Are you addicted to beauty products? If so, please join - we are "Beauty addicts anonymous" 💜

[Experiment627]

This is "Beauty addicts anonymous", a wonderful community of beauty product addicts & we have been going a hot minute... some may say we are enablers... many would say that they are much more intentional about their stashing and usage since joining this sisterhood.

Hi everyone sorry I'm useless at this but as per previous post I've a lot going on and head isn't with it at min (6mths tomorrow since losing my partner to heart attack). However in my productiveness if that is even a word? It is now haha I've poured out 2 body mists a Ted Baker and FCUK I don't even remember how long I've had them. I just now have to hope I get no guests for the nxt few hrs as it most definitely smells like I have a drink problem thanks to said very old products 😂😂

@Mackemlass79 I can only imagine that this project must feel utterly irrelevant atm. Heartfelt condolences from Downunder.

@Mackemlass79 no need to apologise/explain. 💐
Hope the over powering smell of alcohol does you no harm!

So I just dyed my hair for the second time with Umberto Giannini Flowerology, this time going for dark brown. Love that it does not smell of hair dye. That said not sure how good it is at covering greys.

I decided to make a Frankenmoisturiserserum by combining all of those tricksy samples. If I add all the promises together, I shall have the visage of a four month old in the morning.
Ruthlessly decluttering makeup and clothing in the morning. *Swedish Death Clean

LOL @Fraaahnces I am so curious as to how much skin regression you have actually experienced?

Have any of you lovely ladies tried KORA skincare?

I have an empty:

• The Inkey List SPF 30 sunscreen 100% mineral UV filters: this has a bit of a tint to it, is quite hard to get on but has happily gone over a many different day creams without pilling. I have two other SPF lotions to use up & if I need new I will most likely revert to the Body Shop skin defence one which is my fave so far.

Meant to say: I off for a few days to Chicago soon - anything I should defo buy in the USA that is way more expensive/not available in Blighty?

I’m refusing to buy into the Kora hype for a couple of reasons… One is because she’s a rabid anti vaxxer. Two is because the turmeric thing reportedly stains everything that’s not nailed down. Thirdly, because the ads here in Aus are every bloody where and are so sickly sweet and sugary pink (think so wannabe Gwyneth that I wouldn’t be surprised if they pulled out a rose quartz egg out of their hoohaa) they are about to give me diabetes. (Mostly that one I think.)

FFS @Fraaahnces not more Gwyneth!!! I was not aware of the brand at all until I heard Miranda talk about it on Jay Shetty's podcast.

Feel like I’m nervously walking into a play date and asking to join in 😅

Been reading the thread and very interesting shares. I’m big on skincare but also try, very hard, to keep things relatively simple and not change too much.

Except I’m already eyeing up a new exfoliating toner. And serum. And when I said skincare I also meant hair care. And make up. And fragrance. A friend who recently left a large beauty company just gave me a bunch of stuff I want to play with.

I might be failing at simple… but it all fits in one drawer (nearly) so there’s that!

@Mackemlass79 take care of yourself.
@wonderspread welcome !
@Experiment627 I like bath and body works hand washes, cheap and cheerful! Cerave is cheaper.

Come and play @wonderspread! (Just don’t get me started about Gwyneth or Miranda Kerr! 🤣 Got a bit ranty there!)

Welcome @wonderspread !!!

I finished the podcast with Miranda Kerr... I realise I am just so easy to sell to!!! She is very evangelical and perfect like... I will defo take a closer a look at Kora before splashing my cash!

I have an empty:

• Superdrug B. Glow glycolic exfoliating mask: so much nicer than using a scrub, only takes a couple of minutes to work and I feel much less radical than The Ordinary red thing. I will definitely RP... I do believe this is HG for me!!! Actually really impressed with this Superdrug range.

@PomRuns Bath & Body Works great shout! Thanks!

I rang a friend in the UK who is an aesthetician and has actually tried the Kora turmeric goop. (Pun intended) More to the point, she knows what she’s talking about. I asked if I was biased because I effing loathe Gwyneth and her cult, or if she thought the range was any good. She said that she looked like she needed a liver transplant, a new bathroom and some new towels and face washers. She was tempted to post them to Ms Kerr in Byron Bay and ask for replacement, but suspects she’d be sent brown, scratchy hemp replacements.

Thanks all 🙂 haha totally understand @Fraaahnces .

Decided to do some (rather late night) shopping and ordered a few bits from Facetheory. Bakuluronic is a repurchase, trying their new Saliatica (basically BHA toner), Lumizela (15% Azelaic acid serum) and Supergel moisturiser. I use other products from there but my skin has made a slight detour from its usual due to postpartum hormones so felt like I needed to go in a bit more on the oil/breakouts/hyperpigmentation side.

@Fraaahnces on the podcast she spoke of a new moisturiser with green (or was it blue?) sea algae... wonder if that will have same effect as the tumeric one.

BTW I am currently using a Tumeric moisturiser from the Boots Ingredients range and it is lovely.

@Experiment627 the aromatherapy range in bath and body is also really nice. Plus the little hand sanitisers.

