It’s a fact that excessive sun tanning is bad for your skin and health, but self tanners are the perfect, completely safe alternative, aren’t they? Maybe not. Why does everything good have to be bad for you??? I guess self tanners aren’t that great since they smell bad, they’re hard to apply, and they can turn you orange and streaky, but still…

So it turns out that DHA (Dihydroxyacetone), the ingredient in self tanners that gives you color, also creates free radicals, which ironically age the skin:( This information comes from one study out of Germany that showed a 180% increase in free radical formation during sun exposure after using a product with a 5% level of DHA. The increase in free radicals from the sun lasts for about 24 hours. Most drugstore sunless tanning products contain 3-5% DHA. Professional products can contain up to 15% DHA. I have a feeling spray tans are pretty high in DHA since they can produce such dramatic results.

How to keep your skin safe when wearing self tanner
Essentially, don’t go in the sun if you’re wearing a self tanner! Luckily, that’s the point of self tanners – to avoid the need for sun exposure to get tan. Of course it’s impossible to totally avoid the sun, so wear lots of sunscreen, plus put on a topical product with antioxidants to neutralize the extra free radicals. And it’s only the first 24 hours that produces the extra free radicals, and most people only apply self tanner every few days.

Erythulose, which is another self tanner ingredient, also causes a similar increase in free radicals. I’ve only heard of this one particular German study on sunless tanning ingredients, so maybe other studies would show different results, but I sort of doubt it. The study goes on to say ”…dihydroxyacetone also has an effect on the amino acids and nucleic acids which is bad for the skin.” This is what scares me the most, because I don’t know what exactly that means, and does that mean DHA is bad for your skin even if you don’t go in the sun? UGH. Leslie Baumann, a Dermatologist who wrote one of my favorite books “The Skin Type Solution” also reports on whether self tanner ingredients are dangerous.

Will this information have any impact on how much you use self tanners? Usually I am too lazy to apply self tanner regularly, but now that spring is here, I am self-conscious about my big pasty arms, and in fact I just slathered on some self tanner on them this morning. I will definitely skip applying self tanner on days I know I will be outside, but I don’t see myself giving up on them completely. I haven’t used many bronzers, but maybe I will look into those for my face as an alternative.

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When the new Healthcare Reform goes into effect, it appears there will be a new “tan tax” – a 10% tax for using tanning beds at tanning salons. According to the WSJ, this tax can bring in 2.7 billion over 10 years to help with healthcare costs! Awesome! Personally I think this is great, and it makes sense to me to tax stuff like cigarettes and tanning, since these have been proven to contribute to increased medical costs and health problems. Tanning salons have successfully tricked people for years into believing that tanning is safe, but last year the World Health Organization declared tanning beds do indeed cause skin cancer. The delusion is over – tanning beds are absolutely unhealthy. Sorry Snookie and the rest of the “Jersey Shore” cast. It’s a fact.

Now if only they could tax excessive outdoor tanning – that alone could probably rake in enough money to make health insurance free! Ha. I’m not completely against going out in the sun, because Vitamin D from sun exposure (or supplements) is vital to our health, but moderation is the key!

The Botax
Similar to the Tan Tax, the Botax had been proposed also, and it would have meant a 5% tax on cosmetic procedures, such as Botox and elective plastic surgery. For now, though, it appears that tax is not going to happen. This is great news for girls on “The Real Housewives of Orange County.” The main reason they need so much plastic surgery, Botox, and fillers, is because they prematurely aged their skin with excessive tanning. Maybe Lynne could have saved her house if she had only worn sunscreen, thus not needing a facelift. Just kidding. I love that show!

What do you think about the Tan Tax? I’m sure there will be a lot of opponents to it.

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Vanicream makes several high-quality, inexpensive sunscreen products that contain zinc oxide, and that are paraben-free and non-comedogenic. They also have a sensitive skin version that is free of chemical sunscreen ingredients. I’ve been using Vanicream sunscreens all winter long due to their great value and quality. For people concerned with ratings on the Environmental Working Group website, Vanicream gets excellent safety ratings. 

