Sephora Sample Wonderland: SUPER PORE KILLER EXPERIMENT

To be honest, when I talk to the associates at Sephora, I really take EVERYTHING with a huge grain of sand. Sometimes a boulder of sand. But really, the advice that they give out is not always the best, nor applicable towards my skin. It's really important not to just feed in and think what they say is by the book, especially when labels note otherwise.

Getting another Glamglow SuperMud mask sample as well as three days worth of Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare Alpha Beta® Peel Extra Strength Daily Peel, has given me the guts to try Fiddy Snails's "Super Pore Killer" method, which these two ingredients would be great for. Plus, I have an Eve Lom cleanser sample I would love to try out.

However, I am nervous about trying out multiple products at once since two out of three will be new. Either way, trying out anything that is supposed to be a "super pore killer" is going to be terrifying in my eyes. On my face, rather. Let me put on my purple ears headband and get to work.

While I'm doing that-- follow-up from last week:

ONE IMPORTANT THING I noticed, after the last Clay Mask SSH (Sephora Sample Wonderland) Experiment, was that the right side of my face... on the chin at least, I had MORE defined sebaceous filaments. Yes, those pores got bigger, darker, and more pronounced on only HALF of my chin. It was the side where I tried Glam glow, it was also the side that I tried the Kakadu C Amethyst mask. WHAT MADE THEM POP UP?!? It had to be a product because the line between regular pores and new big pores is just so definitive, it's almost ridiculous.

Continuing on with the Super Pore Killer Experiment brought to you by Sephora Sample Wonderland and a Fiddy Snails Post:

Step 1: Apply the AHA/BHA whatever it is that is going to loosen the sebum. The Dr. Dennis Gross soaked pads made my face a little red, but half is from my rubbing my face down, and the other half is from the face that I am rubbing my face down more harshly over my "problem spots," aka, my schnoze.

Happy Ears and Clogged Pores!

Mistake 1: Did NOT wait 20-25 minutes for the thing to do its thang as Fiddy Snails directed. Honestly, it was not a stridex pad and my skin felt dry as bone after a minute or two of doing it. Since it's a two step peel, I feel like the first step was where Stridex would have stopped and the second step stopped it. Who knows.

Step 2: Apply clay mask. SuperMud is coming into play here. It is only on my problem spots as I do not need to apply it to my whole face. It is drying, I am five minutes into a very thin layer that has already dried on what portion of my forehead I have applied it to.

Wet, Dry, Up Close and Personal

Mistake 2: Not using tepid/lukewarm water to wash off the mask... The sink in my bathroom has a new faucet and I have not yet mastered the temperature. It was lukewarm when I started rinsing the mask off my face... and then it got hot really fast. Good thing I was just about done with the mask, but it didn't help that it was hot by the end of the rinsing. Also, my skin did not feel overly dry, another good indicator, I hope.

Step 3: Apply cleansing oil/carrier oil. Fiddy Snails uses Banila Co, which I couldn't bring myself to purchase at Incheon Duty Free. However, as I noted above, I have Eve Lom Cleanser, which the first ingredient is mineral oil, so it satisfies the oil need. There are these little bumps in my Eve Lom, but once I applied it in a gentle way to my face, they disappeared. The Eve Lom cleanser is a sort of cleansing balm, and feel like I'm rubbing that naturally smelly kind of mineral oil on my face. It becomes kind of liquidy once it hits the heat of my face. Still waiting 10-15 minerals before I see if I have any "grits" though I doubt it. Hmm, my lips feel dry. That's odd.

Step 4: Gently massage for 2-3 minutes. No Grits. Just Oil On My Face Being Rubbed In Circles. Oil. Oil. More Oil. Milky Oily. Ew, Rinse Said Oil.

Step 5: Take a look at the work that's been done. Are my pores minimized? Have they been SUPER KILLED?! I do feel like I took the skin that is my face and put a layer of plastic wrap and wrapped it back on to my face. It is a shiny and tight as it looks and feels. No after pictures, they all came out blurry and out of focus-- I think the shine was throwing it off.

Mistake 3: Maybe it's not a mistake, but this is the first time that I have used a clay mask and not instantly used a sheet mask to compensate for the sucking outtage of oils from said face. However, I felt like the Eve Lom cleanser was very oily and balanced it out a bit more. Still using and I am going to use up my Nature Republic Combination Watery Cream. We will see how my poor face fares tomorrow.

Sephora Sample Wonderland: Clay Masks Part Deux - DERMADOCTOR Kakadu CAmethyst Clay Detox Mask vs Caudalie Instant Detox Mask

First things first: read the directions. So I headed over to find the directions. One sad thing about the Sephora Sample Wonderland is that though they print out a little "receipt" of sorts about the product, they never actually tell you how to use it. Yay for the Internet to provide such simple things. 

