Review: Philosophy Made Simple One-Step Facial Cleanser

I used to be a good girl and cleansed, toned and moisterised religiously. However when I'm in a hurry, I always want to skip the toning because I don't seem to see the benefits of it instantly like I do with the other two steps.

And I have to admit that I naughtily stopped toning for a while when I ran out of it and while I sometimes felt guilty, my laziness runs deep.

So when I came across the Philosophy Made Simple One-Step Facial Cleanser which claims to cleanse, tone and melt away makeup in one step, all the while hydrating the skin - I knew I had to try it.

I've used a lot of it already when I took this picture! Sorry - but at least you know I really do use it!

I absolutely am in love with this product. I use it on its own in the morning and with my Clarisonic Mia (read my review of the Clarisonic here!) at night in the shower. I feel that it takes off my makeup really well (I use a separate eye makeup remover beforehand though) and my face always feels refreshed and clean after I use it.

I tend to have sensitive skin and I also wear contacts and it never has once irritated my skin or my eyes.

And of course the best thing is that I no longer have to feel guilty for being lazy - with the toning step included, I can walk away knowing that I have broken no cardinal skincare rules.

I'm keen to try some of the other Philosophy products, especially when all their product names are so cute like "Eye Hope" and "Full of Promise" - yes I'm a sucker for marketing. I guess I'm a prime target for them!

I bought my Philosophy Made Simple One-Step Facial Cleanser at Strawberry.net. It comes in a 5 sizes, ranging from 90mL to 946.4mL

Have you tried this cleanser or any of the other Philosophy products? Do you have anything to recommend me?

Review: Clarisonic Mia

The Clarisonic Mia is by far the most expensive beauty product that I have bought. But it is also the product that I consider my best buy to date.

As you can tell, this is a rave :)

Whenever I try to describe this to my friends, I always say that it's like an electronic toothbrush, but for your face. It's like a mini-exfoliation but gentle enough to do it everyday. On their website, they say it is safe to use up to twice daily but in my opinion, I think that's a bit too much so I stick to once a day.

They claim that it removes 2x the dirt and oil an 6x more than manually cleaning with your hands.

Obviously I can't test these statistics but I really believe that it does do more than manual cleaning. My skin feels more soft and cleansed after each use and I walk away confident that I have removed every speck of makeup off my face.

If you go to the Clarisonic website, you'll notice that they have different types of systems. I won't go into the difference of each one because they have a fantastic comparison chart on their website.

The Clarisonic Mia, which is the one I decided to go with comes in 13 different colours (something for everyone!) and it is also the smallest of all their systems.

Picture from the Clarisonic website: a colour for everyone!

It is a little overwhelming trying to decide which system you want to get (and to find one that you like within your budget) but I wanted the smallest one so I could travel with it as well.
It only has one speed setting but honestly, I have never used it thinking "I wish there was a different speed setting that I could use." The one speed does its job for me!

One of the best features of it is that it is completely waterproof so you can use it in the shower or tub. This is fantastic for me, I always take it in the shower and I use it when I'm leaving my conditioner in my hair for a minute or two so I get the job done without having to add any extra time to my routine.
You can choose to use it with whatever liquid face cleanser with the Clarisonic. I currently use the Philosophy One-Step-Cleanser (review here!) with it and I think it works wonderfully together.

The charger magnetically attaches to the Clarisonic - easy!

The other great feature is that a fully charged Clarisonic gives you 30 minutes of use. This may not sound like a lot but the Clarisonic is timed to one minute per use (it will automatically shut off after this) and since I only use it once a day, the charge lasts me up to a month.
Which means if you want to cut weight from your luggage when traveling, you can eliminate the charger if it's a short enough trip!

It is a universal voltage charger making it easy to travel with and it attaches to the Clarisonic magnetically so there is no fidgeting with wire heads, you slap it on and go!

There are also different brush heads (like normal, sensitive, deep pore etc) you can buy to suit your particular needs but the initial Kit does come with one sensitive or normal brush head to start you off.

There are different choices of brush heads for different types of skin and are meant to be changed regularly to get optimum results

Before the use of the Clarisonic, I had average skin. I had the occasional breakout and the pores on my cheeks and nose were noticeable which has always been a problem for me. Now, after about 9 months of using the Clarisonic, my skin is smoother, my pores have shrunk (not that they have completely disappeared but I have noticed a difference), I barely get breakouts anymore and I have constantly received compliments from family and friends that my skin is looking so clear, bright and smooth.

Bottom line: if you're fed up with your skin cleansing system at the moment and it's not giving you the results that you want - then give this a try. I can't guarantee that it will work wonders for you too but I absolutely love it and I can't live without it now!

I got a friend of mine to buy it for me while she was in the States but to those in Australia and New Zealand, Ry.com.au sells these and offers free shipping in Australia for purchases over $150 and international deliveries as well. And as an added bonus, at the time of this post, they're offering 20% off the Clarisonic Systems! (I'm not affiliated with them, just happened to discover this when I was researching the links for this post).

I think I've raved on enough about this! Hope it was informative and let me know if you use it and love it, or will be giving it a go!

Yve
<3

Review: F.A.B Ultra Repair Cream

In all my life, I've never had dry facial skin. But when I moved to New Zealand about a year and a half ago, the constant windy cold weather brought a problem to me that I never had to deal with before.

I was at a total loss at what to do -- suddenly my foundations wouldn't blend in properly and annoyingly clung to all the dry patches on my face.

So I had to switch up my facial moisterisers to try to find one that would help me. I heard that F.A.B (First Aid Beauty) had come to New Zealand and after seeing Fleur's review, I was very interested in trying it.

F.A.B was launched by Lilli Gordon in 2009 when she realised that all the products in the market "worked but felt like medicine, felt great but were not effective, or smelled wonderful but made her sensitive skin red and irritated". So she created a range that would give all the therapeutic benefits to people with tough skin conditions without having to compromise on luxury.

I gave the F.A.B Ultra Repair Cream a try. And I have to say I really like it.

It feels like a thick formula however it blends fast into the skin without leaving any greasy residue or shine.

It's fragrance-free so it just smells like normal sorbolene cream that you can get at a pharmacy. I feel like my foundations have been blending better into my skin and I haven't broken out while using it. I only use it on my face but it can be used on the body as well.

Basically it does everything it claims and that's the way it should be!

I got it in the 170.1g because it is more economical but it does come in a tube with 56.7g if you wanted to get a smaller one to test out, travel with or to throw in your handbag for convenience.

In New Zealand you can get it at Farmers for $34 (or $19 for the tube) and you can also get it exclusively at David Jones in Australia.

It is also available at Feel Unique which offers free delivery worldwide (whose eyes light up when they see free delivery? *raises hand and waves*)

I'm interested in testing some of the other products in the brand but not sure where to start. Have any tried any? What would you recommend?

Yve
<3