Neutrogena Mineral Sheers Powder Foundation SPF 20 is my new favorite pressed powder. After my former favorite Neutrogena Healthy Skin Pressed Powder changed its formula, I used Maybelline Dream Matte Powder and Physicians Formula Healthy Wear Foundation, but of the three I prefer the Neutrogena Mineral Sheers because it looks the best on my skin.

Before I picked up this foundation a few months ago, I read reviews of it and the reformulated Neutrogena Healthy Skin Pressed Powder, and the Mineral Sheers was getting great reviews, while the new version of Healthy Skin Pressed Powder just got average ratings. I just re-checked the ingredients, and it turns out they are almost the same product! The main difference is that the Mineral Sheers comes in more colors, and it has a higher percentage of titanium dioxide.

Neutrogena Mineral Sheers Powder Foundation SPF 20 Review
This foundation comes in 8 colors, ranging from Classic Ivory to Tan. I use the Nude 40 shade, which matches my skin nicely. I haven’t had any breakouts from it, and it should be safe for acne-prone skin, but it does contain titanium dioxide, which sometimes causes a problem for acne. Overall this should be non-comedogenic, but you might want to test it for a few days on a small area on your face if you are overly concerned.

Neutrogena Mineral Sheers comes in a mirrored compact with a sponge applicator, but I apply it with a foundation brush instead. It provides light to medium coverage (depending on how much you put on) and it looks good over sunscreen and light liquid foundation, or on bare skin. It goes on easily and has a smooth, silky texture. It definitely evens out my skin tone, but if you look closely you can see I’m wearing makeup. It has a somewhat matte finish on my normal to dry skin, and lasts at least several hours. After applying it I don’t see “flawless” – I just see “good enough.” The 6.6% Titanium Dioxide provides the SPF 20 sun protection, which is a great bonus over your regular sunscreen. Personally I don’t trust the sunscreen protection from a powder and always wear sunscreen underneath.

“Mineral” Makeup
It’s funny how this Neutrogena foundation is marketed as “the first purified mineral makeup in a compact” even though it’s almost the same as their Healthy Skin Powder, which makes no mention of its mineral status. I still think mineral makeup is mostly hype, and if you look at the ingredients of any makeup powders, they are almost all made from the same basic ingredients, whether or not they are called “mineral makeup.” This fragrance-free makeup doesn’t contain talc (which some people avoid), and it doesn’t contain bismuth oxychloride, which irritates some people’s skin. It does contain parabens, though.

Final Thoughts
At $12, this is a pricey drugstore foundation, but it’s still cheaper than what you’d find at Sephora, Bare Escentuals, or department stores. Its best features are that it: has an SPF 20, is most likely safe for acne-prone skin, offers a nice finish, comes in several shades, and it’s fragrance-free and doesn’t contain bismuth oxychloride. It’s a good overall powder with no real negatives.

* Buy Neutrogena Mineral Sheers Powder Foundation *

Active ingredients: Titanium Dioxide 6.6%. Inactive ingredients: Mica, Octyldodecyl Stearoyl Stearate, Zinc Stearate, Silica, Dimethicone, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Starch, Magnesium Myristate, Methicone, Ascorbic Acid, Tocopheryl Acetate, Retinyl Palmitate, Pantothenic Acid, Panthenol, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Flour Alumina, Silk Powder, Water, Polymethyl Methacrylate, Sodium Dehydroacetate, Methylparaben, Propylparaben

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SLS Free shampoo is all the rage right now, and there are lots of shampoos marketed as sulfate-free (at least free of Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and Sodium Laureth Sulfate). What are sulfates, and are they bad? Sulfates are the detergents in shampoo that clean your hair by removing the dirt and oil. In my shampoo ingredients to avoid post, I have a list of the harsher sulfates to avoid in shampoo.

Even though I have nothing against regular shampoos that contain gentler sulfates and don’t think they are “bad,” recently I have jumped on the sulfate free shampoo bandwagon! As you can read on my new site hair loss hell, my hair loss has been progressing rapidly and I thought I would try out SLS free shampoos. I didn’t expect them to fix my hair loss, but I have become desperate and wanted to see what the hype is all about. Navigating the category of sulfate free shampoos is complicated because there are so many different shampoo ingredients, and I haven’t become an expert on every single shampoo ingredient yet.

