It wasn’t until a few years ago that I learned about the UV Index (a measurement of how hot and intense the sun gets on a given day). At the time, I thought the index went from 1-10, with 10 being the absolute hottest rating possible. Imagine my horror when I realized the UV Index is generally 11+ almost every day of the Las Vegas summer! Holy crap – The UV Index actually goes to 15! The heat must have fried my brain because I’m a total sun-phobe, yet I cemented my plans on staying in Las Vegas by recently buying a condo (update: wow, that was a bad idea!)

While Vegas is a bit extreme since it’s a UV Index of 9 or higher half the year, most cities in the US see extreme UV ratings during the summer. You can check your city’s UV Index by entering in your zip code on the EPA website. The site also gives you a map of the UV Index of the entire US. Here is how I go to extremes to deal with the crazy high UV Index:

• I try to avoid leaving the house before 6pm! Currently I’m self-employed, so unless I have a freelance photography job during the day, I generally don’t leave the house til 5 or 6pm. The sun is still out, so I still get to see daylight, yet avoid the hottest time of the day. I’m not a morning person, or otherwise I might get up super early, and then avoid being outside from 9am-5pm. When I get a job outside of the house, a night job would probably be ideal for me.
• I keep most of the shades in the house drawn, and have curtains up on the windows. The hot sun can still come through the windows and while it can’t burn you, UVA rays can cause premature aging, and possibly skin cancer. When I move to my own condo, I’m going to look into having my windows UV tinted. I have no idea how much this costs!
• I tinted my car windows with a UV coating to deflect the sun. Just because you’re in your car doesn’t mean the sun can’t harm you, so car window tinting adds an extra layer of protection.
• If I have to go outside, I spend as little time outside as possible. I always wear SPF 30+ Zinc Oxide-based sunscreen, even at 6pm! If the sun is out, I have on sunscreen!
• I always wear big sunglasses with UVA/UVB coating, and my next purchase will be big wraparound sunglasses, so that my crow’s feet get extra protection! I really don’t like hats, or else I’d wear a hat whenever I left the house as well.
• I carry around sunscreen with me, so that I can reapply in case I have to be in and out of the sun all day (which of course I try to avoid at all costs).

Suddenly that song “Sunglasses At Night” almost makes sense to me! Basically my answer to the heat is to stay inside like a hermit. The problem is when friends don’t share my extreme views, and they think it’s great fun to go outside when it’s 115 degrees! So I find myself making a lot of excuses, since most people have a hard time accepting that a UV Index of 11 = DO NOT GO OUTSIDE!

Related posts:

1. UV Index
2. Prevent Wrinkles By Tinting Your Car Windows
3. The Best Sunscreen and Sunblock

I think I have found my new favorite cleanser, one that removes makeup and sunscreen well, while leaving my face baby soft and breakout-free – DHC Deep Cleansing Oil! Woohoo! I’ve been wanting to try this cleanser for years but am so cheap that I kept putting it off because I was happy enough using Philosophy Purity Made Simple, and Neutrogena Healthy Skin Anti-Wrinkle Anti-Blemish Cleanser. Both of those cleansers are good, and safe for acne-prone skin, but they don’t remove eye makeup or waterproof sunscreen that well.

• DHC Deep Cleansing Oil Review
Since I live in the desert, I currently have dry skin so the idea of using oil on my face excites me because I would envision it would help moisturize my skin without stripping it of its natural oils. And that’s exactly what DHC Deep Cleansing Oil does – it leaves my face feeling hydrated and not tight and dried out, a problem I have with a lot of cleansers. I bought the DHC cleanser on Amazon for about $26 for 6.7 oz. Per ounce, it’s a little more than the Philosophy Purity Made Simple, and quite a splurge compared to the Neutrogena cleanser. But since neither of those cleansers remove makeup well, I end up having to use a second product to successfully remove my eye makeup.

DHC is a Japanese company, and here in the US I’ve never seen the product in a store, which is another reason why it took me this long to buy it. It appears the best place to buy the DHC cleanser in the US is on Amazon or the DHC website. According to the DHC website, the cleanser is their best-selling product worldwide. The site claims “dirt, excess oil, makeup – even waterproof mascara – and other pore-cloggers dissolve easily, leaving your face a grime-free zone that is soft to the touch. Its unique water-soluble formula rinses completely, so you’ll never see a greasy residue. Olive oil and vitamin E help ensure you won’t see dryness either.” I would agree!

