Once again I was plagued with a rainy weekend and limited sunlight for my pictures. Anyone else ready for spring? The weather is just starting to change this last week here in South Texas and go from cold (as cold as it gets here) to seventies and humid, with lots of rain obviously. This means I start moving to lighter formulations of skincare. I still love to layer my multiple light layers. I get more out of five light layers than I do from one heavy layer.
I've been using Amore Pacific Vintage Single Extract Essence for a while now. While it's classified as an essence it's water light in texture and really more like a toner. I use it as a first step. The ingredient list is very minimal: water, glycerin & green tea leaf extract. Green tea balances and clarifies the skin. I love the luxe heavyweight glass bottle. You dispense the product by splashing a little essence out of the bottle into your clean hands. I then pat the essence into my skin. I wouldn't waste it by putting it on a cotton pad as it's quite pricey for what it is. This is an interesting snippet from Sephora on what makes this essence so vintage and unique:
It carefully utilizes green tea cultivated from the Dolsongi Green Tea Garden; the first of the three green tea gardens that Amore Pacific owns and operates on Jeju Island off the South Coast of Korea. The green tea leaves are handpicked and naturally fermented in optimal conditions for 50 days. These fermented leaves are then transferred by tea masters and placed into "onggi's", traditional Korean earthware band buried in the earth, to age naturally for another 50 days. After 100 days of waiting and a 24-hours slow extraction process, Amore Pacific’s Vintage Single Extract Essence is perfected.
I feel like I always have to have some kind of African Botanics product in my life at any given moment. The Rose Treatment Essence is my newest obsession. This thicker gel essence melts into a liquid on contact with the skin. It smells like fresh rose petals and is so hydrating and soothing. Beyond hydration this contains other botanical extracts for their anti-inflammation and antiseptic properties. More to come.
Votary London has been a recent obsession of mine and the Toning Serum caught my eye as it's one of the only non oil products they make. This serum has a slightly thicker than water texture. The ingredient list is minimal: water, neroli flower water, lemon fruit water, glycerin, sucrose, ascorbyl glucoside, citric acid, sodium hyaluronate & glycolic acid. It smells mostly like lemon water but has hints of neroli. It's very light and fresh in scent. The serum is a touch slippery and mildly hydrating. The fruit & glycolic acids combined with vitamin C should brighten skin and encourage cellular turnover. I like that this feels very mild on the skin, it's been hydrating and non-irritating. It's something different than an acid toner or more powerful acid serum. More to come.
A new and more powerful acid serum is Omorovicza Acid Fix. I was kindly gifted this to play with and so far it's really nice. I've been dying for Omorovicza to make an acid serum for ages. I thought I read somewhere that this had been used in the Omorovicza spas & was just recently released to the rest of the world. Now I cannot find that snippet anywhere. This hydrating gel serum combines 8.4% glycolic acid from Australian caviar lime & glycolic acid plus 0.5% salicylic acid. It also contains some lactic acid. The frosted glass packaging is very Omorovicza. I found this non-irritating and seems very promising. More to come.
Vintner's Daughter Active Botanical Serum is the Rolls Royce of facial oils. Comprised of 22 facial oils to restore skins balance & radiance plus improve texture. This does have an essential oil scent as it uses some more potent scented oils like neroli, frankincense, rosemary & lavender. I get along with it fine but not everyone will. I find the scent calming and invigorating in this luxury facial oil. More to come.
Sarah Chapman is a new brand I have wanted to explore. The Skin Insurance SPF 30 is an SPF that's extremely lightweight and non greasy. I love SPF 30 as anything above is just a waste for me. There's no need for SPF 50 unless you're outside on a beach. This has no white cast and it's tinted so there's no white cast. This is so light in formula anyway I doubt it would leave a white cast without the tint. I love that this formula also has optical blurring effect on the skin. The formula contains other skin loving ingredients thought o be honest looking at the inci list makes my head hurt (it's quite long).
Zelens Youth Glow Foundation is one of my favorite dewy light coverage foundations. It's Zelens so naturally it's choked full of amazing skincare ingredients. Beige is the shade I wear & I will say the shade range is sadly very limited. I love the slim glass bottle with pump and it lasts forever. You can see a very old review & swatches HERE. If you can find a match it's a very nice hydrating light to medium coverage foundation if you like a dewy your skin but better look.
Though I am thinking about spring already I found myself reaching for Miller Harris La Fumee Ottoman a lot last week. This oriental woody scent smells like a spicy campfire. It's well rounded with smoke, incense, spice and rose. Top notes: cardamom, rose, cumin. Middle notes: incense, cedar Maroc, patchouli. Base notes: rose Maroc, sandalwood, vanilla bourbon, tonka bean. I talked about it more HERE in my winter scent post.
