Peter Thomas Roth 8% Glycolic Solution Toner Review

Way, way back in January, I went to Sephora where I received a fantastic makeover that introduced me to one of my new favourite products: Peter Thomas Roth 8% Glycolic Solution Toner.

This stuff is magic. While many skincare products require weeks of daily (or even twice daily) usage before you see results, this toner started improving my skin within 48 hours. It was brighter, fine lines were soften and pores were less clogged. Yes, that's right, this amazing product targets both aging and blemishes.

The star of this product is glycolic acid, an type of alpha hydroxy acid (or AHA) that's renown for its ability to renew skin. PTR uses it at eight per cent, which apparently is ideal for AHAs. It also contains a good dose of witch hazel, which "helps effectively remove excess oil, dirt and impurities." This extra ingredient makes this product especially beneficial to someone like me who is prone to oily skin.

Deciem The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% Review

What grade would you give your skin? If it's a B, maybe a B+, I know of a product that might take your skin to an A: The Ordinary's Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%.

According to Deciem, "Niacinamide (Vitamin B3) is indicated to reduce the appearance of skin blemishes and congestion" while "A high 10% concentration of this vitamin is supported in the formula by zinc salt of pyrrolidone carboxylic acid to balance visible aspects of sebum activity." In other words, this serum-like product is supposed to give you clearer, brighter, healthier looking skin.

And I found that it did kind of do this. Using it on the parts of my face that were already at B-level did result in visibly improved skin, taking it up to an A-level. I'd put this on at night and when I'd wake up the next morning, my skin would be soft, smooth and clear.

Deciem The Ordinary's Salicylic Acid 2% Solution Review

So much for getting all my Deciem reviews done in January. While I've been busy with real, paying work, I'm determined to get two posts up this week so let's start with a look at a product I absolutely love: The Ordinary's Salicylic Acid 2% Solution.

While I'm in my 30s, I still regularly battle blemishes. Pimples, blackheads, whiteheads, I hate them and I want them gone. And with this product, I can just that. According to Deciem, this "2% treatment solution helps exfoliate the inside walls of pores to fight the appearance of blemishes and for better visible skin clarity with continued use." And yeah, that's exactly what this product does.

It's not a miracle-maker. If you put it on a nasty pimple it won't make it vanish overnight. However, I did find that it visibly improved pretty much any blemish-related problem area. Without a doubt, this product left me with clearer, brighter, healthier looking-skin.

Shu Uemura Porefinist Anti-shine Fresh Cleansing Oil Review

Will the third time be the charm when it comes to me using a Shu Uemura cleaning oil? I've previously used the brand's the Fresh Pore Clarifying Gentle cleansing oil, as well as its Anti-oxi Skin Refining cleansing oil, and neither product really did it for me. Would the company's Porefinist Anti-shine Fresh cleansing oil be any different?

According to Shu Uemura, this is an "incredibly lightweight cleansing oil that leaves the skin clean, fresh and refined." With a new formula that contains cinnamon bark extract, it supposedly "regulates sebum secretion day after day."

GLAMGLOW SUPERMUD Clearing Treatment Review

I really, really wanted to love SUPERMUD Clearing Treatment. According to GLAMGLOW, its "most advanced clearing treatment" is my ticket to "super clear super poreless skin." I want that!

And I also want to experience this, "Visibly see your pore congestion pull-out and encapsulate within the mask." I've yet to try one of those crazy Korean peel-off masks and while this technically is a mud mask that you wash off, its product description makes it sound like might produce the same kind of intense results.

In a perfect world you're supposed to use this mask three times a week for five to 20 minutes at a time. I initially doubted I would have enough free time to do that but then I found an even better reason not to: It burns. Now, I have the opposite of sensitive skin and I like to think that I have a fairly high pain tolerance. But despite that, I found this mask to be physically painful to use.

Bioderma Sébium AKN Review

I was absolutely thrilled when a received a full-size sample of Bioderma's Sébium AKN, a "smoothing and purifying treatment that biologically prevents the appearance of mild to moderate blemishes" in my May Topbox. According to Bioderma, this lotion "correct wrinkles and imperfections in a single step," making it the dream product that my aging, combination skin has been looking for.