* Buy DHC Deep Cleansing Oil *

• Instructions and Results
The cleanser comes with instructions written in Japanese, but on the website I found: “dispense into dry hands, then massage dry face to dissolve makeup, dirt and other impurities. Rinse thoroughly.” Pretty simple. One full pump of the cleanser is enough to thoroughly wash my face, and the product easily removes waterproof sunscreen and face makeup. I have a little trouble getting my eye makeup off, but with help of a washcloth, almost all of it comes off – a big improvement over my other cleansers. The cleanser really does leave my face feeling soft, and it even makes my skin appear smoother, more even, and my pores appear smaller. It doesn’t get rid of the blackheads on my nose (my biggest skin care issue I can’t seem to fix) but it helps reduce them slightly. The DHC cleanser reminds me of how my skin looks and feels after putting on some jojoba oil. One thing to note – I started using the cleanser before I looked up the instructions online, and I used it on a wet face with wet hands. When I did that I was left with soft, hydrated skin. When I used the cleanser per the instructions – on a dry face – my face felt dry and tight afterwards for some crazy reason. If I had oily skin I would use it that way, but you might want to try it both ways and see what works best for you.

I looked up DHC Deep Cleansing Oil on the cosmetics database to check for its safety rating, but it wasn’t listed there. After looking up the product’s individual ingredients, it appears to be an extremely safe product. The first ingredient of the cleanser is olive oil, which is a great ingredient to use on your face. The product has a very faint pleasant scent (olive oil) and while I am bothered by a lot of scents, I actually like this one.

• Safe for acne-prone skin?
So far I haven’t had any breakouts from the DHC cleanser, and the ingredients all appear non-comedogenic and safe for acne-prone skin. As with any product, if you are prone to breakouts, unfortunately the only way to know for sure if a product will be safe for your skin is to try it yourself. After reading online reviews, I see most people with acne-prone skin like this cleanser, although a few people do report breakouts (which could be from this cleanser, or something else they are using). This product could potentially help acne-prone skin because it removes makeup well, so if you happen to wear pore-clogging makeup, this may remove it better than a lot of cleansers. Either way, Amazon will normally let you do returns if you don’t it.

• Good for all skin types?
As someone with skin that ranges from very dry to normal, this cleanser works great for my skin type when I use it with water. A lot of reviews from people with oily skin also report loving this cleanser when they follow the instructions and use it on a dry face.

• Oil-Cleansing Method
Have you heard of the concept of using an oil-based cleanser on oily skin because “like dissolves like?” According to Paula Begoun’s article on the oil-cleansing method, this principle is flawed because “Dissolving oil from the surface of your skin cannot affect what is happening below the surface, inside the pore, or in your body, where these hormones are generated. Using cleansing oil may remove facial oil from the surface of your skin, but that’s about all it can do.” Again I can’t personally attest to whether or not the oil-cleansing method works since my skin is normally dry, but out of curiousity I would still try it out if I had oily skin.

• Bottom Line
DHC Deep Cleansing Oil is a great cleanser that should work for all skin types because it removes makeup and sunscreen well, without overly stripping the skin. I plan to repurchase this product as long as it lasts for several months (because it’s expensive)! This cleanser is worth trying if you are acne-prone, but don’t hesitate returning it if it doesn’t work out for you. Have you tried this DHC cleanser? Do you love it or hate it?

Ingredients: olea europaea (olive) fruit oil, caprylic/capric triglyceride, sorbeth-30 tetraoleate, pentylene glycol, phenoxyethanol, tocopherol, stearyl glycyrrhetinate, rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) leaf oil

* Buy DHC Deep Cleansing Oil *

Related posts:

1. Olay Regenerist Deep Hydration Regenerating Cream
2. Neutrogena Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover
3. CeraVe vs. Cetaphil

Lip Smacker 100% Natural
I saw these $2 lip balms and Target and couldn’t resist because I love Lip Smackers and I was curious to see how their natural version would compare. They are also cheaper than most of the other more natural lip balms brands (like Yes To Carrots and Burt’s Bees). I bought the pink guava goyave rose flavor since I love guavas. Lip Smacker 100% Natural also comes in vanilla bean, acai berry, and honeydew melon. The package touts the lip balm is: paraben free, gluten free, and dye free, and they don’t test on animals.

The pink guava Lip Smacker is a clear lip balm that doesn’t have that much flavor. It doesn’t really taste like guava or rose – it just has a subtle lip balmy scent (it’s probably the castor oil or olive oil I taste). The balm goes on sort of grainy, but it’s soft so you can rub it around to make it smoother. At first it feels hydrating and moisturizing, but inevitably I start longing for my favorite petroleum-based blue Chapstick, which is the only lip balm that has cured my chapped lips. For the average person that doesn’t have severely dry lips, Lip Smacker 100% Natural would probably work fine. It’s not a very exciting lip balm, but it’s cheap and it does appear to be natural, as it claims.

