face wash

The 5 Best Cleansing Milks

Andrea Cannon — Thu, 10 May 2018 08:00:12 +0000

Cleansing milk is a gentle formula face wash that can cleanse the skin without irritating or stripping it of its natural oils. It's typically made from lightweight ingredients that won't leave a residue behind and can help maintain the skin's moisture balance.

What is a cleansing milk?

A cleansing milk, or milk cleanser, is a face wash product that can effectively, yet gently, remove dirt, makeup, and impurities from the face. It works well on most skin types, including normal, sensitive, combination, oily, dry, and mature skin.

Top 5 cleansing milks

Juice Beauty Cleansing Milk

The Juice Beauty Cleansing Milk is gentle enough for all skin types, including aging, dry, and sensitive skin. The organic cleanser deeply cleanses, tones, and removes makeup. The creamy formula soothes and replenishes with beneficial ingredients like organic grapeseed, sesame, and sunflower oils, aloe, neroli, organic juices, camomile, calendula, and linden. It also feeds the skin with vitamins C, B5, and E. It has no parabens, petroleum, SLS, pesticides, phthalates, or artificial dyes or fragrances. It comes from the trusted Juice Beauty brand and is backed by outstanding online reviews.

Currently $10.00 on Amazon

Yes To Cucumbers Gentle Milk Cleanser

An Amazon's Choice product, the dermatologist-recommended Yes To Cucumbers Gentle Milk Cleanser works well on all skin types, including dry or sensitive skin. The natural cleanser is free of parabens, phthalates, and SLS. The gentle formula has calming ingredients and antioxidants like green tea, aloe vera, and soy proteins to moisturize the skin while cleansing it. The Allure "Best of Beauty" Award Winner is recommended by Consumer Search and backed by outstanding online reviews. If you'd like something with a slightly thicker consistency, consider the highly rated Yes To Coconut Cleansing Balm instead.

Currently $20.69 on Amazon

Clarins Cleansing Milk

The Clarins Cleansing Milk is gentle enough for all skin types, including normal or dry skin. The cleansing cream effectively removes makeup and impurities using alpine herbs to help maintain the skin's balance. The cult classic cleanser is recommended by TotalBeauty and backed by outstanding online reviews.

Currently $26.18 on Amazon

Dr. Hauschka Soothing Cleansing Milk

An Amazon's Choice product, the Dr. Hauschka Soothing Cleansing Milk works well on all skin types, including dry, sensitive, oily, mature, and blemished skin. The calming cleanser melts into the skin to gently remove makeup, dirt, and oil without irritation. It contains ingredients like anthills, jojoba, and sweet almond oil for additional benefits to the skin. Recommended by Allure, it has a cult following among celebrities like Debra Messing.

Currently $23.40 on Amazon

Mario Badescu Cleansing Milk

The Mario Badescu Cleansing Milk with carnation rice oil is enriched with vitamins and antioxidants to smooth and soften the skin. The gentle, creamy, wipe-off cleanser works on all skin types, including dry and sensitive skin. It removes makeup and debris, fights free radicals, and slows skin degradation. The cult classic has outstanding online reviews and is frequently recommended by beauty bloggers.

Currently $12.00 on Amazon

And those are our recommendations for the best cleansing milks. As always, be sure to check Wise Bread's Buying Calendar to learn when and how to buy just about anything!

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This article is from Andrea Cannon of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

The 5 Best Face Scrubs

Andrea Cannon — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 08:00:09 +0000

Face scrubs are cleansers filled with little exfoliating scrubbers that can gently smooth skin. They can transform dull, dry skin by removing dead skin cells, hydrating the skin, shrinking pores, and preventing acne. They can also boost the absorption of skin care products and even make it easier to apply makeup.

What is face scrub?

Face scrubs are skin care products that deep clean the skin and exfoliate away dirt, oil, makeup, and impurities. While an exfoliating scrub should be part of your regular skin care routine, it's usually best to limit exfoliating to two or three times per week. You can expect smoother, healthier, more radiant skin with regular use. (See also: The 5 Best Charcoal Scrubs)

Top 5 face scrubs

St. Ives Naturally Clear Blemish and Blackhead Control Scrub

The St. Ives Naturally Clear Blemish and Blackhead Control Scrub (two-pack) is a cult classic for a reason. The creamy, oil-free base gently exfoliates, purifies, and nourishes the skin with beneficial ingredients like salicylic acid and 100 percent natural apricot extract, corn kernel meal, and walnut shell powder. The intense exfoliator gently cleans pores, promotes skin cell turnover and regeneration, and helps prevent breakouts and blackheads. It removes dirt, oil, and dead skin cells, leaving soft, smooth, healthy skin behind.

