Showing posts with label liz earle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label liz earle. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Product review Liz Earle cleanse and polish hot cloth cleanser

This is Liz Earle's star and original product. It's been raved about by countless UK beauty editors and addicts, it's non foaming, gentle, moisturizing and effective (to a degree). Yes it actually IS mostly natural or naturally derived (all those esters and glycerides in the ingredients are direct derivatives of coconuts and the like). But is it as miraculous as some say....nooooo.

Don't get me wrong, after a month of use I have more positive things to say than negative. It really is crazy gentle (I wear contacts and have had no problems using it as a makeup remover, except that I wish it was quicker). When I use it I notice a much better clarity of skin tone and a bit of a glow. The effects seem to be cumulative because I'm definitely in a better place than I was. It is so soft and moisturizing that most of the time if I was in a hurry I could skip moisturizer (although I am oily). However the process takes so long that all the all in one talk is kind of silly.

More...

Basically what you do is wet your face, moisten the cream between your hands and massage it all over, including eyes. Then you take the muslin cloth and gently polish off the cleanser. The muslin cloth to me is the real superstar, because if it weren't for that it would take eternity to wash off the cream (it's veryvery thick). The exfoliation effects are for my standards mild, which means for most people would be just enough if used with the right amount of abrasive movement. And off course this means it cannot be used to tissue off the makeup and cleanser around the eye area, because it's too delicate around there. This is the truly frustrating part for me. To get the ridiculous amount of eye makeup I wear off, I either do my usual sweet almond oil routine or spend 10 minutes massaging and rinsing this stuff off. After use my skin does feel soft and clean, which really is the ultimate goal for any cleanser, and why I'm a fan of this one (but I will not be worshipping at the altar anytime soon).

Ingredients:
water, obvious
caprilyc/capric triglyceride, emollient
cocoa seed butter, moisturizer, film former
cetearyl alcohol, fatty alcohol, thickener and moisturizer
cetyl esters, thickener, helps create that lovely smooth cosmetic feel
sorbitan stearate, binder, humectant
polysorbate 60, emulsifier
glycerin, humectant and slip former
beeswax, thickener, film former
propylene glycol, humectant
hops extract, natural preservative, mild strength
panthenol, moisturizer
rosemary extract, some cleansing and toning properties
chamomile extract, soothing properties
eucalyptus oil, warming, astringent
limonene, citrusy fragrance (is VERY mild in the product because there's so little, it's just there to mask the industrial smell)
citric acid, to help adjust PH balance, natural preservative
sodium hydroxide, lye, caustic soda...yeppp
phenoxyethanol, broad spectrum preservative
benzoic acid, preservative
ethylhexylglycerin, disinfectant
dehydroacetic acid, preservative
polyaminopropyl biguanide, preservative


Image courtesy of brownsfashion.com

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Product Review: Liz Earle Brightening Treatment Mask

I found this one odd. The texture is somewhere between clay and gel, it's lumpy and as it dries (which takes forever) it absorbs into the skin and leaves a whitish cast. One reason I stopped using my formerly beloved clay masks was because of the tight stripped feeling afterward and the main reason I like this and gave it a fairly favorable rating is because it contains emollients that soften skin. I definitely noticed it even out skin tone, minimize pores and minimize current zits, however not quite enough to make it a re-purchase. Overall, a good perker upper though.

Ingredient Analysis...
water, obvious
aloe juice, moisturizing
montmorillonite, absorbent
witch hazel water, a gentler way of having witch hazel's absorbing qualities
peg20 stearate, cleansing, mixes oil water and dirt to make it rinsable
silt, useless, filler product
sweet almond oil, emollient
panthenol, moisturizing
cetearyl ethyhexanoate, lubrication, spreadability
cetearyl alcohol, emollient, emulsifier, thickener
camphor oil, soothing
fragrance, obvious
citronellol, fragrance
hexylcinnamal, fragrance
hydroxyisohexyl 3 cyclohexene carboxaldehyde, fragrance
butylphenyl methylpropional, fragrance
linalool, fragrance
lactic acid, at this low a concentration, just an emollient
potassium sorbate, preservative
phenoxyethanol, preservative
methylparaben, preservative
butylparaben, preservative
ethylparaben, preservative
propylparaben, preservative
isobutylparaben, preservative
sodium methylparaben, preservative
sodium propylparaben, preservative


Image courtesy of ciao.co.uk