Old-School Lip Smackers
After purchasing the natural guava lip balm, I wanted to see how it compared to the regular Bonne Bell Lip Smackers, since it had been years since I used them. I bought the bubble gum flavor, and unlike the 100% natural version, it was brimming with flavor. The balm has a light pink color (since it contains dye) and it goes on a lot smoother initially than the natural version. It feels really hydrating at first also, but after an hour or two I start missing the blue Chapstick yet again. The regular Lip Smackers contain some of the same main ingredients as the naturals (castor oil, beeswax), but they do also contain mineral oil and non-natural ingredients.

Overall, if you’re looking for an inexpensive natural lip balm, Bonne Bell 100% Natural is worth trying. Since I haven’t tried the other flavors, I don’t know if they provide more flavor than the guava one. 100% Naturals is also a good choice to give to your kids, if you’re worried about the ingredients in regular lip balms, but want to give them something that looks appealing to kids. Have you tried the natural Lip Smackers, or do you still use the regular ones?

* Buy Bonne Bell Lip Smackers 100% Natural *

Lip Smacker 100% Natural ingredients:
Ricinis Communis (Castor) Oil, Crambe Abyssinica Seed oil, Olea Europea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Beeswax (Apis Mellifera), Flavor, Copernicia Cerifera (Carnauba) Wax, Psidium Guajava (Guava) Fruit Extract, Aloe Vera (Aloe Barbadensis) Extract, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Lipid, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Helianthus Annus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E)

Related posts:

1. Maybelline Lipstain
2. Nostalgic Beauty
3. Natural Moisturizer – Jojoba Oil

The aspirin mask
If you google “aspirin mask” you will find thousands of people talking about it, and everyone makes their mask slightly differently. Why would it do anything? Aspirin is technially acetylsalicylic acid, which is chemically similar to salicylic acid, the common ingredient in many acne treatments. Salicylic acid, a beta hydroxy acid, exfoliates the skin, and it is able to penetrate into pores to help keep them clean. Because aspirin is an anti-inflammatory it can help with red and inflamed pimples.

How to do an aspirin mask
First off, if you are allergic to aspirin or salicylic acid, do not apply it topically to your skin! The back of the aspirin bottle also says not to use if it you have had an allergic reaction to any pain reliever. Also don’t use it if you are pregnant or breast feeding, or if your doctor has told you not to use aspirin or pain relievers.

Here’s the most basic way to do the aspirin mask:
Buy a bottle of regular strength aspirin tablets (generic is fine), and make sure they don’t say they are coated. Advil or tylenol, etc. won’t work – it has to be aspirin. In a little bowl, put in 3-5 aspirins and a few drops of water and let them dissolve, or crush them up as needed. Add just enough water to create a paste. Then gently spread the paste onto your face. The mixture is gritty and rough, so be gentle, especially if you have sensitive skin, broken capillaries, or active acne – you don’t want to be scratching your zits. If you don’t have active acne or sensitive skin, you can very gently massage the mixture on your skin if you want. You could also use the mixture just as a spot treatment for an individual pimple. Leave the mask on for about 15 minutes, and wash it off. Be careful not to get any in your eyes!

A lot of people add a few drops of honey into the paste, or they add tea tree oil, jojoba oil, a moisturizer, or countless other topicals. Personally I’ve only done the mask with either just water, or with water and jojoba oil. Aspirin is drying to your skin, so if you have dry skin it might help to do the mask with something hydrating like jojoba oil. Or just do the mask with water and when you’re done, put on a moisturizer. I’ve read about some people leaving the mask on all night - I would not do this! Even though you’re just using a topical version of aspirin, it’s still a drug and you need to be careful. 15 minutes seems to be enough time to see good results. I also wouldn’t do the mask more than every other day.

Does the mask work?
After reading about the aspirin mask on popular sites like acne.org and makeupalley.com, I’ve never seen so many rave reviews about a home beauty treatment before. Most people love it and think it’s the best thing ever. I’m apparently never one to follow the crowd, and personally just think it’s okay. It does leave my skin feeling super smooth, so that’s the best thing about it for me. It doesn’t have any positive effect on the omnipresent blackheads on my nose, and my face doesn’t look better after the mask. Some people say the effects of the mask are cumulative, but I normally just do it once and forget about it for months at a time. I only discovered the aspirin mask after I got my acne under control, so I can’t attest to whether it actually helps lessen acne. From the rave reviews online, I assume it does though!

The other best thing about the mask, of course, is the price. I encourage everyone to at least try it to see if it works for you. For just pennies, maybe you’ll discover your new favorite beauty aid, and won’t need to spend as much on other acne or exfoliating products. Do you have any aspirin mask tips?

