Review of Pond’s Dry Skin Cream

On the surface, this may appear to be the holy grail of basic nighttime moisturizers. While the photo makes it look dull, I think the packaging is nice and elegant. The cream is rich, and has a very nice fresh scent. Moisturizers very well.

After I finish cleansing my face, applying my toners, and if I’m feeling like it, applying my mask, my skin feels like the Sahara desert. I take out this heavenly jar of wonderfulness. It feels very nice in my hand, by the way.

I open the lid with ease. I dip my fingers into the pot of hope and joy and rub it onto my awaiting face. A sense of release bursts through me as the plastic cage on my face is relinquished…

But wait.

Yeah, it can never be that good, huh? Especially when you can pick this little jar up at the drugstore for $3.

BEHOLD, THE INGREDIENTS:

Water, Mineral Oil, Isopropyl Palmitate, Petrolatum, Glycerin, Stearic Acid, Ceresin, Glyceryl Stearate, Cetyl Alcohol, Sorbitan Oleate, Candelilla Wax, Triethanolamine, Laureth 23, Fragrance, Carbomer, Disodium EDTA, DMDM Hydantoin, Methylparaben, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate

First of all, if you’re worried about such a thing, it’s packed full of comedogenic ingredients. And while I’ve not a clue if mineral oil has any effect on my skin, I do know that Isopropyl Palmitate is the worst thing since MJ’s above-the-ankle pants. I have rosacea, and from my experience, it doesn’t just go away. You can flair it up, you can calm it down. But it won’t die. Isopropyl Palmitate is to my skin as blow torch is to shaving cream can.

If you don’t have rosacea, I think you’d like this product. I’ve probably had about 2 or 3 pimples within the several month’s time of using this, but that could have been because of a lot of things.

I’m sorry, Mr Ponds. We’ve set one too many arguments ablaze for my to consider reconciliation.

Rating: C

Claire’s Tokyo Girls Strawberry Lip Balm Review

My friend Caitlin bought this for me under the condition that I review it. Basically she is asking me to tell her the value of her present. To look a gift horse in the mouth. Alright…I’ll bite.

The packaging is nice. The inner tube is sleek matte black, and the pink lip balm looks nice against it. The lid is just cheap looking in comparison, though.

The formula?

Ooooooh the formula.

It glides on like you stole it from it’s mother and you’re about to rape it. The point of lip balm is to cover the lips to protect it from the sun/windburn, and it does just that, but ANY LIP BALM will do that. There is way too much resistance in the feel of this balm. On a side note, the (strawberry!) flavor is nice.

If you don’t mind lip balms that have no slip or that don’t glide on very easily, you might like this.

YOU TOLD ME TO DO IT, CAITLIN!

Rating: C

Blistex Deep Renewal Lip Balm Review

$1 – Tried and tried again I have, in search of a Blistex product that is matched in Blistex Medicated Lip Balm’s excellence. Will this here product exceed my expectations? Will it be the lone wolf amongst the others? Read on and find out…

(NOTE: The blue Blistex stinks! The pink one is the one I like a lot. However, at the time of creating these graphics I didn’t know there was a difference. There shouldn’t be, it’s only a different flavor, but apparently there is.)

The packaging is disappointing. Very plain. The cardboard box it came in was prettier, so I was expecting something elegant. It’s not all that bad – but the box gave me the wrong idea. Another quirk about the packaging is that, if I don’t hold on to the lengh of the tube and not just the bottom when I apply (which I have a habit of doing), then the balm swivels downward when faced with the pressure.

As for the formula…it’s greasy. It goes on very thinly, and is greasy. Too greasy for my tastes. If you like a lot of slip in your balms when you rub the lips together, then you might not be TOO bothered by this if that outweighs how greasy it is.

The moisurization? Yes. I can always count on Blistex to offer nice moisturization. The product itself wears off after just a few minutes, and it sort of…wanders. Gets in the corners of your mouth, makes your mouth and the surrounding skin shine…it’s not very pleasant.

Luckily, my friend Cait got herself a tube of The Holy Grail of Lip Balm (see first paragraph) and when she tried this stuff, she likes it a lot. She told me she would trade with me, so that fixes my problem! Unless, of course, she develops attachment issues…

Rating: C

NYC Eyeliner in White, In The Navy, Taupe Review

$1 per – NYC Brow & Liner pencils are $1 per. You heard me. I bet you’re thinking, “One buck?! Well, I bet they must be really short, huh?” You are SADLY MISTAKEN, my dear comrade:

They are HUGE! It’s actually sort of uncomfortable. I would cut then in half, but I don’t have extra caps. Let’s take a moment to look at what their website claims:

N.Y.C. New York Color Classic Brow & Liner Pencils allow you to line eyes and fill in brows. Perfect, salon quality eyebrow shaping with a natural, non-waxy finish. (source)

Non-waxy? Um, no. Especially with the white one, it’s hard to actually apply these to get good coverage without getting clumps of the stuff on your skin. Clumps. Of. Eyeliner. This isn’t very evident in the other two, though.

They come in a series of colors, as displayed on their website, but I have these three:

• White – a rather sheer white eyeliner. It sucks a lot. I would skip this one, unless all you want to get out of it is a highlighter.
• Taupe – this color is a bit different than the tube suggests. It has that waxy problem, but not nearly as much as the white. It will probably look unnatural on me soon enough, because this color actually matches the hair dye I’m using right now.
• In The Navy – now, this color is another story! I haven’t noticed much waxiness, and it has a decent amount of color to it! My eye is happy:

Rating: C