I saw a pretty significant reduction in puffiness and dark circles. I don’t really have any wrinkles yet, so I can’t really speak to that. I also like that it’s not a thick, heavy cream, which could cause millia (those little bumps under your eyes which can come from clogged pores). I’ve tried a lot of eye creams that don’t work, but I can say this one’s really working for me. I’m curious to hear what you guys think of it!

Clinical Results show:

• 97% saw a reduction in wrinkles
• 97% saw visibly firmer skin
• 94% saw a reduction in eye puffiness
• 84% saw a reduction in dark circles
• 100% saw improved skin texture

This product is also free of animal by-products and suitable for vegans!

Korres has a special deal for My Beauty Bunny readers: get 25% off and a free deluxe sample of Quercetin & Oak night cream when you spend $35. Just use code: BUNNY. Valid until 9/30/10.

Want to win Korres Quercetin & Oak Eyecream for yourself? Korres has generously offered to give away a full-sized bottle ($42 value) to 3 lucky My Beauty Bunny readers!

To enter, just comment on this post and tell me why you need Korres Quercetin & Oak Eyecream.

For additional chances to enter:

• Sign up for My Beauty Bunny’s newsletter and leave me the e-mail address you used to sign up (if you’re already a subscriber, just leave your e-mail address).
• Become a fan of My Beauty Bunny on Facebook.
• Follow @MyBeautyBunny on Twitter and tweet the following: “Win cruelty-free Korres Eyecream ($42 value) from @MyBeautyBunny & @KorresUSA! http://wp.me/pwBpx-2lm“(1 extra entry per day; Be sure to leave the tweet link in the comments section)

Please note: You must comment (below) for EACH action in order for it to count (i.e. leave us a comment after each tweet and/or above-referenced entry action completed). Contest is open to U.S. citizens ages 18 and over. Contest ends on Tuesday, September 14th, 2010 at midnight PST.

One of Caudalie’s most popular products is their Beauty Elixir, which is based on Queen Isabelle of Hungary’s “elixir of youth” (no blood from virgins as far as I know). Caudalie’s elixir has grapeseed extract (of course), along with essential oils of rosemary, orange blossom, rose, mint and myrrh. It comes in a beautiful, glass bottle. You spray a mist on your face any time to refresh and tighten pores (great for all skin types, including oily and combination). The smell is incredibly refreshing and relaxing. I keep it by my desk at work and spray it on throughout the day (you can use it under or over makeup). You can also use it between your foundation and powder to set. It’s also great for hot and humid summer days!

You can buy it at Sephora or via Caudalie’s US website.

Jen

There are so many reasons to buy cruelty-free products, but I have three that have pushed me to find the best of the best.

My Gain Isn’t Worth An Animal’s Pain

The first reason is obvious, have you ever seen what they do to these poor animals all in the name of lipstick and perfume? It’s just plain wrong that a living creature should be put through any type of torture just so I can have good smelling hair. If you haven’t witnessed these labs that do animal testing, Google it. Watching that alone will have you buying products with “no animal testing” labels.

A Baby Changes Everything

I just had a baby and it is amazing what lengths a mother will go to to protect her baby. I read the ingredients on EVERYTHING and if I have ANY doubt in my mind that it could harm him, I just toss it! Even if you don’t have a child, aren’t YOU worth more than the toxic chemicals you are putting on your skin? Remember, you only get one face!

Products That Are Worth Their Weight in Gold!

Last, but not least, I have found organic and cruelty-free products that work better than the ones that were tested on animals. It’s true! I have been modeling professionally for over 15 years and having great skin is vital to my job. I have literally spent thousands of dollars on wrinkle creams and moisturizers and none I have used compare to Burt’s Bees Radiance Daycream with Royal Jelly.

At $18 a jar, this miracle cream is AMAZING! The first week I used it, I had a photo shoot and the make-up artist told me how great my skin looked. You can find Burt’s Bees products at most drug and grocery stores and believe me, they are worth every penny!

Guest blog post by:

Heather Green – a freelance writer, mother, professional model and the resident blogger for An Apple a Day… blog, a free informational website offering tips and advice on online nursing schools.