The dermatologist-tested scrub is hypoallergenic, sulfate-free, paraben-free, and non-comedogenic. It works with all skin types, including acne-prone skin. It's an Amazon best-seller, Amazon's Choice for face scrubs, and recommended by TotalBeauty and Glamour. It also has outstanding online reviews, including more than 13,100 five-star reviews on Influenster.

Currently $12.98 on Amazon

Simple Kind to Skin Facial Scrub

The Simple Kind to Skin Smoothing Facial Scrub (three-pack) gently scrubs away dirt, oil, and dead skin cells with natural rice granules. It's made with triple-purified water, Pro-Vitamin B5, and vitamin E, which can invigorate the skin and provide instant hydration. It also leaves the skin's natural barrier intact so the skin doesn't dry out.

This works on all skin types, including sensitive skin. It's hypoallergenic, non-comedogenic, pH balanced, and has no harsh chemicals, artificial perfume, or dyes that can irritate the skin. It is an Allure "Best of Beauty" Winner and is recommended by Glamour and InStyle.

Currently $18.70 on Amazon

ACURE Brightening Facial Scrub

The ACURE Brightening Facial Scrub uses the power of the ocean to naturally exfoliate skin. Organic sea kelp and lemon peel gently exfoliate skin, French green clay cleanses and removes dirt and excess oil, and Madonna lily stem cells brighten the skin. The rough scrubbers work to gently brighten complexion, restore cells, and stimulate new cell growth with argan extract and chlorella growth factor.

This organic face scrub is vegan, sulfate-free, and paraben-free. It works well on all skin types, even problem skin. It's an Amazon best-seller, an Allure "Best of Beauty" Award Winner, and a Birchbox favorite. It also has more than 1,000 five-star reviews on Amazon.

Currently $7.64 on Amazon

Aveeno Positively Radiant Skin Brightening Exfoliating Daily Scrub

The Aveeno Positively Radiant Skin Brightening Exfoliating Daily Scrub can help improve skin tone, texture, and clarity. It uses moisture-rich natural soy extract to transform dull, uneven skin into brighter, smoother, more radiant-looking skin. The naturally derived granules gently exfoliate while you cleanse for more even tone and texture.

This is oil-free, soap-free, non-comedogenic, hypoallergenic, and safe for everyday use, even on sensitive skin. It's recommended by Glamour and has outstanding online reviews, including more than 1,100 five-star reviews on Influenster and more than 500 five-star reviews on Amazon.

Currently $5.81 on Amazon

Neutrogena Deep Clean Gentle Face Scrub

The Neutrogena Deep Clean Gentle Face Scrub is oil-free and non-comedogenic scrub, making it the perfect choice for just about any skin type, from sensitive to acne-prone skin. Beta hydroxy acid cleans deep down to pores to remove dirt, oil, and makeup for soft, smooth skin. The rich, creamy scrub gently exfoliates away dull, dead surface skin cells and rinses clean.

This daily scrub can start transforming skin after just one use. It comes from the #1 dermatologist-recommended skin care brand and has outstanding online reviews.

Currently $4.89 on Amazon

And those are our recommendations for the best face scrubs. As always, be sure to check Wise Bread's Buying Calendar to learn when and how to buy just about anything!

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This article is from Andrea Cannon of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

The 5 Best Charcoal Scrubs

Andrea Cannon — Fri, 25 Nov 2016 12:00:09 +0000

In Japan, charcoal has been used as a cleansing ingredient for centuries. That’s because activated charcoal is a powerful ingredient that draws out and traps toxins, bacteria, and impurities like a magnet. Charcoal scrubs can detoxify and re-energize your complexion, deep clean your skin, shrink enlarged pores, and leave you with clear, soft, glowing skin.

What Is a Charcoal Scrub?

Charcoal scrubs are facial skincare products that use the power of activated charcoal to remove dirt, oil, toxins, bacteria, blackheads, and impurities deep in the pores. They are ideal for oily or acne-prone skin. For better results, pay special attention to the T-zone, sides of the face, and blackheads on the nose. For even better results, consider also adding a charcoal mask, like the Freeman Facial Charcoal and Black Sugar Polish Mask, to your skincare regimen.

Top 5 Charcoal Scrubs

Biore Deep Pore Charcoal Cleanser

If you like Biore pore strips, you’ll love the Biore Deep Pore Charcoal Cleanser. It has similar effects, without the pain of the pore strips. The natural charcoal draws out and traps two times more dirt, oil, makeup, and deep-down impurities than traditional cleansers for a deeper clean. It creates a pale foam and works to naturally purify the skin and remove dirt faster. It claims that pores are twice as clean after just one use. It also has a minty cool tingle to refresh the skin.