Related posts:

1. Bliss Triple Oxygen Instant Energizing Mask
2. My Favorite Skin Care Mask & Facial Scrub
3. Neutrogena Salicylic Acid Acne Treatment

How I pick a Retinol product
I have a prescription for Differin, a Retinoid, but since I don’t have good prescription coverage, I like to sometimes use over-the-counter Retinol products to save money. Retinol is also good for people that don’t want to bother going to a Dermatologist to get a prescription cream.

- I look for a Retinol product that lists its percentage of Retinol. It’s impossible to know how much Retinol is in a product, unless the product tells you, and few do this! You can look at a product’s list of ingredients, and the closer Retinol is listed to the beginning of the list, the more that is in there. I personally don’t want to waste my money by “guessing” how effective the product will be, though.

- Proper product packaging is a must. To stay potent, Retinol must be kept away from air and sunlight. This means it’s going to lose effectiveness if it’s in a jar, or see-through container. Tons of Retinol creams come in jars! You want a product that comes in a non-transparent tube or pump bottle.

- If you’re acne-prone, make sure the Retinol product doesn’t contain pore-clogging ingredients. And from this same link, you will find ingredients to stay away from that irritate your skin (like alcohol denat.).

- I check the Product Reviews on MakeupAlley.com and look up each product I’m interested in, and read user reviews. Keep in mind that every product will have some bad reviews, but you know you’re onto something good when it receives almost all favorable reviews. If more than one product sound good, I go with the cheaper one and try that first. Less popular products may not be listed on the site though:(

- I would start with a product with at least .15% Retinol, and work my way up to higher concentrations, if my skin can handle it. Follow the product instructions for proper use.

Retinol products that meet my criteria
I find it easy to pick a Retinol product, because there are so few that meet my criteria! There are a ton of Retinol products that might possibly have large concentrations of Retinol (RoC, Avon, and Philosophy all sell Retinol products but don’t list percentages, so there’s no way to know if their products are good, or a waste of money).

Txsystems Afirm 3x
This is what I currently use. The 3x version comes with .6% Retinol, and you can get the product in .3% or .15% versions. The lower concentration versions are good if you have sensitive skin, or if you are new to using Retinol. Sometimes you may initially peel a bit, and you will need to work your way up to the stronger formulas. Of the products I am listing, this is the only one I’ve personally tried.

Skinceuticals Retinol 1.0
At 1% Retinol, this is the highest concentration of Retinol that I’ve seen in a product! I haven’t tried this product, and would want to, however it contains some ingredients that could clog pores. If you don’t have acne-prone skin like me, you have nothing to worry about, but if you do have acne, I’d skip this. This also comes in a lower strength .5% version.

Neova Retinol ME 0.30%
This also has pore-clogging ingredients, but it would be fine if you aren’t acne-prone. It also comes in a .15% version.

La Roche-Posay Biomedic Retinol 60
Yet another Retinol product that contains pore-clogging ingredients. Again, if you aren’t acne-prone, it should be fine. Like the Afirm, this comes in .6%, .3% and .15% strengths.

Replenix Retinol Plus Smoothing Serum 5x
Ooh this one looks fine for acne-prone skin, and it comes in a 1%, .5%, .3% or .2% version.

Most of these products range from $30-60. Depending on your insurance, you might be better off getting a prescription for Differin, Renova, or Retin-A if you don’t mind seeing a Dermatologist. If you know of a good Retinol product I missed, let me know! I want to know about ones that list their Retinol percentages, and come in proper packaging. It would be especially nice to find a drugstore product to recommend! Finally, you can read my post about Renova vs Retin-A.

Related posts:

1. Green Cream Retinol Treatment
2. Anti-Aging Superstars
3. Renova vs Retin-A Micro vs Retin-A

EWG Skin Deep Cosmetics Database
On the EWG Skin Deep website, you can search for your favorite skin care, makeup, hair care, body, sunscreen, nail and baby products to see how safe they are according to EWG. The safety standards of EWG are extremely high, so don’t be surprised if most of your favorite products get a “hazardous” rating. The company gathers scientific data on thousands of skin care ingredients and then determines their possible toxicity. They look for ingredients that could possibly be linked to cancer, allergic reactions, endocrine disruption, neurotoxicity, etc. This sounds extremely scary, right?

EWG Shopper’s Guide
Here are some sample tips the EWG recommends: Avoid products with fragrance, parabens, triclosan, and sodium lauryl and laureth sulfate. Avoid anti-aging products with lactic acid, glycolic acid, and salicylic acid. Avoid the skin lightening ingredient hydroquinone, don’t use hair dye with ammonia or peroxide, and skip hand soap with triclosan.

Don’t trust claims like “Dermatologist-trusted,” “natural,” or “organic” to necessarily be true. In sunscreen, skip the ingredient oxybenzone, and make sure you use a sunscreen with at least 7% zinc oxide or titanium dioxide. I do agree with these tips!

