My Take on Skincare products

As you know by my previous blog on makeup, I use all natural, clean skincare products without preservatives. Some of the brands I recommend are Aubrey, MyChelle and Kiss the Face. I know that at Whole Foods and Sprouts, you can ask for samples and booklet information of MyChelle based on the skin type you have, they can give you their recommendation.

Myra Michelle Eby, who founded MyChelle, had worked for Aubrey previously. Aubrey products are mostly organic and great natural products, but they are not very effective in targeting problem areas, such as acne and aging issues. Therefore, Myra started her own company after doing her own research and mixing and matching natural ingredients.

MyChelle has a line of fabulous products. I experience some acne issues as an adult and somewhat oily/combination skin. Here is the list of what I am using in case you are interested: the White Cranberry cleasner, Clear Skin serum, Cranberry Mud Mask, Pumpkin Peel, Oil-free Grapefruit lotion, AND MOSTLY IMPORTANTLY the SPF 28 Sun Block for the face!! They all smell yummy, except for the unscented sun block, it does not smell like anything.

I'd suggest if you like anything, check out www.vitacost.com first before making purchases at Sprout. However, Sprout and Whole Foods have good return policy. Whole Foods' is 30 days with receipt and Sprout's is whenever with a receipt, granted that there is still good amount of product remaining. I had to do a fair amount of returning before I found what works for me.

Prices on Vitacost.com are much better than other retail stores, except for vitamins at the Vitamin Shoppe, but Vitamin Shoppe does not carry makeup and skincare. MyChelle tends to run high on prices, but the little amount of products goes a LONG way, and they use only quality ingredients. It's worthy it. The Cleanser especially last a while since you only use a pearl size of it each time, a small pearl size. Aubrey's are good too, if you don't have much skin problems to tackle. I started out my natural skincare adventure with Aubrey and it helped me tremendously to turn things around with my previous problematic skin, extremely sensitive skin and dry patches.

Watch for 20-25% off during line drive at Sprout, they discount for a whole month the brand that they are promoting. You should know by now I am a big fan of Sprout:)

Not all mineral makeup are equal!!

If you are like me, I love playing with makeup and play with samples whenever I have the chance. I was once in the cosmetics industry for several years and learned a few things about skincare and makeup.

A few years ago, my skin started doing some crazy stuff, like easily irritated by conventional beauty products. I heard that is common being that we women have ever-changing, uncontrollable hormones that control our bodies... especially before and after pregnancies, menstrual cycles, menopause, ...,etc.

Anyway, I was forced to look into natural products, like chemical-free, fragrance-free, preservative-free type of products. I started shopping for skincare and makeup at Sprout(my favorite place)and Whole Foods. I discovered some wonderful brands of products like Aubrey Organic, Kiss the Face, and now my favorite Mychelle (pronounced as "my-shell").

I was using some very popular brand of mineral powder makeup for over a year, then, one day someone educated me about mineral makeup that shone new light on it.

There are 3 things that we need to stay away from in mineral makeup: bismouth oxychloride, talc, and paraben. I have learned to not just take someone's word for it but to do my own research when I am told something.

Bismouth Oxychloride is a mineral and one of the most common ingredients found in mineral makeup. It's used as a filler but advertised as something that gives you that glow, which it does. However, it could irritate senstive skin and cause irritation when you sweat.

Talc is found in asbesto, which could cause lung cancer when inhaled. Morever, it can also clog pores and thus cause acne. I once called a cosmetic company and asked why they'd put talc in their mineral makeup to be their #1 ingredient. Their defense was that it was a cosmetic-grade talc and it doesn't really penetrate into skin, only lays on the top layer of skin. That's not true! Our skin absorbs about 60% of everything we put on, that means even toxins.

Paraben is a preservative with estrogenic properties, there are a variety of parabens like methyl-paraben and propyl-paraben. It is an inexpensive way to increase shelf life. Parabens can cause cancer due to their estrogenic activities. It is very commonly used in skincare, body care, cosmetics, and so on.

That's why reading labels are so important as sassy consumers. Just because you are in a "health-food store", don't assume that everything in there is good for you. Just because a brand calls itself "natural" and "healthful" doesn't mean that you can take their words for it.

Mychelle has an incredible stick foundation which I love. It's a big pricey but since a little goes a long way, it seems to last quite a while. Aubrey has a pressed silk powder make up, similar to the mineral, but it's pressed silk (doesn't it sound so delicate and fancy already), and it is fairly priced. I love their makeup and the blush as well.

Since we put lipstick on our lips, it goes directly into our digestive system. I feel that we especially have to be careful about that. Some lipstick carries lead, which is toxic for our bodies. Whole Foods has a makeup brand called Mineral Fusion. They have some good lipstick and lip gloss selection that would be safe to swallow.

Hope this has been helpful for you. I will give you more tips as I get new information. :)