Skincare Sunday | What I Want to Purchase

I’m by no means a skincare junkie, though I do really enjoy researching and trying new products. Some of the products that I currently use are running low and though they worked fine, I do want to try some new things that I’ve come across. Some of these have been on my to buy list for the last year or so and I’ve put them in my cart multiple times, I’ve just never committed to purchasing them. It mostly came down to price not a lack of interest or suitability.

I’ve got a mostly cleansers on my list, these are the products that I really can’t live without. I need to properly remove all of the sunscreen and makeup that I’ve worn, and if it was an I didn’t leave my house all day kind of day then I still need to remove the oily layer that my skin has developed. No joke, sometimes I’ve gotten so oily that If I rub my eyes it’s enough to cause irritation.

Back to the point, cleansers, I do really think that there my favourite product, followed by chemical exfoliants.

There are some items on the list that just caught my attention and sound interesting, so I’ll keep an eye out for when they might possibly go on sale.

Illi Deep Cleansing Oil - Since I first came across this product it was one that I wanted to try. It’s got some hangbang properties in that that Illi line uses a lot of traditional herbs and plants in their formulations. Reviews have said that it removes nearly all of your makeup in one go, the only thing it has a problem with is eyeliner. It grabs most but not all of it.

Muji Cleansing oil - This is a great affordable alternative to both the Illi and LJH oil cleansers. It gets good reviews in the Asian Beauty reddit. It’s your basic paired down oil cleanser with minimal fuss but gets the job done and does it well. I do like muji products though I have yet to try any of their skincare items, so this would be my first foray into what they have to offer.

LJH Cellabel M.C. Cleansing oil - Fanserviced, said this is her favourite cleansing oil. You might have already realized that this is the third cleansing oil on my list. It’s okay, I won’t purchase them all at the same time. :) I do like LJH products and since this comes highly recommended I’d like to try it. Whether or not I love it as much as she does remains to be seen, from reviews it does seem to remove makeup rather well, and since I’ll be using a second cleanser I’m not worried about the possibility of it leaving an oily residue on my skin.

Drunk Elephant Vitamin C- Serum- I heard that this is a great alternative to the Skinceutical’s vitamin C serum, not that there that off in price. I’ve been hearing about the Drunk Elephant brand for a while and wasn’t too into. I have to say that the name turned me off a bit, plus they are pretty expensive. Two things have changed my mind though, the first being I came across a review for this Day serum that said it was amazing and worked great for the reviewers skin. I’ve used a vitamin C serum before and liked it though it was a fraction of the cost. I found that if you wear sunscreen daily - and you should, that using a vitamin C serum before you apply the sunscreen helps the absorption of the sunscreen. Since I have darker skin, if my sunscreen is blended in well, heck even when it’s blended I can still get a white cast on my face.

The second thing that changed my mind about the Drunk Elephant brand was finding out the meaning behind their name. This little tidbit I learned from a Stephanie Nicole video. The brand uses Marula oil extensively throughout their product line, the macula fruit when it’s over ripe can sometimes get fermented. When the elephants would eat the fermented Marula fruit they would get a little tipsy. Hence Drunk Elephants. It’s a cute story, no?

Edit: This serum is not available to ship to Canada from either Sephora or the Drunk Elephant site. I did find on Amazon.com though.

Drunk Elephant TLC  Framboos Glycolic night serum- This one was just in support of the Drunk elephant line. Because I use BHA and AHA’s some nights I already get my chemical exfoliation in, but the product does seem interesting.  This serum uses 12% glycolic acid (derived from sugar cane) which is an AHA.It safely removes the outer layer of dead skin cells on your skin, bringing fresh, new skin to the surface and is good at helping with discolouration. This  serum as a higher percentage of AHA than my current serum which is 8%. 

Some reviews have said that this serum might be too much for you skin if you have dry skin or normal and dry skin. However for my oily skin it should work great, as it won’t be as drying.

Edit: For some reason Sephora is able to ship this serum to Canada

Sunday Riley Good Genes- This serum is also for chemical exfoliation, it too falls under the AHA banner but is lactic acid based (derived from milk) instead of glycolic like the Drunk Elephant serum.This operates in a similar way to glycolic acid in that it removes the outer layer of dead skin cells, and is said to help with wrinkles and increases the natural barrier lipids in our skin. Caution should always be used when using AHA’s as they make you sensitive to the sun’s rays, so wearing sunscreen is a must if you don’t want to undo the benefits of the AHA or make your skin worse.

Sulwhasoo Snowise Ex Cleansing Foam- This was one of the products that have been on my want list for months, however I found out that they recently reformulated and now have a higher ph. I prefer cleansers that have a low ph. If I even try out a cleanser with a high ph my skin reacts unfavourably. Here’s hoping that they bring back the original awesomeness that this cleanser was.

Glossier Milky Jelly Cleanser- I would use this cleanser either has my morning cleanser or on the days where I haven’t worn any makeup or sunscreen and just want to gently cleanse the oil that my skin has naturally produced.

Edit: This guy's not available for international shipping either. 

Guerisson 9Complex Toner- Ever since I read about this toner on VanityRex’s blog I’ve wanted to try it. Again this is one of those items that I’ve added to my cart only to be deterred by the heavy shipping cost. This toner is apparently great for oily skin and works to plump and soften the skin. I have the Guerisson cream and I like it. I love to use it on nights where I’ve used my BHA and AHA chemical exfoliants. It really locks in the moisture that I use in my routine after I’ve done the treatments.