Oily skin can be a real pain in the butt. Shiny noses, smeary makeup, and clogged pores are just some of the fun times we experience with oily skin. I’ve found some good products and routines that help keep my oily skin under control, and I wanted to share them with you.

1. I read in a magazine (I think it was Allure) that using a cleanser with 2% salicylic acid in the morning can cut down on the oilies during the day. One of the recommended products was Neutrogena’s Oil-Free Acne Stress Control Power-Cream Wash, so I promptly went out and bought it. It really does help!

2. Use a mattifier under your makeup. Products like Exuviance Matte Perfection and Philosophy’s The Present help to keep your shine-free during the day, and both products offer skincare benefits for your skin as well.

3. Skindinavia’s No More Shine Makeup Finish uses a high-tech solution to keep your makeup looking fresh all day long. It contains an oil control system that both absorbs excess oil and controls surface shine, as well as light dispersing particles that deflect shininess to deliver a matte look for up to 16 hours. It also works by cooling the surface of your makeup 20°F degrees to curtail oil from sliding through. I love this stuff!

4. Tuck a mattifying powder in your purse for touchups during the day, like Laura Geller Matte Maker. Just a quick swipe with a brush across your t-zone is enough to sop up any breakthrough oil.

5. If adding powder isn’t to your liking, try oil-blotting papers instead. These lift oil off your skin without disturbing your makeup. I like the ones from Boscia.

6. Don’t forget to moisturize! One common misconception is that oily skin types don’t need to moisturize, but this isn’t necessarily true.  Oily skin can still be dehydrated, and this can lead to overproduction of oil – actually making the problem worse.

7. Avoid exfoliating in the morning. Using physical exfoliators (like a scrub) stimulates your skin, leading to oil production. If you exfoliate at night, things will have calmed down by morning.

It’s time for a quickie 5 Things post, this time five cosmetics you can find in my purse. I’ve been sick the last week, and my skin is breaking out like crazy (always happens when I’m sick, blech!) so there is a definite focus on that.

1. The Body Shop Tea Tree Blemish Gel fights blemishes as soon as I feel them coming on, and helps to dry them out.

2. Concealer. Right now it’s a super-cheapo NYC Cover Stick, because I only use it to touch up blemishes during the day. Cheap, but effective for that.

3. Smith’s Mocha Rose Lip Balm. I’m a LOYAL fan of Smith’s lip products, so I just about squealed with joy when I found the newest, Mocha Rose, in NYC.  Being sick means fighting dehydration, which means dry lips. Mocha Rose means protected lips and it tastes so yummy!!

4. L’Oreal Colour Riche lipstick has been in heavy rotation lately. I like the smooth feel and nice pigmentation. This one, with the “anti-aging serum” seems more moisturizing, and I like the color (Robust Raisin).

5. Badger Aromatic Chest Rub is definitely NOT a sexy perfume for daytime, but when your chest is stuffy, it will help you feel better. Besides, the essential oil blend isn’t THAT bad, with a kind of “forest in wintertime” vibe going on.

After trying the EOS (Evolution of Smooth) Lip Balm Sphere, I really wanted to try the Ultra Moisturizing Shave Cream. When I spotted it at a drugstore while in NYC, I picked up a bottle in the Vanilla Bliss scent to give it a whirl when I got home.

EOS set about creating their shave cream basically from the ground up, to formulate a product that met a woman’s needs. The formula is creamy, not foamy, is enriched with shea butter, aloe, and oats to boost skin moisture and softness, and has an innovative container. The container is ergonomic, with a pump for easy dispensing of product, and is recyclable.

I am really liking this product for several reasons.The formula IS super-creamy and moisturizing, which I like. It spreads easily over the skin, and stays put while you shave. It rinses easily off the razor, however, without “clogging” it up. It rinses nicely off the skin without leaving any funky or oily residue. Also, it doesn’t make the tub slippery. The vanilla scent is awesome! I bet the other scents are good too.

I put it to the test with both a super-nice Venus Embrace razor and with a crappy two-blade disposable razor. The Venus shaves pretty nicely with whatever I use, hence the crappy razor. I can say that I got a really good, close shave on my legs with the disposable, without any cuts. I definitely can’t say that with other shave creams I’ve tried, so the EOS cream gets my two thumbs up of approval.

I totally recommend Evolution of Smooth products, for their good quality, nice design and formulas, and good price.

