EyeCream and EyeLuminator: Which is best?

As we age gracefully or ungracefully, one area that is a prime problem area for men and women alike is the eye area. The skin under the eyes and around the eyes is the most fragile and delicate on the face and is 10% of the thickness of the skin on the rest of the body. Wrinkles develop on the skin when there's a decline in the production of connective tissue protein collagen. Combine the two and you have dark circle, circles, dry skin under the eyes, crow's feet, laugh lines, whatever you want to call it...but it's a issue that most people fight as they age. 

As I have alluded to in so many blogs, skin care and anti-aging is umm....kind of a hobby of mine, even before I became a distributor for SeneGence. And really good quality skin care is not cheap. The price point for anti-aging skin care can be really pricey whether you get it from the drugstore or get a treatment from your dermatologist. 

PSA: If you are over 35 and spent a significant amount of time out in the sun, I strongly recommend that you have an annual check-up with a dermatologist. I have one who I see every year. He checks me from head to toe to make sure I don't have any funky moles or freckles changing color. 

No anti-aging creams are going to reverse time or work instantly; however, one thing that I personally have noticed to be true with skin care offered by SeneGence is that you do see results fairly quickly. So if you are quick on the draw with wanting to see results, our skin care line won't disappoint. 

And our eye creams are no disappointment. 

Anti-aging eye creams can range in price point from $20 Neutrogena creams at the drugstore to $90 at Nordstrom's to $195 on Amazon depending on what you are looking for and how much you are willing to spend. Ours? $50 for EyeCream and $55 for EyeLuminator, and a little goes a long way. 

Today at a client's request, I did an experiment. I've been using both the EyeCream and the EyeLuminator for over a year, and I usually use them 2-3 times a week. I admit, I'm not diligent about using EyeCream every night and usually I forget to put on the EyeLuminator in the morning. I remember it after I have my full face on since I keep all my skin care together. (Note: start keeping EyeLuminator in makeup area, Erica!)

So what are these items? 

Our EyeCream is made with soybean oil, kukui seed oil and Vitamin A. Its purpose: to protect the skin around the eye area and diminish the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. It is $50.

Our EyeLuminator is the EyeCream blended with Pearlizer Advanced Anti-Aging Foundation. It is $55. 

Both pots are the same size. Both creams are a firm pressed texture that doesn't move in the container or spill. The EyeCream has a lavender tint to it and the EyeLuminator looks like a firm concealer. I put on both with my ring finger. They blend very easily into moisturized skin without streaking.

So let's begin. For a starting picture, I have this. A picture of me wearing Caramel Apple yesterday on a clean face with no makeup. You can see all of my dark areas and blemishes on my face as I couldn't even find concealer in my car makeup bag to dot some cover-up on my chin. I did wash my face that morning in the shower, but I estimate that I haven't used EyeCream for at least a week. 

To experiment today, I washed my face with Normal to Oily Cleanser and treated it with Climate Control and Normal to Oily Day Moisturizer. I then applied EyeCream to the area under my eyes. Here is a close-up. 

To test how quickly you can see results, I set the timer for ONE HOUR and took another picture. Believe me, I haven't photoshopped these pictures. If I had, I would certainly have made my eyebrows look better. These pictures were taken in the same spot in my living room using the same phone with a flash on. 

What is different? 

• The skin is moisturized and has absorbed the emollients in the cream. You can see the shine on my before picture where the light reflects off the shiny areas. 
• The dark shadows are slightly reduced, especially in the bottom curve of the circle. 
• I have two laugh lines in the before picture that are very prominent right where my lower lash line begins that are diminished in appearance in the after picture. 
• The crepey appearance at the inner corner of my eyes right below my waterline is more prominent in the before picture. 

And that was just an hour. 

Later this evening, I put on EyeLuminator which is another treatment of the same cream, but since EyeLuminator is blended with Pearlizer, it acted as a concealer as well as a treatment. 

With EyeLuminator only, no makeup, on left!

And after blending in a little foundation on the right! 

Is it necessary to have both of these? No. The Eye Cream can be used alone under makeup, but if you are like me and could use a little help evening out your skin tone and appearance under your eyes and want more help during the day than at night, EyeLuminator may be your friend. Nighttime skin care is important because this is when your skin is at rest, but the beauty of EyeLuminator is that it has makeup AND skin care in it so it is treating your skin while you are looking your best...skin care combined with makeup. Great stuff. A little goes a long way. 

If you are interested in purchasing these products or hearing about how to use them together with the Dark Circle Eye Treatment, concealers or MakeSense, please feel free to contact me!

The Ultimate Facial: Detoxifying and Moisturizing Mask

I never really enjoyed face masks until I discovered the wonder and joy of the fresh face masks that LUSH makes. If you don't have a LUSH by you, unfortunately you can't get them since they have to be refrigerated and they make them fresh, but for about $6 you can get a face mask at Lush that has enough for about three masks and expires in about two weeks. The upside: the ingredients are all fresh and organic (think seaweed, asparagus, blueberries, garlic, honey, oats). The downside: it expires in two weeks. 