Vanicream Sunscreen Sport SPF 35
As much as I love my favorite Shiseido SPF 55 sunscreen, it’s expensive, and during the winter months, I switched to Vanicream Sport because it’s 4 times cheaper per ounce, and it contains the same active ingredients as the Shiseido. Vanicream Sport contains 8% zinc oxide and 7.5% octinoxate, so while it doesn’t have as much zinc oxide (Shiseido had 13.9% until they recently changed their formula), I think it’s plenty for wintertime, unless you go skiing, or live somewhere extremely hot. Usually when I see the word Sport in a sunscreen, I assume it’s water-resistant, but the package doesn’t state this to be the case. So I wouldn’t use this in the water, or when you’re sweating a lot.

I used Vanicream sunscreen several years ago and didn’t like it, so I think they have changed their formula to go on more sheer, or maybe I’m just easier to please now. The Sport sunscreen goes on slightly thick and white, but it soaks in well, and it would be good for anyone with normal to dry skin. I have light skin and it looks almost sheer on me, but I’m not sure how well it would look on someone with dark skin. The sunscreen is slightly shiny on my face, so I always wear a light foundation and powder over it, and makeup goes on perfectly over it. It gives my face a slight glow, and it never causes me to breakout. It is oil-free, odorless, preservative-free, and it doesn’t contain any pore clogging ingredients. Keep in mind that everyone is different, so the product still could cause breakouts even though it won’t in most cases.

A while ago I rated Blue Lizard as my favorite drugstore sunscreen, and I still really like Blue Lizard, but it’s not recommended for acne-prone skin, unlike Vanicream. While Vanicream has a drugstore price ($14 for 4oz), I haven’t actually seen it in drugstores, although you may be able to get it at your pharmacy, according to the Vanicream website.

Now that the UV index is past 5 in Las Vegas, I will soon switch back to a stronger sunscreen for my face because I’m obsessive about sun-protection, but if you don’t live in an extreme climate, Vanicream Sport would be a great year-round sunscreen for your face and body, as long as you don’t have really oily skin. Just keep in mind that since it goes on a little shiny, it might be too greasy looking when the humidity is really high.

*Buy Vanicream Sunscreen Sport, SPF 35*

Vanicream Sunscreen SPF 60
This is a sunscreen product that only has chemical-free active ingredients, so it’s great for sensitive skin, and for use on children. The SPF 60 contains 7.5% titanium dioxide and 7.5% zinc oxide. There is also an SPF 30 version that I haven’t tried, which contains 5% titanium dioxide and 5% zinc oxide. This SPF 60 sunscreen feels very similar to the Sport version, but I find it’s even more shiny, so even under makeup, it’s a little too “glowy” for me. I also get nervous about putting a lot of titanium dioxide on my face because other sunscreens with that ingredient have caused me to breakout. So far though, this sunscreen has been safe for me, and it doesn’t contain other pore cloggers. Like the Sport version, it’s fragrance-free, paraben-free, and preservative-free. If you can handle a little glow on your face, this would be a great sunscreen for normal to dry skin, and it’s a great kid’s sunscreen. As far as I know, this is not a water-resistant, so I wouldn’t recommend using this if you’re swimming at the beach or pool, or if you’re excessively sweating.

*Buy Vanicream Sunscreen, Sensitive Skin, SPF 60*

Have you tried Vanicream sunscreens? What do you think?

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Here’s your chance to win a RevitaLash Eyelash Conditioner, which sells for $150 on the RevitaLash website, and in salons and spas. The product is designed to create fuller, thicker, longer looking eyelashes after 3-10 weeks of daily use. I was given two boxes of RevitaLash by Athena Cosmetics, and instead of using them on myself, I want to give them away to two Savvy Skin visitors. Personally, I haven’t tried RevitaLash yet.

There will be two contest winners, each who will win one RevitaLash Eyelash Conditioner. To enter the contest, leave a comment on the bottom of this article about why you want to win RevitaLash, and be sure to include your name and email address (your email address will not be visible to others). I will randomly pick two winners and notify each winner by email, and then I will get your address and send you your prize. You can only enter once.

The contest starts March 11th and ends March 25th, 2010.