I’ve tried these shampoos lately, which are SLS free (meaning they are free of Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and Sodium Laureth Sulfate):

* Free & Clear Shampoo *
If you have fragrance allergies and are very sensitive to skin and hair care products, this is a shampoo you want to try! I got a sample of it from my Dermatologist, and it gets a lot of great reviews. It’s from the makers of Vanicream, one of my favorite sunscreens, and it contains fewer ingredients than most shampoos, so it’s less likely to cause a problem. It’s a very boring shampoo – it has no smell, but it does what it’s supposed to do - clean your hair nicely and gently, without leaving it greasy or overly dry. It’s also free of dyes, lanolin, and parabens.

* Yes To Tomatoes Volumizing Shampoo *
This is my current new favorite shampoo. I love the smell of it (it smells like baby powder), and it cleans my hair well, without over-stripping it, nor does it leave it greasy. It’s also paraben and petroleum free. Its main cleansing ingredient is sodium coco-sulfate (which is a gentle cleansing agent, – very similar to sodium laureth sulfate, but gentler). This shampoo has a lot of plant extracts, which makes me a little nervous because a lot of plant extracts can be irritating, but I haven’t noticed a problem. I wouldn’t say this shampoo is that volumizing, despite the name. A similar shampoo I like is the Yes To Carrots Daily Pampering Shampoo. I know it’s silly to use a shampoo mostly because it smells good, but washing my hair is traumatizing, so at least I look forward to using these nice smelling shampoos. Both of them can be found at Target for around $9.

* Jason Natural Thin To Thick Shampoo *
This paraben-free product actually worked as a volumizer and made my hair feel about 20% thicker! It’s definitely one of the most volumizing shampoos I’ve tried. It has a mint like smell that I really don’t like, but it worked really well. Please note I tried the new version that lists decyl glucoside as the second ingredient (they recently changed their formula). I used this for about a month with great results, until my hair started falling out like crazy. It was probably not the shampoo (I was experimenting with Rogaine at the time), but I got so spooked and stopped using it. This has a lot of ingredients in it, and some ingredients like menthol and citrus extract, could be irritating to your scalp. You can get this at Whole Foods for about $7.

* Avalon Organics Biotin B-Complex Thickening Shampoo *
This is another one of those shampoos that smells terrible to me (like mint and essential oils), but scent is of course subjective. This shampoo wasn’t very volumizing and left a weird plastic feel on my hair, so it’s definitely not my favorite, although a lot of people like it. It’s paraben free. The product is not tested on animals, and it contains 100% vegetarian ingredients. It costs around $10 at Whole Foods.

* Burt’s Bees Very Volumizing Pomegranate & Soy Shampoo *
This has a pleasant fruity pomegranate scent and the shampoo feels very gentle (although not really volumizing). This leaves a plastic-like coating on my hair, and my hair sometimes still feels greasy after using it, so this isn’t my top pick, but it’s worth trying because a lot of people love it. It’s free of parabens, petrochemicals, phthalates, and it’s not tested on animals. This retails for around $6 at Target.

* L’Oreal Paris EverPure Volume Shampoo *
This shampoo lathered pretty well and made my hair feel soft, but again the fragrance was horrible to me. I had to stop using this after a few days because of the scent. The matching conditioner was even worse, and smelled like cheap men’s cologne. This has some potentially irritating ingredients like linalool (citrus), and this product actually gets a “hazardous” score on the cosmeticsdatabase.com website. Just because something is sulfate free doesn’t mean it’s great for your hair. You can find this at your local drugstore for about $6.

The SLS free shampoo bottom line:
I think there is a lot of hype and gimmickry about SLS free shampoos. Just because a product is sulfate free doesn’t mean it’s any better than a regular shampoo that contains gentle sulfates, and a lot of the SLS free shampoos come with potentially irritating “natural” ingredients. On the other hand, a lot of sulfate free shampoos are not tested on animals, and they contain less of the ingredients that could pose a potential health danger (according to the cosmeticsdatabase.com website). I will continue researching SLS free shampoos and keep you updated with what I find. As far as helping my hair loss issues – I haven’t noticed a change overall since I’ve gone SLS-free, and my hair looks and feels the same as it did when I used regular shampoo, like Garnier Fructis. 

