If you’re a regular shopper of Whole Foods, you’re probably familiar with Avalon Organics. I had always wanted to try it, but I wasn’t sold on Whole Foods’ high prices. Luckily, I recently found out about a wonderful online retailer of natural and organic products. It’s called iHerb.com and their selection and prices are amazing. In fact, I’ve gotten quite of few of some of the best natural beauty products on their site, but I’ll have to tell you more about those later.

For now, let’s talk about this cleanser. I was really pleased with it. It’s a gel cleanser with a citrus scent. It works into a nice lather and it completely clears my skin of dirt, makeup (not eye makeup), and oil without making my skin feel tight or dry.

I love that it has Vitamin C, which is a natural antioxidant and skin brightener. My skin has been looking great. It’s clear, healthy, and does seem a bit more radiant (if I do say so myself).

Even better, the cleanser contains 100% vegetarian ingredients, certified organic ingredients, and is free of sulfates and parabens. And of course, it’s cruelty-free.

I’d recommend it for those with oily skin. It’s a great way to keep the oil at bay without stripping or overdrying your skin. The brand says it also would work well for normal skin. But those with dry or sensitive skin should probably choose another Avalon Organics cleanser, like their Lavender Cleansing Gel.

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They produce cruelty-free, vegan, eco-fabulous, luxury skincare with a lot of NOs.

No animal products, no parabens, no sodium laurel sulfate, no parfum, no phenoxyethanol, no colorants, no urea, no phthalates, and no propolyne glycol. So what’s left? Quality botanical extracts and essential oils of course!

I tried the Green Tea & Apple Refining Face Wash and the Combava Exfoliating Face Wash.  They are both great for combination to oily skin. The Green Tea & Apple is especially good at rinsing off without leaving a residue behind, which is a major plus for me.  I would recommend it for oilier skin types. It has natural fruit acids to exfoliate and cleanse pores. It also has grapefruit oil, green tea extract, an array of organic essential oils and willow bark which is a light antiseptic and astringent.

The Combava Exfoliating Face Wash is a very gentle exfoliant that uses spherical jojoba beads so as not to tear delicate skin. The namesake ingredient, combava, is a type of lime oil from Madagascar. Most people can use this daily. If you have super sensitive skin, you should limit it to twice a week use.

Do you want to try these out for yourself? My Beauty Bunny and Russell Organics are giving both a full-size Green Tea & Apple Refining Face Wash and a full-size Combava Exfoliating Face Wash to one lucky reader (a $64 value!).

So – on to the contest!

To enter:

• All you have to do is leave a comment below and tell me your biggest skin complaint.

For extra entries:

• Follow @MyBeautyBunny on Twitter and tweet the following: “@MyBeautyBunny is giving away Russell Organics vegan skincare! – http://ow.ly/pT3w” 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 once per day – 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.

• 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), 9/30/09.

Good luck!

Contest is closed.

Virtual Illusion Makeup Primer

The Virtual Illusion Makeup Primer is very similar to another one I like by Perfekt, but it’s a bit cheaper. Both have dimethicone and other ingredients that fill in fine lines, large pores and other skin imperfections to give you a nice, smooth base for makeup. My only problem with these types of primers is that they seem to make my skin more oily by the end of the day. Applying powder helps, but if you have super oily skin, I would avoid the dimethicone.

The Arbonne makeup primer is nice because it contains ingredients to improve your skin, such as sodium hyaluronate, grapeseed extract and apricot kernel oil.

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FC5 Hydrating Cleanser

I also liked the FC5 Hydrating Cleanser + Freshener, which has “new cell technology.” Basically, this means the company has encapsulated some of the plant-based ingredients, so they burst when you use the product, which keeps them fresh. The hydrating cleanser does leave a tiny bit of good-for-you oil on the skin, so if you’re one of those that likes a squeaky clean feeling, I would suggest the Purifying Cleanser + Toner instead.

FC5 New Cell Scrub

The Exfoliating New Cell Scrub DOES give you that squeaky clean feeling (which I have to admit, I like). I was using the scrub first and the hydrating cleanser afterward to add back some of the natural oils.

The scrub gives you a wonderful, smooth complexion and it smells nice and fresh. It could be a bit much to use this every day, so I’d recommend using it once or twice a week. It’s great for combination to oily skin.

Never giving up on my search for the perfect cleanser, I’ve tried yet another that’s good enough to put in my oil control cleansing rotation. Arbonne’s FC5 Purifying Cleanser loves oily skin. In fact, it was developed just for those of us who are “lucky” enough to have oily skin (seriously, oily skin usually means fewer wrinkles, even if it does mean more acne).

Called a cleanser and toner, this gel face wash uses strawberry cells for removing impurities without stripping the skin. Mallow, melissa, watercress, and ivy are combined to control oil production and leave the skin with a soft matte finish. Witch hazel, lemon verbena, and rosemary tone and tighten the skin, removing excess oil and shrinking pores.

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So, does it really do what it claims? Yes, it does. I’ve been using it for about a week now and my skin feels great. It never feels tight or dry after washing. It feels soft and hydrated, yet the oiliness is gone. And it seems to keep the oil under control for the first half of the day. Oh, and no new breakouts. Which for me is a very good week.

This is my first experience with Arbonne, and I have to admit I didn’t know much about it until my friend recommended this cleanser. But I’ve been pleased and I’m currently trying a few other products that I look forward to see how my skin responds if they too will become one of my favorites. But that’s for another post on another day.

With my oily skin, sometimes I just need a deep down clean. Recently, I found an organic cleanser that does just that. Organoderm Foaming Cleanser uses a variety of natural ingredients to get rid of dirt, grime, oil, and makeup.

It’s packed with great certified organic ingredients, like apple juice (for a base), aloe leaf juice (soothing and healing), olive oil (moisturizing antioxidant), shea butter (moisturizer), cucumber extract (soothing), watercress extract (antioxidant), and sweet orange oil (revitalizing).

I love these foaming cleansers because a little goes a long way. Plus, it’s always nice to be able to use up every drop. Now, even though this cleanser has some moisturizers, they are definitely light moisutrizers. After each wash, my skin felt squeaky clean and slightly tight, not moist like the more moisturizing cream cleansers. But that’s what makes it nice for oily skin or for those who just need an extra-deep clean.

I wouldn’t recommend it for those with dry skin, but it’s a good choice for those with oily, combo and normal skin. I alternate this cleanser every other day with a gentle gel cleanser. My skin feels great and my oil seems under control. And I’ve definitely noticed fewer breakouts.

This product can also be used on the body. I like to use it on my back where I tend to get oily. But it’s a little too drying for the rest of my body. Oh, and make sure to shake it up. Natural products tend to separate a little. But with a quick shake it mixes right back together.