Because my mother spent her teenage years fighting acne, she did not want her daughters to suffer the same fate. My sister and I had access to my mother's Nordstroms credit account to buy whatever we needed to ensure we remained zit free.
When I would get a new product, my friends always wanted to try it out. They would later go back to their mothers crying, "but Dori's mom bought it for her!"
As I got older, I learned what worked for me and my sensitive, alergy prone skin. I have my basics that I adhere to but keep my adventurous heart when it comes to trying a new product. I still share that knowledge with my friends so I thought now and then I might share the things I become obsessed with here.
My mother always loves to tell the story of the time she shampooed the carpet when I was knee high to a grasshopper. When I came in contact with the newly shapooed carpet, I broke out in hives. My skin is still sensitive albeit not as sensitive as it once was but enough so that I pay attention to the products my skin will come in contact with.
Here are just a couple of my daily tools of survival perfect for sensitive skin:
BODY LOTION: I love this lotion in a way that borders innapropriate because I would not survive winter without Kiehl's Creme de Corps.
Cons: It's a bit on the expensive side at $48 for the largest size (16.9oz). Trust me, once you try it, you too will want to buy in bulk.
BUT, considering how generously I apply, this lotion is so rich that it lasts for a while. I bought a bottle in early January and that is still about half full now in early April. Also, I don't find the need to reapply before bed so that's a win too.
Also, the pump on my bottle was a little flimsy and would only dispense a pea sized amount at a time. I replaced the pump with one from another bottle.
Tip: Apply after drying off from the shower and allow to dry before getting dressed. My morning routine is to put pajamas on after a shower to be comfy while I finish getting ready. Getting dressed is my last step of the morning.
MOISTURIZER: I hate the mall. I do. I was born without the gene that finds the shopping mall an joyous experience. Instead, when I have to go to the mall, I am there within 15 minutes of opening and limit the time spent within its confines.
A few months back, I was out of moisturizer and perfume at the same time. I purchased on the Sephora site. When the option to giftwrap came up, I immediately selected. In the enclosed card, I praised myself for being smart and avoiding the mall. I still do this whenever I run out of a product I rely on. At the top of the regular order list is Philosophy's Hope in a Jar.
I love this stuff. In fact, this is one of the items I buy in bulk at the largest size possible (8 oz). A few months back, I was looking at pictures taken one summer of a girl's night. We were all hanging out in my garage as it had been a hot night. In the pictures, we're all being silly and making funny faces but what I noticed most about the pictures was how dull my skin looked. My pores were really noticible even in the pictures taken from further away.
At the time, I had been looking for a cheaper alternative to my moisturizer and had picked up something at Whole Foods to try. At the time I thought it was working but looking at those pictures, it proves how well Hope in a Jar actually works!
Cons: Again, this is not a cheapy drug store product. The 8oz size that I buy is $115 but that jar lasts forever. I have tried other variations on the Philosophy line and I always go back to Hope in a Jar (full selection here).
Tip: Mix with the Philosophy Turbo Booster C Powder for glowing skin (find out more here).
SHAMPOO/CONDITIONER: I tried. I really, really tried to find a cheaper shampoo and conditioner combo that wasn't so expensive. I tried everything from Pantene to natural hippy-dippy shampoos from Whole Foods but nothing made my hair happy like the Sachajuan line.
My hair stylist, Katrina, is brilliant. She has taken my hair short and helped me in the in between phases of growing it out. While I go for days between brushing my hair, I am surprisingly vain about it. I know it is one of my best assets. Flaunt it if you've got it (picture me sweeping my hair over my shoulder as I say this).
Cons: This is a salon only product. I find it locally at Umbrella Salon in Downtown San Jose (link). Katrina has since moved to Bigsby House (link) that does not carry this line so I have to venture back to Umbrella to pick up.
Again, I don't mean to be all Gwyneth as suggest only expensive things but the Shampoo and Conditioner together will run about $60 dollars. This product is far more concentrated that what you will buy in a drug store so you will use less despite the smaller packaging. I find with washing my hair every other day, a bottle lasts about 2-3 months.
Lastly, the smell is pretty unisex and not overly saturated. I preferred the smell of the Oribe line (also can be found at Umbrella) but I preferred the results of Sachajuan.
Tip: The styling gel had terrible packaging but James and I were fans of the product despite the consistency was that of a male fluid (sorry, its true). Looking on the Sachajuan site, it appears they have changed the packaging and potentially the formula to remove the Something About Mary styling gel impression. There is now a "Styling Cream" listed on the site (link). I will pick some up, try it out and report back.
DISH SOAP: James and I have been having a Hatfield-McCoy level feud on whether to remodel the kitchen or bathroom first. I want an updated kitchen whereas James wants to update the bathroom. Because of our innability to get along, we are going on 5 years in the house with neither room remodeled (to be fair, we replaced the flooring in the kitchen and the sink in the bathroom in the first few months in the house).
A month or so ago, I had just stepped out of the shower and commented to James that the big heavy glass shower door did not seem to be closing. Our bathroom has a standalone shower and seperate claw foot tub. The shower is lined with the cheap fiberglass, fake marble stuff that I dislike so much. It was pulling from the wall and affecting the way the shower door closed. Intending to get the fiberglass to move back towards the wall, James got a hammer and was tapping it. Mind you, I am still nudie pants staning about a foot away from him when his tapping missed and hit the glass of the shower door. Glass flew everywhere while I froze.The first words I said allowed were, "Well, I guess you won. We're remodelling the bathroom first."
Occasionally, I find a small shard of glass on my kitchen floor and shake my fist (while I scream in pain because I usually find those small shards with my feet despite cleaning the kitchen floor weekly).
We do not have a dishwasher in our outdated, awkward kitchen. If you asked James, we do have a dishwasher and he would point at me. Because of my senstive skin, most dishsoap irritate my hands so I was thrilled to find Mrs. Meyers Dish Soap.
I cannot walk into a store that carries Mrs Meyers without purchasing a new scent. My current favorites are the Lemon Verbana and the Honeysuckle.
Also, when is the last time a cleaning product shared their ingredients list? On the Mrs Meyer's site (link), you can see what is in the products you're buying.
Cons: For some unknown reason, I am allergic to the basil scented line. I am not allergic to basil so I am not sure why my eyes water and nose runs after using the Mrs Meyes products. The scent is amazing so this allergy was sad news.
Because this product is not full of heavy cleaning (read: skin stripping) chemicals, it does take a little bit more of the product to wash your dishes. It hard for me to gauge how long I go through a single bottle as my kitchen window ledge above the sink often has 2-3 different varieties at any given time that I alternate between.
Tip: Don't buy this at Whole Foods. It is $6 a bottle there whereas at Target, World Market, or the Mrs Meyers site, it is a reasonable $4!
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