DERMADOCTOR Kakadu C Amethyst Clay Detox Mask:

Apply a generous layer to clean, dry skin. Leave on for 15 minutes. Rinse thoroughly with warm water, and pat dry. Use three times a week.

Caudalie Instant Detox:

Smear a thin coat over clean skin twice a week. Leave for 10 minutes then rinse, following with your favorite serum or moisturizer.

As you can see, both of these masks suggest being used multiple times a week. Would I really suggest that? Cannot say for sure right now, but they're definitely no super power that Glamglow has. I do say that I like how the Caudalie directions tell you to follow with what ought to be common sense, but is something I highly doubt people take into consideration. I actually used my normal toner and first essence regieme post-mask since I already did a sheet mask yesterday. Following with Missha's snail cell new sleeping pack (which I think of more as a nicely fragranced, kind of stickier moisturizer) which I have yet to really see any results from, but wanted a protective barrier.

The Kakadu C was thicker and smelled like blueberries, or maybe it just looked like blueberry colored, but definitely had a grape or sweet very like smell. It was thick and not very easy to spread, however I do wonder if that was because this was the bottom of the jar that I received the sample from. It smelled nice, but was very tacky and reminded me of the Peter Thomas Roth Irish Moor Mud. This mask also did not change colors when it dries, or if it did it was very subtle.

The Caudalie mask was pink and had a light refreshing and almost kind of minty smell. The texture was smoother and more like Glamglow, but without the grains. It went on smoothly and very nicely, I have to say that part really felt nice. Akin to Glamglow, when it dries it changed colors and had this air pocket all over where my sebum probably is the most. The instant gratification kind of fell knowing that your trouble spots are being properly targeted. It's a pink clay, so maybe the bubble or circles in the mask when it dries are really a property of clay masks. This needs more research.

However, the Sephora lady this time was stingy, and I hardly had enough to put in my entire face, especially the Kaladu C, that ran out on half of my face and I wasn't even that generous. It was difficult to spread and I didn't have enough to do a whole face, what a bad sample. The Caudalie spread so nicely and even generously spread it was not tough and there is enough for another go. Best make it to Sephora again for another sample, hopefully out of a fresher jar this time.

Sorry for the yellowish lighting, but it's really more of a blue/purple than gray. Kakadu C is made from a sort of plum, though the color seems artificial to me. The Caudalie is a light pink that almost looks like a nude when on, which is how I missed a small spot. However, it's dries very obviously and turns a white-ish pink.

On the lower right you can see the instant gratification spots I mentioned earlier.

Bottom line: Needs a part deux, but I am definitely leaning towards the Caudalie. Finally, something Caudalie that I like! Their other products usually have a smell that I just can't stand.

Sephora Sample Wonderland: Glamglow Versus PTR Irish Moor Mud PART DEUX

Forgot to write about how I followed-up a week later by testing a round two for these two masks.

All in all, I hate to say this, because I like rooting for the underdog, but I think Glamglow wins.

PTR Irish Moor Mud is just too much to clean off and felt like rubbing ink all over my face in trying to rinse it off nicely. It also has less of an effect, from what I can tell. It's probably more gentle and doesn't harden on the skin, but at the same time I did not like the whole messiness of putting it on and taking it off.

Like rubbing ink all over my face, I tell ya.

Glamglow, while messy at first, dries, and then is hard to rinse off in that rinsing it makes it melt all over again, but it's not as dark or difficult.

Pictorial Evidence:

The process begins with the mask already drying where it's thinner around my lips. Look at it almost dried, even though in the side of my nose it's still very wet and so leaves a dark gray line (which I waited to lighten before rinsing).

Now in the last picture I apologize for the nastiness that is the amount of sebum making the Glamglow all bubbly as it recognizes the filth in my pores. However, if you look at the left, compared to the right, the left looks cleaner. Maybe it's an accident of the camera being blurry, as I am not using a macro lens, but still, it looks better to me, and in the mirror it did too. This is Glamglow versus PTR Irish Moor Mud.

I really want to work on my pores, my nose and neighboring "wings" are horrendous.

The Dreaded T-Zone is back!

So I've been really happy and satisfied with Nature Republic's Super Aqua Max Combination Watery Cream because I wake up feeling fresh.

Perhaps it's the rainy weather? Maybe it's because I slept less than six hours, or maybe touched my face my hands after I lotioned my legs before sleeping.... but it's back, the dreaded oily T-zone upon waking is back!

Maybe it just takes a month or so for my skin to get used to a product before the oily T-zone is back and making my mornings greasier than I would like them to be.

However, as always, I am going to give it the benefit of the doubt and keep using this cream for another week. If results are consistent and I wake up a greasy T-zone, it's time to take a look at what other options I have in my "Skincare Wardrobe".

