Oil Cleansing

Last night I got totally Cr@Zy and decided to try the Oil Cleansing Method that I've been reading about. My skin is pretty oily and acne prone (the best kind!), so my first thought was oil on oily skin?? But after reading, yes please!


I bought some Jojoba Oil at Trader Joe's - I'm not brave enough to go with Castor Oil yet. I rubbed a small amount of the oil on my face and deep into my pores and then took a washcloth, soaked in hot water, and placed it on my face until the washcloth turned cool (1 question - how do you breathe? I left a small opening at the bottom). Then I repeated this process about 3 more times, until I felt like the majority of the oil was gone. As time went on my waterproof mascara was dissolved by the oil. That was neat - but seriously it was! At the end I patted my face down with the damp washcloth and then a clean towel.

The immediate result was an extremely soft face. I loved that aspect of it. Did I need to moisturize? My face felt soft with a slight bit of oil left (which I probably should have steamed off one more time, but whatevs), but I think my skin probably needed to keep some of the oil. In the end I put a little Cetaphil on my forehead just in case. This seems like an unnecessary step for the future. The other concern I have is that my skin can get really red. I can see the piping hot washcloth as a problem for people with rosacea or a tendency for rosacea. This could become a problem if I made this a nightly skin care routine. This morning my skin felt cleansed and not at all oily. I was really pleased with the immediate results, and I think/hope it will only get better!

Hand Soaps

What's on your sink now?
Dial Classic Gold

I'm not ready to give up this clean scent right now. Maybe when I see a spring scent I'll switch, but right now I'm content. Lauren's post brought up an interesting point. Softsoap brand just doesn't do it for me in the handsoap department. I don't feel like I'm killing all the germs. We have the honey & milk scent at the office and I have to use it every day.

More importantly how does everyone feel about the foam soaps? I've read that there's no difference in their cleaning powers, but something about the texture doesn't feel like it's getting all the germs. Which is probably just my OCD-ness, but still. I want a good lather and I feel like some foam brands skip on that. I've sampled the Tone Foaming Hand Wash Island Mist recently. I like the scent, but I think it's just my overall problem with foam soaps that keeps me from loving it. Side note - do you remember Tone bar soap? My mom used to use it in the summer and I love the scent of it. I forgot that they even make this brand still, and the website was not the easiest to find but I'm glad to see them still around.

Q. What do you think when you hear the name, Softsoap?

This was a question that was presented to me at a focus group I participated in at work last fall. We always get emails asking things like, "Are you a working mother with kids aged 5-12?" Or, "Are you an 18-35 male that likes whiskey?" And the most recent and somewhat disturbing question we got in an email last week, "Did your infant suffer from a retrovirus?" Gross. Most of the time I can't participate, but last fall we got one that actually sparked something in me. "Are you a lover of beauty products? If so, please participate in this focus group. A gift bag will be provided. YESSSSSS.

So, I go to the focus group. Turns out 103,482,374,823,748,023 other women in my company also signed up, so they had to break it off into much smaller sections. So small, that I was in a group with only one other girl. So there was a lot of time for questioning. I think the focus group interviewer (a brand planner) got really annoyed with me right off the bat because when I answered the above question, I said "boring." The other girl I was with said something similar. So that sort of set the tone, but I wasn't worried because I got to ramble on about shower gels for an hour and cut out some "beauty-related" pictures from a magazine. All for a gift bag at the end. So, after an hour of discussing, Brand Planner handed us a large toothpaste and a shower gel. SCORE! The shower gel was the new Softsoap body wash called Body Butter Coconut Scrub, and let me tell you, it completely exceeded my expectations!

Now, a point I would like to make here is that I don't dislike the Softsoap brand altogether. I've purchased quite a few of their products in the past. It's just that it doesn't generate a lot of excitement. It's the stuff you find in your grandma's guest bathroom. But I must say, this coconut stuff is great! I usually like to use shower gels that are scented for the season (i.e. I will only use pumpkin spice in the fall), but I went ahead and used the coconut wash in January because it had such a warm and toasty scent. Like chestnuts roasting, or something similar. Another reason I thought it was wintery was because the product itself is pretty thick and softening. Not a cool gel that I would prefer for summer.

So n e wayz, this spring, I needed a new shower gel. I went over to CVS expecting to be totally disappointed in the pathetic selection, but I was wrong. Softsoap unleashed another pleasantly scented shower gel - Body Butter Apricot Scrub. It's lovely! A great scent for spring, this body wash leaves your skin smelling citrus fresh. Are apricots considered citrus fruits? Doesn't matter. I highly recommend it, go check it out!

Correction

I spoke to soon, Katie Holmes' spring haircut is actually to get extensions that obscure her face:

Spring Cuts

Spring cuts I like:

Mailbag

The response has been overwhelming to our mailbag segment! Thanks loyal readers!! With so many masterminds behind this blog, I'll post a few questions here and feel free to post your ideas in the comments section!

1. Dear Drugstore Diaries,

Can you recommend a good sunscreen/moisturizer for warm weather? I'm looking for something for my face and underneath make-up. I'm fair, blonde, and a Caucasian woman - which might scream Neutrogena products to you but I've been there, done that. Can you give me some ideas?

-Hoping my make-up will Stay in Place, Houston, TX

2. Dear Drugstore Diaries,

I want to lighten up my eyes this summer. Can you give me some of your best eye tips/make-up tricks for this new season?

-Tyra Banks, New York, NY

3. Dear Drugstore Diaries,

What are your thoughts on bronzers? They're all over the place right now but I'm scared to jump in to that section.

-Carmindy, New York, NY