Using some well-established ingredients including AHA and salicylic acid, this serum supposedly "resorbs blackheads" and "limits the appearance of pimples" while smoothing skin's texture and reviving its radiance. Sounds perfect to me.

Unfortunately, within days of using this lotion, my skin broke out. Prior to using it, my face had been almost blemish-free. That quickly changed, particularly on my forehead, which erupted with multiple small, red bumps.

24clearit Active Exfoliating Cleanser

Sometimes it pays to delay a blog post. I’d originally intended to write this blog post over a week ago but then life (really work) continued to be busy and I didn’t have time to write this post until Sunday, July 20. But that’s turned out to be a good thing because I now have a much better sense of how this product works.

I received this facial cleanser back in my March 2014 Topbox as part of a 24clearit trial kit. I wrote this review about three other products found in that box—the toner, the day cream and the night cream—but not the cleanser as I had temporarily lost it (I found it a few weeks ago under a bathroom skin). I wasn’t wowed by the results as the creams didn’t do much while the toner irritated my skin.

24clearit AM Clarifying Treatment, PM Recovery Treatment And Essential Clearing Toner

When I received my 24clearit Topbox back in March, my skin was going through a really, really good period and I didn’t need the five acne-fighting product contained within the box. So I put it aside and waited because I knew that sooner or later, the blemishes would be back.

 And unfortunately I was right. While I love hot, humid weather, the one downside to it is clogged pores and earlier this month, some congestion appeared on my skin. To fight it I decided to break out two 24clearit products: AM Clarifying Treatment and PM Recovery Treatment.

Both of these products are contain benzoyl peroxide as their key acne-fighting ingredient. In the AM lotion, the concentration is at 2.5 per cent. This “light, luxurious lotion” also contains 24clearit’s “proprietary Day Complex™” that is suppose to “protect skin against environmental elements while aiming to soften skin and calm hot spots.” The PM lotion contains 3 per cent benzoyl peroxide and the “proprietary Night Complex™” that is “Designed to be restoratively calming” and “protects against dryness, free radicals and calms hot spots."

Burt's Bees Anti-Blemish Pore Refining Scrub

This is no overnight, miracle product but if you’re patient and use it for at least three weeks, two-four times a week, this face scrub does seem to “help reduce blemishes and prevent future breakouts”, as per Burt’s Bees’ claim for this product.

While initially I wasn’t overly impressed with this scrub, which uses willow bark-derived salicylic acid to battle pimples , now, over three weeks into use, I do have the “refined, clear and smooth skin” that this product promised me.

And best of all I did it without irritating or over-drying my skin. Too often any anti-blemish products rob the skin of too much oil, leaving it dry and unhappy. But this one, which also uses “a natural fruit acid complex,” truly did provide “gentle exfoliating results.”

OSEA Red Algae Mask

On Saturday, I posted about OSEA, a new skincare line that I've been trying out. In addition to sending me a sample of the Ocean Cleansing Mudd, the nice people at OSEA also sent me a sample of their red algae mask.

Made with tons of natural ingredients, including USDA organic algae, red wine and vitamins E and C, this product claims to use a variety of antioxidants to help heal breakouts and purify pores.

Like most OSEA products, how you use it depends on your skin type. I have combination skin and that means I can use it as a regular mask as well as an overnight spot treatment.

First up, how it does as a mask.

OSEA Ocean Cleansing Mudd

Back in August I received a PR email from a US skincare company called OSEA. While I’d never heard of this brand, they immediately got my attention by offering tips on how to fight pimples.

One of those tips involved using OSEA’s Ocean Cleansing Mudd, an impressive-sounding product that’s,
“…formulated to remove impurities while clearing up blemishes and controlling excess oil production.”

The email went on to tell me that a host of healthy ingredients, including tea tree oil, jojoba oil and vitamin E, are packed into this cleanser that OSEA basically claims does it all, including, “…exfoliat(ing) and purify(ing) clogged pores and remov(ing) dead cells, leaving skin smooth and invigorated.”

It also mentioned that all OSEA products are completely vegan and 100% free of synthetic fragrances, genetically modified ingredients, petrochemicals, parabens and sulfates.

