UGHHH I hate companys so much.

Jul 30, 2014

Caitriona H.

I bought the vitamin c serum from the body shop a good while back and have used it nightly for scar fading. It's been a while and I haven't noticed anything so I looked up the ingredients.
The first FOUR main ingredients are all silicones and beside them they've said in brackets "conditioning agent". Are you f*cking serious body shop?? I'm so disappointed. If I wanted to spend 18 euro (27 dollars) on silicone I would have bought it for chicken fillets lol.
My point is to PLEASE learn from my mistake and read the ingredients before you buy and learn the different names for skin care things. And don't trust brands because they have a good reputation. Look into these things anyway.

Jul 30, 2014

Kitty K.

I always see girls asking about it on here.. I can't help but laugh because people have so much trust in their products, I only find the aloe vera line to be okay. It does contain irritating ingredients as well.

Jul 30, 2014

Leona S.

I learned that too but not with Body Shop. There was a Neutrogena product that claimed to be soothing but the 3rd ingredient was alcohol so now I don't use that brand a bunch of liars!

Jul 30, 2014

Caitriona H.

I've noticed such a change in my hair's health since I stopped using shampoo and only use conditioner and coconut oil on it. Its actually feels healthy now instead of smooth.
I'm trying to apply that to my other skincare things and use all natural oils if possible. It's ridiculous what companys will do to make a euro these days. You probably don't remember but one of the face masks I asked you about Kitty, the one you said to stay well away from, in the description it said "Una is one of England's leading skincare experts for 15 years and wants to make a product good for skin". I hate big companys.

Jul 30, 2014

Ciciii C.

Yes , big companies shouldnt be trusted too much. What I do is stick to all natural. I don't like doctors , big time sellers , I don't trust none of it. Maybe SOME because not all of it is bad. But its hard to trust these companies these days , I make my own body cream now , and have like my own homemade body works. I like knowing what I put ON and IN my body.
Some of these names I can barely pronounce , and my mother once told me : If you can't pronounce some of the ingredients , DONT BUY IT.
Shame on some of these companies , they need to be shut down for lying.

Jul 30, 2014

Caitriona H.

I don't like doctors either Ciera, but I've only had ones that would rather stick heavy drugs down my throat then try to find to find the answer or be nice if I was paying with insurance instead of my medical card.
It's so much better to make your own that buy from brands. Brands don't give a damn about you or you're skin, they're only happy as long as they can make it cheap as possible and not be sued.

Jul 30, 2014

Kitty K.

Caitriona if you can get your hands on the Squalane Oil on Beautylish and a good vitamin c serum. Together they work so well! You'll see such nice results from them. But I love silly product claims, I love going to stores and grabbing things and telling my mom 'I'll tell you if it really works!'
I'm really glad I got such bad acne a year ago, because I wouldn't be here reading labels and learning to distinguish products.. it's why I take the time to explain things. I know I don't have to and can just say DONT USE IT! But there's so much BAD information out there and no one willing to take the time out and explain why. Just the other day a blog popped up on my facebook feed... DIY Scrub - Lemon, Lavender Oil, Eucalyptus Oil and sugar... My eyes rolled all the way back to my head so many times. Lemon isnt even good for your teeth... yet so many people bought it.
Like Jacqueline always says.. Knowledge is power but if you don't share it.. its useless.

Have you ever tried an Avocado hair mask?



I see your stand point Ciera, but that's also very hard way to go by..
A whole lot of these 'big fancy name' ingredients are derived from natural sources, just because you can't pronounce it's name doesn't make it bad.
Let's not mention that just because it is 'natural' does not make it any better. Like I always says... Poison Ivy creates a fantastic natural blush! But would you really rub that on your face?
That's essentially what a lot of these 'kitchen natural' ingredients do, some quite visible and other's very invisible.


For example:
Butyrospermum parkii
I can't pronounce that, but it's an emollient with ingredients to help repair the skin... extracted from Shea Butter.

Cinnamon, Lavender Oil, Lemon, Lime, citrus?
These are all simple to say but I can assure you they aren't helpful.

Learning about ingredients has taken my skin a heck lot... My last blemish was about 2 months ago. ( Yes, I keep track ).
Slathering stuff from my garden and kitchen... ehhh not so much.
I have a big garden filled with LOADS of exotic fruits, I mean we have 7 different types of banana so believe me if Organic was the best route then I would have been the spokesperson.

Jul 30, 2014

Ciciii C.

