Archive for the ‘Natural + Organic Skin Care’ Category

I wasn’t surprised when Ila’s Face Oil won Marie Claire magazines prestigious Prix D’Excellence de la Beauté award. Its main ingredient, pure, wild grown argan oil is exceptionally rich in natural antioxidant tocopherols (vitamin E), in intensely hydrating squalene, carotenes, & in skin balancing essential fatty acids. Dry skin loooves it and acne, eczema & psoriasis sufferers have been known to get great relief from it too. It’s benefits in skin care are incredible and now hairdressers too are just catching on to it’s frizz taming, silicone-free shine boosting capabilities. The New York Times did a fantastic article on the argan oil trade in Morocco and Ila uses the precious oil in almost all of their products.

People ask all of the time if it’s ok to use a cleanser from one line and a moisturizer from another. My answer is: I don’t recommend it. Skin care companies develop product lines to work together and the performance of one product can be affected by another. While this may sound like an unfounded excuse to get you to be brand loyal, there is some truth to it. I recently tried using my old toner after washing my face with my new cleanser, which I usually use with my new toner. I noticed that because the new cleanser is more astringent, their toner is more hydrating while the reverse was true for the old line. Both lines when used exclusively, performed very well but in combination, left my skin too dry. Your skin may also be getting overdosed on certain ingredients when you use products that are not designed to balance each other. Some ranges use more oils in their cleansers than others. If you are getting too much oil between one cleanser and another moisturizer, your skin may become congested. The same is true for some drying or peeling ingredients.

So what do you do if you want to try using a new product without going all out and buying the whole line? In a perfect world you might consider giving your skin a 24-48 hour break in between switching to another line and then at that time, trying samples of the whole range. When that is not possible, I suggest trying the product independently first. If you are trying a cleanser, skip the toner and the moisturizer for a day to get a feel for the balance. Then incorporate what you feel your skin needs. Keep an eye on stronger ingredients, making sure not to “OD” on them. Remember that it takes skin about two weeks to fully adapt to the pH of new skin care products and regimens. An initial breakout or inflammation is sometimes normal. Two weeks is a long time to get through but sometimes it is necessary and all the more reason to use products that don’t counteract each other.