Holika Holika Soda Pore Cleansing BB Deep Cleansing Oil Review

July 2014 Update:  After some discussion with other bloggers about cleansing oils, I have updated a few points in this review, marked with **

This week's review, much delayed by a paralysis of indecision on what to review next, is the Holika Holika Soda Pore Cleansing BB Deep Cleansing Oil, which I purchased in my mega-haul from pretty&cute.com

Like most of the items I purchase, there were not a lot of English reviews of this specific cleansing oil, but considering my overall faith in the Holika Holika brand, and the affordable price point, I figured I would give the Oil Cleansing Method (OCM) a shot.

OCM, if you haven't heard of it before, is cleaning your face with a blend of oils, usually specific ones with certain properties that lend themselves to this application, rather than smearing whatever you have in your kitchen onto your face.  OCM is something that I have been aware of, but have scrupulously avoided, for years-- primarily because I associated it with hippies who were fond of wearing patchouli and sandalwood in lieu of proper bathing, or trend addicts who were constantly latching onto every new "natural" beauty trend, up to and including cleaning their face with their own urine. (EURGH!)  Thus, OCM was something I was pretty skeptical of, and considering my skin clogs very easily, I was not willing to take the risk.

However, I had read someone describing how the oil loosened their blackheads to the point where it felt like "sesame seeds" under their fingers, and considering my ongoing quest to de-congest my skin, that sounded promising.  Plus, PBunnieP and her video on how to cleanse your face with oil convinced me to give it a try.  I noticed that the actual cleansing appeared to be from massage as opposite to the oil itself doing the "heavy lifting" and that it needed to be removed via emulsification to accomplish a proper clean, which made perfect sense to me.

**Update note #1:  'Emulsification' is a nebulous beauty term, and is casually used by many bloggers, including by PBunnieP in the link above, but more on that later.**

I have been using this product once a week for about 10 weeks, and it's one of those things that I'm glad I took the time to use for a while before reviewing it, because my opinion of it has drastically changed in that time.

Guest Review of Beauty Blender Sponge Dupe from LeCosemetique

This week's review of the Beauty Blender Sponge Dupe from lecosmetique.com is is brought to you by Guest Reviewer Courtney of San Francisco, who shares my interest in meticulously researching obscure beauty items.

Courtney and I have very different skin profiles, and she provides the following details about hers:

• Ethnicity: Asian (Japanese & Chinese)
• MAC skin tone: NC35-NC40
• Skin type: oily/combination, occasional acne, tans easily
• Concerns: wrinkles, dark circles and bags under eyes, uneven skin tone, scars, aging.

Read on for her fantastic review of a better quality dupe of these famous sponges:

Mizon Snail Repair Blemish Balm Review

This week's review is of the Mizon Snail BB cream, specifically their Multi Function Formula Snail Repair Blemish Balm with SPF32/PA++.  It's part of a line of snail-based beauty products from Mizon, which was a brand I had never heard of until I learned of their snail BB cream from beauty blogger PBunnieP and after her rave review, I had to try it myself.

2015 update: Wow, looking back at old photos from old cameras is painful. Everyone has to start somewhere, right?

Hold the phone, you did not just say SNAIL?!

Yep, I did.  More on that later.

That is the most disgusting thing I have ever heard of putting on my face!  I'm outta here.

You'd be missing out on something that has a near-miraculous effect on acne.

Snail filtrate (meaning it's harvested [cruelty-free] from a species of snail farmed just for this purpose, and then filtered) is famous for it's skincare benefits, which include speeding the healing process of any wound, which means it helps heal your acne more quickly and without scarring.  Seriously, just google it.

To me, that's huge.  As long as the little guys are not harmed, I'm all for anything that will help me combat the acne that continues to plague me right into my 30's.  It is also linked to various skin benefits and supposedly it has been clinically tested to confirm that it does in fact have chemicals in it that assist with regenerating the skin, as snails rely on healing abrasions, preventing infection, and quickly reducing inflammation so they are not compromised by whatever sharp nasty things they are gliding over.

Makes sense when you think about it that way, doesn't it?  It would be like dragging the inside of your lips over any and all surfaces; you wouldn't survive if you didn't have a way to keep the ensuing abrasions and contamination from killing you.

It's not even that exotic an idea anymore; it's been A Thing in the beauty world for quite a while, including Brazil, France, and of course Asia.

On to the review!

A tale of skin revenge and woe, or: Why you shouldn't leave your Clarisonic behind when vacationing

You know that terrible thing that happens to you when you vacation during the holidays with your family?  That insidious slothfulness that seeps into your days and nights that renders you into an unapologetic glutton, leading you into hedonistic consumption of 10 hour sleep marathons, clementines, unshelled almonds and hazelnuts, and you develop a sudden inability to refuse your mother-in-law's Christmas cookies?  Yeah.

I try to be fairly virtuous during Christmas and balance the flood of meat, desserts, and starchy side dishes with green leafy stuff because I'm too old to get away with treating my body like a garbage disposal without serious repercussions.  I'd like to claim some sort of moral superiority and tout a rigorous diet of spirulina, sprouted wheat gluten-free non-bread high-fibre something-or-other, my inability to drink anything but water or unsweetened tea, and my aversion to desserts.  But I am not gonna lie; I love spinach and I don't mind salad, but the rest of it is just not going to happen.

What does this have to do with beauty?  Well, I want you to be suitably warned before I unleash the full horror of my current skin condition on your unsuspecting eyes in my next review for the Mizon BB Cream Snail Repair Blemish Balm.  Because even though I am careful not to overeat during the holidays, my skin does not appreciate a diet full of sugar, refined carbs, and heavy fats.

Worse, I had a moment of extreme shortsightedness as I was packing and thought to myself: "It would be a pain to pack my Clarisonic brush, and it's only a 2 week vacation, I don't really need it" and if you are a Clarisonic user, you're probably cringing right now and wishing you could go back in time and slap the stupid out of me.

The good news is that I learned my Clarisonic does not cause a placebo effect brought on by an attempt to justify the price tag.  The bad news is my skin is a seething, congested, flaky, storm of furious break-outs and terrible skin tone.  All this just in time for a BB cream review where my naked skin will be on display in it's full mind-rending hideous glory!

Although I managed to undo two months of skin progress in two-and-a-half weeks, at least now I will be able to give photo evidence of the effectiveness of a few products I have en route, including some new snail-based beauty products.

Don't say I didn't warn you.