My take on the Cosmetics Database
I’ve been researching products on the site for the last few years. I find it helpful that each ingredient in a product is given a hazard score, and then the overall product receives a score. For sunscreens, I just noticed the site now gives you a rating on the effectiveness of a specific product’s UVA and UVB protection, as well as the sunscreen’s stability. Awesome!

Now as much as I find the Cosmetics Database helpful, I personally don’t follow all of the safety warnings, and some of the products I use are deemed moderately hazardous, or even worse. Why am I so cavalier? Even though a lot of ingredients are linked to horrible things, that doesn’t mean the amount of the ingredient in your favorite product is enough to necessarily cause any harm. I am more concerned about the ingredients, pesticides and contaminants in the food I eat, for example. The website deems fragrance as extremely hazardous, and it should be avoided by anyone that has fragrance allergies, but the website also gives perfumes an extreme hazard warning. I don’t wear perfume so I don’t care, but do you really think all women will suddenly give up perfume?

The other reason I personally don’t follow all of the advice given by EWG is because I’m vain and I want to use anti-aging products that work well, which means I will use glycolic acid from time to time for wrinkles, and I’ll dye my hair with regular ammonia-based hair dye. I feel like there are enough toxins in the world to get me, and using a little wrinkle cream isn’t going to be what kills me. But I don’t completely disregard the site’s advice and ideally would like to only use products that are low hazards.

What should you do?
If you are concerned about skin care and makeup safety, absolutely look on the website for low hazard products. The site lets you search by category, and you can sort by score to find the safest products. If you are worried about your children, the site is a great way to find safe children’s sunscreens, soaps, baby shampoo, etc. Recently the site came out with their EWG 2010 Sunscreen Guide which rates the safest sunscreens, and it gives you sunscreen buying tips.

What do you think of the EWG cosmetics database? I know a lot of people use it because I get comments about it all the time.

Related posts:

1. BurnOut Sunscreen – 18% Zinc Oxide!
2. Alcohol In Cosmetics
3. Beautypedia

And where does emu oil come from, and what are the ingredients? Warning: it comes from the fat of the emu, which is an Australian animal that is similar to the ostrich. Obviously emu oil is not right for anyone that is adverse to using animal products. The only ingredient in it is emu oil, which is comprised of a few types of fatty acids.

Emu oil for hair loss
The main reason I bought emu oil is because I’m desperate for a cure to my hair loss, and I’ll try just about anything to fix it. I picked up the Longview Farms brand at my local vitamin store (it was $10-15 for 2 oz). The theory behind it is that it inhibits the DHT on your scalp, which is what contributes to genetic hair loss. You’re supposed to rub it on a few times a day to increase hair growth. Here’s the main problem, though – it’s really greasy! It makes my hair look so oily, so I have only been putting it on at night, and then washing it off in the morning.

Since I’ve been using Rogaine, which dries out my scalp like crazy, it definitely helps with the itching and flakiness. Because of the greasiness, I’ve only been using emu oil a few times a week for the last month, and it’s too soon to say if it has any benefits for hair loss. Emu oil can also be used to treat dry hair and increase moisture and shine. I haven’t coated my hair with it, but if you have really dry hair, maybe it would be a good leave-in conditioner.

* Buy Emu Oil at Amazon *

Emu oil for acne
Emu oil is also promoted as being beneficial for acne, but I would highly caution against using it if you have acne-prone skin. I used it on my face every night for a week, and I started to develop a lot of clogged pores. It was then that I realized that emu oil is very high in oleic acid, which is extremely pore clogging! I have no idea why emu oil is said to get rid of acne! My opinion – it gives you more acne!

Emu oil for wrinkles and dry facial skin
I had read emu oil works wonders on plumping up aging skin, moisturizing dry skin, and reducing the appearance of wrinkles like nothing else. Emu oil, which has anti-inflammatory properties, is supposed to penetrate into your skin better than most ingredients, and help to lock in moisture. That’s why I used it on my face – to see how well it works for wrinkles. In the week I used it, I didn’t feel like it made my skin look any better than jojoba oil, and jojoba oil has the benefit of not being an animal product, and not causing acne. So if you are looking for a natural facial moisturizer, I would suggest jojoba oil over emu oil. Neither of these products can actually get rid of wrinkles, but they can reduce the appearance of them by moisturizing your skin.

Emu oil for eczema and psoriasis
I don’t have either of these ailments, so I can’t attest to how well it works for them, but a lot of people claim it’s the only thing that has really helped with these conditions. Speak to your doctor before using emu oil on eczema or psoriasis, but it could be a good addition to your treatment plan. It’s also supposed to work well on super dry areas on your body – knees, elbows, feet, etc.