I am obsessed with scrubs. I know I say that all the time, but it’s true. Jen #2 suffers from the same scrub addiction. For me, there’s nothing more satisfying and immediately gratifying as a good face or body scrub. Creams, lotions and potions take a long time to work, but you can see immediate results when you exfoliate. So, here’s my guide for those who need a good scrubbing – all cruelty-free of course. Don’t think scrubs can be that different from each other? Well then read on my friend!

It’s My First Time

If you have super sensitive skin, or just want a very gentle scrub for everyday use, here are my picks.

FACE: Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant is a gentle, but quite effective scrub that you can use every day or every other day if you’re more sensitive. It’s a microfine powder that you mix with water to create a foam that leaves your skin feeling super clean and soft.

BODY (DRY SKIN): Scandle Sea Salt Soak & Scrub is a very gentle sea salt scrub that is perfect for very dry skin or those with normal skin who have dry feet, elbows, knees, etc. It smells great and comes in a ton of great fragrances.

A Little More Please

Want a little more exfoliation? Read on!

FACE: Rephase Bio-Scrub Microdermabrasion Scrub uses Mother of Pearl (not for vegans) and papain (an enzyme from papayas) to remove dead skin and other yucky stuff that clogs up your face. Jojoba oil moisturizes and keeps newly exfoliated skin soft. Apply this to your face, leave on for five minutes and then rinse.

BODY (NORMAL TO DRY): LATHER Almond Creme Body Buff uses walnut shells to smooth your skin and sweet almond, jojoba, avocado, apricot and sunflower oils to keep skin hydrated. Perfect for normal to dry skin.

BODY (NORMAL TO OILY): Naturopathica Lemon Verbena Body Polish uses jojoba beads to scrub skin without irritation. The Lemon Verbena essential oil gives this scrub a heavenly scent. Shea butter, aloe vera and oat protein moisturize skin without leaving an oily residue.

I Like it Rough!

This is my favorite section. I have sensitive skin and I don’t have any problems with these scrubs, but if you know you’re super-sensitive, you may want to be careful.

FACE: DERMAdoctor Physical Chemistry is the holy grail of facial scrubs. It’s the closest thing I’ve seen to an actual chemical peel or microdermabrasion. The actual scrub comes from a synthetic polymer that gives you a nice scrub without sharp, jagged edges that can tear skin. The major exfoliating action comes from glycolic, azelaic, lactic and beta hydroxy acids. This is serious stuff, but it did not irritate my skin one bit. Just be mindful to use sunscreen when you use this product.

FACE (NON-SCRUB EXFOLIATOR): Marie Louise Restoration Clear Gel is another, “Wow – I have to tell everyone I know about this!” kind of product. This is a non-scrub exfoliator – there is no physical element – all of the exfoliation is chemical. At first I was skeptical, but after I tried it for myself – wow! After using this, your face will feel like that proverbial baby’s bum.

BODY/FEET (NORMAL TO OILY): LATHER Bamboo Lemongrass Body Scrub is one of my all-time favorites. The exfoliating action comes from bamboo particles. Sea algae, almond proteins and herbs lift away impurities, while essential oils of lemongrass, geranium, petit grain, vetivert and ylang ylang give it a sexy, spicy scent. It foams up and leaves no oily residue.

BODY/FEET (NORMAL TO OILY): I have to give it up for another AMAZING scrub from Dermalogica. Their Exfoliating Body Scrub must have been sent to me from heaven. It’s got a nice, cooling minty sensation going on, and pulverized powders of date, fig and and olive do a great job of sloughing off dead skin, impurities and other stuff I don’t want on me. This scrub lathers up and leaves your skin feeling smooth and clean with no oily residue.

BODY (DRY TO NORMAL): Naturopathica Espresso Mud Body Scrub is also amazing. It smells like coffee (great pick me up in the morning) and uses Arabica coffee, sarsaparilla, Indian tobacco, volcanic pumice and black silt clay to exfoliate and remove dirt and oil away from the skin. Shea butter leaves skin soft and moisturized, but not overly oily.

