My Essentials Monday: Juice Beauty Moisturizers

Sometimes you just have to switch things up. A while back I got samples of Juice Beauty Antioxidant Serum and Green Apple Antioxidant Moisturizer and I knew that a time would come where I would get around to fully trying them. Months and months ago I tried them a few times but never consistently enough to write up a review on their efficacy. Now I'm ready to change that.

You have to know that I love the serum formula. It feels so light on the skin and you can really feel it penetrating your pores. I don't know, maybe I'm crazy but I think these are my favorite types of moisturizers. They may not be as hydrating as something a little richer but they feel better on my skin. Of course during the winter they are no where near enough for me but they are my first line of defense, the first layer I put on my skin.

As far as serums go Juice Beauty Antioxidant Serum is great. The texture is like a more liquidy gel. I only had a small sample of this $52 product but a little goes a long way and that 1oz bottle will last forever. It makes my skin soft and smooth without the use of parabens and synthetic dyes and fragrances, in fact it smells quite delightfully of apples and sugar. It's refreshing and cooling on my skin. I could see myself using this on its own in the summer (which I did a couple weeks ago) or under moisturizer when the weather gets warmer. It's wonderful under makeup, it doesn't pill when you add layers on top, I love that!

Then it's time to add another layer to the skin to get all the benefits. Honestly, I find Juice Beauty Green Apple Antioxidant Moisturizer a little too greasy. It doesn't feel thick on the skin but I end up being shiny for days and since I have dry skin it's rare that I look shiny. I'm not sure why. I've never had this problem before. What do you think? In the future I'd probably use the serum with another hydrater over it because that doesn't seem to have the same effect on me. And just so we're clear I did this with and without the serum so it wasn't the combo but the moisturizer itself. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately for this product, it's no longer available on the Sephora website, I'm wondering if they may have discontinued it. I know that the stores do not carry the line but the website does have a few items.

Any recommendations for a moisturizer that is heavier but not pore clogging? Now that we're heading into the colder months my skin is starting to crave a little more moisture but I can't risk clogging my pores or using something irritating with age fighters in it. Any recommendations will be very much appreciated.

Philosophy Hope Oil Free SPF 30

A while back I got a sample of Philosophy Hope Oil Free with SPF 30 and I put it to the test this week. As a girl who loves to spend time at the park (sitting in the shade still slathered in SPF) I figured I should give it a try. After a disastrous trial with a similar Cetaphil Product, I thought I might have better luck with Philosophy, a brand I love and trust. Practically my whole skincare and bath/shower routine revolves around Philosophy in some way from their fabulous cleansers and exfoliators to the 3n1 bubble bath, shower gel and shampoos that I seem to collect like Olympians collect metals.

I have to say this formula was much more moisturizing than I thought it would be and it sunk right into my skin with minimal work. I also loved that this didn't have a very strong sunscreen smell, give me fruity any day but I don't want to smell like powdery sunscreen. While I wouldn't normally use just SPF 30 I thought it was fine for a trial run as long as I stayed in the shade. I didn't notice any more freckles and had no sunburn to speak of even after 3-4 hours outside. I definitely couldn't say that if I went unprotected.

My only complaint was that by the end of the day (we're talking 10 or more hours and tons of product testing later) my skin was SHINY. I have dry skin but I do have a tendency to get a little slick after I exfoliate which I had done that AM. I woke up the next morning and my skin was still buttery soft, almost to the point that I'd be forced to use a skin primer whether I wanted to or not in order to just keep my makeup on my face. This is highly unusual for me but not completely awful. My skin is plumped up and smooth like I just had a facial and I have a feeling it would still be this way even if I hadn't just exfoliated.

There was no chalky residue or eye irritation whatsoever. I love the trail size tube and have relegated it to my makeup bag for emergency purposes. The $38 price tag for 2oz would definitely be a hindrance when it came to repurchusing but I think you're getting a much better product than some of those other moisturizers with SPF that are out there.

Cetaphil UVA/UVB Defense SPF 50 Moisturizer

I thought I'd found it all, my one true love, the one I could never live without but alas, this is not a fairytale and Prince Charming was not to be. I'm left blubbering alone in a corner while I stare out my window wishing I could be out there.

Okay, that might be a little dramatic of me but you know me, always with the theatrics. If a girl's not allowed a rant on her birthday when is she? In all seriousness, I did think I've been reading about my dream product, a daily facial moisturizer with SPF 50 (yeah, you read that right, 5-0!) but we just don't get along. It's like me and orange dresses or say, Lady Gaga and pants. Not going to happen. I'll tell you where this not-so-fairytale began.


For weeks I've been reading about Cetaphil's moisturizer with SPF 50 and thought, now I NEED that. Finally I caved and picked up a box, balking a little at the $12.99 price tag when my favorite sunscreen is around $8 but I though to myself, self, this is a moisturizer, designed to make your dry skin moist-er. It promises not to leave you greasy or with a white film, it swears it won't clog your pores. You need this in your life. So I get it home, rip into the packaging before I even make myself supper (I'm a fat girl and I'm starving at the time) and throw it on my face. The first thing I notice is the telltale SPF smell. Okay, I can deal with that. I don't like it but I'm not mad at it either. Then I keep rubbing and rubbing and rubbing and it's not sinking in. It's not even a warm night, my skin is dry, no other product on my face but it just sits there. Okay, I have to give it another try, no big deal.

Sunday was try number two, while mowing the lawn I needed something with a high enough SPF that wasn't going to clog my pores. I slathered my neck and chest with my old faithful, Garnier Skin Renew Anti-Sun Damage with SPF 28, the one that inevitably would worm its way into my eyes and sting like a mother ducker. I couldn't put myself through that, not with the shape of my lawn after days upon days of rain. I mean, I was looking at inches of grass, still soggy from the rain yesterday, I needed something that would protect me better than that. I will say that when I was sweaty and gross this did not run into my eyes, however, when I applied it a little too close to them on Monday I was left with no choice but to dump my makeup bag out on the chaise to find my precious eyedrops. Also,I was left a greasy mess. I definitely worked up a sweat but my chest, normally the first place to start dripping, was glistening while I looked like I slathered Crisco on my face. Not a pretty look. I'm sure the neighbors were staring, I was scaring off kids and puppies, all sorts of ugliness, but that could have been my purple leggings.

Other nasty side effects include, a greasy residue that just beaded up in the shower until I hit it with some Purity Made Simple. Now my face is soft and slightly hydrated but is it worth it? HELL NO! Honestly, I'd rather use the Garnier one and live with a perma-supply of eye drops. That one rinses clean with water, leaves my face feeling like butter and smells divine. Also, the pump, the one their touting as revolutionary on the box? A piece of crap. On only the second use, holding it upside down so all liquid should flow to the pump and still I got a sputtering akin to the last drops of mustard in the bottle.

Alas, this was not a worthwhile relationship, one that I consider an experiment in bad taste, like the bad boy you dated for two seconds in high school that you shudder to think about now. At least this cheap girl can bring her complaints back to the returns counter and get a full refund.