Jen#2's cruelty-free favorite

Remember how much I love Dermalogica skincare? I can honestly say that my complexion–which can definitely be described as “high-maintenance” even on the best of days–has never felt so squeaky-clean! Not that I’d been lax at rinsing well after (lathering) sessions with other scrubs or anything like that; I just so happen to have a not-so-secret new weapon: the mighty PreCleanse. Adding this extra step to my usual cleansing routine really seems to make all the difference–enough for me to bestow my first My Beauty Bunny Cruelty-Free Favorite award!

You might ask, what’s so great about a product which requires you to spend more time at the sink–isn’t my regular cleansing lotion or scrub enough? I used to think so, until I started using PreCleanse on a nightly basis. This lightweight, natural vitamin E, olive and apricot kernel-based cleansing oil works to gently lift dirt, makeup and other nasty little impurities to the skin’s surface, making it easier for your favorite cleanser to do its job–and do it well! The geek in me loves that the principle of organic chemistry known as like dissolves like helps support my testimonial (thank you, Newton BBS Ask a Scientist, for this info.)

There’s no need to fear the fortifying agents, either: kukui nut, borage seed and rice bran oils.  However counter-intuitive it may seem, these water soluble & non-comedogenic ingredients actually work best on complexions like my own.  They also help prevent excess moisture loss–a common concern even for those with oily skin. After all, if too much sebum is stripped, the oil glands will simply produce more than enough to replace whatever had been lost!

Here’s how to make the most of PreCleanse’s beneficial effects (as per Dermalogica’s official product description):

• Dispense into dry hands and massage over your face while it’s still dry, concentrating on the areas where surface debris and congestion are heaviest.
• Wet hands to create a light, milky emulsion; continue massaging into skin, as necessary.
• Rinse with lukewarm water and follow your regular cleanser (for myself: MediBac Clearing Skin Wash).

There–that doesn’t sound too tedious or difficult, does it? No advanced chemistry degrees are required to recognize or enjoy the benefits of thoroughly clean, healthy skin from an amazing and  confirmed cruelty-free brand.

Press sample provided for the purpose of review.

Korres sent me some Yogurt Cream and Yogurt Mask samples to try. At first I was skeptical that the creams would do anything other than look nice in their hefty glass jars. I usually find that the nicer the jar – the more over-hyped the cream inside. This was not the case here.

Korres Yogurt Cream

The Korres Yogurt Cream facial moisturizer has a velvety feel and nice thickness to it. It absorbs into the skin easily, so it’s fine for use day or night. The product is touted for “oily and dehydrated skin.” I have combination skin so I need something to combat the dryness but I don’t want it to be so heavy that it makes me break out. This fits the bill perfectly. It’s made with organic yogurt, which has lactose, proteins, minerals and vitamins to nourish the skin without causing more oil production. (Retail – $29.50)

Korres Yogurt Mask

The Korres Yogurt Mask is a similar product, but with heftier ingredients – meant to be left on for 10-15 minutes and then rinsed off. You can even leave it on overnight for an extra moisturizing night cream. It won’t clog pores, but you should wash your face and put the day cream on in the morning if you’re going to wear makeup. (Retail – $27.00)

Korres never uses any phthalates, GMOs, triclosan, parabens, sulfates, synthetic dyes, petro-chemicals – you get the idea. Korres products are also never tested on animals and are cruelty-free. But, these products do contain yogurt, so are fine for vegetarians, but not our vegan friends. For vegans, I would suggest checking out their Materia Herba or  Olive & Rye day cream.

I really wanted to find a moisturizer with sun protection, so when I found Peter Thomas Roth’s Max All Day Moisture Defense Cream with SPF 30 I was excited to try it.

The formula is lightweight and oil-free, yet it was moisturizing enough to keep my combination skin (with at times super dry cheeks) hydrated all day. The moisturizer immediately absorbs into the skin and also contains Vitamins A & E, which help fight the signs of aging.

I am really impressed with everything about this moisturizer. Not only does it give me the moisture, sun protection, and antioxidants my skin needs, but it does so without clogging a single pore. I’m pretty sure I can declare this mission accomplished.

Guest blogger Ella is a makeup artist, former cosmetic counter maven, and lover of all things beauty. She loves trying new products and can’t resist a great deal. She prides herself in her closet full of beauty supplies, which is bound to make even the most obsessed beauty junkie jealous.

Here at My Beauty Bunny, we only review the products we think are great – the ones we think you want to hear about.  But, sometimes we find products that we think are the best of the best – the cream of the crop, the cherry on top of the sundae, the pick of the litter…okay, you get the picture!  These are the products we tell our friends and family, and even random strangers at Sephora about!

