Annmarie Gianni Skincare sent me a sample of their newest skincare product to try out – the new Repair Serum! I love that the brand uses natural ingredients to improve your skin – that really work! The new Repair Serum is formulated to build collagen, repair itself and prevent aging, using vegan stem cells derived from oranges.

From the website:

This active blend of stem cells, along with Superoxide dismutase (SOD) — a powerful antioxidant — will make a noticeable difference in aging skin when used continuously over the course of 30-40 days. This serum is high in Vitamin C and has the essential oils of Lavender and Sandalwood, which are skin-lightening and balancing.

So, what’s the scoop? I used the serum under my moisturizer each night, and after 30 days I did notice an improvement in my skin. My skin felt really smooth and seemed brighter after use. The product absorbs nicely, and doesn’t feel oily. I didn’t experience any breakouts from it, either. It does have a strong scent from the sandalwood and lavender, but I found it quite pleasant.

I think the serum would be a great choice for anyone looking for an anti-aging serum with lots of high-quality natural ingredients. I give it two thumbs up!

Disclosure: Editorial Sample Provided For Review

I love face scrubs. I’m kind of an addict, since I always want to try new ones. Queen Helen Oatmeal ‘n Honey Natural Facial Scrub is inexpensive, smells nice, and works well. I’m pretty pleased!

The Oatmeal ‘n Honey Natural Facial scrub uses walnut shell powder to get the scrubbing done, and also contains oatmeal and honey (shock!). Unlike some scrubs that use walnut shell powder, this one is pretty fine and doesn’t seem too rough. It doesn’t leave my face with that thoroughly scrubbed feeling I get from a silica-based scrub, but it gets the job done. It does have a little bit of foaming action to it, but it’s not overly drying. My face feels soft and clean when I’m finished.

The scent is kind of sweet, and vaguely bread-like. It’s quite pleasant. Overall, I like to use this in the shower once or twice a week. It’s really inexpensive, four or five bucks a tube, depending on where you shop. For a cheap thrill, I give it two thumbs up.

The timing on this couldn’t have been more perfect. This tube of Murad Overnight Soothing Gel arrived just as I was in the midst of the December Plague of 2012, and my face was really unhappy. My nose was all red and irritated (even with the best Kleenex), AND little tiny pimples kept popping up through the irritation. The rest of my face wasn’t very happy either, since my skin kind of freaks out when I’m sick. Overnight Soothing Gel to the rescue!!

Overnight Soothing Gel is a night-time treatment meant to soothe on contact and continue to help improve redness and irritation throughout the night. It’s for acne-prone skin specifically. Murad says:

Murad Overnight Soothing Gel is an acne treatment mask that works overnight to reduce the appearance of breakout-related redness and flushing. In addition to diminishing redness and irritation from acne breakouts, Murad Overnight Soothing Gel also works as a solution for redness caused by sunburn and irritation from skin care products or treatments.

It contains botanical ingredients chosen for their anti-inflammatory properties, as well as some minty extracts that provide a cooling effect. You apply a thin layer over your face after cleansing, and leave it on overnight, washing it off in the morning. It’s used in place of a moisturizer. I was worried that it might sting my irritated skin, but it really didn’t. If your skin is REALLY raw, it might be a little sting-y. The cooling effect felt really good, and overall I did notice an improvement after two treatments. (You can use it 2-3 times a week.) In addition, it really seems to help with healing up blemishes. Those tiny little pimples I get on my nose are crazy painful for how small they are (also ones between my lips and my nose, MAN THOSE HURT), and the pain and redness was both quite diminished the next morning after using this.

I’m totally sold on this stuff. It’s splurge-worthy, in my book. I use a generous pea-sized amount for my whole face, and it seems like the tube will last for probably 3-4 months using it twice a week at that rate. That’s not too shabby, really. It definitely gets two thumbs up!

I really love splurge-worthy facial scrubs. Pevonia offers a Gentle Exfoliating Cleanser, a scrubby cleanser that’s mild and gentle. Me likey!

The Gentle Exfoliating Cleanser contains soapwort, horsechestnut and chamomile, which Pevonia says will thoroughly eliminate dead cells, sebum, toxins and impurities without irritating your skin. It also uses jojoba seed powder and cellulose to get the scrubbing done – which is important because I won’t use products that contain plastic anymore, because they’re bad for the environment. Finding scrubs (both inexpensive AND splurge-y) that DON’T contain plastic (polyethylene) is kind of hard, so I’m pretty happy to promote them when I find them. The Gentle Exfoliating Cleanser has a gentle foaming lather, and the scrubbing is gentle but effective. The chamomile and calendula extracts it contains are also really soothing – I would say this is probably a good scrub for sensitive skin. It has a clean kind of fragrance, sort of spa-herbal. It rinses easily.

It’s pricey, at $33.50 for 5 oz., but a little goes a long way, and it IS a really nice exfoliator. I really like it!