Visit RevitaLash FAQ to read more detailed information about the product. RevitaLash is a cosmetic, so its current formula does not contain any “drug” ingredients and you don’t need a prescription to use it, unlike Latisse. RevitaLash should be safe to use for everyone, but you must follow the instructions in the box carefully, and if you have any concerns, speak with a doctor before using it. In some cases, you could be allergic to an ingredient in the product, so discontinue using it immediately if this is the case.

RevitaLash Ingredients: Water, Sodium Chloride, Panthenol, Citric Acid, Phenoxyethanol, Chlorphenesin, Disodium Phosphate, Trifluoromethyl Dechloro Ethylprostenolamide, Cellulose Gum

With all that said, Good luck!!!

Update: The contest is over. Congratulations to the winners – Adelaide and Ria!

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GoWear Fit by BodyMedia is an armband that is a lifestyle and calorie management system. You may have seen “The Biggest Loser” contestants wearing a BodyBugg, and the GoWear Fit is the same thing. In simple terms, the armband tells you how many calories you burn each day, and specifically how many calories each activity you do burns.

Last summer I was on a weight loss kick and after trying almost everything for four months, I lost zero pounds (and zero inches)! I read 10 diet books, formed bingo wings!, went to the gym almost every day, did weights, did cardio, and calculated my calorie intake, yet I was not losing even an ounce. WTF?? I was diagnosed officially with hypothyroid (low thyroid), which I suspected I had for years, but I never found losing weight impossible in the past. I am writing about this weight loss tool on my skin care blog because almost everyone is interested in new ways to achieve weight loss, so I wanted to share my experience.

*Get your own GoWear Fit from Amazon*

GoWear Fit vs BodyBugg
When I got my GoWear Fit last year, I bought it instead of the competing BodyBugg because it was cheaper. The two armbands used to look different, but now it appears that they are the same thing, but I think the GoWear Fit is still cheaper (and Amazon has the best price).

GoWear Fit for weight loss
To see what was going wrong with my metabolism, I bought the GoWear Fit armband to track exactly how many calories I was expending each day. The armband is pretty pricey (it now sells for around $175). I had read great reviews about it online, and there are whole message boards online dedicated to discussing the GoWear Fit, so I was super excited to try it.

The armband is easy to use – just slip it on, velcro it shut, and you’re good to go. At the end of the day, you plug it into your computer, login to the BodyMedia website, and it shows you a graph of how many calories you’ve burned during the day, as well as nearly minute-to-minute. I think the website has added some new features since I last used it in the summer. The graph of burned calories is pretty fascinating – it showed me sitting on the couch watching TV (1 calorie burned per minute), working on my computer (still just 1 calorie a minute), walking to the mailbox (3 calories per minute), doing yoga (5 calories a minute), etc.

What I discovered is that I burned about 1 calorie a minute sitting around, and I burned more doing anything else – walking down the hall, chasing the cat, walking around a store, etc. I know it’s pretty obvious, but you feel really encouraged to get up and do stuff so that it shows up on your graph at the end of the night. It’s also fun to see surprise calorie burns – I burned more calories shopping one day than I did doing yoga for an hour. Woohoo!

The armband also calculates how many steps you take each day, so it acts as a pedometer as well. I was always way, way below the magic 10,000 number:( It also calculates your physical activity (cardio) and again mine was pretty low, except the actual time I was at the gym. So the armband highlighted the fact I really wasn’t being as active each day as I could have been:(

GoWear Fit for sleeping
The most surprising benefit of the GoWear Fit is that it monitors your sleep patterns. The armband can tell when you are just lying there versus when you are actually sleeping. It showed me burning about 1 calorie a minute sleeping, but sometimes I burned even more, which is weird, since that meant I burned more calories sleeping than working at my computer! I wonder if this is totally accurate, or if being under a warm blanket can throw off the device? What I found out is that I am a perfect sleeper, and I have a great sleep efficiency, whatever that means.

My boyfriend always complains he can’t stay asleep and he’s always exhausted so I made him wear the armband for a few nights. His graph was dramatically different than mine, and it showed him waking up once an hour, and never getting restful sleep. I’m pretty sure he has sleep apnea, and this tool was the proof. If you suspect you have sleep problems, I could see this device helping you figure out if something’s wrong, and hopefully with a doctor’s help, you can then get treatment.

