2020
Updated: Dec 12, 2020
~My backyard hummingbirds fighting~
I hope you are all safe and healthy. It has been a very trying year for all of us and I am looking forward to the new vaccines to (hopefully) help us get back to some sort of new normal. I have had time to try some new products during this almost-year in quarantine and have a few skincare and makeup products/brands to share. :)
Please be safe out there.
Beautiful makeup. I've tried the blush and eyeshadows which come in pretty colors and feel really nice on the skin. You can make your own palette of different colors/refills which helps reduce waste. Their bigger pots of makeup have bamboo caps which are also environmentally friendly, sustainable and aesthetically pleasing. They also have skincare which I have not tried.
Great body butter made with shae butter and very few, simple ingredients. Good for intensive hydrating. It's great for feet, knees and elbows!
-Eye C Firm cream. I really love this and use it every day. It doesn't irritate my eyes and has wonderful ingredients. I also tried a bundle/kit they had last spring that included a lipstick, Lip Colour Serum, a Lumi Firm Cream Lip + Cheek, and a really nice double sided makeup/eyeshadow brush. I love everything. Their kits have changed but I'm a fan of all their ingredients. They don't put any junk in the products I have tried. Cute packaging too.
-Full Brow Serum. I recently received this as a sample in an order and ended up buying a bottle. This is definitely a luxury item but you only need one drop so it will last forever. It conditions your brows, keeps them in place and makes them look moisturized and full. Everything from Provence Apothecary smells absolutely lovely with their use of lavender so this works as an aromatherapy also (for me) which I love. It's a nice product to treat yourself to - very pampering.
So far I have only tried their Lip Doctor lip conditioner and it is the best lip treatment I have tried yet. My lips have been really chapped with the cold weather and getting older and this has helped me so much. It actually feels like it helps to heal them, not just cover them. Also, there are no essential oils in this to irritate sensitive lips and skin. It is my new favorite.
-Fragrance and Deodorant. I love their scents. You can sample them all. Their deodorant really, really works and smells so great. Blanche is my favorite and my 16 year old son uses Citron which I really like also and would totally wear if he didn't (mom and son cannot smell the same, haha). Ambre smells a bit like an elderly gentleman's scent to me. They do use some bio-identical fragrances which are more sustainable than some natural ones and they claim are non-toxic. I have found them listed repeatedly as being among the safe fragrances.
OSEA:
I have revisited this line to try some of their body products and their Hyaluronic Sea Serum:
-Hyaluronic Sea Serum - I usually try to avoid anything with Potassium Sorbate as an ingredient just as a precaution. It is a preservative, but is much safer than any paraben or even phenoxyethanol - according to the EWG. I have relaxed a bit when it comes to this ingredient. The more I read, the more it seems quite safe. I had been wanting to try this serum because of its wonderful ingredients and I recently scored a free gift of a full size bottle during the Black Friday event. I am really loving it so far. And I love that it has very few ingredients...less is more in the case of a serum for me. It is not irritating to my skin at all and it makes my skin feel ultra hydrated without feeling greasy. I am very pleased with it.
Other products by OSEA that I have been using and really like - no Potassium Sorbate or Sodium Benzoate in either of these:
-Undaria Algae Body Oil
-Anti-Aging Body Balm
-Organic Facial Wash. Smells so good and is great for aging or dry skin. Cleans without making your skin feel stripped. Wonderful ingredients.
-Stem Cellular Lifting Neck Cream. OK, so I am older (51, yikes!) and seeing the wrinkles and crepey skin (especially on my neck) so I'm trying this. I think it is definitely doing something...wrinkles seem to be smoothed out a bit. It smells great (like lemon) and has good ingredients that in theory should help with wrinkles - vitamin C, peptides, algae. I really like it for the delicate neck area. It's definitely better than not putting anything on my neck/chest.
-Green Apple Age Defy Moisturizer. I tried this as a sample and it's a wonderful, light moisturizer. This is great under makeup as it is not heavy or greasy feeling.