Neutrogena 3-in-1 Hydrating Acne Treatment

I have spent years searching for an acne treatment that does the following: 1) gets rids of nasty pimples in under 72 hours, 2) does it without making my skin dry and red and 3) goes on clear, stays clear and works under makeup.

And unfortunately, that quest is continuing because the latest product I’ve tried, Neutrogena’s 3-in-I Hydrating Acne Treatment, can only meet two of those three requirements (which, to be fair, is better than most products).

As its name suggests, this product has its own three aspects. It: “Treats acne pimples and allows skin to heal, helps prevent new acne pimples even before they emerge, and hydrates and softens.”

I wish 3-in-1 did all of that.

Vichy Normaderm Tri-activ Anti-imperfection Hydrating Care

With a name like that, you can’t help but have high hopes for this product. Plus Vichy is giving out free, seven-day samples so clearly, it has full faith in this item.  Unfortunately, at least for me, this product just didn’t deliver on its name or its various claims.

Basically, it states that it’s a “three-in-one” product that fights imperfections, mattifies and delivers 24-hour hydration. Now, I will say that it did a decent job at mattifying my skin but I should also point out that it’s December and mattifying isn’t really an issue right now.

But moisturizing is and sadly, this product just doesn’t deliver there. Instead it left my skin dry, flaky and worse of all, it didn’t plump up my forehead lines.

This product also didn’t do much to fight imperfections. I deliberately started using it just as some “problem areas” started appearing so that I could test this aspect of it and again, it just didn’t deliver. After three days, with my skin worsening, I had to bust out the Clearasil.

Between its anti-imperfection and mattifying claims, I thought that this lotion might shrink pore skin but again, it did nothing.

It did though “brighten” my skin but I think this was a side-effect of the fact that this light-weight lotion doesn’t absorb very well. Instead, it just sat on top of my skin and whenever I touched my face (to say, apply foundation), it rubbed off, taking that top, dull layer of skin with it.

At first I thought this was happening because I was using too much of the product (the sample sizes are fairly generous) so I used less and less of it (as a result, my seven-day sample turned into a 11-day one) but it didn’t matter, this stuff just wouldn’t absorb into my skin (which explains its overall poor results).

But while I didn’t have a very positive experience with this product, yours might be different. The free, seven-day sample promo is still happening so if you’re interested in this item, head on over to Facebook and request your sample.

Would I buy this again: No
Should you buy it: Only if the sample works for you

Body Clear Body Wash in Pink Grapefruit

Unless you’re buying a perfume, you should never pick a beauty product based on its fragrance. But every now and then a product comes along that just begs you to break that rule and if that product’s by a company you trust, well, then I think it’s more like bending a rule then breaking one.

A couple weeks ago I headed into Shoppers to pick up some more of my favourite Neutrogena body scrub. While I couldn’t find my usual stuff (Body Clear Body Scrub) I did find Body Clear Body Wash in Pink Grapefruit. Once sniff and I was sold and I’m glad I was.  This stuff smells great and is the perfect morning wake-up scent.

It’s made with “naturally derived grapefruit extract” and even two hours after my shower I could still faintly smell it on my skin (but don’t worry, it’s not strong enough that your cubicle neighbour will notice).

Besides smelling amazing, this is also an overall great body wash. It’s similar to the Body Clear Body Scrub though not as scrubby (personally I never found that product that scrubby to start with and always combined it with a Body Shop scrub when I needed to exfoliate, something I'll do again with the grapefruit scrub).
It washes off cleanly and, with two percent salicylic acid, it actually does help to keep skin clear, making it an ideal post-workout (or humid day) wash, as well as suitable for daily use.

However, because it does contain a decent amount of salicylic acid, it might not be the best choice for people with sensitive skin (at least not as a daily product). Also, while two percent salicylic acid is an effective acne-fighter, it can only do so much and if you have serious body acne issues, you’re going to need more than this wash.

But for the rest of us, this is definitely a product worth picking up, especially since it only runs around $10-$12 a bottle.

Would I buy this again: Yes
Should you buy it: Yes, as long as you like the smell of grapefruit