I know sulfates are a hot topic, and I look forward to hearing about your favorite shampoos. Who knew washing your hair would take so much work???

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Retinoids and Retinol are two of the few skin care ingredients that are proven to visibly reduce the appearance of wrinkles, even-out skin tone, stimulate collagen growth, and they even help with acne. Retinoids are only found in prescription products, while you can find Retinol in all sorts of over-the-counter products. Retinoids are more powerful, however you can find some strong, effective Retinol products, which I’ll show you how to do. By the way, make sure you wear sunscreen every day when you use products with Retinol, since they make your skin more sun-sensitive!

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.

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If you want to be super vigilant about skin care and makeup safety, the EWG Skin Deep Cosmetics Database is a website you should check out. EWG, or The Environmental Working Group, is a non-profit company that aims to “expose threats to your health and the environment, and to find solutions.” Aside from skin care and cosmetic safety, EWG.org also offers health info about cell phone safety, pesticides in produce, drinking water safety, etc.

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.

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I wanted to let you know I just started a new blog that’s all about hair loss – especially female hair loss. It’s called Hair Loss Hell! My plan is to continue updating Savvy Skin with posts about all things skin care – acne, anti-aging prevention, makeup, hair care, etc. And Hair Loss Hell will be all about preventing and treating hair loss, coping with hair loss, and hair replacement.

On Hair Loss Hell, you can sign up for its RSS feed there, or receive posts via email, just like you can do separately for Savvy Skin.

Check out HairLossHell.com, and if you don’t suffer from hair loss personally, please tell any of your friends about it who may be dealing with hair problems. Thanks! ;) Jeni

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Emu oil has many purported benefits and uses for various skin and hair problems. Emu oil is touted to help with acne, hair loss, eczema, psoriasis, arthritis, sunburns, wrinkles, reducing scar formation, moisturizing hair and dry skin, bruises, muscle aches, and all sorts of other body ailments. It’s another one of those “miracle” topical products, but does it live up to the hype?

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?

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I’ve been battling female hair loss for about 10 years now, and the nightmare is never-ending. The nightmare has become progressively worse the last few months, and what’s so frustrating is that no matter what I do, nothing has helped so far. I’ve been researching female hair loss for so many years now, because I still want to find a cure for me, as well as other women. This post is more of a rant than anything else because the last few months have been horrible, and none of my friends or family can really relate at all, but I know hundreds of thousands of women in the world are experiencing the same thing as me.

What sucks for me is that I’ve been fixated on hair since I was like 12, and I only have one great fear in life – losing my hair. And now my biggest fear is a reality. Talk about bad luck. I have started to wonder if I’m conjuring up hair loss – where what you focus on most ends up happening - like “The Secret.”

Androgenetic Alopecia – genetic female hair loss
Yesterday I got dealt a life sentence – a diagnosis of Androgenetic Alopecia – genetic hair loss. As you can read in my hair loss story (which I haven’t updated in a few years), countless doctors have told me I have Telogen Effluvium, which is a “temporary” hair loss condition, where you hair sheds like crazy due to a temporary issue. Common causes of Telogen Effluvium include going on or off birth control pills, giving birth, having surgery, going on a crash diet, having Hypothyroid, having low iron, etc. The shedding usually starts a few months after the causal event, and it stops, in theory, once the event is over. I seriously thought I had Chronic Telogen Effluvium for the last 10 years from some yet to be diagnosed hidden problem, because my hair sheds hundreds of hairs a day, and it never ends.

The most recent hair loss diagnosis
I’m 35 now, and earlier this year the hair on my temples started receding and the hair in front started looking sparser and thinner in diameter, so I knew I was probably showing signs of Androgenetic Alopecia. My dad is pretty bald, and my mom’s hair is now thin, so it’s really no surprise – I had just hoped the past 8 doctors were all correct in their diagnosis of Telogen Effluvium that “would resolve on its own.” Anyway, yesterday I went to a Dermatologist that has studied hair loss for years, and my Endocrinologist called him “the hair guy” in Vegas. The last few weeks my hair shedding has doubled (possibly as a side effect of the Rogaine I started using a month or two ago), and it’s looking thinner every week! The doctor took one look at my head, and coupled with the fact my parents both have thin hair, he diagnosed me with Androgenetic Alopecia. My hair is becoming miniaturized in the front, which furthered his diagnosis. A scalp biopsy was unnecessary, because it was plain as day what was going on! His suggestion was to keep up with the Rogaine, and there’s nothing else to do – it’s only hair – get over it. Thanks. I had heard he wasn’t a sympathetic guy, so I was prepared. He wouldn’t write me prescriptions for anything (like Spironlactone), which I will probably try soon, if I can find yet another doctor to see that will prescribe it.