Emu oil for arthritis pain
Many people rub emu oil onto their painful arthritic joints to alleviate inflammation and pain. Does it work? It seems improbable that it would actually work, but some people claim it does! I actually have arthritis in my fingers that acts up from time to time, so the next time I encounter stiff finger joints, maybe I’ll try emu oil and see what happens.

Bottom line: Personally I haven’t found emu oil to be a miracle for any of my personal issues – hair loss, acne, and wrinkles. I will continue using it on my hair to see what happens, but I’m not holding my breath that it will help. The rave reviews online about emu oil making your skin look ten years younger, and glow like crazy are also what got me to try it, but again I’m not overly impressed. Have you tried emu oil? Has it helped?

Related posts:

1. My Hair Loss Story
2. My New Hair Loss Blog!
3. Female Hair Loss – A Never-ending Nightmare

In the past, I was using an expensive skin lightener to fade sun damage that had surfaced from my younger carefree days of going without sunscreen. I hadn’t used any skin lightening products in about a year, and just noticed a new age spot, so I picked up Ambi Fade Cream at Walgreens for only about $5. You can’t beat the price!

Ambi Skin Care Fade Cream For Normal Skin
This product contains 2% Hydroquinone, which is the most effective skin lightening ingredient that is FDA approved for use in the US. Hydroquinone continues to remain a very controversial ingredient, though, because some studies have shown that it is not safe for your health! If you have any concerns, it’s best to avoid hydroquinone. Personally I still use it from time to time because my sun spots drive me crazy, but ideally I would like to stop using it just in case! I haven’t had much success with other skin lightening ingredients, which is why I keep going back to hydroquinone, but even it doesn’t work that well on me.

Great Moisturizer
The Ambi Fade Cream is a thick, moisturizing cream that I actually found to be a great moisturizer for normal to dry skin. It also comes in an Oily Skin version, which I haven’t tried, but the ingredients are pretty similar. This comes in great packaging  – a metal tube that keeps the product fresh, and it’s easy to dispense. The cream contains a lot of fragrance (a floral scent), so if you have any allergic issues with fragrance, you will definitely need to skip this product. Otherwise, this is one of the best moisturizers I’ve used, and it’s super cheap. Due to the safety concerns with hydroquinone, I discontinue using hydroquinone as soon as possible, though, so I only use it about two months a year max.

Safe For Acne
In theory this product should be fine for acne-prone skin because it doesn’t contain any pore clogging ingredients until after the 10th ingredient, which means they are in pretty small amounts. I didn’t get any breakouts at all.

Does Ambi Fade Cream work?
I’ve been using this once a day for over a month, and I haven’t really seen any improvement in my sun spots. However, when I’ve used other skin lighteners in the past, I didn’t a lot of improvement either. I think this is because I’ve been using sunscreen for several years so my sun spots are about as faded as they can get from topical treatments. I was just hoping I’d have better luck on my new sun spot. A lot of people get great results from skin lightening products, so it’s definitely worth trying if you have sun spots/age spots, freckles, or hyperpigmentation. The packaging says to use this twice a day and to discontinue after 3 months if you don’t see results. Once your spots are faded, discontinue using the product.

Wear sunscreen!
Ambi Fade Cream contains a small amount of sunscreen, but it’s not enough to protect you. Make sure to use a good sunscreen daily when you use this product because it makes your skin more sensitive to light, which means your spots will get worse unless you wear sunscreen! And if you ever stop wearing sunscreen, the spots will come right back!

Bottom Line
If you aren’t adverse to hydroquinone, and you aren’t sensitive to fragrance, this is a great product to try! Just do some research on hydroquinone to see whether or not you feel comfortable using it on your skin.

Have you tried Ambi Fade Cream? What products have worked to lighten your dark spots?

Active Ingredients: Hydroquinone (2%), Octinoxate (2%). Inactive Ingredients: Betaine, Butylene Glycol, Cetyl Alcohol, Cyclomethicone, Cyclopentasiloxane, Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Disodium EDTA, Ethylparaben, Fragrance, Glycerin, Glyceryl Stearate, Glycine Soja (Soybean) protein, Hydroxyethyl Urea, Isopropyl Myristate, Lactic Acid, Methylparaben, PEG-100 Stearate, PEG-16 Soy Sterol, Pentaerythrityl Tetra-di-t-butyl Hydroxyhydrocinnamate, potassium Cetyl Phosphate, Propylparaben, Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate, Sodium Metabisulfite, Stearic Acid, Tocopheryl Acetate, Water

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Top 10 Beauty Essentials: 

1) Sunscreen
It’s no surprise that sunscreen tops my list! Sun damage is the number one way to prematurely age your skin, so aside from staying indoors 24/7, sunscreen is your skin’s best friend! The sooner you give up tanning and start using sunscreen, the younger you will look later in life! But even if you were like me and tanned up a storm until you were 25, it’s never too late to start wearing sunscreen daily. This is the best anti-aging product ever!