Jen

I haven’t been in love with a product enough to give it a coveted My Beauty Bunny Cruelty-Free Favorite award in a while. But then, Dermalogica’s Daily Microfoliant entered my life and now I am in love. I received a sample of the product after a massage at the Dermalogica spa (or “concept space” as they call it) in Santa Monica.

My first impression of the powdered substance that came out when I shook the bottle was that this wasn’t going to do anything for my skin. I’m addicted to scrubs of all kinds and I was expecting some sharp walnut husks or something (which are supposed to be bad for your skin because they can cause micro-tears that trap bacteria). Instead I got a soft powder that melted to a slightly foamy face wash.

Well, I noticed it was working as soon as I rinsed it off. My skin was so soft and felt so clean! And, this is kind of gross, but after cleansing, it was really easy to get the gunk out of the pores in my nose. It was as if the top layer of dead skin had been removed, giving me access to clean out those pores. So instead of the big, sharp particles that will only de-clog SOME of your pores, this stuff cleans ALL of your pores. I love it!

The Daily Microfoliant is gentle enough for everyday use and safe for sensitive skin. It’s made with a rice-based enzyme powder that contains salicylic acid and papain to dissolve dirt and dead skin. And, it has licorice and grapefruit extracts to even out skin tone.

So, after my sample ran out, I had to go back to the store and buy more. And THAT is how you know this is a good product. As a beauty editor, I get free products to review all the time. Some make the cut and some don’t. But, if I’m willing to go out and spend what little money I have on a second round, you know it’s special. So, like all Dermalogica products, this isn’t super cheap, but you can get a small size for around $11 that will last a lot longer than you would think. Do yourself a favor and check it out.

I’ve been hearing all kinds of buzz about Perricone Cold Plasma. I haven’t tried it yet, but I want to! It’s a cruelty-free cornucopia of cosmetic correction. Sorry – fun with alliteration. I can’t comment on the results yet, but Cold Plasma is supposed to help pretty much any skin condition on any skin type!

It is made to combat:

• Wrinkles
• Enlarged pores
• Dryness
• Discoloration
• Loss of firmness
• Redness
• Uneven skin tone
• Impurities
• Loss of smoothness
• Loss of radiance

Who doesn’t have most of those skin conditions? The star ingredient is phosphatidylcholine, which is a phospholipid that helps to smooth skin, moisturize and increase cell regeneration. One thing to keep in mind – this product is not for my vegan friends. It contains DHA which is found in fish (usually salmon). It also contains DMAE which has been shown to have a positive effect on facial sagging. At $150 per jar, you should definitely try before you buy. Luckily Dr. Perricone is giving away free deluxe samples! You do have to pay for shipping ($4.95) but it’s still a good deal considering the cost of the cream itself.

Dr. Perricone’s newest book will be officially on sale in September. The book talks about how he discovered the technology which underlies Cold Plasma. Dr. Perricone was able to isolate charged particles, suspend them in a highly absorbent and penetrative base for maximum absorption into the skin. This is the science that underlies the product.  In the book, he also discusses how the nutrients in Cold Plasma directly stimulate the precursor to collagen and elastin, glycosaminoglycans. Dermatologists have been looking for years for effective ways to stimulate skin’s natural levels of glycosaminoglycans. If you pre-order Forever Young now, you get a free Concentrated Restorative Treatment ($75 value!).

Also – has anyone tried the Perricone No Foundation Foundation yet? It has DMAE and alpha lipoic acid, and supposedly looks very natural. My interest is piqued because it has a non-chemical sunscreen which is great for sensitive skin. I’ve had bad luck with most chemical sunscreens. They make my lips swell up. There are two schools of thought on this – either I look like a duck or Angelina Jolie. I think I was more in the duck category unfortunately. And it hurts. If anyone’s tried this, please let me know your thoughts!

Okay, okay – so back to the important stuff. Perricone MD is giving away a FREE jar of Cold Plasma to one lucky My Beauty Bunny reader! $150 value!

Just comment on this post and tell me why you need Cold Plasma in your life.