This potent cleanser is ideal for people dealing with oily skin, blackheads, and acne. The skin purifying oil-free formula can be harsh and drying, so it’s probably not appropriate for dry or sensitive skin. It is recommended by Refinery29, Total Beauty, and Real Simple. It also has outstanding online reviews. The highly reviewed Biore Charcoal Pore Minimizer is also recommended by Allure.

Currently $5.82 on Amazon

SkinActive Clean+ Blackhead Eliminating Scrub

The SkinActive Clean+ Blackhead Eliminating Scrub has microbeads to help exfoliate and deep clean the skin, clear complexion, tighten pores, and target blackheads. The gel-based exfoliating cleanser unclogs pores and smoothes skin in just one use and pores are diminished and complexion is clearer after just one week. The charcoal draws out blackhead-causing dirt, oil, and impurities like a magnet for a deep clean. The oil-free formula is also infused with salicylic acid, so it’s recommended for those who suffer from acne, oily skin, large pores, and blackheads. It also leaves behind a tingling sensation and is gentle enough to use every day.

This is recommended by Total Beauty, Real Simple, and xoJane. It also has great online reviews and reviewers tend to agree that it works wonders on blackheads.

Currently $5.96 on Amazon

Konjac Sponge Activated Bamboo Charcoal

This set of Konjac Sponges with Activated Bamboo Charcoal deep cleans, detoxifies, and gently exfoliates the skin. The sponge balances the skin pH, moisturizes and refreshes the skin, promotes skin cell renewal, and gently cleans the delicate eye area. Your skin will feel noticeably softer and smoother after each use. Just soften it with water and gently rub it over your clean, damp face in a circular motion. You can also use it with your favorite daily face wash, and because you’ll be able to use less facial cleanser each time, it can help save you money.

The facial cleansing sponges are organic, biodegradable, and handmade from natural plant ingredients, so you don’t have to worry about chemicals, phthalates, sulfates, parabens, petroleum, or other harmful additives. It is ideal for those suffering from acne, blackheads, oily skin, damaged skin, Rosacea, Eczema, Dermatitis, and Psoriasis, and is even gentle enough for daily use on sensitive skin. It’s environmentally friendly, non-toxic, natural, and hypoallergenic, so you can recycle the old sponge in your compost.

This three-pack of Activated Bamboo Charcoal hemisphere sponges offers a great value. Each sponge should last about two months, so this set could last you six months. They each come individually wrapped, in a sturdy box, so you can store the new, unused sponges away safely. It is also backed by a 100% satisfaction guarantee for your peace of mind. If you’d prefer a name brand, consider the highly reviewed Biore Pore Penetrating Charcoal Bar.

Currently $11.97 on Amazon

Morihata Binchotan Charcoal Body Scrub Towel

The Morihata Binchotan Charcoal Body Scrub Towel scrubs and exfoliates well, without being scratchy or harsh on the skin. Ultra-fine Binchotan charcoal fibers are interwoven throughout its high-performance cotton-poly blend. It can gently detox and exfoliate away dead skin, dirt, and grime. The lightweight towel features a timeless design, dries quickly, and is long enough to allow you to easily reach your back, so you can clean every area of your face and body.

Binchotan charcoal has a range of benefits, which is why it has been used in East Asia for centuries. It will help absorb odors, draw dirt out of pores, remove toxins and excess oil from the skin, and leave your skin feeling completely refreshed and revitalized. It can even help increase blood circulation and improve general wellness.

The charcoal remains in the towel for up to six months, depending on how often you use it. This was featured on The Grommet and is frequently recommended by beauty bloggers and publications like Into the Gloss. The Binchotan Facial Puff by Morihata and Binchotan Charcoal Facial Soap are other popular charcoal products from the brand.

Currently $17.75 on Amazon

MANDOM Facial Scrub Charcoal

The MANDOM Facial Scrub Charcoal can fight blackheads, acne, and enlarged pores. The charcoal cleansing scrub removes dirt deep in the pores and exfoliates the skin, but is still gentle enough for sensitive skin. It has a refreshing, cooling effect and lathers up nicely, so it won’t dry out the skin. It is frequently recommended by beauty bloggers and has a devoted following. It also has great online reviews.

Currently $4.39 on Amazon

And those are our recommendations for the best charcoal scrubs. As always, be sure to check Wise Bread's Buying Calendar to learn when and how to buy just about anything!