Is GoWear Fit worth the money?
My armband told me I burned around 1800-2000 calories a day, and there were a lot of days I didn’t go to the gym because I was so fed up with not losing weight. I was eating about 1300 calories a day, so why I never lost weight is still one of the great mysteries of my life. On the BodyMedia website, you enter in your weight, sex, and height, and I wonder if the graphs just give you a general idea of what you *should* be burning if you have a *normal* metabolism. Many women have metabolisms that are much slower than average, but I wasn’t able to find documentation that states whether the GoWear Fit armband can tell this, or if it just does an average for your weight and height. I still didn’t lose any weight after using the armband, and to this day I haven’t lost any weight, even though I’m an expert on what *should* work. However, given that this is a unique tool that gives you specifics about your daily calorie burn, if you’re at a weight loss plateau and nothing is working, if you need extra motivation, if you have sleep problems, or if you have no idea how many calories you’re burning, I think the GoWear Fit is worth the cost.

GoWear Fit disadvantages
The one bad thing about the armband is that you have to wear it almost 24/7. During the hot summer, I was wearing it around everywhere while wearing tank tops, so I constantly felt self-conscious. It’s not uncomfortable, though, so if you cover it up with a jacket or long-sleeve top, no one will know you have it on. Finally, the initial cost of the armband is expensive, but it is an investment into your health. You also get a three month free membership to the BodyMedia website, but after that you have to pay a monthly subscription to continue to upload your nightly data. Aside from the cost, and the slight embarrassment, there are no other disadvantages to using a GoWear Fit.

Bottom Line
The GoWear Fit, or BodyBugg, is an excellent tool to help achieve your weight loss goals for most people, although I do question whether it can accurately assess your metabolism rate. The armband helps to motivate you to move around more, and it gives you insight into how many calories each daily activity really burns, thus taking away your guessing, which can be way off at times. And it’s the first tool I’ve seen that can help diagnose sleep issues. After using my GoWear Fit for a few months, I felt like I had enough knowledge about my expended daily calories and sleep patterns, so I ended up selling it used on Ebay and getting back 90% of my money!

*Get your own GoWear Fit here*

Have you tried a GoWear Fit or BodyBugg? What did you think?

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Tarina Tarantino, the famous pink-haired jewelry designer, has ventured into a beauty line and now sells her sparkly makeup exclusively at Sephora. I’m so excited because I have tons of Tarina jewelry, and I love her style, so I’m sure her makeup will be great as well. I see a splurge coming on… The product packaging is super cute and it’s embellished with rhinestones, skulls, bows, cameos, a Tokyo theme, butterflies, and lots more.

Shop Tarina Tarantino at Sephora!

Have you tried Tarina Tarantino’s new beauty products yet? What do you think?

Tarina products that look enticing to me:

Sparklicity Pure
A pale pink crystalline sparkly highlighter for brows arches, eyes, cheeks and lips. This appears to be noncomedogenic.

Eye Dream Hyperliner
Waterproof, smudgeproof, smooth eyeliner that comes in lots of shimmery colorful shades. Paraben-free.

Dollskin Cheek
Silky powder “high definition” blush that comes in 5 colors. This appears to be safe for acne-prone skin.

Tarina Tarantino’s beauty line also features mascara, lip gloss, lip sheen, shimmer body dust, pearl glow primer, eyeshadow, cream eyeshadow, makeup brushes, and more! Tarina is also doing in-store meet-and-greets at several Sephora stores this month!

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Full Thickening Cream is a new hair product by Living Proof designed to create fuller, thicker looking hair that lasts all day, without falling flat. Since I have thinning, frizzy, limp, lifeless, straggly hair, I have been dying to try this product. Designed by scientists, it contains a new ingredient called Poly Beta Amino Ester-1 that thickens each individual hair strand, yet it doesn’t leave hair crunchy or stiff.