For additional chances to enter:

• Sign up for My Beauty Bunny’s newsletter and leave me the e-mail address you used to sign up (if you’re already a subscriber, just leave your e-mail address).
• Become a fan of My Beauty Bunny on Facebook.
• Follow @MyBeautyBunny on Twitter and tweet the following: “Win cruelty-free Cold Plasma ($150 value) from @MyBeautyBunny! http://ow.ly/2lLix“ (1 extra entry per day; Be sure to leave the tweet link in the comments section)

Please note: You must comment (below) for EACH action in order for it to count (i.e. leave us a comment after each tweet and/or above-referenced entry action completed). Contest is open to U.S. citizens ages 18 and over. Contest ends on Friday, August 13th, 2010 at midnight PST.

Good luck!

Some products have literally burned my skin, so I guess you could call me sensitive. While others have been so heavy that I couldn’t put on my concealer. It was actually easier not to use any product at all.

I recently started using Eye Rescue from Skin by Dr. Gram. The first two things I noticed: light and moisturizing. It’s almost soft! My concealer literally glides on while covering flawlessly.

I’ve recently gone vegan, so I needed to make sure that the product was at least veggie and somehow eco-friendly. Turns out that rutin and vitamin K are its essential components.  Rutin is found in a host of citrus fruits and berries, as well as buckwheat and asparagus, so it’s a nice natural component. Dr. Gram is using it for its anti-inflammatory properties, to reduce the puffiness under your eyes.  Vitamin K is known to help fade dark pigmentation, so we have another nutrient. All nice and natural!

Ooo, it also has aloe in it, which has become my newest favorite natural additive to facial products, as it reduces redness while retaining the natural moisture of your skin.

My dark circles haven’t fully gone away in the two weeks I’ve been using Skin Rescue, but I have definitely noticed that the puffiness is all but gone and the skin under my eyes is finally hydrated!  I would highly recommend this product to anyone with sensitive skin or even if you’ve just had problems finding a good product for your under-eye circles.

Guest blog post by Gretchen Hinderer. Gretchen is a new vegan and life-long animal lover. She is working to change her routine to all cruelty-free products.

Gretchen and Esteban

Day Facial Cleanser with purifying grapefruit & anti-oxidant green tea

This smooth, workable cleanser is great for my combination skin, but it also works a treat on sensitive skin. The natural ingredients work wonders for skin ailments like eczema and psoriasis, too. The grapefruit extract leaves a fresh, citrus scent after use, so there’s no need for added fragrances. It’s also an antibacterial agent, so it stops oil build-up and break outs. The chamomile works to calm your skin and soothe redness, or any existing blemishes. I love this for everyday use, it’s the perfect, no-fuss all-rounder.

Facial Exfoliant with gentle bamboo micro-fibers, purifying grapefruit & soothing aloe

This is a softer exfoliant than others I’ve used, as the particles are a bit smaller. Work it into a lather and take lots of time to scrub for great exfoliation that doesn’t leave your face red or inflamed. Bamboo micro-fibers take dead skin cells to task, while grapefruit enzymes give pores a deep clean. The result is fresh, soft skin you’ll love. I use this every few days, and my skin always feels fantastic afterwards. I have delicate skin that can flare up easily if I use too harsh an exfoliant, so if you’re like me and want to remove dead skin without leaving it raw, turn to this natural facial scrub.

Eye Make Up Remover with soothing aloe & vitamin E

My everyday make-up routine consists of a little tinted moisturizer and a few licks of waterproof mascara – notoriously difficult to remove! This makeup remover is great for use on the eyes, but you can also use it all over to remove facial makeup. Just a little dab on a cotton wool ball is usually enough, as this hard-working cleanser is a nice thick consistency. It doesn’t irritate eyes or skin, which is a bonus, and in fact works to moisturize your face as it removes makeup. It’s made with natural plant and seed extracts to dissolve makeup, and nourishing aloe and vitamin E moisturize the delicate skin around your eyes.

All the items in the Green Beaver collection are cruelty-free, certified organic, environmentally-friendly and still perform in competition with drugstore brands. Take care of your skin the natural way, and visit www.GreenBeaver.com to purchase the skincare line, as well as many other personal-care products and things for the home.

Jemima

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