Archives for November 2008

Don’t you marvel at how soft your face is after your skin is professionally exfoliated? If you would like to still marvel at your soft skin without the wonder of seeing how much your spent at the spa when you billing statement comes in, read on.

• Liz Earle is a great line from England – check out my rave review of their Brightening Treatment Mask – and within their line are a couple of excellent exfoliating products. First off is their Gentle Face Exfoliator. It gently buffs away lifeless skin with jojoba beads. Apart from doing a great job exfoliating, jojoba drives other ingredients deeper into the skin (it is known as a “transporter” oil) – if you have ever tried ISH haircare product you know how great it is for getting active ingredients further than they would sink in on their own. The Liz Earle website states that this is a great exfoliator for every skin type except sensitive skin. If your skin is sensitive, I’d recommend their Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser to gently rid your skin of dull skin – and be sure to use the included muslin cloth to get a more thorough exfoliation. I’ve had several days in the past couple of weeks that my skin has gotten seriously wind-burned outside and I can’t tolerate a more intense exfoliation, and the Cleanse and Polish Cleanser has done a great job of both soothing and gently exfoliating. Even if you are still hitting the spa for facials, I still recommend this for everyday. Find both products at LizEarle.com.

• I will soon be doing a product review of Avon’s ANEW REJUVENATE Flash Facial, but in the meantime, let me extoll the amazing way it smooths your skin better than any facial ever could. Thanks to the “Exfo-Smoothing Complex”, you will think that you stepped into a time machine and have your childhood skin back – smooth, radiant, lineless, poreless, etc. Seriously, this stuff is freaky good, and works fast. Get it. You will thank me. Find it at Avon.com for $48.

• • For a truly luxurious home exfoliating facial, try La Mer’s The Refining Facial. It exfoliates in two way: first acidic sea mud loosens and lifts up dead cells, and then a mixture of diamond (yes, diamond) powder and refined quartz crystals brush them off your skin. It works great and feels great – I went from dull skin to getting a gasp from my mother about how vibrant my skin looked in one use. Use it about once a week and slowly massage it in circles and enjoy – you are rubbing diamonds all over your face!

Find it at Saks.com.

• Avon ANEW CLINICAL Advanced Retexturizing Peel will knock your socks off – these little pads gently yet powerfully sack dead skin and discoloration. Avon compares this product to a professional 35% glycolic peel, and while I’ve never had a professional peel, I’d be thrilled if I came out of the spa with skin like this. You skin glows, blackheads are banished, and you can’t stop touching your skin because it is sooooo soft. When I keep up with using these pads on a regular basis, I get constant compliments on my skin. I follow up with a moisturizer to get my skin even softer. It is very impressive to get this kind of result without irritation or redness. Find it at Avon.com for $25 for 30 pads.

• Neutrogena Pore Refining Cleanser is an amazing cleanser for not only clearing out your pores, but also washing away dead skin cells, leaving you with glowing skin. If you have sensitive skin, try it every other day, if you don’t have sensitive skin, you can use it daily. It contains both Alpha and Beta Hydroxy Formula and “microbeads” that give the cleanser some texture in order to exfoliate and deliver the agents to the new skin. It’s a really great product at a great price – get it for $7.99 at drugstore.com.

• Juice Beauty is a great line of organic products that work fantastically. Although they have a separate exfoliating cleanser, I really like their Juice Beauty Green Apple Collection Cleansing Gel for a gentle daily exfoliation. It also contains a hydroxy-acid complex derived from apple and lemon juice to wick away the dead cells that make your skin look kind blah, and it’s not tested on animals, so you can feel good about using this effective organic cleanser. And you just need a little each use (a whole pump would probably cover your whole body), so it will last you for a good long time. Find it at drugstore.com for $26.

Remember, you skin doesn’t need heavy exfoliation every day – that’s a recipe for raw skin. And don’t forget that washing your face with a plush, soft wash cloth gently exfoliates some dead cells and you can use it everyday – just don’t scrub too hard! While you may miss the plinky-plunkey music and cucumber water at the spa, these products really compete with a professional exfoliation, at a fraction of the cost.

Is your skin missing the glowing look it gets after a facial? Stay tuned for our next Spa Economy feature on Brightening Treatments.