Going Crazy
As devastated as I am, I am so tired of people (namely my friends and family) telling me I’m crazy, and that my hair isn’t falling out. Giant clumps fall out everywhere everyday, and people claim I am just pulling my hair out. People tell me my hair looks fine, even though in the same sentence they claim I’ve done something to make it go from super curly to limp and straight now (that’s what happens when you hardly have any hair left). The shedding is driving me insane, and all I want to do is chop my hair off like Emma Watson, so that I won’t see hairs everywhere. Every hair that falls out makes me slightly more crazy. Then I am told that women don’t look good with short hair because it’s not attractive. My boyfriend has said on several occasions that I won’t look good with short hair, and that I will hate it (which I probably will). Finally, I’m told that my female relatives that have thinning hair look “awful.” WTF?

Society sucks
Usually I don’t care what people think about me, and if people laugh at something I’m wearing, fine. But I’m sensitive about my hair loss, because it’s something that is embarrassing to me and something that I haven’t been able to control. Even though it’s natural, like aging, female hair loss is deemed “unacceptable” in our society. That’s what really kills me. Women with shaved heads are mocked, and even wigs, extensions, and weaves are joked about, even though they can look great. I know enough not to take jabs personally, but it’s still painful to see how people are treated. I don’t know what my future hair plans will be if it gets a lot worse. I am pretty low maintenance, and that’s another reason this scares me so much – I don’t want to limit my activities if I’m wearing hair, and I am nervous to walk around bald! I already tried on one wig last week, and I’m going to visit a hair store soon to learn my options.

Future steps
Last year, I was diagnosed with possible Hypothyroid, and a year of medication (Armour) didn’t help my hair at all, and the hyper side effects from the medication made me think I didn’t really have the disease. I still have low ferritin levels, so I continue to take iron pills and monitor that. I’ve had sooo many blood tests, and will be having more. I take tons of vitamins, eat healthy(ish), do yoga, and do a lot of the things that you’re “supposed” to do to grow hair. I have lousy health insurance, so I spend thousands of dollars a year trying to manage my hair loss, and I wonder if I’m just wasting my money. If I was rich, I’d be doing even more tests, though!

Finally, since hair loss is my worst nightmare come true, and the worst thing that’s happened to me in my entire life, I am hoping it will help alleviate my overall anxiety (if it doesn’t first give me a heart attack). I guess I watch too much of the show “Obsessed” but by exposing myself to my biggest fear, I feel like all of my other fears have vanished. And I know “it’s only hair” and there are so many worse things out there, but I would guess 90% of women would be just as devastated if it happened to them too.

Please visit my new blog Hair Loss Hell.

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There are a so many diets out there, but the body type diet is one that I personally find fascinating. Recently I have read countless weight loss books, but the books about eating and working out for your body type have really resonated with me. Even though most diet books are gimmicky, and I’m not saying the body type diet books aren’t the same way, these books are eerily accurate about describing me perfectly, and a lot of people feel the same way.

*Dr. Abravanel’s Body Type Diet*
This is the most popular of the body type diet books. I picked it up because I was having a lot problems from my low thyroid, and this book talks a lot about thyroid issues. Dr. Abravanel purports that there are 4 different body types that people fall into, and the book teaches you what to eat and not eat for your body type, and what type of exercises are best suited for you. It expands on the endomorph, mesomorph, or ectomorph body type classifications.