And, let me make this clear – we do not accept payment for Cruelty-Free Favorite awards – these are given out at our discretion to let our readers know about great products – you can’t buy your way in!

So, the first ever MBB Cruelty-Free Favorite goes to…drumroll please…Bare Escentuals…for their new bareMinerals Matte SPF 15 foundation!

I recently had the pleasure of trying the bareMinerals Matte mineral foundation and I was impressed.  It claims to give you a shine-free finish all day, while minimizing pores, increasing cell turnover and protecting your skin from environmental damage.  I have to say – it delivers.

My skin has been quite oily lately and I have a ton of breakouts. I have used other mineral makeup foundations before and some of them start out dry but almost seem to increase oil production throughout the day.  This new, matte formula really does what it says – my skin only needed a slight touch-up in the afternoon – but it was nowhere near as shiny as it usually is.

This product is fine to use alone, but since I have so many blemishes right now, I like to layer it over liquid foundation.  It helps to set the liquid foundation, give me a matte finish and balances out my skin tone.  The coverage is so good, I’m sad when I have to take it off at the end of the day – all my zits come back out! I also like the SPF 15 which doesn’t make me break out even more or break out in hives (like a lot of products with SPF do).

They also have a great collection of shades from super-pale to super-dark.  I’m using the Fairly Light color, but in the winter, I’ll probably switch to Fair.

It also has a cool locking device – you twist the package to lock it, so it won’t spill when you carry it around in your purse or luggage.  Not a huge thing, but a nice added bonus.

This stuff is the bee’s knees – check it out!

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That’s why I decided to try Weleda’s Wild Rose Collection. I had heard good things about Weleda from some of my friends, and I knew it was an all natural line, so I couldn’t wait to experience it. I started off with their Wild Rose Facial Care Kit because it included four travel-size products for me to try (btw, this is perfect way to try a new line without committing to a ful-size product).

The kit included the facial cleanser, toner, day cream, and night cream. The cleansing lotion was very nice and soothing, not quite the consistency I thought it would be, it was a runny liquid rather than a lotion, but as far as its moisturizing properties, it was definitely more like a lotion. To tell you the truth, I often have a hard time believing these gentle, lotion-like cleansers can really clean my skin. Maybe it’s because it feels so soft and comfortable afterward. But actually, this cleanser really did the job. The dirt and oil were gone and yet my face didn’t feel tight or dry.

After cleansing I used the toner, which continued to soothe my skin, yet also gently tightened my pores. It’s definitely moisturizing and also refreshing, exactly what I’m looking for in a toner.

Of course the day and night cream continue with the soothing and moisturizing properties of the other products. The day cream was very comforting, but did tend to be a little heavy for my oily skin. It sat on the skin throughout the day, which left my skin feeling great, but a bit too shiny. And when I applied makeup over it, it tended to shine through my foundation and powder after a few hours. I think it would be really great for someone with normal, combination, or dry skin.

One cool part is that the day cream is refreshing too. Not sure how it does it, but it actually feels cool on the skin, which is wonderful when you’re trying to wake up your face in the morning.

The night cream was a bit heavier, like night creams should be, and felt very nice on my skin. It lasted all night and made my skin feel soft and wonderful in the morning.

What makes the Wild Rose Collection special is its key ingredient. Organic Rose Seed Oil is what soothes, calms, and moisturizes the skin. Plus, it’s packed with antioxidants to fight free-radical damage and essential fatty acids to plump the skin, lessening the appearance of fine lines.

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Turns out, a friend had given her the coconut oil as a gift, but she forgot about it and left it near her bed.  I found it and showed it to her and suddenly it was like we had found a new toy!

I’ve read a lot of coconut oil propaganda lately, and like apple cider vinegar, soy protein, or acai berry extract, what you read online would make you think it will do your laundry, get you a raise at work, walk your dog, take your kids to school and maybe even cure cancer!

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Okay, okay, I’m exaggerating of course.  But, I wanted to try this stuff for myself, and Hala wouldn’t give hers up, so I got myself some virgin, cold-pressed coconut oil from Tropical Traditions. It’s made by hand, in small quantities, by farmers in the Philippines.  To see why virgin, cold-pressed is better than machine-processed, check out their video.

I must say, coconut oil has been great for my dry skin and I use it as a hair masque – either overnight or about 15 minutes before shampooing (pre-poo!).

I have used it on my face and chest, where I get a lot of breakouts.  Supposedly, the coconut oil merges with the bacteria on your skin and kills it.  (Click here for a better explanation.)  I wouldn’t say I’ve seen a huge improvement in my acne, but it didn’t exacerbate it either. That means, you can use it on your entire body with no worries about breakouts (and maybe it will help your acne, who knows?).

