After moving home from uni, I've been clearing through all my old crap at my parent's house. It occurred to me, as I was sifting through piles of barely used ointments and lotions, how much money I've wasted on products that end up causing an allergic reaction. This has to be one of the banes of life for people with eczema or sensitive skin: the unpredictability of this sensitivity. Sometimes my skin copes fine with a bargain high street brand, and there is no reaction, and other times you buy a product that's had great reviews on-line, or even a brand of a product that supposed to be designed for eczema/sensitivity, and it ends up causing a reaction.
In order to try and stop wasting so much money, I've been trying to get my hands on testers to use before I commit to buying a large product. Some places will give you a reasonable sized trial size to use and make sure you don't have a reaction - I've got good ones from Lush and from Estée Lauder. To really trial a product, you need to be able to introduce it into your daily routine, applying it to clean skin and leaving it for several hours - preferably over the course of a few days - to see if anything horrendous happens.
This is why I find the testers available in the Body Shop aren't good enough - yes, you can try a product on the back of your hand in store, but there's no way to know whether or not your skin is compatible with a cleanser until you've used it properly in your own home. I recently bought the Camomile Cleanser from the Body Shop, as it is designed for sensitive skin and was fine on my hands, but I only had to try it on my face once at home to realise how drying it was.... KABAM, £12.00 wasted and a full tin of cleanser left to clog up my cupboards! This goes to show that you need to test a product on the part of your body you'll be using it!
When testers aren't available, try and see if a friend has a product you can try out. I've found people are really eager to share they favourite products and spread the joy. This is obviously a lot easier when you live with friends.
When the budget doesn't stretch to the luxury brands which offer decent trials, we're left to relying on what products say on the packaging. But be wary because I've found even those products that claim to be designed for dry or sensitive skin don't necessarily do any good. My most recent regret was Vaseline's Total Moisture with Oat extract, which I hoped would have similar effects as Aveeno (which also contains oats) but in a cheaper price range. The tell-tale sign that this wouldn't go down well is the promised 'clean feel' - read, STINGING feel of the cream!
There is always a risk associated with buying a new product, no matter what type of skin you have. But when you do have a skin condition it makes shopping tiring and frustrating - and expensive. Obviously the ultimate solution is to find out what ingredients exactly it is you are allergic to, and avoid those at all costs. But in the meantime, I'm trying to regard the process of trialling - and discovering - new products for my skin as an enjoyable experience, which is one of the reasons I started this blog.
Monday, July 14, 2014
Monday, July 7, 2014
CLEANSE by Suti: REVIEW
This is a review of Suti's cleansing balm CLEANSE on eczema prone skin.
I read about Suti online and it had some good reviews, so I wanted to try it. I emailed the company to see if they provided testers, and they sent a personal response recommending the 'trial pack', which includes their best sellers in trial size. This pack is very nicely packaged, in a small bag, with cards explaining the products included. For this review I will focus on the Cleanse balm.
Suti is an interesting brand: its run by a sister-in-law duo who centre their products around their experience in healing, aromatherapy and homepathy. This explains why when you open the balm it smells like you've stepped into a oily massage parlour extravaganza: its got a full combo of citrus and floral essential oils, as well as the fancy pants organic avocado and apricot kernel oils. The balm is full of small balls of shea butter that are meant to 'melt' on contact with skin. Overall, the smell and feel of the balm is luxurious and expensive.
You take a dollop, and rub it onto dry skin, massaging it right in. I could actually feel the little balls of shea melting under my fingers. Before a shower, you can put it on your skin and leave it like a face mask, so the shower steam helps it be more effective. I don't know if that actually works, but it is easier to get the stuff off in the shower than over a sink. Either way, you're meant to use a 'muslin cloth' (read: wet flannel) and rub it off in circular motions. The guide recommends taking 2 or 3 tries to make sure you get rid of all the cleanser - and it certainly doesn't come off easily. Also its transparent, so you can't really tell whether its gone or not, but I kind of poke my face a bit and see if it still feels tacky. I've never spent so long cleansing beforen and the process takes a bit of getting used to, and it added time to my previous routine (which was just splashing water in my face...), but I quite enjoyed it.