However, what I learned from using these face masks:

1) They feel AMAZING cold. If you have a day where you got too much sun, slap a cold face mask on and let it sit for fifteen minutes and it will greatly reduce the redness and help prevent peeling. 

2) They are incredibly great for your face, no matter what their designed purpose. Every face mask I have used, whether it is designed for exfoliation, moisturization, cleansing, etcetera, always makes my face feel like it's been buffed with a nail emery board in a very good way. 

3) It's a lot cheaper than getting a facial at a spa (which I also really enjoy). 

Since I started using masks, I now keep all my masks in the refrigerator, regardless if they are LUSH, Perfectly Posh, Arbonne or my favorite, our Detoxifying and Moisturizing Mask. However, I do admit that I have ones from all of the manufacturers in my refrigerator because like shampoo, I believe that your face needs variety when you are treating it and the same routine day after day will stop shocking your skin and getting it to improve. So while yes, I use all of our skin care products, I don't use them every single day with the exception of our face wash. 

Tonight I have a date night with my husband since it's his company Christmas party and I'm going full-out with my makeup and doing full face. I started preparing last night with our Facial Resurfacer but today? Mask time!

I have had this mask container in my refrigerator for nine out of the eleven months that I have been a distributor and I've used it at least three to four times a month each month. And look how much is still left. It's about half full. It is not going bad since I keep it in the refrigerator, and it still smells and works wonderfully. The directions suggest a thin coating (usually a good fingerful is sufficient since it spreads well) and to use it no more than 1-2 times a week. 

Math time: 

Cost of the mask: $50
Use: 4 times a month x nine months = 36 masks
I have half of it left. 
$50 divided by 72 masks = 69 cents per mask

Not a bad rate for a prestige skin care item that really works and is fortified with anti-aging complex. 

So it feels cold, it works, it moisturizes your skin, it helps with anti-aging....and....it smells great. To me, it smells very much like cucumbers, so from reading the ingredient list, I gather that some sort of cucumber extract must be in it. However, what is actually IN it? 

Top ingredients that caught my eye: 

1. Kaolin. I'm not surprised at all to see this as this is a top clay ingredient used in most cosmetics. It's job? Absorbing excess oil and water into itself as well as making a paste when mixed with water that has a texture. You will see this used in virtually every facial mask, even the ones from LUSH. 

2. Vegetable oil. Also not surprised to see this one either...the mask isn't greasy or oily, but a little bit of oil is needed for spreadability and the mask does direct you to use a cleanser after you take it off. I use our 3 In 1 Normal To Oily Cleanser. 

3. Yeast extract.  This is an antioxidant, and antioxidants strengthen skin structure and help prevent environmental damage. 

4. Vitamins A, B, C and E. These are NEVER bad for your skin, but Vitamin E especially is great. 

5. Orchis mascula (flower extract). This is going to be found in a lot of our products, including LipSense. Flower extracts have varied purposes but many of them stimulate microcirculation, improve dryness, reduce redness, and revitalize aging skin.

6. Jojoba seed extract. Surprise surprise, this has Vitamin E in it as well which can be used to treat sunburns! It also speeds up cell regeneration which will help with treatment of scarring, acne and reducing the appearance of wrinkles. 

7. Arnica montana. Arnica traditionally is used to treat injuries and soothe muscle aches, but it also will reduce inflammation!

8. Camellia sensis (leaf extract). Another antioxidant! See #3 above. 

9. Zinc. Remember zinc oxide? The white cream people still occasionally put on their noses to prevent sunburn? It is also used to treat skin irritations such as diaper rash and other issues, but also can be used as a mild astringent. 

10. Volcanic ash. I know this is a strange thing to see in skin care products, but if you haven't seen any skin care products with charcoal or other carbon-based products in them, take a look if you have especially oily skin. I have found for me that any facial wash or scrub with charcoal in it is especially effective at helping control oily skin, which I have in abundance. Activated charcoal'when used in a face mask magnetizes to and helps extract the dirt out of your pores, making them less visible. If you have ever had a professional facial, part of the facial usually is a manual pore extraction where the aesthetician actually manually extracts the dirt and oil clogging your pores. This will help in the same way and I have noticed my pores are less noticeable by using products with ash or charcoal in them. 

So my routine this morning? I used a gentle facial scrub to take off the products from the night before, put the mask on my clean dry face, let it sit for twenty minutes, and then washed it off with clean warm water. After that, I washed with our 3 In 1 Normal to Oily Cleanser, moisturized with our Daytime Normal To Oily Moisturizer and then topped that with our Silk Pore and Wrinkle Minimizer. The after picture was taken just after washing the mask off and before cleansing and moisturizing.

The end result is that my face is clean, moisturized, soft, and ready for full face tonight!

This mask would make a wonderful Christmas gift without a doubt! Don't forget about the people in your life that love facials! This is a gift that will give all year long!

The Detoxifying and Moisturizing Mask retails for $50.00 USD. Please contact me to order! (And no, I have no idea why the flyer shows it blue. It is white.)