Organic Skin Care Blog – Product Reviews & Healthy Skin

We did skincare in the last empties post, so today we're doing makeup - and sunscreen! Usually it takes me longer to use up makeup than skincare (probably because there are more makeup products than skincare products under rotation at any one point in time, and I vary my makeup routine more than my skincare routine). So this is sort of an achievement!


Alright, let's start!
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This is my epic empties post part 2 (part 1 was written a few weeks back), and yes, we're going to do a quick-hits rundown of what I liked, what I didn't like, and why! And yes, there are some products I didn't like in part 2, unlike in part 1 where everything I did actually like. Which ones? You'll find out!


Today's post will focus on sunscreens, serums and essences, masks, sleeping masks, and exfoliating products, as well as the lone eye cream. Basically we continue from part 1 and cover all the product categories part 1 did not.


Well, we've got a lot of products to cover today, so if you're ready, let's get started!
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Yes it's another empties post! And this post is pretty mega, hence the two-part split. And that's just for skincare - the makeup empties post is a separate post too, to make sure the individual posts aren't too long. So yes, I have indeed been a good girl and using up my products and not wasting them (a perpetual beauty junkie problem it seems)!


Above you can absolutely see the mess of empties, running the gamut from sunscreen to serums. I could probably do all those empties in one sitting, but the post would just be very long. So this time, we'll just be focusing on oil cleansers and makeup removers, normal cleansers, face masks, sunscreen, lotions and toners, and moisturizers! In other words, we'll just be looking at the stuff in the photo today, which is still quite a lot.


Empties: cleanser, makeup remover, lotion, toner, sunscreen, and moisturizer
I realized that quite a few readers seem to like my empties posts (and you can see all of them here) - perhaps, it's because with all my science-y skincare reviews, some readers are curious to know what exactly remains in my stash and gets used up at the end of the day. I suppose the idea here is that if I used up something, then it must be really good! The truth is that it kind of depends - some of these empties I've had for a long, long time, and for various reasons take longer to use up, and some were very quickly made favourites or staples and get used up much faster. As we go through the products, you'll see which is which!
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Daylong is a suncare range, with a variety of sunscreens in drugstores here. Daylong is a sister brand of the cult favourite Cetaphil, and like Cetaphil, Daylong also emphasizes skincare for sensitive skin, that's still effective, at an affordable price point.


I have the Cetaphil Daylong SPF50+ Gel, which also has a PA++++ rating, one of the highest I've seen on sunscreens recently. I'm a huge advocate of using sunscreen regularly - in fact, one of the most popular posts on my blog is a post on sunscreen tips! So of course I was excited to try this out, and see how it performs. It doesn't just claim to provide broad spectrum protection against both UVA and UVB rays, but also against IR rays, or infrared radiation, which like UV rays, is also emitted from the sun. Don't worry if this sounds confusing - we'll be taking a look at it later in this review!


Cetaphil Daylong Sunscreen SPF50+ PA++++: Like Cetaphil, the focus is also on products that work without behing harsh
So as you can tell, we've got a lot to cover in this review. As always, we'll start by looking first at the ingredients in the sunscreen - particularly at the UV filters, which are responsible for protecting skin from the sun!
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Origins Mega Defense range has added the Mega Defense Barrier Boosting Essence Oil and Mega Defense SPF45 UV Defender Sunscreen to its existing range. Origins bills the two products as skin defenders, capable of defending skin against "environmental assualts", which include both pollution as well as UV rays. Both are also meant to be lightweight, easily-absorbed products, making them ideal for warm weather.


If you're familiar with the Origins approach to skincare, the brand is pretty big on plant extracts, essential oils, and other plant-derived ingredients, so if you're looking for products with such ingredients, then chances are, you'll love everything from Origins. I personally have mixed feelings about plant extracts and essential oils - I have pretty sensitive skin, so while some plant extract have worked great for my skin and I would have no hesitation in incorporating them into my routine, I've also come across plant oils that have given me breakouts and pimples. At the end of the day, it really boils down to the individual's preference and skin type. For me, it can vary a lot depending on the individual product, the ingredients in the product, and the amounts they're included in - which of course we will look at in this review!