Options:

• Go back to Donkey Milk even though I know it gives me a greasy T-zone.
• Stay and finish the Nature Republic Combination Watery Cream.
• Move on to another cream. Do I have another cream? I have a Sephora gift card.
• Use The Guerission 9-Complex mini that I have, even though I just think it's "meh" and I have only used it on my hands so far.
• Nature Republic Royal Ginseng Jelly Cream. Will probably incorporate the Essence into my routine as well.
• Mizon All-In-One Snail Cream (which I bought in Taiwan and keep forgetting that I have)

However, next from Sephora Sample Wonderland:

DERMAdoctor Kakadu C Amethyst Clay Detox Mask 

versus 

Caudalie Instant Detox Mask

I do have my concerns about the Kakadu C Amethyst Clay Detox mask since the sample that I received was taken from the last of the jar and may only produce enough to run a single test run versus the double test run that I did with the last two masks. Also, is this product old? Why were there no more on the shelf and why is it only this almost used up one there?

We'll just have to see.

Sephora Sample Wonderland: Glamglow Versus PTR Irish Moor Mud

Welcome to the magic that is my face. My T-zone is oily and full of dark little clogged pores that no photoshop hide. (That's a lie since photoshop can hide everything.) Theae enlarges nose pores will be the bane of my existence.

Since there is no real way to "shrink" pores, the least I can do is research on how to keep them clean. Got two Sephora gift cards this Christmas, and while I did drop two hundred at Koreaan Duty Free, none were on pore clarifying masks.

At today's local Sephora I was originally looking at the Korean brand Caolion, which looks like ghetto Chinese spelling, but it isn't. This one has a two step mask process, one that warms and clarifies, the second that cools and soothes. However, in talking to a lady who looked awfully bored at her job, she talked me into trying the Peter Thomas Roth Irish Moor Mud mask. Of course, I wanted to have a comparison so I opted for almost as pricy and actually clay bases Glamglow Supermud Clearing Treatment. 

PTR's Irish Moor Mud when on as black as the forest on a moonless night. Black like that. And I could feel it heating up my skin. Just enough so where I almost panicked and thought I was having a severe allergic reaction. It is sticky and looks like what nightmares are made of. Directions says to leave in for up to ten minutes, but since I split my face down the middle I don't think I was quite accurate. No biggie though, in the end.

Glamglow was the rougher freshly mixes concrete cousin of the Irish Moor Mud. It was a lighter gray, dark but not even close to the pitch black of PTR. Went on with chunks of rough spots, probably exfoliating? I'm not sure, but not nearly as smooth as the Irish Moor Mud. It was not as dense and seemed to be more watery and therefore easier to spread. 

Let's compare, shall we?

Top Left: The left black side is PTR and the right more dark green looking side is Glamglow.

Top Middle: It's starting to dry!! Look where it's still globbed and and more turning light green. PTR has stopped burning by now, so I've stopped freaking out about if I should wash it off or not.

Top left: Close up on the Glamglow on my nose, look at all those "bubbles," which is apparently where the most enlarged and clogged pores are. Like Biore strips without pulling off layers of skin.

Bottom: My ugly nose and the aftermath. Can you see a difference?

Though I was supposed to wash off the PTR first, I just waited for the Glamglow to dry since it was drying quite quickly. Both masks had a similar amount layered on. PTR did not dry or harden or anything. Glamglow, on the other hand, hardened to the point where I couldn't move my face and would cause cracks in it by simply smiling a bit.

The Glamglow has those bubbles that are supposed to be some sort of vacuum matrix sucking out the yucky things, but they looked look clean and Glamglow just had instant look gratification. PTR's Irish Moor Mud can be used several times a week, whereas the Glamglow is harsher and should be used maximum once or twice a week. I don't wear makeup, so my pores are junked naturally versus make-up filled.

The Glamglow was easier to rinse off, where I felt like I was reapplying or just wiping the PTR mud all around my face. 

Either way, to deal with the "purging" that can happen with "clarifying" "pore" based masks, I washed it all off and used an Etude House I Need You! Silk Cocoon mask, which is noted to be "skin vitalizing" to give it an extra boost. Then followed by Freeset Donkey Milk 3D Moisture Cream, which I regretted because it made my T-zone SUPER greasy, something I did not enjoy after using such harsh clay/mud mask on my face. I should have stuck with my Super Qua Max Combination Watery Cream from Nature Republic. Seriously, that little jar has been keeping me much happier than Donkey Milk and cost me 1/4 the price. Seriously, it was under ten bucks at Duty Free and for the price and results, I really couldn't be happier.

Also, repeating this two faced mask experience again in a week. The winner of the challenge will go on to PK Kate Somerville's ExfoliKate. Wait, that isn't actually fair since these masks are not exfoliators. It should PK either Caudalie Instant Detox Mask or DERMAdoctor Kakadu C Amethyst Clay Detox Mask or Estée Lauder Clear Difference Purifying Mask. We will see what is the Sephora ladies have to reccomend to compare to the winner. 

Bottom line: PTR for more common day use, glam glow every now and again for intensive care. Follow up with a regular mask to soothe and protect the skin.