I’m such a sucker for cleansers. I always like to try new ones! I had the opportunity to check out this cleanser from Pevonia, and I really like it! It’s the Phyto-Gel Cleanser, a foaming cleanser for all skin types.

The Phyto-Gel Cleanser contains a bunch of botanical extracts, including saponaria, burdock, rosemary, sage and lemon. It’s a foaming cleanser, but it doesn’t leave the skin dry or stripped feeling at all. It has a light fragrance, kind of a spa-herbal type scent, which I really like. A little bit goes a long way, and I like the squeeze tube packaging, since you can squeeze out really small amounts (unlike a pump, which would probably dish out more product than you need to get the job done). It takes off makeup (including most of my eye makeup) no problem. Long wear eyeliner and mascara still need eye makeup remover (which I’ve started using anyway).

It is pricey for a cleanser, at $30 for 5 oz., but since you only need a little dab, it works out pretty good price-wise compared to my usual $15-20 price range for cleanser. If you want to splurge and treat yourself, I really like Pevonia products, including this Phyto-Gel Cleanser!

I keep meaning to review this and keep forgetting! Doh! I bought this Freeman Avocado & Oatmeal Facial Clay Mask from Rite Aid a few months ago because it had nice ingredients and was really inexpensive (like $3.99 for a 6 oz tube). I’ve been using it semi-regularly (I’m notoriously bad at remembering to use masks) and I really like it!

It’s a clay mask (obviously), with kaolin and bentonite clays, which are cleansing to your pores. It also has colloidal oatmeal (super soothing), and avocado oil (moisturizing). My face feels very clean and very soft after I use it, and not dry or parched like some clay masks make my face feel. It has a pretty light scent, sort of clean and vegetable-y. I like it. It’s a total bargain for a nice clay mask.

I was cruising the Freeman website, and discovered that they make several more varieties, which can be ordered at drugstore.com! WHOA! I really want to try this one and this one and this one and this cleanser. Since they’re all just as inexpensive, I’ll totally start checking them out!

Lush always makes the best smelly stuff, especially at Holiday time. This year is no exception, and I was suckered into buying their limited edition face cleanser called Let The Good Times Roll. It’s a delectably-scented corn-based slightly scrubby cleanser, and I’m totally hooked. Too bad it’s limited edition!

Let The Good Times Roll is a bit of a pun, since Lush’s fresh facial cleansers are called “Cleansing Rolls.” Let The Good Times Roll is basically a cornmeal and corn flour scrub with a sweet popcorn scent and a hint of cinnamon. You use a pea-sized amount and mix it with a few drops of water to make a paste, and then massage it on your face. It’s not so great with eye makeup, but fabulous for the rest of your face. It leaves my face soft and clean, and not dry or tight. And the scent! It’s so yummy, I just love it.

It’s not cheap, at $12.95 for 3.5 oz., but it’s good for a splurge – a nice wintertime treat for yourself, if you will. I’ll probably try to get another jar before it goes away because I like it so much. I really wish they’d make this one permanent!

I’m a little late to this party, but I finally picked up a tub of the St. Ives Scrub-Free Exfoliating Pads to try out. I’ve been interested in these for a while, since I always love AHA-based exfoliants, and these are really inexpensive. I’m really pleased with them!

The Scrub-Free Exfoliating pads are a small cloth disk, pre-moistened with an alpha hydroxy complex to gently exfoliate the skin. The scrub-free part is because they don’t use physical exfoliators, but rather the chemical peel action of the AHAs. They are meant to be used as a second step after cleansing your skin – I use them instead of a toner. St. Ives says they release dull skin and impurities while leaving healthy, fresh skin intact. They contain fruit extracts and moisturizing vitamin E help skin feel soft and smooth.

The first thing I like is the pads don’t contain alcohol. So many of the exfoliating pads that I’ve tried contain alcohol, which is just too harsh and drying for my skin. The third ingredient is actually glycerin, which is a humectant that will draw moisture to your skin. The lack of alcohol does mean that your face remains damp for a minute or two, rather than drying within seconds. I don’t find this problematic, but it’s worth mentioning. Once they are dry, your face feels clean, no film or stickiness or weirdness like that. You can go on to the next step in your skin care routine.

I was suffering from some lingering hormonal breakouts when I started using these which cleared up very quickly, and healed with less redness than usual. Score! My face feels smooth and soft. They are quite mild, so I’m guessing they won’t be too much for sensitive skin. They do have a fragrance, but it’s not overpowering. They don’t sting my skin at all, like other AHA products I’ve tried, so I think they’re pretty mild. The directions indicate you can use them twice a day. I’ve just been using them once a day, but that’s because I’m lazy. I bet I’d see even better results if I actually used them twice a day.

They are under $5 for 60 pads, so reasonably inexpensive. I think they’re a great alternative to toner in a skincare routine!