Cleanser

For an oil cleanser that won’t strip your skin, end your day with the Skin Creamery Oil-Milk Facial Cleanser

July 2, 2018 Paris B Leave a Comment

Occasionally I stumble on a brand where I seem to love everything they put out. I love it better when they are small brands that are off the main grid because it’s always fun to discover something new. One such brand is Skin Creamery. When I tried the Skin Creamery Oil-Milk Facial Cleanser, I therefore expected to love it.

I’d been very impressed by 2 items I’d tried from this South African brand before this – their Everyday Cream and their Facial Hydrating oil. I still use them both and I’m still as impressed by them today as I was before. It’s taken me a while to expand my experience with their products, but this is certainly a case of better late than never!

The reason it’s taken me a while to get round to this, is because I have been a little averse to using oil cleansers. I learnt about double-cleansing through oil cleansers, but I also learnt from experience, that they are incredibly drying to my skin. Over the years, I have come across the odd cleansing oil or oil cleanser (slight difference) that do not dry or dehydrate your skin. They are few but they are available – and happily, I can now add another to that list! 😀

Love using gel cleansers? Here are a couple of non-drying gel cleansers that won’t strip your skin

June 27, 2018 Paris B 6 Comments

I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with gel cleansers. On the one hand, I love them. I love the gel texture, and how it feels so light on the skin. I hate how it dries me out.

While gel cleansers do not necessarily mean foaming cleansers, they do generally tend to foam up, and it is the ingredients used in creating such foam, that makes our skin dry out. If possible, I’d say to avoid foaming cleansers altogether. But that would be over-generalizing, because it can be helpful for oily skin types. Truthfully also, it does feel quite nice to wash your face with light airy foam.

I now tend to use only cream or milk cleaners, which feel more gentle and less stripping on my drier skin. But it hasn’t stopped me testing out the odd gel cleanser.

Sometimes, I am happy to find one that not only feels gentle on the skin, but does not strip the skin more than normal, and I’m happy to share it with you! If you know of more, please do share, because it is helpful to know of gel cleansers that do not strip your skin and dry you out!

I only sampled the Three Aiming Cleansing Balm but it wormed its way into my affections as quickly as One, Two and Three!

May 28, 2018 Paris B 9 Comments

I recently shared with you one of my favourite cleansing balms, which naturally prompted rumblings of dissent over how hard it was to get hold of. I’ve come to be immune to such rumblings LOL! But I was thinking about it and remembered that I had recently sampled the Three Aiming Cleansing Balm, which had also captured my imagination, and which is easier to get hold of locally.

Three is a Japanese brand with an interesting holistic approach. If you are familiar with Japanese brands, you’d know there aren’t many that have this approach. The products in Three are made with botanical extracts using essential oils and have organic origins. To me, it comes across as having an aesthetic and story that feels different, from the normal scientific approach taken by most Japanese cosmetics brands.

I haven’t tried much from Three, so if you have, I’m naturally curious to know what you love about the brand and what I might try next. In my case, I have to say that my interest was piqued by my experience with a sample of the Three Aiming Cleansing Balm.

Trying out some natural skincare freshly picked on The Herb Farm

May 16, 2018 Paris B Leave a Comment

I was first introduced to one of my favourite skincare brands – Antipodes – through TNS Skinlabs and since then, I have implicitly trusted the selection of brands they carry or offer for me to try. Some hits, like Antipodes, some misses (never liked the Shikai haircare). So, when I was offered a chance to try another natural skincare range from New Zealand, I agreed to have a go.

This was The Herb Farm, a brand I’d never heard of before this.

I was gifted with a set of trial-sized skincare, that is fairly affordable if you’d like to try something new, and is a good enough size to last you about a month or a little more. The set I have is The Herb Farm Normal (including sensitive skin) skincare mini set and there is another for oily-combination skin.

The Herb Farm is a family owned business in New Zealand, and their skincare range focuses on using natural ingredients, using herbs and herbal remedies. I can’t deny I was quite intrigued.

Cleanser

The fun and previews happen on Instagram @parisbmws