Vitamin C Elixir from Balance Active Formula

It was an unexpected surprise to see such a high end skin care product in Savers, a budget health and beauty store.  There were some very interesting products in this new range called Balance Active from Brodie & Stone, but I decided to just select the Vitamin C for now. 

Ingredients
6% Illumiscin® – this is a patented blend of Vitamin C, Zinc PCA and Oleuropein (from Olive tree) – individually they are effective, so there should be great synergy combined.
6% Stay-C 50® – Vitamin C is proven to be a very effective anti-oxidant and to give radiance to the skin, it also improves skin firmness by boosting collagen production.
Paraben and silicone free

How it Works

Vitamin C is very well known and well documented as being very good for lightening an brightening the skin, as well as being an anti-oxidant.  Zinc PCA is well documented to be very effective for preventing oiliness as it regulates sebum production.  Oleuropein is also well documented to be effective against ageing, is anti-inflammatory and can reduce dark pigmentation.  Illumiscin has very good data on reducing the size of age spots.  http://www.cosmeticsandtoiletries.com/formulating/ingredient/active/83553552.html

Serum Powder Mix

This is the first time I’ve used one of these, I have seen them in high end ranges sold in Space NK, and it’s not a gimmick as Vitamin C is unstable, and is normally a nightmare for cosmetic scientists to work with, as it discolours and goes off, leaving it ineffective.  By having the two products separate means that the consumer becomes the chemist and mixes the two parts, creating a potent product with a shelf life of one month.   

Skin Affinity

You apply it with the pipette dropper, I tend to fill it twice to about 1/3 full, and that’s enough to cover the face and neck area.  Sinks in very quickly so you can apply day or night cream over the top,

Rating

Value for money – found it in Savers for £4.99!  Seriously this would cost closer to £50 in other outlets
Effectiveness – both my boyfriend and I have been using this for the past 2 weeks and we are both looking radiant, in fact my skin looks so clear it looks like I’m wearing base, the skin tone is so even and glowing
Pampering factor – applying effective ingredients in a novel component, feels very high tech
Highly Recommended – Go and out and buy up this range now, its unbelievable at this price, and its made in UK

Vaseline Cocoa Butter Revitalising Gel Body

I picked up this product as I do like cocoa butter as it’s a lovely natural ingredient with a high nourishing content with good skin affinity and this seemed like a novel variant.

Ingredients
Petrolatum – contains lots of it
Cocoa Butter – doesn’t contain any, only cocoa butter fragrance, which I find misleading
Brazilian & almond Oil – inexpensive natural vegetable oils & almond oils

Petrolatum (Pet Jelly)
Petrolatum is a by product of petrol and is very cheap around 50p / kg.  It’s been used in cosmetics for decades because it does perform well in moisturisation tests.  If I pick up a premium product ie Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream and see that petrolatum features quite high on the ingredient list, I put it back, as I think it’s insulting to market a product as premium that contains petrolatum.  There are natural alternatives from castor oil which is naturally sourced from castor beans (Ricinus communis).   I did at one time present this to the UK cosmetic industry, although it was generally acknowledged that it was an excellent substitute for petrolatum, it was considered way too expensive at > £5 / kg.  If the personal care industry was very serious about moving to a natural alternative and switched en masse than economies of scale would make it possible for to bring prices down.

Moisturisation Tests

Emollients or moisturisers are generally tested by their ability to prevent TEWL (trans epidermal water loss) or evaporation of the natural water content of our skin.   Petrolatum lies as a heavy occlusive layer on the skin surface thereby preventing TEWL, vegetable oils are similar to the oils naturally present in the skin, and therefore add moisture in a more natural way.   Petrolatums are often used as a standard or benchmark in TEWL tests so its very effective occlusive agent.  I have met people who only use Vaseline on their skin, and their skin is usually in very good condition for their age, so I guess if you ever found yourself home and really couldn’t afford anything decent – Vaseline would be your best option. 

Skin Affinity
Feels like molten Vaseline and feels very greasy, however skin continues to feel moisturised after a few hours which not all body lotions deliver.