I have used it for cooking, and it has a great, coconut-y flavor – good in stir frys. It’s not bad as a butter substitute on toast, or mixed with a shake. According to the book I read, Virgin Coconut Oil, by Tropical Traditions owners, Brian and Marianita Shilhavy, coconut oil actually helps you lose weight! It sounds backwards because coconut oil is a saturated fat.  It is mostly solid at room temperature.

According to the book, polyunsaturated fats actually make livestock gain weight and coconut oil causes them to lose weight.  The idea behind this is that the medium chain fatty acids in coconut oil are burned more readily than the long chain fatty acids in most vegetable oils. Thus, they are not stored as fat and they increase metabolic activity which induces weight loss.

The book also claims that coconut oil has been shown to lower cholesterol, reduce risk of heart disease, improve thyroid function, improve digestive disorders, boost energy and prevent wrinkles.

I’m not a scientist, so I can’t back up any of these claims, but buying coconut oil is not a huge investment, so I encourage you to try it.  I am a Lean Cuisine kind of cook, so I haven’t used coconut oil in my cooking enough to decide if the claims are true.  If I could get myself to cook on a regular basis, I’d probably lose weight and be healthier anyway!

Has coconut oil worked for you?  Let me know!

So, even if none of these claims are true, coconut oil is still a wonderful skin and hair conditioner! Want to try it for yourself?  Tropical Traditions is giving one lucky reader a quart of gold-standard, cold-pressed, virgin coconut oil (retail value $37.50)!

To enter:

• All you have to do is sign up for the Tropical Traditions e-newsletter to enter. Please leave a comment below after you sign up, and make sure to leave me the same e-mail address you used to sign up. You must do this before earning extra entries.

For extra entries:

• Follow @MyBeautyBunny on Twitter and tweet the following: “@MyBeautyBunny is giving away free Tropical Traditions coconut oil – http://ow.ly/hO6i” Or just click the re-tweet button at the bottom of the post.  Leave a comment below with a link to the tweet after you’ve tweeted. You can tweet as many times as you like – just be sure to leave a comment for each tweet!

• Become a fan of My Beauty Bunny’s Facebook page. If you’re already a fan, just leave your Facebook name.

• Follow My Beauty Bunny through Networked Blogs on Facebook – see the Networked Blogs widget on the right side of the page to quickly add us.  Leave a comment below with your Facebook name after you’ve added us. If you’ve already joined, just leave your Facebook name.

• Sign up for My Beauty Bunny’s e-mail newsletter and leave me the e-mail address you used to sign up. If you’re already a subscriber, just leave me your e-mail address.

IMPORTANT: You must leave a comment for EACH action in order for it to count!

You must be a U.S. citizen, age 18 or older to win. Contest ends midnight (PST), 7/31/09.

Good luck!

Contest is now closed.

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One I recommend is She’s So Lovely (We All Agree) Beautifying and Balancing Daily Moisturizer by Exuberance.  Long name, but it’s worth it!  It’s vegan, cruelty free, free of parabens and artificial fragrances and it’s made with 90% organic ingredients.

It’s made with organic aloe juice (has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties), organic coconut oil (has antiseptic properties), organic jojoba oil (moisturizing), witch hazel (great for toning down oil production without the harshness of pure alcohol), hydrolized silk (moisturizing), organic black willowbark (great for toning down inflamed, red skin), neem oil (has anti-microbial properties) and rosemary extract (antioxidant).

The moisturizer is great for daytime use and under makeup because it doesn’t leave skin feeling heavy or greasy.  I would definitely recommend using a sunscreen with it if you’ll be out and about – my favorite is a mineral powder makeup with natural sunscreens – which also helps to soak up excess oil.  And, of course, this is meant to be a daytime moisturizer.  So, unless you have super oily skin, I recommend using a heavier moisturizer to bed.

Oh, and I have to mention, they have really cute packaging – it’s so happy and positive – love it!

C You Today or C You in the Morning Cream

This cream made by Yes to Carrots is great for my dry-to combination skin.  It’s thick and feels like buttah but doesn’t make my face look oily in the slightest.  It’s full of antioxidants (vitamin A, vitamin C, green tea extract, pomegranate peel) and it has ginkgo biloba to increase circulation in your skin.  It also has some great moisturizing and soothing ingredients – avocado oil, carrot seed oil, carrot juice, sweet almond oil, chamomile and aloe.

It also has a few ingredients that help to alleviate excessive oil production – salicylic acid (just a touch), cucumber water, witch hazel (I use this every day as a toner) and orange oil.  It even has anti-aging ingredients – hyaluronic acid and squalane.