Beauty and Fashion Tech

All Entries Tagged With: "Vitamin C"

Prescriptives Px Vibrant-C Skin Brightening Lotion Moisturizer

Many people think of foundation when they think of Prescriptives, and they do indeed have great foundation. I highly recommend getting color matched if you have not done so before!

But Prescriptives also makes some great skin care items in their Px line. I have previously used their skin tone correcting serum, which I think is now discontinued, and I love the PX intensive Rebuilding Moisturizer.

Based on my past good experiences, I was pretty happy to have the chance to try out Prescriptives Px Vibrant-C Lotion. This light moisturizer reminds me quite a bit of the skin brightening serum, which also focused on Vitamin C, except that it comes in a lotion form. The product has a good vitamin C tingle, which if anything like past Prescriptives Vitamin C products, should be fairly stable and do a decent job of actually brightening the skin and lightening mild melasma or hyperpigmentation. Because it is a moisturizer, it also can be used nicely over other skin lightening serums for creating a combination approach to melasma treatment. For example, I have been using it over my favorite treatment cleanser and serum from PCA Skin Care. It makes for a very nice combination, especially if you like using both serums and lotions.

As a light lotion moisturizer, Vibrant-C also stands out. I found that it absorbed quickly and completely, with only a small amount needed to get the desired effect of adding some light moisture. I suspect that I will be purchasing more of this product when the bottle that I was sent is empty.

Prescriptives has also added a skin brightening moisture cream to the line if you need a higher amount of moisture. They offer a skin brightening eye cream as well. Prescriptives can be found online at various department stores. For example, I usually get their products at Macys.

I also am trying Prescriptives Intensive Rebuilding Moisture-Rich Cleanser. So keep an eye out for a future post on that!

Shop for Prescriptives Skin Care

Popularity: 9% [?]

SFRx Age Defying Complex from SuperFoods RX

SFRx Age Defying Complex from SuperFoods RX is a potent vitamin C serum and is also one of my favorite new products. From the company behind the popular and well regarded book, Super Foods RX — Fourteen Foods That Will Change Your Life, The serum provides a good amount of stable vitamin C and a lot of antioxidant power.

I am a pretty big fan of vitamin C, both for its antioxidant properties and because it can be useful in the treatment of melasma and hyperpigmentation. I also prefer to deliver it to my skin in a serum. So I was excited to try this product. In addition to vitamin C, the SFRx Complex contains pomegranate, green and black tea, and panthenol, along with other natural ingredients indicated for skin care (also apparently from their list of “super foods”).

The SFRx serum is packed nicely in a bottle with a twist up pump. This allows for easy packing and carrying without worry about making a mess. Turn the top and the pump snaps up. Turn it again and it snaps down. Packaging genius!

The serum itself feels oily, but as far as I can tell, it does not contain ingredients of concern for acne prone skin. I also had no problems with breakouts using the product over a two week period. If anything, my acne improved while I was using it. The oily feeling also provides a nice amount of moisture, and I found that I could use the SFRx serum before bed without using a night cream over it. For day use, it absorbs fairly quickly, but not immediately, so it isn’t the best to put on if you want to go straight to makeup from the serum application.

The serum also causes quite a bit of tingling and a heating sensation when it is applied. It contains sweet pepper, so that may be part of the reason for the heating sensation. Vitamin C will also usually cause a tingling sensation. It was pretty strong with the SFRx Complex, so people with sensitive skin might want to proceed with caution.

My skin was visibly improved within a matter of days from using the SFRx Age Defying Complex. My skin was brighter, well moisturized, and I had less acne while using the product. Used in combination with my regular skin lightener (the skin brightener from skin actives scientific), I found that I got a bit of extra lightening of my melasma, which was a nice bonus. I certainly got more from this product than I have gotten from the other vitamin C products I have tried. As a result, the Superfoods SFRx Complex has become part of my regular skin care routine.

The Super Foods RX website is currently offering a free trial of the SFRx Complex

Update: The free trial requires a subscription of sorts, and you will be charged if the product is not returned within 30 days of the shipping date (note that is the ship date, not the date it is received, and the item must be returned). Please see the comments for complaints about this process. Because of the comments, I do not recommend the “free” trial, or I suggest that it not be considered a true free sample of the product.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Review: Vita Amazonia Gels, Nutri Complex C, Hydra Complex C, Eye Gel, and Linden Plus Gel

Vita Amazonia has a wide variety of skin and hair care products. Something they do that many other companies don’t is offer various products in a gel form. I like the idea of using gel to deliver active ingredients such a vitamin C. People with oily skin often wish to avoid creams, and while serums can be nice, it is often easier to apply a gel product. I recently tried three Vita Amazonia gel products and generally was happy with all of them.Vita Amazonia Nutri Complex Vita C is a light gel that contains vitamin C and Beta Hydroxy Acid (BHA). This acts as an antioxidant and exfoliating combination and works well as a light night treatment. I found that the gel was soothing and non-irritating, and if I didn’t have a bit of dry skin a the moment, I would happily use it in place of my regular night cream. I think it would be a good product for anyone with oily skin who would like to try a combination product such as this without having to put a heavy cream on. Because it is a gel, it does have a factor that frankly all gel products tend to have - it is a bit sticky until it dries completely. Fortunately that does not take long.

Vita Amazonia Hydra Complex Vita C, SPF 10 is a day version of the vitamin C gel. Vita Amazonia described its Hydra C Complex in their literature to me as follows: “Containing a silcon form of Vitamin C and Moist 24, a synthetic substance from the cactus ‘Imerata Cilindrica,’ this unique product will deeply hydrate the skin, helping to fight the action of free radicals and restoring radiance and vitality to skin.”