Besides Kiehls, there’s another super-rich body butter rocking my world lately: Boots Botanics Organic Rich Body Butter. It doesn’t have the OMG scent of Kiehls Imperial, but it has its own benefits. Read on for the scoop!

The Botanics Rich Body Butter cotains such lovely plant oils as murumuru butter, shea butter, olive oil, jojoba oil, and more. As far as I can tell, the product itself isn’t certified organic, but the label claims it contains 81% certified organic ingredients and there are little stars next to those ingredients in the list. It doesn’t contain any mineral oils or petrolatum, but rather soothes and softens the skin with that slew of plant oils. It also has bergamot, geranium, and rose essential oils, which add a very soothing herbal scent.

The butter is definitely thick and rich. I love how it leave my skin feeling very soft all day long. A little goes a long way, otherwise you run the risk of feeling a little greasy. The scent is quite herbal, which I don’t find objectionable, but probably isn’t going to be everybody’s bag. It does fade pretty quickly, and the lack of synthetic fragrance is nice for those who try to avoid them.

Overall, I’m very much liking this product, and at $13.99 at drugstore.com, you really can’t beat the price for such a rich cream. If you suffer from dry skin and want a bargain solution, grab a jar of Boots Botanics Organic Rich Body Butter and slather it on.

As with all things makeup-related, I love trying new foundations. I also love a bargain, so I was pretty excited to try L’Oreal’s True Match Liquid Makeup in Soft Ivory, the shade I decided most closely matched my skin tone. Under $15 a bottle, it’s quite inexpensive compared to department store brands.

The foundation has a lot going for it: it has an SPF 17, it’s oil-free, promises all day wear, and has micro-fine optical pearls to blur imperfections. It’s also supposed to be “super blendable,” it says so right on the bottle. It also claims to have vitamins b and e, but they’re so far down the ingredient list that the amount is probably negligible. The instructions for use say to shake the formula and then dot makeup on forehead, nose, chin, and cheeks. Then you are supposed to blend outward, using your middle finger.

What’s the scoop? Overall, the foundation isn’t a FAIL but has some issues that keep it from being 100% recommended as well. The good news is that it is blendable, has good coverage, felt nice on my skin, and definitely did have all day wear. It looked good on my skin, not unnatural or fake, and generally gave my complexion the kind of smooth finish I like.

The bad news is I hate the bottle. I tried applying it with the “dot on face, blend with finger” technique and wasn’t happy with how it looked – it was difficult getting an even application. I prefer to use a foundation brush for applying it, which means pouring some of the makeup out onto the back of my hand. Inevitably, I pour out more than I need, so I’m definitely wasting product. FAIL! Also, it doesn’t just rinse off with water. The first time I rinsed off the back of my hand, I noticed that water beads up on it, and I actually had to use soap to get it off my hand. I guess that’s where the long wear comes in – it’s basically waterproof. You’re going to need a good cleanser to get it off your face. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean I can’t cheat and skip washing my face at night.

Overall, it’s one of the better drugstore foundations I’ve tried. I’ll finish off my bottle, but I’m not sure I’ll re-purchase. If they put it in a pump bottle, I probably would buy another bottle.

Meow Cosmetics has released new eyeshadow and face colors for fall and ME WANT! It’s called Egyptian Treasures, and aren’t these colors gawgeous?!?

I’m particularly thinking that I need to try Royal, Anubis,Tutankhamun, Sand Dune, Ra, and Miw for sure. I also the Cleopatra blush, and the Immortal Glow Powder. Next month, I’ll be placing my sample order for sure!

What colors will you be trying?

Image from Meow’s website.

I happened to be passing through the duty-free shop while killing some time at JFK recently, and what did I find? Perfume! Yippee! I snagged a bottle of Kenzo’s 7:15 am in Bali perfume and I’m loving it!

Produced exclusively for travel retail, the perfume  represents the fresh air of early morning on Bali and the beauty of the sunrise. It includes notes of juicy grapefruit, passion fruit, sambac jasmine, orchid, and vanilla. I find the grapefruit very refreshing and the drydown relaxing and soothing. It’s a very friendly fragrance, very approachable and likeable. You probably won’t offend anyone sitting next to you, and it would be good for a work situation, I would think.

It’s a light fragrance. I do wish it had more lasting power, but I definitely enjoy it while it does last. It’s a wonderful reminder of my trip to NYC (okay, it’s not Bali, but still). Now I want to find 5:40 pm in Madagascar!