Origins Mega Defense Barrier Boosting Essence Oil and SPF45 UV Defender: New additions to the Mega Defense skincare range
Speaking of ingredients, this review took me a little while to get around to I didn't get the ingredients lists along with the products. So I specially went to an Origins stand to hunt them down for you guys, so I could properly review both the Essence Oil and Sunscreen in their full glory, and so yes, I was at an Origins stand at some point crouching in front of their display items with my camera, obsessively taking photos of the ingredients lists until I got one that was legible. The things I do for you guys! Anyway, without further ado, let's start the review.
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Labo Labo, a subsidiary brand of Dr Ci:Labo, is a Japanese skincare brand, with an emphasis on simple products that give results, driven by science. The brand also believes in minimizing some ingredients that could be perceived as problematic by customers, such as fragrance, colouring, and mineral oil. Recently, they've launched their Labo Labo Super Moist 5H5C skincare range, which is a moisturizing line that also targets the first signs of aging. The Super Moist line consists of the Super Moist W-Washing cleanser, the Super Moist Lotion, the Super Moist Gel, which is basically a lightweight gel moisturizer, and the Super Moist UV Cream, a sunscreen.


As you can tell, the range is pretty much a simple skincare routine unto itself - cleanse, lotion, moistuizer, and sunscreen. You'll notice that there's the tagline "5H x 5C" on the packaging of the products too. That refers to the brand's claim that the products have 5 kinds of hyaluronic acid (Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid, Acetyl Hyaluronic Acid, Hyaluronic Acid Hydroxypropyltrimonium, Hyaluronic Acid Dimethyl Silanol Hyaluronate, and Sodium Hyaluronate), as well as 5 kinds of collagen (Hydrolyzed Collagen, Water-Soluble Collagen, Succinyl Atelo Collagen, AMPD-Isostearoyl Hydrolyzed Collagen, and Hydroxypropyl Hydrolyzed Collagen).

In addition to collagen and hyaluronic acid, the products also contain EGF (Epidermal Growth Factor, which shows up in the ingredients lists as rh-Oligopeptide-1), which is a kind of protein tht is thought to stimulate cell growth, which could be useful in topical applications, and could potentially be useful in wound healing. There are also 3 types of plant ingredients (Brown Algae, which shows up in the ingredients lists as Eisenia Arborea Extract, Glucosylceramide, and Millet Seed Extracts). So between the plant extracts, proteins, and hyaluronic acid, there's something for everyone in this range!


Labo Labo Super Moist 5H5C Skincare Range: With 5 kinds of collagen, 5 kinds of hyaluronic acid, EGF, and 3 plant ingredients
Collagen, hyaluronic acid, growth factor, and plant extracts - it sounds exciting, doesn't it? And of course, you're probably wondering, wht would this look like in the products, and how would they work? To find out, let's take a closer look! This is going to be a long review, with 4 products to look at in-depth, so I hope you're ready!
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Supergoop! is a US-based niche brand dedicated to sunscreens, and the humorous brand name belies its goal: to "formulate products that you and your family actually want to put on: they are lightweight, never greasy or sticky and easily absorb into skin". That's great, since sunscreen can feel kinda icky to wear and apply (and also to reapply), although in recent years there have been quite a few non-greasy options from both Asian brands as well as Western ones (as a quick look through some of my previous sunscreen reviews will show. Still, it's always good to have another sunscreen brand to choose from - as I've mentioned in my blog before, I'm a pretty big fann of sunscreen, and I think it's one of the skincare products everyone should use.


Supergoop! is also one of those brands that will appeal to those who like their skincare to be more natural (as far as sunscreen can be "natural" I guess) - they proudly brag on their packaging that they are free of "controversial ingredients" like parabens, synthetic fragrance, and oxybenzone. While I'm all for fragrance-free stuff, it always annoys me a little when brands pander to greenwashing, because not all controversial ingredients are unsafe, and some (if not most) of them actually have been shown to be safe time and time again. The hype and noise surrounding an ingredient often doesn't match up to the science, so just because an ingredient is currently making the "OMGZ WILL CAUSE CANCER AND MAKE YOU DIE" rounds, doesn't mean it is actually harmful. Specifically for parabens, I've written a blogpost about parabens and safety and whether they cause cancer or not that pretty much summarizes my view - but, in short, parabens are safe for use in cosmetics as they are currently used. I'm cool with natural brands advertising themselves as being natural (although it seems almost every brand is jumping on that bandwagon), but I would like it much better if they didn't have to resort to relying on spurious science and "chemicals are bad" bashing when they undertake their marketing efforts. (And as I've also mentioned in my parabens post, EWG is not actually a good source for science-based info!)


