Wednesday, March 27, 2013


1
Working at Sephora I have the wonderful opportunity to try all sorts of skincare brands and products. When I first started there 3 years ago I went WAY overboard and tried too much stuff and it made my face look like a pepperoni pizza. Hello middle school…and high school again. Not very attractive. I have always been super oily and acne prone. I could sneeze and get a pimple. I was “that girl” who wore way too much makeup since I was trying to cover it up.So I have to be careful what I use. The past few months I have been stuck on the same skin products because they work and my skin has NEVER EVER EVER looked this great! ( happy happy dance..) Oh by the way… I don’t wear foundation right now… just powder!! What what!?!?! Oh yeah baby! Took me many many years to get to this though. Anywho let me show you what works for me. I have two favorite brands at the moment, Fresh and Algenist. You can get both at Sephora. Ever since I stopped treating with acne products and started using normal and gentler ingredients my skin made a complete 180! Disclaimer- this may not work for you, everyone has different skin and freaks out differently.
FRESH-This is a great brand for many people and for many reasons. I like to think of this brand as easy and user friendly. They don’t have 10 billion ingredients with a bunch of crazy things you can’t even pronounce.


I am obsessed with the Soy Face Cleanser! It takes off all my makeup, even mascara, without stripping my skin. It has amino acids and soy proteins to helps retain moisture, help with elasticity and firmness. Rosewater helps to tone and balance and the cucumber extract nourishes and helps it smell amazing! This baby is also fragrance free and soap free! It works great with my Clarisonic as well. Added plus- It doesn’t burn your eyes! Me and my manager both use this because we get scared washing our faces and need to open our eyes in case there is a killer behind us we can see and attack if needed.



Next up is the Soy Face ExfoliantThis bad boy is fantastic! So gentle but effective! It has Jojoba, rose hip and cucumber seeds with the soy proteins. Scrub your face and your skin is so smooth and glowy after you will fall in love the first time you use it!
Last but not least… Lotus Youth Preserve Face CreamThis product is not made for oily skin, but it works so I use it! My friend Juliana has super dry skin and she has been obsessed with this too. Youth Preserve is a daily age-defying moisturizer formulated with Fresh’s proprietary Super 7 Complex, proven to prevent the signs of aging, provide 24 hours of significant moisture, and boost radiance. << That was taken from Sephora.com. Pretty much I use this just at night and I slather it on. I wake up in the morning and my face is not oily like it normally is and I feel radiant. My skin is so soft and smooth looking and it looks hydrated instead of oily.
ALGENISTI will be honest with you, at first I thought this brand was overpriced and I really didn’t care for it too much. I didn’t even give it a fair shot, I used one of their products maybe twice… maybe. So one day we got gratis in a few of the products and decided “hey … why not”. Needless to say I have new holy grail items!
TRIPLE ACTION MICROPOLISH AND PEELDo you ever look at your skin and just see rough texture, clogged pores and just say “ew”? That was me. I don’t think I can see enough great things about this. Iuse it 2-3 times a week because my skin can handle it. This is a microdermabrasion peel that has a 10% acid blend of alguronic and glycolic acid with 10% of a fruit enzyme complex. It has little micro crystal that help to exfoliate physically and then you get a chemical exfoliant from the acids. DOUBLE DUTY!!! This peel helps with cell turnover, tone, texture and gives you bright smooth more radiant skin. Yeah, it’s that good!
If you like a more clay based exfoliaator then you will enjoy the Multi-perfecting Detoxifying Exfoliant. This one is heavier since it is a mineral clay and it has salicylic acid in it .When I ran out of my Fresh cleanser I started using their gentle cleanser and I like it as well. Not as good as my Soy but it is a close second. I love the Renewal Eye Balm! It makes the under eye area so smooth and hydrated so when you put concealer on top it doesn’t look cakey and dry.
I am so happy with my skin right now with these products. I hope yall check them out! What are your favorite skin products?

~Ashley~
Instagram- AshleyBellaXO