REVIEW: Biotherm Skin-Ergetic D-Tox High Recovery Night Care

Biotherm recently launched a naturally derived skin care line, free of Mineral Oils, petro-chemicals, artificial fragrances, silicones, dyes, parabens, etc. The range of products include the serum (read that review here), an anti-oxidant day cream (read that review here) and this night cream.

The tag line in Biotherm's advertising, which you may have seen in countless magazines, is "So signs of Fatigue don't turn into Signs of Aging". With this night cream, the good folks over at Biotherm have put together a detoxifying blend of Tea Catechins, Buckwheat extract, Ruscus, Soy Protein and Cranberry extract so that SkinErgetic can help to activate toxin elimination and stimulate micro-circulation. 

Now I can't actually attest to the detoxification part, but I do know that when I used this moisturizer my skin felt soft and dewy. It absorbed really well, wasn't greasy, and had a fantastic (naturally derived) fragrance. My skin is slightly on the drier side and this moisturizer was just the tiniest bit too light. If I layered any one of my many serums underneath it, it felt like the perfect bit of moisture without overdoing it. 

I used this moisturizer every night while on our Dominican family vacation, and my face is the only part of me that didn't flake or peel...even after we returned home! Coincidence?

At $51 for a 50mL (1.7oz) glass jar, this is a well priced moisturizer, especially for those of us looking to limit our exposure to chemical laden cosmetic and skin-care products! I love it and I think you will too!

Click on the Sephora Banner below to buy it!

REVIEW: Burt's Bees Radiance Night Cream with Royal Jelly

After my pretty awesome experience with the Burt's Bees Cream Cleanser I thought I might try one of their creams to help battle my suddenly-dry skin. I know I haven't been drinking as much water as I should, and I know it's cold out and hot inside...but REALLY! My skin is pretty crazy dry.

I spent a considerable amount of time in-store reading the boxes for the various Burt's Bees moisturizers and decided to try the Radiance Night Cream with Royal Jelly.

The good folks at Burt's Bees claim that Royal Jelly is "very nourishing, royal jelly is made of nectar, pollen, flower parts, vitamins, minerals, bee hormones and other natural ingredients". To be honest, I just learned about the "bee hormones" part, which kind of gave me the giggles.

As a minor health fanatic, I have heard lots about the health benefit of Royal Jelly. If you do some research, you will learn that it does some amazing things for bees. Royal Jelly is what is fed to the Queen Bee, it is what makes her so much bigger than the other bees, and it is what makes her fertile (all other female bees are infertile). Royal Jelly is loaded with amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins B5 & B6, as well as the same anti-bacterial properties renowned in honey!

In the end, I figured since I'm the Queen Bee of my household I should try this moisturizer.

And it hasn't disappointed!

Despite a heavy load of oils in the Ingredient List (Sweet Almond Oil is second from the top, and further down you'll find Sunflower and Vegetable oils), this cream feels closer in texture to a lotion. Royal Jelly is the 9th ingredient from the top, and is followed by other awesome natural goodness, like Lemon Peel extract, Horsetail Extract, Rosemary and Pine Tree extracts, hops, etc.

The texture was very light, and even slightly sticky. The sticky feeling disappeared pretty quickly and wasn't off-putting, it just felt a little unusual at first.

The cream absorbed right in and did not feel heavy at all! My skin felt nourished, it looked beautiful and didn't feel dry! My skin has actually been so dry, that I was using this cream either (and sometimes, both) day or night!

This cream's ONLY downfall was its fragrance... it was the EIGHTH (!!!) ingredient from the top...meaning there was more perfume than Royal Jelly in this product. The smell was lovely, dont get me wrong, but surely it can't stink enough to warrant *that* much fragrance, right?

Hopefully that is something the good people over at Burt's Bees can fix sometime soon!

Also, at over $30 a jar, this product is WAY too expensive to not have tester jars out. There are Vichy, La Roche Posay, NeoStrata, etc creams at that same price range... and THEY have testers. **cough cough, are you listening Burt?**

This cream was lovely and nourishing that it actually encouraged me to buy the matching eye cream as well!!! I will review that another time...

In the meantime... TRY THIS STUFF!

Au Naturel Day 2

I don't wear much make-up in my day-to-day comings and goings. My average war paint consists of black mascara, a peachy blush, and lip balm. And it wore just fine yesterday over my moisturizer of coconut oil. Closer to the end of the day my mascara threw in the towel before I did. Probably because of the extremely rich Druide cream I used as my eye cream.

My face didn't get shiny as the day progressed, it started off a tiny bit tight after moisturizing with only the coconut oil, but after just an hour or so it felt fine but I never got oily! This is a crazy notion...even for me. :o)

I use a lot of NeoStrata products in my every day skincare routine. NeoStrata products are glycolic acid based, which means lots of exfoliation. I didn't want to give up the exfoliation - it could cause breakouts if your skin is used to shedding at a certain faster-than-average rate and you suddenly stop.