Supergoop! Everyday Sunscreen SPF30: The sunscreen's claim to fame is its light, non-greasy texture
Anyway, marketing aside, I have the Supergoop! Everyday Sunscreen With Cellular Response Technology Broad Spectrum SPF 30 for review. I got mine from Luxola, which seems to have sold out of this particular sunscreen but still have many others, but you can also get it from the Supergoop! website or Nordstrom. We're going to check out whether the Supergoop! Everyday Sunscreen lives up to its claims - whether it really does feel lightweight and non-greasy, whether it does provide adequate sun protection, and while we're at it, we'll also take a look at what the deal is with this Cellular Response Technology. And to do that, we'll start at the ingredients list!
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The Face Shop's Natural Sun Eco Sunscreens consists of two sunscreens: the currently existing Natural Sun Eco Power Long-Lasting Sun Cream SPF45 PA+++, and also the new addition, the Natural Sun Eco Sebum Control Moisture Sun SPF40 PA+++. These sunscreens are something I've had on my radar for a long time (ahem, a few months, if you look at how long ago this Instagram post and this other Instagram post were), and I kept vacillating on whether I should review these, since summer is kind of almost over. But since the weather is still pretty hot right now even in August, I figure I'm still not too late to the party with this review! In any case, since I live in a hot and humid climate with sun all year round, it's always summer here, and correspondingly, sunscreen is a year-round must-have!


But even if you don't live in a hot sunny environment, it's always a good idea to wear sunscreen if it's a sunny day out, regardless of whether it's hot or cold. After all, even when it's cold or snowy outside, it's possible to get sunburned if the snow is reflecting sunlight. And, in my humble opinion, since sun damage is a huge contributor to skin ageing, sunscreen is really one of the cheapest and most efficient forms of anti-ageing products everyone should get! It's certainly cheaper than an expensive anti-ageing cream, and also probably more likely to actually do what it says on the packaging. The Face Shop's Natural Sun Eco Sunscreens are just one of the many sunscreens available that you can check out.


The Face Shop Natural Sun Eco Sunscreens: Sebum Control is the newer addition
As you can probably guess from the name, the Sebum Control version of the Natural Sun Eco Sunscreen is meant more for oily skin, and to help control oil, while the Long-Lasting Sun Cream is meant for normal skin types. But I'm sure you have some questions: what is the difference in formulation between the two? Is it worth getting both, or just one? And what are the sunscreen filters, anyway, and is this sunscreen going to be sticky on my skin? To do that, we'll take a look at the Natural Sun Eco Power Long-Lasting Sun Cream SPF45 PA+++, which is the original sunscreen that first came out, and then we'll take a look at the newer Natural Sun Eco Sebum Control Moisture Sun SPF40 PA+++. From there, we can compare the two and get a sense of the differences between the two formulas.


The Face Shop Natural Sun Eco Sunscreens: Sebum Control and Long-Lasting actually have very different formulasContinue Reading . . .

Kiehl's Ultra Light Daily UV Defense Sunscreen with SPF50 PA++++ protection is new from Kiehl's this summer! I know I've already done a previous post on the Kiehl's Ultra Light Daily UV Defense Sunscreen, but this time round, the brand has reformulated its much-loved sunscreen, and so here is a "re-review" of the sunscreen. After all, summer is the time when people start paying attention to sunscreens, and since I gave the previous iteration of the Ultra Light Daily Defense a pretty good review, I thought it's good to check in again, to see if it's still deserving of the nice things I said about it the last time round.


As you can tell, the packaging is pretty much still the same. Kiehl's claims that the new formulation of the sunscreen now offers better anti-aging protection, and in particular UVA protection (the type of sun exposure that causes long term aging - if you haven't yet, you can learn more in my post about sunscreen tips). This reformulation of the Ultra Light Daily UV Defense keeps the SPF value at SPF50, but the PA is now PA++++ rather than PA+++ as in the old formula.


Kiehl's Ultra Light Daily UV Defense: With PA++++ instead of PA+++ for better anti-aging benefit
On a side note, I wish I had used the same bright orange paper background that I used the last time I reviewed the old formulation of the sunscreen, instead of this off-white cloth background. The off-white shade, combined with the various shades of white the sunscreen tube and box were, really messed up the white balance on the camera, and there's only so much GIMP can do to correct it. Oh well, the review is still written with the same set of brains, even if the photos are a little washed out this time round. So let's get started!
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