natural humectants so you're increasing your skin's ability to hold water everytime you wash with it. It's also been infused with a bunch of wonderful organic herbs that she grows herself on her gazillion-acre-farm. It doesn't lather, but it's amazing. Honey is also a natural anti-bacterial (nurses used it in WW2 to clean out and heal wounds of all types). You'll have soft, glowing skin from the very very first time you use it! At $12 for the small bottle, it's WELL worth the investment!

Again, I moisturized with the Druide Shea & Argan Cream (I'll report back on how my mascara holds up, later) and I used a dab of coconut oil to moisturize. Except this time I sprayed my face with Avene's Thermal Water (just like the Evian stuff) before I put on the oil... my skin DID feel more "hydrated" because the oil sealed in the water.

Have any of you ever used an all-natural-routine? How did it work out for you?

Home Made Face Mask

This is a mask that is good for EVERYONE, no matter what your skin type.

STRAWBERRY HONEY MASK

5 or 6 strawberries, greens removed
2 tbspns honey
1 teaspoon Olive Oil
Lemon Juice

Mash the Strawberries with a fork and add the honey and olive oil. Drizzle in freshly squeezed Lemon Juice. The oilier your skin, the more lemon juice you can add (up to 1 tablespoon). If you have very dry skin add 1 tablespoon of oatmeal to the mix and let it sit for about a minute or two before applying it to your skin.

Wash your skin thoroughly and gently pat it dry. Apply the mask all over, avoiding your eye area. Let it sit for up to 20 minutes, then rinse off.

The Strawberries are rich in Alpha Hydroxy Acids which helps eliminate dead skin cells and gives you a nice rosey glow.
Honey is a mild anti-microbial AND is a humectant - so it actually increases your skin's water content as it pulls moisture out of the air and into your skin.
Olive oil is a wonderful moisturizer and because it's natural it will not clog your pores.
Lemon juice is loaded with Vitamin C and acids that brighten your skin.
This mask is chock-full of anti-free-radicals as well, so it's a wonderful natural anti-aging mask.

Whenever possible, try to use organic ingredients, but if it's too expensive for you it's still better than the store-brought stuff that's loaded with chemicals.

Try this mask today and give me your feedback!!!