@Experiment627 tbh, I think algae extracts can be fabulous in the right format. I have no idea about hers. The sceptic in me suspects she is leaning towards the pseudo La Mer luxe marker. She wouldn’t be the first. However, if it is fermented algae extracts, they are also being used in J&K beauty toners, etc… It is just really hard to know which “layer” is the best one to start applying these things for most efficacy. Are you using it for healing or brightening? Just know that her products are not using new or original formulations (at all) and rely very, very heavily on 3 things. 1) She is the Figurehead/Spokesperson for this brand. It is implied that she comes up with these formulations or has a lot of say in them. She is not a cosmetic chemist. She is a genetically-blessed ex-supermodel who just so happens to also be married to a multi millionaire. 2) Really expensive packaging. 3) Advertising/Hype that is rather unsubtly “Health/Lifestyle/Guru”-oriented (hence my Gwyneth comparisons). There is very much a Green-Washing/Guilt-Trip push which when combined with the extreme price of these products, I consider to be more toxic than any other form of advertising atm. I genuinely think they should be made to stay in their lane. No amount of face gunk is going to enable me to look like that/live like that, etc… They need to open up and admit that they are selling cosmetic products, not their lifestyles or even life choices.

Now, my Frankenmoisturiserserum experiment… It was a little, separated-looking, so I squeezed in some of my lovely Illiyoon Ato Concentrate Ceramide Lotion, which is a bit buttery in texture, and whipped it up with the shitty milk frother thing I never use because I drink black coffee. OMG… This stuff is great! Still far too scented for my face, but I’m slathering it on right up to my neck. It smells lovely, and I have accidentally achieved the perfect, whipped, airy, mousse texture I love in a body lotion that I know I could never replicate again. I thought it would separate again by morning, but it’s still together and it’s still lovely. I think it has a combined value of a tropical island, but it’s great!
Then… I was forced to improvise again. Slippery paws led to a dropped glass stopper lid. I didn’t want to lose my Neutrogena Retinol Oil (trying it out on Neck & Dec), so I whizzed it into the Beauty of Joseon Dynasty Cream and Melano C Gel Cream combo I had been using under anyway. I am considering it a real estate clearance in my bathroom cupboard. (Btw, fully expect to have to whizz this one together frequently.)

@Fraaahnces you NEED to start your own skincare line!!!!

I have one empty:

• Health Aid lavender essential oil: I always have a lavender oil on the go. Surprising how they all smell a bit different. Fab for relaxing and clearing nasal passages.

@Experiment627 - I’d need to divorce DH and find a multi millionaire marry and fund “my little business.”

@Experiment627 This beautiful lady, Soo explains MUCH more succinctly (and in a far less cynical and shade-throwing way) than I did, what I was trying to say about ingredients and “innovation”.
She’s a bit waffly to begin with, so start at 06:10.

A very satisfying week of finishing a bunch of products. Plus a couple I gave up on…

Avant face and eye night cream the fabled Avant, chucked into GWPs to pretend they're worth £200 for 5ml or whatever. Did not like, did not finish, would not use again.

Illamasqua skin glowing gel the other one I gave up on: less "glowing", more glittery face. No thanks.

Clinique dramatically different moisturising lotion a classic, will always happily use.

Sunday Riley good genes another new discovery from the (really excellent) John Lewis beauty advent. Absolutely loved this and will RP. Seemed to make pores disappear!

Clinique all about eyes I'd never bothered with eye cream till this thread inspired me to start using my beauty stash and annoyingly 😉 I've found some of them do work. This was great.

Liz Earle instant boost skin tonic did precisely nothing, as far as I could tell.

Sunday Riley ceramic slip cleanser only enough for one wash in this sample but I did like it and am tempted enough by the success of the Good Genes to consider this again.

Living Proof dry shampoo also from the JL advent, I think? Good, but I feel I shouldn't be using dry shampoo at all, so would be reluctant to spend more than about a quid on it!

Botanicals hair mask Pros: hair very soft. Cons: hair very fluffy.

@Fraaahnces unfortunately the video link is privated :(

Thanks @PomRuns

@Maranello I completely concur re: Liz Earle instant skin boost thing... what does it do? Nada!

I have two empties to report:

• Nivea body moisturiser in-shower: God I love this stuff. HG all the way!


• Radox stress relief bath soak: my little one loves the bubbles... one bottle lasts about 3 baths 🙈🙈🙈

Well I went to see if there was another way to share her video, but it’s gone!
She is a Korean-based skincare junkie/journo who has done all the lab tours there, etc. Has about ten years working in the industry there.
She went on to talk about how you will find one company that has invested millions in investigating their new groundbreaking ingredient before it can be used it in a formulation. They must have extensive “proof” that this product has been exhaustively tested to all required safety standards and all evidence of their claims to it’s “effectiveness” before it’s approved for use. This doesn’t just cost a lot of money, but can take many years, and this drives the cost of the product.
When that is advertised, and selling well, other companies can simply use the evidence supplied by the other company and use that ingredient, citing the other company’s data. They only have to lab test the interraction between that ingredient and what they mix it with, and as you know, these lab tests are a wee bit dodgy.

This is why you will see a repeated use of the same ingredients over and over and over again. It’s why there are very few genuine “authentic” NEW formulations out there, and why I bridle at the advertising schtick behind Kora.

Then she went on a similar rant about how skincare needs to be sold as skincare, not a lifestyle. Anything else and it’s a lie. There are lots of companies that “Greenwash” you with advertising their “Natural, free-from” products that MUST be better for you than other formulations. They don’t discuss the damage to the environment to create those products (including planting for essential oils - that’s a whoooole other industry I could rant about right now…) and yet they are made and sold in China. Ahem… There are many companies that use cruelty-free, non-environmentally-sourced ingredients that lose a lot of money because they are committed to avoiding that market.