Origins Wish List / Appreciation

I freakin' love lists. It's that obsessive side of me that gets to come out and party like it's 1999.
I make lists of the lists I need to make. Creating a list gives me the same calm feeling I would get as a child when I lined up my crayons in a specific color order. Oh what a feeling; the order; the control...

I've seen a lot of beauty wish lists around the web lately, and of course I wanna join the party. I think I'll do it brand by brand, starting with Origins.

Origins is probably my favorite skin care brand, and really I'd like to get my hands on every single Origins product ever made, but especially these ones.
According to Origins, a key ingredient in the A Perfect World™ range is the white tea and its high antioxidant content. Another is resveratrol, which happens to be what I wrote my senior thesis on. This is what I love about Origins: the use of plants in all their formulas. Not just a little cucumber water here and there, but many different and carefully chosen plant extracts. Now, this is slowly turning into an Origins appreciation post, so I'll just get on with it and list the products.

A Perfect World Age-defense Treatment Lotion with White Tea

Starting Over Age-erasing oil free moisturizer with Mimosa

High-potency Night-A-Mins Mineral-enriched oil-free renewal cream

Zero Oil Deep pore cleanser with Saw Palmetto & Mint

Zero Oil Pore purifying toner with Saw Palmetto & Mint


But as I said, I basically want to try all their products. This was just the top 5. The Brighter By Nature range, for example, and the makeup items too. It all looks so good.



- Nicci

Vichy Normaderm

I figure a good way to properly introduce ourselves to this blog is by continuing to share some of the things we love (like we did with beauty gurus last week).
So... I want to talk a bit about a brand I really like...
Vichy is a pharmacy brand which, in Denmark at least, is pretty affordable. Not cheap, but affordable. I believe it's available in many parts of the world but most popular in Europe. Vichy is one of those "thermal water" brands like Avene and La Roche-Posay, and I do find those three comparable and I enjoy them all.

From Vichy I mostly use the Normaderm product line which also contains these products:

This first one is one of those so-called "micellar" liquids. Even though it seems to me that many cleansers are "micellar" (at least many water-based ones) and so I don't quite understand what's special about this, I still really like this cleanser. Now, it's not the kind of cleanser that will remove everything from your face in one wipe. So if you're wearing a full party face of theater makeup, you might want to use something else. However, this cleanser is very mild and I find it feels great on my skin, which is why I like it. It doesn't dry out the skin or sting if it gets to close to the eyes. So for lighter cleansing, I definitely recommend the 'Micellar Solution'.

The next product is a toner. It contains 0,5% salicylic acid plus other ingredients that are supposed to help against acne and redness. If your skin is very sensitive I do not recommend this. The main ingredient is alcohol which makes it a pretty harsh toner, and it can dry out your skin. So remember to moisturize properly. I really like it on my skin though and I will indeed be repurchasing this '3-in-1 Unclogging Purifying Toner'.

Speaking of moisturizing...
This next one is my favorite. The 'Triple Action Anti-Acne Hydrating Lotion' is wonderful!
It contains both alpha hydroxy (glycolic) and beta hydroxy (salicylic and also a lipo-hydroxy) acids, all with the purpose of treating blackheads and blemishes. The formula is light and oil-free and it feels absolutely great. It claims to mattify too, though I don't find it very effective in that aspect. So if that is your main concern, you might be better off with something else.
But I really love this moisturizer, and it is definitely one of the best oil-free formulas I've tried!
This is also allergy tested on sensitive skin, and free of parabens, in case those are concerns of yours.

In general I really like the Normaderm line from Vichy and I definitely recommend trying it.

- Nicci