Rating
Value for money – £4.89 over-priced for Vaseline
Availability – Boots, Superdrug and most supermarkets
Effectiveness – I was surprised at how moisturised my skin felt a few hours after
Pampering factor – I do like the high sheen it leaves on legs, so think it’s a good summer time product
Recommended – just OK

Max Hydration from Balance Active Formula

Hyaluronic 554 Youth Serum promising immediate hydration and 24 hour non-stop moisturisation

Ingredients

5% Hylasome® EG10 – cross linked hyaluronic acid
& added Syn®-Ake – botox like peptide
Does not contain parabens or silicones and is simple no nonsense formulation

Serums

This is an aqueous based serum with carrageen gum thickening agents and the main active itself if in an aqueous gel, rather than typical silicone based serums.  I really like the pipette dropper application, makes it very high tech.

How it Works
Hyaluronic acid is a well known cosmetic ingredient popular because of its impressive water binding properties which makes it possible to deliver moisturisation into the skin over a period of time – in this case 24 hours.   Normally it’s sold in powder form or solution and is one of those actives which are +_ £2000 per kg.  This is sodium hyaluronic cross polymer which is probably cheaper as its' a solution of hyaluronic acid, but 5% is still high level and is clinically tested to deliver non stop moisturisation for 24 hours, the glycerine would help with this too, as it acts as humectants to keep moisture in.  Most manufacturers rarely put over 1% active in, and usually make a USP of having a higher level.

Syn®-Ake has also been around for a while, it’s the best known peptide for relaxing facial muscles resulting in fewer expression lines.  Peptides are synthetic versions of proteins which occur naturally in the body and are involved with cellular communication.  Peptides are effective at low levels ie 0.5 – 2%

Skin Affinity

Hyaluronic acid is very safe to use, in fact it’s often used in dermal fillers which are injected, and is many skin care formulations.  This serum goes on easily, is cooling and sinks in very fast, without leaving any oily or greasy residue, so you can put make up or skin cream over the top.  I think it’s an essential product to apply after sun exposure, to replenish loss of moisture in the skin.

Rating

Value for money – hard to beat @£4.99 from Savers & online www.balancecosmetics.co.uk
Effectiveness – clinically proven actives at dramatically higher percentage than usual – it’s definitely going to work
Pampering factor – very high, to put such high tech skin care on your face knowing it costs so little is priceless
Highly recommended – don’t just buy one buy up all the stock, this is a rare find!
USP – made in UK, so you will be supporting UK manufacturing

Barry M Instant Nail Effects Nail Paint in Black

I quite like nail effects, especially glitter which I apply over a nail polish to give a more sparkly effect on my toes but this particularly product is very cool.  I had a meeting with the chemist at Barry M and admired her unusual nail polish.  She explained that this is a new product which is flying off the shelves and gave me a sample to try.  I’ve mainly been using it on my toes (putting nail polish on my fingers is a very short term relationship, so I tend not to bother) over my favourite lilac chrome polish, but with assistance of my friend, decided to see what the effect looked like over different colours.  I apologise in advance for the poor quality photos, as photography is not my strong point, nor my friends.

Ingredients

Nail polish formulations tend to be very similar and there are actually very few manufacturers of nail polishes in the world (I know of two in the UK) as the ingredients are highly flammable and special licenses are needed to hold stock of these ingredients and work with them.  Therefore there will be little to choose between brands, as innovation usually comes from the pearl supplier and packaging suppliers.   I wonder whether this effect was discovered by accident, I’m guessing it’s a kind of plastic that shrinks, or partly evaporates in liquid form when in contact with air.

 

Application

Apply to dry nails, and watch the black top coat shrink before your eyes!  Manufacturer does recommend not overlapping product when applying. 

 

Rating

Value for money – excellent, costs £2.99 from Boots and Superdrug which have Barry M displays

Effectiveness – does exactly what it says – gives a nail effect, which is quite eye-catching and unique, as it will look different depending on the nail polish underneath
Pampering factor – I don’t find applying nail polish pampering, unless its following a hand or foot massage and manicure/pedicure
Definitely give it a try

I've been embarassed by these photos, so I did my toenails the other day, and this gives a better indication of the nail effect.