So I made a scrub using baking soda, activated charcoal, and a few drops of rosemary essential oil. After washing my face with GwendolynForever's Honey and Glycerin Cleanser (http://www.etsy.com/listing/34338193/honey-glycerin-cleanser-and-mask-4-oz) I scrubbed with my home-made scrub and my skin glowed! I followed with my toner (http://www.etsy.com/listing/55464096/oily-skin-toner-sage-aloe-witch-hazel), then used a dab of 99% organic Aloe Vera Gel (okay..I cheated, the other 1% of this product is quite laden with chemicals!) all over and sealed it in with a bit of Rose Hip Seed Oil. Again, I used the Druide Shea and Argan cream around my eyes...

I'm going to see if I can find an aloe vera plant today to use in lieu of the 99% organic stuff...

So far, so good. My skin is looking beautiful! Just as beautiful as when I use the chemical store-bought stuff.

Some of my favorite products

Asides from attempting to go as "au naturel" as possible, I do have some favorite products that are really natural. Sometimes, it's just not feasible for me to moisturize my body with Jojoba Oil (like when I'm in a rush...the oil needs a few minutes to absorb) and I NEED an actual moisturizing cream.

When you go natural, it's usually a bit more expensive. But its worth the extra tiny bit of money because the natural products last longer and you're minimizing your risk of disease and cancer, and you're protecting the environment by not using petro-chemical based products.

There is a company called Sigrid Natural Skin Care, it's a local company based out of Ontario (in Toronto when it's cold out). Their creams and butters are so amazingly natural. I even use their body creams on my son! They are a bit pricey, but worth the extra money! http://www.sigridnaturals.com/

Another local company is Green Beaver. Their price-point is surprisingly close to what you'd pay in a drug store for those easily recognizable brands. I had first discovered their face cream as it's completely chemical free. Then I fell in love with their Grapefruit Face Wash. I even tried their acne treatment when my pregnancy hormones left me playing connect-the-dots on my face! I am now addicted to their toothpaste. It tastes really good and is free of Sodium Laureth Sulfate, artificial sweeteners, flavours or colours, and there is no fluoride. (try rinsing with Hydrogen Peroxide afterwards - it's naturally anti-bacterial and naturally brightens your teeth without filling your mouth with artificial colours, flavours, alcohols, etc) http://www.greenbeaver.com/

Avalon Organics is another company I like. You can find their products at drugstores! They have a Vitamin C line of skincare which I really like. The facewash is so great, it removes make-up AND cleanses in one step. The Toner is perfectly light and alcohol free. The moisturizer is so nice and light, but not suitable for drier skin types. Vitamin C naturally brightens your complexion AND encourages collagen production. http://www.avalonorganics.com/?id=86

I am currently head-over-heels in love with my body butter by Alba - the Kukui Nut one. It smells so good, is intensly rich, and isn't expensive at all! Check it out here http://www.albabotanica.com/?id=66&pid=148

LaVanilla is a company that makes natural fragrances and skin care products. I LOVE LOVE LOVE their natural deodorant. It's quite pricey, it's like $22 at Sephora but it's worth it's weight in gold... It is free of Aluminum Chlorohydrate, Propylene Glycol, Petrochemicals, parabens, etc. And it REALLY WORKS! You still sweat (only anti-perspirants with Aluminum Chlorohydrate stop you from sweating, but that's dangerous for your body - it's been linked to breast cancer AND Alzheimers), however the corn starch in it helps to dry you up, the natural fragrances help to cover up any smell, etc. http://www.lavanila.com/Healthy-Deodorant_c_16.html

If you don't want to spend that kind of money on deodorant, then you need The Crystal. A variety of companies manufacture them... it's a crystal clear rock that you use on your underarms (apparantely people with smelly feet problems use them on their feet too). It ONLY works wet, so you have to wet the rock, and then persistenly rub it into your underarms. I use it on my wet skin immediately after I come out of the shower and rub it in each underarm for like 15 seconds. You really want to get this stuff onto your skin. It's literally like a rock, it takes forever to dissolve away...each rock will last A YEAR!!! Don't believe the people who tell you they used it and it didn't work... They didn't use it correctly. Remember, you have to wet the rock, and rub it for like 15 seconds or more. It has anti-bacterial properties, so even though you sweat, you wont get smelly! http://www.thecrystal.com/

I'm sure I'll think of more products to add, so this list will likely be changing in the very near future, but in the meantime these products should get you thinking about how easy it is to switch to more natural products that suit your hectic life-style