I found that the Hydra Complex gel was indeed a bit moisturizing, but I wouldn’t describe it a feeling like a “deep” moisture. Instead, I would recommend this product to those with oily to normal skin who are looking for a gel based product. For some serious moisture from Vita Amazonia for those with dry skin (and perhaps for those with normal and combination skin as well), I recommend Vita Amazonia DMAE and Matrixyl Creams.A product I just loved was Vita Amazonia Gel for the Eye Area. I have noted before that I am a sucker for cooling eye gels and Vita Amazonia’s gel fits right in with that. My bias toward such thing aside, this is a quality product for a couple of reasons. First, it feels great, and for a gel product it dries quickly with less stickiness than often seen with this type of product. Second, it contains isoflavones and extracts of Iris Florentina and Licorice, which helps the product moisturize and lighten with some antioxidant protection. It is a nice combination of ingredients. I have been using this product often.

Finally, Vita Amazonia Linden Plus Gel is a great gel for irritated skin. It is formulated to soothe and is perfect for after shaving, waxing, or irritating procedures. I used it on an area that got a bit irritated from my use of Renova (Retin-A) and found that it felt great. It also would be wonderful for treating sunburn, but you aren’t going to get sunburned and need it for that are you?! I am going to preach this all summer, and am managing to do so twice today: Please wear your sunscreen!

I have previously reviewed Vita Amazonia DMAE and Matrixyl Creams, and some Vita Amazonia hair products. I have a couple of more products that I tried and I will post about those next week.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Review of Lumene Skin Care Products: Firming Creams, Cleansing Wipes, Vitamin C Cream, and Lip Treatment Lotion

Over the past week I tried a number of Lumene skin care products with great enjoyment. I also tried a foundation, which I will rave about in its own separate post. Lumene Products originate in Finland and are available in the United States at CVS pharmacies. They also sell some of their products in small trial sizes, so if you have a CVS near you, it is worth checking there in person for trial sizes and various local sales.

First up are the Lumene Cleaning Express Touch Cleansing Wipes. These worked quite well at removing dirt, oil, and makeup, including eye makeup. The wipes contain oat milk, which helps keep the cleanser from drying the skin. I liked these cleansing pads and will likely purchase more. I had been using Garnier Nutritioniste Cleansing Wipes, but those tend to be a bit dry. I like the Lumene better because they are not too soapy, yet have a bit more moisture than the Garnier wipes.

I also really liked a pair of products from the Lumene Time Freeze line. Lumene puts age ranges on their lines, with age 40 plus listed for the time freeze line. Although it might be good for the company’s marketing, I don’t find the age ranges particularly useful or necessary, because in many cases the products may be very appropriate for people outside of the provided age range. The day and night creams that I tried from the Time Freeze line are perfect examples. These products would be useful for anyone with somewhat dry skin and/or fine lines or wrinkles.

The Lumene Lifting Skin Supporter, Firming Day Cream is a medium weight moisturizer that provides a decent amount of moisture combined with SPF protection. I liked it just as well as a number of other good day creams, yet it is a bit cheaper than some of the equivalent higher end products.

What really shined for me though was the Lumene Lifting Skin Supporter, Firming Night Cream. Although I have other products that I like better, such as Vita Amazonia’s Revitalizing Cream with 5 percent DMAE which also has better documented active ingredients, I found this creme to be particularly pleasant to use and a great value as well. The cream is fairly thick and provides enough moisture for dry skin without being too heavy for skin that is only a bit on the dry side. It absorbs quickly and provides moisture for the entire night. It might not have DMAE and other such ingredients that would make me declare it the perfect cream, but it does a pretty bang up job for its price. At around $20 for a decent size jar, this is a good value general use night cream.

Another product I tried and liked was Vitamin C+ Radiant C Energy, Age Defying Intensive Care Cream. This cream contains multiple forms of vitamin C and felt great when I put it on. It also smells quite nice with its light citrus scent. I could feel the tingle that comes with the use of vitamin C, so it must have a decent concentration. It also absorbed well and my skin was looking quite good after a week of use (although I do use other products). With a decent price at around $15-20, this is another good value product. So if you are looking for an affordable vitamin C cream, this one is worth a look.

My favorite of the products overall was the Lumene Premium Beauty Rejuvenating Lip Care Lotion. This product has an interesting mix of ingredients. From the description:

“The products’ precious natural sea buckthorn oil contains omega fatty acids, antioxidants and vitamins that strengthen and renew skin. The Tri-peptides™–compound helps restore the skin’s elasticity and youthful glow. A-and E-vitamines stimulates cellular renovation.”

Adding peptides to a lip product greatly interested me since there is a decent amount of ancedotal evidence about the anti-aging, particularly anti-wrinkle, benefits of various types and combinations of peptides. However, whether the combination in this product comes from one of the better documented combinations is unknown (Update: I found that Lumene uses two documented combinations, see my comment). The lip care lotion is a light treatment balm/lotion. It has a nice moisturizing quality and it keeps the lips moist for some time. It has quickly become my favorite lip product for use at night when I want long lasting moisture, but don’t need SPF added. The treatment elements of the product also make it very attractive for night use. It has bit of a taste that is not unpleasant, but not pleasant either. But I would like to see it either entirely devoid of flavor or with something a bit more pleasing. Aside form that, I highly recommend this product.

Overall, I was impressed with everything I tried from Lumene. The company makes numerous products aimed at a wide range of skin types and treatment needs, so I really just got to scratch the surface. If you have a CVS nearby, stop in and take a look!

Popularity: 45% [?]

All Entries Tagged With: "Vitamin C"

Prescriptives Px Vibrant-C Skin Brightening Lotion Moisturizer

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Review of Lumene Skin Care Products: Firming Creams, Cleansing Wipes, Vitamin C Cream, and Lip Treatment Lotion

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