When I finished and dried my face I had an extremely alien and unusual sensation - unlike usual, my skin did not have that taught, dry feeling, desperate for my to immediately moisturise. Instead, it felt supple, springy and clean! When I put on my moisturiser, instead of having to do the entire job of moisturising my face, it feels like my skin is already halfway there. Initially I experienced a bit of breakout on my forehead and cheeks - I don't know whether that was my failure to effectively remove the cleanser or just the change in routine, but it seems to have settled down now. Also, from my point of view, I much, much prefer spots to eczema and redness.
Overall, I really enjoyed using this product, its clearly high quality and it does its job. It has really helped keep my face in good condition and I feel cleansing daily helps give my skin more shine. The trial pack is a good idea if you want to try it, to make sure you don't react to any of the ingredients.
Without using it everyday, the trial size lasted me about a month. Now I'm considering buying the full size, but its not a bargain: £28 for 500ml. Although I know this would last for a long time, its a big splurge for me at the moment. So I'm having a go with some other cleansing balms to see how I get on, but at the moment, nothing is proving itself to be better than Cleanse.
The trial pack is available from Suti's website for £6.50 (plus P&P)
The cleanser can also be bought from their website, but if you get it from Naturisimo you get free P&P and some free samples!
I read about Suti online and it had some good reviews, so I wanted to try it. I emailed the company to see if they provided testers, and they sent a personal response recommending the 'trial pack', which includes their best sellers in trial size. This pack is very nicely packaged, in a small bag, with cards explaining the products included. For this review I will focus on the Cleanse balm.
Suti is an interesting brand: its run by a sister-in-law duo who centre their products around their experience in healing, aromatherapy and homepathy. This explains why when you open the balm it smells like you've stepped into a oily massage parlour extravaganza: its got a full combo of citrus and floral essential oils, as well as the fancy pants organic avocado and apricot kernel oils. The balm is full of small balls of shea butter that are meant to 'melt' on contact with skin. Overall, the smell and feel of the balm is luxurious and expensive.
You take a dollop, and rub it onto dry skin, massaging it right in. I could actually feel the little balls of shea melting under my fingers. Before a shower, you can put it on your skin and leave it like a face mask, so the shower steam helps it be more effective. I don't know if that actually works, but it is easier to get the stuff off in the shower than over a sink. Either way, you're meant to use a 'muslin cloth' (read: wet flannel) and rub it off in circular motions. The guide recommends taking 2 or 3 tries to make sure you get rid of all the cleanser - and it certainly doesn't come off easily. Also its transparent, so you can't really tell whether its gone or not, but I kind of poke my face a bit and see if it still feels tacky. I've never spent so long cleansing beforen and the process takes a bit of getting used to, and it added time to my previous routine (which was just splashing water in my face...), but I quite enjoyed it.
When I finished and dried my face I had an extremely alien and unusual sensation - unlike usual, my skin did not have that taught, dry feeling, desperate for my to immediately moisturise. Instead, it felt supple, springy and clean! When I put on my moisturiser, instead of having to do the entire job of moisturising my face, it feels like my skin is already halfway there. Initially I experienced a bit of breakout on my forehead and cheeks - I don't know whether that was my failure to effectively remove the cleanser or just the change in routine, but it seems to have settled down now. Also, from my point of view, I much, much prefer spots to eczema and redness.
Overall, I really enjoyed using this product, its clearly high quality and it does its job. It has really helped keep my face in good condition and I feel cleansing daily helps give my skin more shine. The trial pack is a good idea if you want to try it, to make sure you don't react to any of the ingredients.
Without using it everyday, the trial size lasted me about a month. Now I'm considering buying the full size, but its not a bargain: £28 for 500ml. Although I know this would last for a long time, its a big splurge for me at the moment. So I'm having a go with some other cleansing balms to see how I get on, but at the moment, nothing is proving itself to be better than Cleanse.
The trial pack is available from Suti's website for £6.50 (plus P&P)
The cleanser can also be bought from their website, but if you get it from Naturisimo you get free P&P and some free samples!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)