I went to Sephora three times in the last  month because I had seen the product online and it was getting rave reviews, but I wasn’t able to finally buy it until a few days ago. I also saw a QVC spot where they were demonstrating the product, and the hair on the models kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger as the half hour show went on, and I was so jealous! At $24 for a small 3.7 oz bottle, the cream is pretty pricey, but I was willing to spend the money to see how well it worked on my hair. One of my biggest beauty concerns is my limp, thinning hair and even though I’ve tried several different thickening creams, volumizing sprays, and special shampoos, nothing has really worked to create the illusion of thick hair.

According to the directions, to get the most out of Full Thickening Cream, you are supposed to apply a nickel-sized dollop to wet hair, and then blow dry your hair. The product can also be used on dry hair or wet hair that you air dry, and it says to experiment with the amount of product you use. It’s not a root lifter, so a separate root lifting product may be used if you want. The LivingProof.com website has more specific details, plus videos that show you how to maximize your results.

Get Living Proof Full Thickening Cream at Sephora

Full Thickening Cream Results
The first time I tried the product, I put it on my wet hair and let it air dry. The second time I used it on wet hair but then blow dried my hair. Each time I would estimate my hair looked about 10-20% thicker than normal. That’s not a huge difference, and my boyfriend had no idea I had used something different on my hair, but guys never notice these things. At the end of the day, my hair hadn’t really gotten too much flatter. The cream is not greasy at all, which is great for me, because I hate greasy styling products. I am absolutely terrible when it comes to styling my hair, so I think people that know how to work with their hair could see better results. I have shoulder-length wavy hair, with hardly any layers, so someone with a shorter, layered hairstyle may have even better luck.

The product has a citrus scent, which I thought smelled fine, and true to its word, it didn’t weigh my hair down or make it crunchy or stiff. My hair looked slightly duller than usual, but a little glossing spray can disguise that. This product doesn’t really work on frizz (how I can have frizzy, thinning hair is beyond me), but the thickening cream can be used together with Living Proof’s popular Frizz products as well.

Bottom Line
For me this product was not a miracle, but it’s definitely worth trying because a lot of people are raving about it and saying how great it’s worked on their hair. How you tried it? What do you think? Have you tried other hair products by Living Proof? What products have you used that actually work to make hair look substantially thicker?

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Hard Candy makeup, the fun, colorful makeup that was super popular in the 90s (especially their nail polish and eyeshadow) is now being sold for affordable prices at Walmart. I used to only buy drugstore makeup, but Hard Candy was the first cosmetics line that made me really excited about makeup, and it’s what brought me into Sephora to spend the big bucks (well $35 for an eyeshadow palette).

When Hard Candy first hit Walmart last year, I was ready to prove that you don’t need expensive makeup from department stores and Sephora to get super high quality makeup, but the Walmart version of Hard Candy has turned out to not be as good as the original higher end version to me:( All of the products are formulations are different, so this is like an entirely new cosmetics line.

Hard Candy Glitter Pencil
I was most excited to try the glitter pencil (which comes in a package called Eye Candy that includes a glitter eyeshadow). The original Hard Candy glitter pencils were great – they were easy to use, they went on nice and dark, and the glitter looked sparkly but not too over the top. The Walmart version is horrible:( I bought the purple color, and could barely even see the color after several waxy application attempts. I threw it out after the first day. The Eye Candy glitter eyeshadow is a clear cream with flakes of glitter. It would be cool for a night on the town, or Halloween. The whole set is $5. I am currently on a search for a new glitter eyeliner pencil. Any suggestions? Even though I’m in my mid-30s, I’m not ready to completely give up glitter yet.

Hard Candy Kaleyedescope Baked Eyeshadow
I love the old-school Hard Candy eyeshadow quads so I was also dying to try their new duo eyeshadows. I bought them in four colors at Walmart, for $6 each. They aren’t as pigmented as the original eyeshadows, but for the price they are pretty good, and the array of colors is nice. When used over an eyeshadow primer they look better, and last most of the day.  They come in 14 different duo colors. I am a little out of touch because I had not bought a single drugstore eyeshadow since before the original Hard Candy eyeshadows came out about 15 years ago! I never had good luck with drugstore eyeshadows before, but I am curious to try other newer pigmented drugstore eyeshadows like L’Oreal HiP.