2) Enough Sleep
Sure everyone skimps on sleep because there are a million seemingly better things to do, but lack of sleep makes you look old and tired, gives you bags under your eyes, makes your skin look ruddy, gives you bloodshot eyes – and that’s just in the short term! Long term sleep deprivation taxes your body and ages you faster inside and out. I try to sleep 7-9 hours a night. I know that sounds like a lot, but there’s nothing worse than having people tell you that you look tired all the time!

3) Healthy Diet
Eating a healthy diet is just about as boring and difficult as getting enough sleep, but again it’s essential to your health, and the healthier you are, the healthier your skin and body will appear. Cut out the bad stuff (sugar, simple carbs, soda, processed foods, and trans fats), and load up on tons of antioxidant-rich vegetables, fruits, lean proteins, and healthy fats. I love sugar, so it’s horrible to me that it causes your skin to wrinkle faster, but it does!

4) Exercise
Exercising regularly is another difficult task, but it helps de-stress you (and stress is a major cause of aging). Exercise increases blood flow and circulation, and it helps prevent diseases, which can prematurely age you. A lot of people also get a “healthy glow” after exercising. I’m not sure if I’m one of those people, but I just know how many health benefits exercise provides, and slowing down the aging clock is definitely one of them! Toning up flabby skin, and reducing cellulite are other reasons I find exercise essential.

5) Retinoids
Topical prescription retinoid creams are one of the few products that have been proven to soften fine lines and wrinkles, even out your skin tone, and help with acne (depending on which retinoid you use). The over-the-counter ingredient retinol is also a proven wrinkle fighter, as long as you pick a retinol product with an ample amount of retinol, and make sure to avoid jar packaging. Personally I don’t waste my money on many hyped miracle creams – I just stick with retinoids like Renova for wrinkles, and Differin for acne, plus wrinkles. These aren’t miracle products, but they do give some visible results.

6) Antioxidants
Topical antioxidants give your skin a little extra prevention against sun damage, pollution, and second-hand smoke, all of which cause a breakdown of collagen and elastin. Luckily a lot of new sunscreens and moisturizers now come with antioxidants, or you can apply an antioxidant serum in the morning before your sunscreen. I haven’t seen noticeable results from antioxidant products, but to me they are just extra protection against aging. A lot of people do claim they see results with topical Vitamin C, Ferulic Acid, Idebenone, etc. but I haven’t seen any results – I just know they are good preventive anti-aging ingredients. Also, you can speak to your doctor about vitamin antioxidant supplements. I take a multivitamin and several other daily vitamins. I haven’t seen any results from oral antioxidants either, but I take them knowing they may be preventing aging  – it’s just impossible to know for sure!

7) Good Skin Care Regimen For Your Specific Needs
A simple skin care regimen that addresses your specific skin care issues is essential. Everyone can benefit from using a gentle cleanser, sunscreen and antioxidants, and either a retinol/retinoid product (which increases the skin’s turnover rate), or an exfoliating product like glycolic acid, or a weekly facial scrub. Regular exfoliation keeps your skin looking smoother and younger. If you have any skin problems like Rosacea, Eczema, Melasma, or severe acne, it’s important that you see a Dermatologist for help. For mild to moderate acne, I have a slightly more complicated acne regimen that works for me. If you have dry skin like I do, moisturizers are great for temporarily plumping up your skin and preventing flakiness, but if you have oily skin, you can probably skip them. I also recommend reading the book ”The Skin Type Solution” which gives you a skin care regimen for your specific skin type.

8) Makeup!
I wish I didn’t love makeup so much, but like most women, I feel naked and exposed without it. If you are prone to acne, make sure you avoid makeup and skin care products that cause cosmetic acne. I try to keep my makeup pretty simple so it only takes me about 5 minutes to apply everything, but it makes me feel a lot more presentable to the world. 

9) Big UV Protection Sunglasses & Satin Pillowcases
Aside from wearing sunscreen, sunglasses are another essential sun safety beauty tool. They not only keep your eyes protected from UV damage, but sunglasses further help prevent crow’s feet and wrinkles around your eyes. Plus they prevent you from squinting and creating even more wrinkles. Look for sunglasses that say 100% UV protection, or UV 400. You don’t have to go with big sunglasses, but the bigger they are, and the more they wrap around your face, the more of your face that is protected.