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This article is from Andrea Cannon of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Getting Rid of Acne

Andrea Karim — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 08:39:35 +0000

Acne is more than just a mild annoyance - it can be downright painful, affect self-esteem and social life, and cost hundreds of dollars in search for a viable cure.

I rarely had acne as a teenager. I don't know why I was spared this one humiliation, since everything else about me was awkward and unfortunate at that age. Anyway, I guess the ordeal didn't pass me by so much as take its sweet time getting there, because I started breaking out like crazy about 6 years ago. Around my chin and mouth, I had big, ugly red bumps that were unpoppable and hurt my face. My cheeks were covered with smaller bumps with no discernible head or core - just small white bumps that were only more obvious with makeup applied on top.

Because acne usually shows up on your face, and your face is... well, what you face the world with, experiencing acne can affect your self-esteem and social life. I spent months refusing to go out (other than to work) because of my embarrassment surrounding my pimples. They were so big that I couldn't cover them with makeup, and they didn't respond to the obvious solutions. I've never been much of a socialite, but I had never been a complete shut-in for reasons of appearance before. I visited every department store, every high-end skin care boutique, hoping to find a serum or cleanser that could wash away those painful and ugly bumps.

The truth is, no one skin care regimen or treatment is going to fix everyone's acne problems. You'd never know this if you headed into a skin care section at a department store - plenty of well-meaning but ignorant Clinique saleswomen were intent on convincing me that a bar of soap and some "moisture gel" would fix my face up in a jiffy. Watching TV late one night, I was inspired to try Pro Activ, which caused me to break out in a dry, flaky rash that covered my face, neck, and scalp.

It cost me hundreds of dollars and many hours of wasted time to figure out how to eliminate my zits. Here's what I learned during my search for a solution to my acne issues. First, though, a note about what this article does NOT contain: lists of acne treatments (salicylic acid, sulfur, blah blah blah you can look that up elsewhere), an endorsement of a particular skincare line (you have to find that one for yourself), advice on how to pop a pustule (don't), or admonitions to avoid chocolate (do not avoid chocolate). This is not a complete list of ways to fix problem zits, but rather a few tips that I've picked up along my acne journey that surprised me.

There are many different kinds of acne.

There is no one solution for acne, because there are many kinds of acne. There are surface pimples that respond really well to treatments like benzol peroxide, and there are deep pimples that may require antibiotics or steroid injections. Acne rosacea appears more as a rash across cheeks and noses, and can lead to a build-up of thick skin. Nodule and cystic pimples begin far under the skin's surface, but appear as big red zits on the surface of the skin and don't generally respond to topical applications (mine did, however - read on).

When my breakouts started in my mid-twenties, I was actually suffering from three different kinds of acne: acne rosacea (which is genetic, and tends to strike people with fair skin) just below my eyes, cystic acne around my mouth and chin, and smaller, bumpy pimples on my cheeks next to my ears. It seems easy to think of all acne as simple variations of the same problem, but they really are very different, and thus require different treatments. So, if you aren't getting the results that you want from your acne treatments, you might want to consider the possibility that you are treating the wrong kind of acne.

Just because you have acne doesn't mean you have oily skin.

Surface pimples are primarily caused by clogged pores. Dirt or dead skin particles can block a pore or hair follicle, and normal skin secretions back up behind the pore, and the whole mess is then infected with bacteria. Voila! Pimples. However, a breakout of acne doesn't necessarily mean that you have insanely oily skin, even though everyone and their mother will probably start advising you to start treating your acne with harsh toners.

When I had my terrible break-outs a few years ago, I had incredibly dry skin, but because I had acne, everyone told me that I had "combination" skin. Using all the typical acne treatments only made things worse, because many pimple ointments are designed to parch your skin like the desert air. Irritated, dry skin didn't prevent pimples from forming - it made the skin around the pimples look that much worse and didn't stop my pores from clogging.

If you do have oily skin, using harsh astringents and soaps may dry your skin out (or it may make it worse as your body tries to compensate for your dry skin by increasing oil production), but it doesn't necessarily eliminate pimples. If you find that Pro Activ (very drying) works well for you, that's great, but if it doesn't, you need to consider another option.

'Natural' or holistic skin care isn't necessarily better or more effective.

Although it sounds like a great idea, a skin care line billing itself as 'natural' isn't necessarily going to give you better results than any other line of face products. Here's an example: I have thin, sensitive skin that flushes easily, so I frequently look feverish (or drunk) when I'm totally healthy (and sober). I was delighted to hear about Dr. Weil's Plantidote line of Mega-Mushroom skin care from Origins. From the Origins web site:

[Dr. Weil] believes that one of the most vexing issues facing skin’s healthy appearance is “the fire within” – a key cause of dryness, redness, hyperpigmentation, lines and wrinkles.