Determining your body type
The body type book has a quiz to find out if you’re genetically a Thyroid (Paris Hilton), Adrenal (Britney Spears), Gonad (Kim Kardashian), or Pituitary type. I’m a classic thyroid type. No body type is better or worse – they’re just different. The premise is that one of these glands is dominant for us, and we seek out foods to stimulate this gland, which is actually the worst thing we can do. So if you’ve ever wondered why you crave sugar and carbs (like me) while your best friend craves steak – well now you know! The theory is that once you are in balance, you will no longer crave the foods that aren’t good for you. The reason I am so fascinated with this book is because it’s like reading a horoscope – the author describes my personality to a tee, my favorite foods, my crashes after eating, my thyroid problems, my love of coffee, exactly where I put on weight, the fact that I used to be able to eat anything without gaining, and that now I can’t lose weight at all, etc.

After taking the quiz, I made my boyfriend, friends, and parents take it, and the results are scarily accurate for all of us! When I meet new people and we start talking about weight, I can predict their favorite foods now just by looking at them – it’s a fun party trick, as long as you don’t offend anyone! Not everyone falls perfectly into one body type, so this book may not be as revealing to you if don’t have as many obvious characteristics of your type. Here is a body type website where you can determine which body type you have (the book is a lot more detailed).

Once you’ve found your body type
Okay here comes the bad news – this book is extremely strict and limiting, and chances are it will tell you to never again eat your favorite foods. A 1200 calorie a day meal plan is provided, and as a thyroid type, it told me to eat everything I hate (lots of protein, meat and veggies, and highly limit carbs, sugar, and caffeine). I followed the plan the best that I could, and I was able to stick to the 1200 calories without being hungry, but after a month I didn’t lose any weight. I know that’s crazy, but I haven’t been able to lose a single pound in two years. But for most “normal” people, I’m sure they would lose weight. So while my plan resembles Atkins (with veggies), my boyfriend is an adrenal type, and the book tells him to give up steak, and to eat a more balanced array of foods, like the South Beach Diet.

For me, the take away is that I now have some new eating ideas – I have really cut back on bad carbs, sugar and coffee, and I eat more eggs and protein. Each diet book I read gives me a few great tips, which is why I read so many. Ironically I’ve read some books with quizzes that say I should eat the exact opposite of what this book says, but personally I tend to believe the body type book more because of its psychic ability to describe me so accurately. 

Exercise for your body type
Aside from needing to eat certain foods for your body type, there are specific exercises that benefit your body type the most too. Dr. Abravanel encourages cardio, strength training and flexibility training, but emphasizes different workouts according to body types. Again he is psychic, because for my thyroid type he recommends I work on strength and endurance, my two biggest exercise weaknesses. For the adrenal type, for example, he encourages mostly cardio, even though a lot of adrenal types gravitate toward weight lifting in an attempt to lose weight.

Other body type books:
The Body Code by Jay Cooper is another great body type diet book. It’s very similar to Dr. Abravanel’s book, and obviously modeled after it. It also has a quiz to determine your body type, and the book recommends mostly the same things. Finally Escape Your Shape is about exercises to do to make your body look more balanced. If you are smaller on top, and bigger on bottom, it gives you specific workouts to do, and exercises to avoid. If you have a big butt, for example, the last thing you want to do is the stairmaster, because that will bulk you up more. Or if you are built straight up and down, you are given tips on how to create more curves. This book isn’t too exciting, but if you feel like your workouts are making your problem areas worse, then it’s definitely worth reading.

Bottom Line
Honestly I’ve read so many diet books that it’s hard to know what diet/lifestyle plan is best to follow. For the most part I try to eat a healthy balanced diet, but I still highly recommend reading the body type diet books to most people. The fact that I didn’t lose any weight by following this plan is not exactly a testament to its success, but I haven’t lost any weight after following The South Beach Diet, Jillian Michaels’ Making The Cut, or using the GoWear Fit, etc. Nonetheless, I definitely feel healthier! Finally, I like to write about weight loss (on my skin care blog) because I spend so much time reading about it, and I know a lot of people struggle with their weight, as well as their skin!

Have you read any of the body type diet books? What’s your favorite weight loss book or weight loss plan?

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Physicians Formula has a new Healthy Wear Powder Foundation that boasts an impressive SPF 50! Since I try to protect my face from the sun as much as possible, the idea of adding a high SPF powder over my regular sunscreen is great, especially in the summer.

Physicians Formula Healthy Wear SPF 50 Powder Foundation
I picked this up at Target for about $13, which is expensive for a drugstore powder, but the SPF 50 made it irresistible to try. It only comes in 4 colors for light to medium skin tones, so the color choices are limited. I got the Natural Beige color and it’s a great match to my skin tone. The packaging is really cute and it seems durable – it’s in a bright orange and hot pink case, and it comes with a sponge applicator.

Benefits
The main benefit of this powder is its high SPF 50 (which offers UVA and UVB protection)! It contains 4% Octinoxate, 21% Titanium Dioxide, and 3% Zinc Oxide. The packaging says it’s water-resistant, but I haven’t actually tried this powder in water yet to see how it holds up.

Application and Coverage
I immediately threw out the sponge because it didn’t work well to apply the powder. Instead I used a powder brush. Getting this powder on my face was somewhat of a challenge! In order to get any powder on the brush, I had to push the brush into the powder pretty hard before it actually coated the brush. I applied this over sunscreen, and initially it didn’t do much to mattify my slightly dewy face. I had to keep going back and applying more and more powder. I’m not sure if it’s just hard to get the product onto the brush, or if I was actually using a lot more powder than I’m used to (which means this would run out pretty fast). I also applied this to bare skin, and it still took a lot of swipes before I felt like I had any coverage. What I don’t know is how much powder you need to apply to achieve the SPF 50. I felt like there’s no way I was really putting enough on to get to that level of sun protection, and I wouldn’t chance wearing this alone without regular sunscreen underneath.

Results
With enough powder on my face to look good, the Physicians Formula powder still looks pretty sheer, with light to medium coverage. The packaging says it has full coverage, so I guess you really need to cake this on to get more coverage. It has a nice finish and initially I was excited to use this in the daytime instead of Maybelline Dream Matte Powder, because of the added SPF. However, after about 2 hours, the powder wore off and my face was left shiny again! Normally because I have dry skin, I can go all day without ever touching up my powder! While a lot of people on Makeupalley.com like this powder, some people also complain about the difficulty in getting enough coverage, and its lack of staying power.

What I have now been doing is applying the Physicians Formula powder first, and then sealing it with the Maybelline Dream Matte Powder. Or the other way around gives the same results. This way I’m at least getting some added SPF (who knows how much) without the need to reapply every two hours. But if you’re out in the sun, you’ll want to reapply that often anyway.

Safe for acne-prone skin?
I was nervous to try this because of the high amount of Titanium Dioxide, an ingredient that sometimes gives me breakouts. Surprisingly in the two weeks I’ve been using this, I haven’t had any breakouts, however a lot of people online have reported them. The only way to know for sure is to try this yourself. You could try a small area on your face for several days to see what happens before using it everywhere. This doesn’t contain any pore clogging ingredients otherwise.

Bottom Line
The idea of the Physicians Formula Healthy Wear SPF 50 Powder Foundation is great due to its high SPF. It’s definitely worth trying if you’re seeking a powder with added sunscreen. You’ll just need to experiment with your application technique, and you may need to reapply this throughout the day. On days when I know I’ll be outside, wearing this over regular sunscreen gives me a little more peace of mind than usual.

Have you tried this powder? What’s your favorite powder with SPF?

*Buy Physicians Formula Healthy Wear SPF 50 Powder Foundation*

Active Ingredients: Octinoxate 4%, Titanium Dioxide 21%, Zinc Oxide 3%, Inactive Ingredients: Talc, Mica, Nylon-12, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Styrene/Acrylates Copolymer, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Diacetyl Boldine, Diisostearyl Malate, Dimethicone, Genistein, Glycyrrhetinic Acid, Lauroyl Lysine, Alpha Lipoic Acid, Octyldodecyl Stearoyl Stearate, Peg-12 Glyceryl Dimyristate, Solanum Lycopersicum (Tomato) Fruit Extract, Squalane, Tocopherol, Tocopheryl Acetate, Ubiquinone, Zinc Stearate, Disodium Edta, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Dehydroacetate, Sorbitan Sesquioleate May Contain: Iron Oxides, Titanium Dioxide, Ultramarines

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Ambi Fade Cream is a skin care product that “fades dark spots and skin discolorations for an even, natural skin tone.” It can be used on all skin tones, and it’s marketed to lighten dark brownish spots from sun damage, hormonal hyperpigmentation (like Melasma), and dark spots from acne.

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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