Your right , thats what happened with my mom. It irritates the hell out of me. I've just recently got into the natural thing. I learned so much this year , and continuing. But hey , if your up for it some of this stuff that you buy. You can make it as your own DIY for free and you know what your putting into your body at all times. If you don't have any ideas download the app Pinterest , and AllWomenStalk and you will find some good facts , information , recipes , anything.

Jul 30, 2014

Ciciii C.

@Kitty you are right , but lol that was my mom old silly saying sont trust some of these products. Its hard to trust and know what some of this stuff and remembering them. I'm new to this and want to learn more , I want to be educated in that. And half the time some of these products I buy doesn't do any good for me. But if I make something homemade , within a few weeks or days its gone. So I took all the knowledge from my books , from my mom's dermatolagist , from beautylish , google , pinterest and my mistakes in one big bottle and learn. Even the lemon works on my face. It doesn't burn like most say it does. Idk why but my skin is waaay different. But its hard these days.

Jul 30, 2014

Caitriona H.

Squalane Oil instead of jojoba or both? What is it? I've never heard of it. I'll try to find some nice vitamin c capsules and actually read the ingredients beforehand haha
I think its safe to say that everyone appreciates you taking your time to help us in detail with our skin issues Kitty :)
Hmm... I get what you mean but I trust them a lot more than chemicals (although you'll never see me putting lemon near my face lol)
2 months ago, god your hormones must be amazingly balanced! I always get a spot before/during my period.

Jul 30, 2014

Ciciii C.

Yes I love it when Kitty Preaches. But the doctors , and medicene , ect?. I can't trust. Put something natural onto my face.

Yes even lemon helpes my skin, I don't use baking soad like that , but it clear my face out too. I don't get bumps on my face , just a bump. But chemicals? Nah uh , it will damage my perfect beautiful face. Caitriona , the products you use , you should check the ratings on that thing. Since something like this happened to you I will have to do the same.

Jul 30, 2014

Jenna M.

You know what else is natural bacteria and viruses. You know what else is natural, antibiotics that were discovered by growing them.

Jul 30, 2014

Kitty K.

Squalane Oil hands down! Squalane Oil is typically derived from either shark liver, olives, or sebum. Our body produces Squalane Oil naturally, overtime it begins to declines.
Squalane oil is loaded with antioxidants, skin repairing benefits including cell turn over and anti-aging, and absorbs very quickly into the skin so it's almost impossible to feel like an oil slick ( as opposed to coconut oil ) leaving you with a nice luminous glow. Non-comedogenic ♥

I use it in replacement of a moisturizer and it works quite well. Paired with an antioxidant serum is pure heaven! It absorbs so quickly into the skin.



Ciera.. lemon/lime/citrus is phototoxic, Irritant. You may think it's good but it's not, it is indeed ruining your beautiful skin and its natural.
Not sure if you read my responses, but you do NOT need to feel irritation.
Like I said.. I had Severe Acne, including Cystic Acne... no $$$ for doctors.
I did the mistake of trusting everything and using lemon. My skin was in a bad condition trusting all these natural kitchen remedies... you know it's bad when your dad laughs and asks 'Why are you drawing on your acne?' And there was soo much redness.. People thought I got lip injections ( I have big lips.)

When you use irritating ingredients you basically trigger more oil production in your body, and you basically break down your skins ability to repair itself and produce collagen...
Yes lemon can 'help' even out some scars... until you go lay in the sun some with it.. than what you have is a very nasty burn.
And also, a very nice breeding ground for bacteria and infections using citrus. Your skin acts as a barrier to Protect itself, you are essentially destroying that barrier with citrus fruits. Your skin accumulates lots of nasty things throughout the day,bacteria, viruses, pollutants, dirt, you don't want to leave your immunity compromised over a citrus fruit... especially when any natural non-volatile oil can do the same thing without a bunch of cons. ☺

But one of my biggest pet peeves...
Please don't say all chemicals are bad and ruin your face. Water is a chemical.. you are composed of chemicals... saying all chemicals are bad is like saying anything with the color blue is cold and anything with the color red is hot.
Also, pinterest gives some pretty awful advice and lots of misinformation. That goes for both make up and skin care.

Learn to read ingredients, be open minded. So when you do buy these products you pick out the right one.
Natural is fine, but it isn't a holy grail.. Natural can work great ( Aloe Vera, Colloidal Oatmeal, Oils, Probiotics ) but all with due cause, use natural ingredients that aren't going to trigger a thousand other problems.

Jul 30, 2014

Caitriona H.

