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Tuesday 30 July 2013

Drugstore Products for Oily Skin

Garnier Moisture Match Shine Be Gone, Lush Aqua Marina, The Body Shop Tea Tree Facial Wash Reviews


Hi!  So, instead of a fashion-related post today, I have a beauty one instead, simply because there are some products that I have been using which I really like and which have been helping with my oily/spot-prone skin - so if this post can help anyone else out, then I'll be happy!  All of these are 'drugstore' or highstreet products, and all of them come in at under £7, so won't break the bank any time soon! I'm not expert on skincare, and these are just my opinions, obviously if you have problem skin, I would advise speaking to a proffessional.  But if you want to try something new, these are some products that I'd recommend!

Lush - Aqua Marina

The firs product is Lush's Aqua Marina, a cleanser which claims to 'smooth and calm' your skin, and is also mattifying, as I was told by the shop assistant.  It comes in at just over £6.


I think it's quite cute how there's a little yellow sticker on each product telling you who made it - plus the expiration date, which is 3 months, as Lush products don't tend to have preservatives.


The product looks like this - it is a pale pink squishy paste with green seaweed-type stuff running through it, which you either love or hate the look of!  The smell is also quite distinctive, very salty, the best that I can describe it it like the beach, so I'd recommend smelling it before you buy to see if you like it!


You are meant to use the product by putting a pea-sized amount in your hand and mixing it with water to a 'milk or paste' consistency - although this works, if I'm in a rush I find it easier to dot the product on my face and then rub water over it, as it is a little fiddly to do it the other way!


Overall the ingredients seem good, as with most Lush products they are natural, but I do wonder about the 'perfume' at the end of the list, as they don't say what it actually is!  As for how this worked on my skin, I can say that my face freaked out when I first used it, but don't worry if this happens, as your skin will usually change or break out if you change your routine.   It definitely mattifies my skin, but also leaves it very soft, which is great!  The only thing I would say is that after using this you must ensure to rinse your face very well, as - although none of the ingredients are bad for you - it isn't good to have a thick product like this clogging up your skin!  I do like it though, and it is quite a refreshing change from most of the harsh cleansers which are usually for oily skin.

 The Body Shop's Tea Tree Skin Cleansing Facial Wash

Our second product is from The Body Shop, and claims to be a 'daily-use for blemished skin facial wash' that will give 'clearer-looking skin when used as part of a regular regime', which costs £5.


It is of regular face-wash consistency: a runny clear green gel, with a pleasant sharp tea-tree smell.


I'm not sure whether it would be classed as a foaming cleanser - you can see in the picture though that it does lather up well, and I can definitely feel it cleaning my skin.

This is a full list of the ingredients:
 Aqua (Solvent/Diluent), Glycerin (Humectant), Sodium Laureth Sulfate (Surfactant), Cocamidopropyl Betaine (Surfactant), PEG-120 Methyl Glucose Dioleate (Viscosity Modifier), PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil (Emulsifier), PEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate (Emulsifier), Polysorbate 20 (Emulsifier), Alcohol Denat. (Solvent/Diluent), Panthenol (Skin/Hair Conditioning Agent), Melaleuca Alternifolia Leaf Oil (Natural Additive), Calophyllum Inophyllum Seed Oil (Skin Conditioning Agent), Allantoin (Skin Soothing Agent), Citric Acid (pH Adjuster), p-Anisic Acid (pH Modifier), Benzophenone-4 (Sunscreen agent, Ultraviolet Light Absorber), Menthol (Cooling Agent), Sodium Hydroxide (pH Adjuster), Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane (Sunscreen), Limonene (Natural Additive), Leptospermum Petersonii Oil (Natural Additive), t-Butyl Alcohol (Denaturant), Denatonium Benzoate (Denaturant), Tocopherol (Antioxidant), Caramel (Colour), CI 19140 (Colour), CI 42090 (Colour).

Now, in comparision with the Lush cleanser, the ingredients are definitely not as good or as natural, so perhaps is your skin is very sensitive I would recommend the other product.  Sometimes I think hat The Body Shop pretends to be a lot more natural than it is - a simple rule that I have is: the more ingredients there are, and the less understandable their names are, the less natural the product is!  That said, it isn't overloaded with as many horrible things as some drugstore cleansers are!  I really bought this product when I was just at my wits end for skincare, and needed something that helped with my spots - I didn't want to keep on wasting my cash on stuff that didn't work!  And thankfully, this worked.  By no means does it completely clear up your skin or make it perfect.  But it does keep breakouts at bay, and helps to minimize oiliness, which is good enough for me!  It is great in summertime too, but in winter, if you get patchy or dry skin, I maybe wouldn't recommend it, as it is quite drying, however it can still work if you use a good moisturizer, as I can't always afford to switch up my skincare every season!

Garnier Moisture Match Shine Be Gone

This moisturizer claims to give a long-lasting mattifying effect, and to moisturize for up to 24 hours (it also says a bunch of other fancy stuff on the packaging, which all basically means the same thing!), and sells for around £4 (in Boots), although when I got mine it was on offer for about £2!


This is what the product itself looks like - in the picture it appears white, but it does have a slightly green colour.


If you look closely here, you can see that the texture of the moisturizer isn't your typical cream - I think they called its a gel-cream or mousse, the texture is really hard to describe because when you rub it in you can feel it separating into pieces then into a kind of almost grainy-velvety texture - its just really weird! I like that this product isn't scented, because nothing annoys me more than scented moisturizer.

These are the ingredients:
Aqua/Water, Glycerin, Isononyl Isononanoate, Alcohol Denat, Acer Saccharinum Extract/ Sugar Maple Extract, Ammonium Polyacryldimethyltauramide/ Ammonium Polyacryloyldimethyl Taurate, Behenyl Alcohol, Benzyl Alcohol, Benzyl Salicylate, Biosaccharide Gum-1, Camellia Sinesis Leaf Extract, Caprylyl Glycol, C1 42090/ Blue 1, C1 47005/ Acid Yellow 3, Citronellol, Disodium Ethylene Dicocamide Peg -15 Disulfate, Glyceryl Stearate, Glyceryl Stearate Citrate, Limonene, Linalool, Mannose, Phenoxyethanol, Pyrus Malus Water/ Apple Fruit Water, Silica, Sodium Acrylates Crosspolymer-2, Sodium Hydroxide, Tetrasodium EDTA, Xanthan Gum, Parfum/Fragrance.

One thing that annoys me about the ingredients is that the fourth one in is an alcohol (ingredients are listed according to quantity, the most first) which can be drying for your skin (which isn't good even when you want to mattify).  On the whole, I quite like this moisturizer as it is quite light and oil-free, however it doesn't have an spf, so if you are going to be outside, layer it up with other products.   Unfortunately, I didn't really notice the mattifying effect and I don't believe the 24-hour-hydration claim (I'd apply it every 12 hours).  But it is a nice, non-greasy moisturiser, that doesn't impact on my oily skin in a bad way, so its fifty fifty.

Thanks for reading!  As I said, I have no expert opinion on these products, this is just what they did for me.  I do use them all together - first the tea tree cleanser, then Aqua Marina, then the moisturizer (I used two cleansers because I prefer the tea tree one after I've taken off my makeup to get rid of any left over bits, and I like the calming effects of the other cleanser afterwards, so I feel that together, they both do a better job than apart).

Have a fantabulous day!  Bexx xx

(disclaimer: products bought by me, opinions are my own, not sponsored or associated with any of these brands)

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