Hard Candy Nail Polish
The original Hard Candy line started with their crazy colored nail polishes, and somehow I found myself spending $12 for a bottle of nail polish back in the 90s. The Walmart nail polishes are $5 and come in 16 shades. Some of the colors are unique for drugstore polishes, and are worth checking out. They also come with the novelty rings, but the new rings are harder plastic and kind of bulky, but they are still sort of cute.

Hard Candy Blush Crush Baked Blush
Finally I bought the Hard Candy blush in the Living Doll color (a pale pearly pink) for $7. It broke into pieces before I got home, and I was too lazy to go back and get a new one. It’s a nice subtle pink color, but given how easily it broke for me, I would worry it would happen easily, and once it’s broken, it’s hard to contain the pieces in its case. Otherwise I would consider buying this blush again.

These are the only Hard Candy products at Walmart I tried, but there are tons of other ones too – primers, highlighters, bronzers, mascara, liquid liners, lipsticks, lip glosses, body glitter, and more! All of the packaging is really cute and eye-catching. Which products have you tried, and what do you think? I’m not totally giving up higher-end makeup just yet!

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Cetaphil is the super popular facial cleanser that has a cult following, and almost every Dermatologist seems to recommend it for dry, sensitive, and acne-prone skin. However CeraVe is a newer drugstore gentle cleanser that is quickly gaining in popularity. Cetaphil vs. CeraVe – which one is better?

Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser
Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser was created by Dermatologists and it’s marketed as a gentle cleanser for normal to dry skin, sensitive skin, and people with acne, rosacea and eczema. According to the Cetaphil website, it’s supposed to be great at removing makeup, and addressing the dryness your skin can face from certain acne medications. It won’t strip your skin of natural protective oils, it’s fragrance free, and it’s touted as non-comedogenic so it’s not supposed to clog pores.

I have tried Cetaphil off and on throughout the years and personally I’ve never liked it. I don’t find it removes eye makeup at all, and I feel like it leaves a film on my skin before it has a chance to actually cleanse my skin thoroughly. I’m not exactly sure how to test if it properly cleanses my skin, so it’s really the coating it leaves behind I don’t like. In part because it does leave behind a moisturizing layer, it’s actually a hydrating, non-drying cleanser, which is nice for dry skin. It’s also a great value because you can get a big bottle of it at your drugstore for a decent price.

I don’t like the fact that it contains the harsh Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) as the fourth ingredient, and even if it’s in a small amount, most cleansers don’t contain SLS and work just fine without it. SLS is also a major pore clogger, which is ironic because this cleanser is specifically designed for acne-prone skin. Although to be fair, I have never broken out from Cetaphil cleanser. Finally, Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser contains three types of parabens, which a lot of people try to avoid due to studies that show there might be a link between parabens and cancer. At this point in my skin care research, a product with parabens is not a dealbreaker for me, but I may change my mind in the future. While Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser has some good properties, it’s definitely not the greatest cleanser ever, and it has several major drawbacks.

Ingredients: Water, Cetyl Alcohol, Propylene Glycol, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Stearyl Alcohol, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Butylparaben.

CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser
CeraVe is a newer drugstore cleanser, which is very similar to Cetaphil, but it has different ingredients. I had been reading rave reviews about CeraVe, and I finally tracked it down at Walgreens recently. It’s supposed to also be sold at CVS, but none of the CVS stores near me carry it, and I’ve never seen it anywhere else, except online. Like Cetaphil, CeraVe was developed by Dermatologists to protect and restore your skin barrier, thus making it a hydrating cleanser for people with normal to dry skin. It’s also fragrance free, and non-comedogenic. CeraVe comes in a big bottle also, so I could imagine one $11 bottle lasting at least six months.

Excitedly, I tried CeraVe, but found it to feel and perform exactly like Cetaphil. It also doesn’t remove eye makeup, it’s a hydrating, non-drying cleanser, and it also leaves a soft film on your face. The benefits of CeraVe over Cetaphil is that it doesn’t contain Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, and it contains some great non-pore clogging moisturizing ingredients - ceramides and hyaluronic acid. For those reasons, if you are interested in trying a gentle cleanser for normal to dry skin, I would definitely recommend trying CeraVe first before Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser. CeraVe contains more ingredients than Cetaphil, so while the ingredients are supposed to be good for acne-prone and sensitive skin, there are more ingredients that your skin could potentially react to, if it’s super sensitive. CeraVe also contains parabens.