Not all bacteria is bad but yeah we know not everything natural is good. Thats one example in a million though and I'm not really sure how that relates to ciera's dislike of doctors or how companys fill their products with cheap fillers?

Jul 30, 2014

Caitriona H.

I'm definitely looking into this oil. It sounds amazing. Can you use it on dry lips too?
Oh, I didn't mean chemicals in general, my bad :/
I'm relying on Paula's choice Dictionary right now to give me the low down on all these ingredients lol. So far I've learned that my cleanser contains mainly all saturated fatty acids, but that thats good haha

Jul 30, 2014

Caitriona H.

I know, I wish there was laws in place that made their statements have to be more accurate.

Jul 30, 2014

Kitty K.

I'm not sure what her dislike is of doctors, but thats usually from bad experience. Not all doctors are bad and without one many of us would be a thing of the past. People used to die from the common cold, allergies, all these simple things! I would have been dead being less than a year old :(

I love her ingredient dictionary.. just wish she had a comedogenicity rating for ingredients.
I use it on my lips all the time.. not intentionally though.. just happens to get there with all my face massaging motions.
My hormones I think are fine.. eliminating dairy didn't do much. Plus I LOVE butter.
But my skin is prone to comedogenic break outs.
I hate cheapo ingredients... I have caught some high end brands red handed with some very cheap ingredients as their base.
I remember when I bought the Lorac 'I'm so sensitive' primer. I didn't really glance at it... Then I got a bunch of clogged pores on my forehead. So I sat down and re-evaluated everything.
It was based off of Ethylhexyl Palmitate.. it's a fatty.. emollient.. derived from coconut. But it's also very comedogenic and very popular in moisturizers. Neutrogena has an oil free moisturizer with this same base. I get lots of people asking me why they have clogged pores.. and thats the culprit.

Also whos really great to watch on YouTube is Veronica Gorgeios. She is a Skin Esthetician with about ten years on her belt. She makes the most informative YouTube videos on skin care. I love her to death.. totally check her out!

Jul 30, 2014

Caitriona H.

^ The first comment was for Jenna sorry lol
It's more that I don't trust the pharmaceutical companies than the doctors, I've just never met a doctor who cared without a nice fat check, well even then they didn't care they just had a better attitude toward me.
God, you're not safe anywhere :/
Subbed her now haha

Jul 30, 2014

Kitty K.

Em she broke down the structure of water, but water is a chemical. Its water broken down is 2 hydrogen molecules, 1 oxygen molecule. Water is a solvent and is a chemical substance.
I'm sure you guys will both love that Squalane Oil, I only like to use Jojoba now for removing make up. Coconut Oil is a bit too watery for me.. and removing lipstick with it.. tastes so yucky!

Jul 30, 2014

Kitty K.

Aww em I didnt mean to confuse you lol.
But yes its always why I am having a kitty hissy fit over it lol.

Jul 30, 2014

Caitriona H.

Sorry, I just saw your question about Avacado (its 7am, I'm a bit of a zombie) masks, no I've never tried one but I really want to after your blog :)

Jul 30, 2014

Cynthia H.

Actually the vitamin c serum is meant to be used as a face primer, when I worked there that's what I told my clients and that's what kept them coming back for it.. If you want something for spots.. Look into the peter Thomas Roth camu camu

Jul 30, 2014

Caitriona H.

It says it can be used under makeup but it never says on the bottle that its a primer.
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
BEST IF YOU WANT TO: Create instant smoothing radiance with a silky smooth finish. It's an ideal skin pick-me-up to enhance your glow and our favorite Vitamin C product!
BEST FOR: Dull skin
How it works:
Contains Amazonian camu camu berry, which is known to have one of the highest contents of vitamin C in nature. Antioxidant vitamin C brightens skin, encourages collagen production, improves elasticity, and works along with skin-softening vitamin E to protect skin from environmental aggressors.
Community Trade Brazil nut oil moisturizes and softens skin.

^That does not even imply primer.
I don't need anything for spots but thank you.

Jul 30, 2014

Breeze T.

This is a great and very informative thread! I need to save this somewhere.And I also just subscribed to Veronica. I just wanted to say that you need to have faith and you'll find the right doctor for you, my dermatologist told me all these things about natural ingredients that can be harmful. he warned me against anything with fragrance, even if it's a natural essential oil because it can further irritate your akin if it's already going through some irritation. He always gave me the best advice and the right products.

Jul 30, 2014

Caitriona H.

^thanks but doubtful, it doesn't matter anyway