A lot of people think satin pillowcases are silly, but if you want to wake up without giant creases in your face, satin pillowcases are a must! I used to have the “just rolled out of bed” look for over an hour or two when I had regular pillowcases – I would get to work and the creases would still be there! Now I wake up without any creases, and satin pillowcases are also gentler on your hair than regular ones.

10) Good Hair Care
Honestly no matter what I do to my hair, it never looks that good, so I’m still waiting for the day I can tell you what I did to achieve lush, thick, bouncy, super shiny hair. Because I have dealt with hair loss for several years, I know first-hand how traumatizing it is to have thin hair that just keeps getting thinner, and no matter what you do, nothing really works that well. Currently I’m trying to be gentle on my hair and have been using gentle shampoos, and I keep my hair styling products to a minimum. I’ve experimented with so many different hair care products and topical treatments, but there’s nothing I have tried that I love! The sleeping enough, eating well, taking vitamins, and exercising regularly tips will also help make your hair look great (in theory at least). What are your best hair care tips?  

Bonus Beauty Essentials: Injectables like Botox and Restylane
I know a lot of people are afraid of having Botox and fillers injected into their face, but these treatments really do wonders to soften wrinkles and expression lines, and to add volume to your face. Despite all of my preventive measures, this year I have seen the lines in my forehead getting deeper, and you don’t know how bad I want Botox right now! I just can’t afford it, so for now I’m using Frownines every night, which prevent me from waking up with giant frown lines in my forehead and between my eyes (the lines still come back later in the day).

A lot of these beauty essentials don’t offer instant results, but they help to prevent aging, or they gradually help to improve your appearance. If I suddenly eat perfectly for a week, or exercise every day like I should, I don’t notice instant results, but cumulatively, the healthier you keep your lifestyle, the healthier you will look. Not everyone is born with great genes when it comes to aging, but at least there’s a lot that you can do! What are your beauty essentials???

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Jason Jojoba Pure Beauty Oil
I picked Jason’s jojoba oil because it was the cheapest one I could find – $6 for a 1 ounce bottle. Desert Essence Jojoba Oil seems to be the most popular jojoba oil brand, though, and it comes in larger sizes, so it’s actually even more economical. I had been hearing about people using oils on their faces for years, but since I am so acne prone, it never dawned on me that I could use oils too. Nonetheless, I took the plunge and slathered my face with the jojoba oil, and it has not caused a single breakout since I’ve been using it for the past two weeks.

Jojoba Oil – natural moisturizer
My experience with jojoba oil so far has been great. As a moisturizer it works really well, and it doesn’t wear off as fast as a lot of moisturizers, so it still leaves your skin feeling hydrated several hours later. I have dry skin and most moisturizers don’t hydrate my skin well enough, but this does. Mostly I’ve been applying it at night, and I wake up with smooth, soft, hydrated skin. I’ve also worn it in the daytime and it works fine under sunscreen and makeup. I am probably over-applying it because it does leave my face a bit shiny, but if you just use less (like a pea-sized amount), it soaks in without looking greasy. Jojoba oil can be used on all skin types, but you might not need a moisturizer if you have oily skin. I will soon write a separate post about using jojoba oil for acne. You can use it on your face, as well as your body.

What is Jojoba Oil?
Technically jojoba not an oil, but a wax ester (a liquid wax) rich in the anxtioxidant Vitamin E, and it comes from the jojoba plant. Jojoba is a natural ingredient that is extremely similar to your face sebum. It is non-comedogenic so it shouldn’t clog pores. Jojoba oil is also 100% organic, and it only contains one ingredient (I’m not sure if all jojoba products are organic, but most of them are)! This is great new for people that are extremely concerned about putting chemicals on their faces. Jojoba is supposed to be very stable, despite being preservative-free, so it shouldn’t go rancid.

Jojoba Oil uses
Besides being a great natural moisturizer, you can also use it as a makeup remover and lip balm. I haven’t used it for either of these things yet, so I don’t know how well it works for that. I am scared to use it as an eye makeup remover, but I hear it does work well. Just read the individual label for the product you buy to see if it’s safe for use on your eyes. Jojoba oil can also be used for shaving, as massage oil, and as a hair conditioner or for a scalp massage (I have read mixed reviews about its use hair).

Drawbacks
The only negative I have about Jason jojoba oil specifically is that it’s hard to dispense so I end up pouring out too much, and it drips down the side of the bottle. I wish it would come with a dropper application. As a face moisturizer it’s pretty cheap, but if you end up using it on your whole body, then it could become more pricey. I can’t think of any other negatives!

If you are looking for a cheap face moisturizer, I definitely recommend jojoba oil! If you are hesitant, just start out with a really small amount to see what you think. Your local vitamin store or Whole Foods should carry it. Do you use jojoba oil?

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