Ingredients: Water (Purified), Glycerin, Behentrimonium Methosulfate/Cetearyl Alcohol, Ceramide 3, Ceramide 6 II, Ceramide 1, Hyaluronic Acid, Cholesterol, Polyoxyl 40 Stearate, Glyceryl Monostearate, Stearyl Alcohol, Polysorbate 20, Potassium Phosphate, Dipotassium Phosphate, Sodium Lauroyl Lactylate, Cetyl Alcohol, Disodium EDTA, Phytosphingosine, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Carbomer, Xanthan Gum

*Buy CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser*

Finally, Cetaphil has a second cleanser called Cetaphil Daily Facial Cleanser that is for normal to oily skin. I haven’t tried it, but it doesn’t contain SLS, and it’s something I personally would want to try when for when I go to more humid climates. It does contain fragrance, though, which could pose a problem for people with really sensitive skin.

What do you think about Cetaphil and CeraVe?

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Having had more than one underarm cyst in the past year is yet another embarrassing skin care problem I’ve unexpectedly encountered. Not only is having a giant lump in your armpit embarrassing, it’s also painful and scary! Overnight I developed a pretty large painful bump, and as a hypochondriac I immediately freaked out and wanted to call a doctor. After about a week the cyst went away on its own, and I was extremely relieved. Then another cyst developed, in my other underarm! What was going on? I want to prevent other people from having the near-panic experience I had, which is why I’m writing about this!

Underarm cyst treatment and prevention
Once I got the second cyst, and then a third one, I immediately suspected the problem was probably being caused by something topical I was applying to my skin. The only thing new I added to my routine was a new hydrating body wash. Because this happened last year, I can’t remember for sure which body wash it was, but I think it was Olay Body Creme Ribbons. I don’t want to blast the product, in case I’m wrong, and I used to use Olay body washes all the time when I was younger and loved them. Anyway, I stopped using my new body wash, and within a few days the cysts were all gone, and they have never returned! What I had was a severely impacted skin follicle that turned into the size of a large pea.

If you develop underarm cysts and have added a new product to your routine (a new body wash, soap, or antiperspirant), eliminate the new product for a week or two to see if that fixes the problem. If not, it’s best to call your doctor to see if something more serious is going on (it could be a swollen lymph node, for example). I’m lucky that my cysts went away on their own, but I could foresee them needing to be extracted by a Dermatologist if they don’t subside naturally.

Keratosis Pilaris
You may remember I develped Keratosis Pilaris from a different body wash – Dove Cool Moisture. Basically that body wash clogged my pores, which caused dry, bumpy “chicken skin” pores on my upper arms. A switch to a different body wash cleared up my chicken skin, although I was lucky because Keratosis Pilaris can be difficult to treat. Given that makeup and facial skin care products many times clog pores, I guess it’s no surprise when it happens on your body as well!

Best Hydrating Body Wash
Currently I still use Johnson’s Body Care, Deep Hydrating Intense Moisture Body Wash which you can find at Walmart and CVS. Make sure to get this one (the yellow top), or the one with the green top, because they have the same ingredients, which are different than their other, similar body washes. The only reason I tried out different body washes was because I don’t like the smell of the Johnson’s – my boyfriend calls it “Grandma soap.” But I’d rather smell like flowery perfume than deal with bumps all over my body!

For the most part, even though I have dry skin, I stay away from body washes that have the word “cream” or “hydrating” or “moisture” in them, since those are the ones that clog my pores (except for the Johnson’s one). The best thing to do is experiement because everyone’s skin is different, and luckily body wash is pretty cheap. I also returned the $5 cyst-causing soap back to the store becaue I was so mad about the health scare it gave me!

Good Body Wash for Normal to Oily Skin
I also like Caress Evenly Gorgeous Exfoliating Body Wash and have had no problems with it at all. It’s not as hydrating as the Johnson’s, so it’s better for normal to oilier skin types. It has a very strong spicy, sweet smell, which you will probably love, or hate! Luckily you can smell the soap at the store before purchasing it.

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