This is a really nice idea, but it's also a load of hooey. Logically, I understand the holistic idea behind this, but if some kind of internal imbalance with my liver or stomach is causing my skin to appear stressed, then slapping some mushroom serum on my face isn't really going to fix that. However, the idea of having radiant skin was so seductive; I spent a bundle of money on the entire package, and... well, nothing. My skin is still incredibly thin and sensitive, prone to flushing whenever I'm too hot, too cold, or enjoying a glass of red wine (this is actually a part of acne rosacea, and nothing Dr. Weil has created can even begin to address this problem).

After failing with the mushroom juice, I ventured into a holistic pharmacy, where a nice lady explained that the reason my face was breaking out was that I needed MORE oil on my face, and convinced me to try Dr. Hauschka's skin care line, which involved dousing my skin with oils in a misguided attempt to fool my skin into thinking that it didn't need to produce any more oil. There's nothing wrong with the Dr. Hauschka line, but it did absolutely nothing to solve my acne problems.

My skepticism regarding holistic and natural remedies doesn't only apply only to expensive treatments - I've had a number of friends and readers try to convince me that lavender, eucalyptus, and geranium oils are effective as spot treatment for acne, but I have yet to see any evidence of this on my face. I tried egg white masks and homemade oatmeal scrubs - nothing seemed to have any effect on my angry skin.

Chocolate is not the culprit.

It's possible that chocolate is causing your skin to be red and bumpy, but it's not likely that chocolate is to blame for any acne you might be experiencing. Food allergies can cause skin rashes, but actual acne is rarely caused by food. You can certainly be more prone to breakouts because of stress, as your skin may be more prone to bacterial infections if your immune systems is too stressed by other factors to respond to small things like a clogged pore. Acne rosacea will flare up and become more obvious when the sufferer is drinking alcohol, but rosacea is not caused by alcohol per se. So, unless you experience obvious and immediate reactions to chocolate, you can feel free to indulge as you see fit.

Don't pop that!

Yeah, yeah, trust me, I know it's hard. I'm a consummate popper - no, really, it borders on some kind of obsession for me. I know how difficult it is to keep your fingers from scratching or picking at a massive pustule on your face; hell, I have trouble not popping OTHER people's pimples. I'll see some kid at Target with massive, pulsating pustules on the bridge of his nose and it takes every ounce of my self control not to lunge across the room and start lancing the hell out of his face.

But really - the only thing you should extract from your skin are blackheads, and even then, it should be done with utmost care, clean hands, and no fingernails. Bullying your skin will only cause further damage to the skin's matrix, and that won't help cure acne in the long run.

Don't be ashamed to ask for medical help.

I didn't want to go to a dermatologist at first, because I was afraid that I would immediately be given an oral antibiotic that would be extremely harsh on my stomach (the most commonly-prescribed antibiotics just about eat a hole through my stomach lining). Frankly, I also feared having to admit that, at the age of 25, I was having trouble with acne. It seemed like such a teenager-ish problem. Having large and obvious acne was awful in and of itself, but for some reason, asking a doctor to help me fix it made me feel like I had failed to do an adequate job of taking care of myself. In addition, I felt like spending good money on seeing a doctor for someone as superficial as acne was irresponsible, especially since my insurance at the time didn't cover such non-essential visits.

The office visit and prescribed medication cost me just over $300. And it was worth EVERY BLOODY PENNY. If only I had spent that money on the dermatologist up front, I would have saved myself another thousand dollars in pricey skincare expenditures. The topical antibiotic foam that my doctor prescribed helped to control the cystic breakouts, and the prescried gel (called Metrogel, don't ask me why) obliterated the bumps covering the sides of my face. As a very last resort, I eliminated several non-essential medications one by one, and finally discovered the culprit f my cystic acne - birth control pills. I haven't taken hormonal birth control in six years, and the cystic acne problem has almost completely vanished. Hormones are a very well-known culprit in teenage acne breakouts, but for some reason, it didn't occur to me that all the extra estrogen might be contributing to my zits.

If you can afford to see a specialist about your acne, see one. If you nip this problem in the bud now, you can avoid years of problems down the road. If you don't see an improvement in your acne after a couple of months of medicating, ask your doctor to try something else. Be persistent in your requests, and don't let insecurities about the vanity of it all stop you. Having acne doesn't make you a failure, or dirty, or speak volumes about your personality. It's just a problem with your dermis, and there's no shame in that.

This article is from Andrea Karim of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread: