My Spring & Summer Skin Care Routine...

I do believe I have good skin and so I don't fuss much about it. My take is not only less is more but the more you try things, the more you mess with it, the more chances of having things take a turn for the worst. I've had my skin issues like clogs and yes, some acne but these days I rarely break out and the only products I switch often are cleansers for reviews sake. My main concerns are a little oiliness and aging... *sigh*

My routine is fast, which is the way I want it to stay. Here are the products that I've been using since last Spring where the only different product since then is the Marcelle Cleansing water which replaced Biotherm Biosource Micellar Water.

Deodorant Wars: Nivea vs Dove

So we haven't had much of a Spring season so far but hopefully Summer will make up for it!

*fingers crossed*

Summer should, if we're lucky, translate to, hot humid days!

A good deodorant is a must and I usually keep one in my purse, just in case. I don't go for the "clinical" formulas anymore since I find them too strong and irritating, I prefer, if need be, to reapply during the day. This is usually required only on days with extreme heat.

One I've been liking a lot for the past few years is Dove Ultimate Go Fresh with the fragrance Energizing. Keep in mind that unscented in summer is not a good idea. I have yet to find one that works. A bit of fragrance makes a big difference. Oh and I'm not going to compare ingredients, just effectiveness, my own personnal experience.

Dove Ultimate Go Fresh Energizing in stick form, has a faint grapefruit and lemongrass fragrance that is sweet and for me, uplifting. A few swipes, I'm good to go and the protection lasts all day unless of course it's super hot. After about 30 minutes or so the scent becomes quite faint so there's no conflicts with other scented products.

Wanting to try a new one I chose Nivea Happy Time also in stick form with bamboo extract and an orange scent. 

Since we are not talking about high end fragrances here let me just say that the scents of both is quite similar.

How did they compare?

On my skin's chemistry, Nivea doesn't come close to Dove. I've been using it for the past few weeks and by mid afternoon I don't feel as protected. Not a good thing since I don't sweat a lot and it's not even Summer yet! It makes me feel like I could end up smelling like a big sweaty construction worker! Dove is much more effective on me.

Bottom line, between the two, Dove wins!


Reviews on Makeup Alley:

Dove: 4.2 / 5 lippies for 54 reviews.
Nivea: 3.5 / 5 lippies for 2 reviews, one good & one bad.

Dry Hands!

What's with our hands in Winter? Dry skin, cuticles cracking... Not a nice look. If you're like me, the second thing I notice when meeting someone after their face, their smile is, their hands. I'm not obsessed, far from it but in the case of women, I tend to look at their nails, especially if they wear nail polish. I like it when I see colors I wouldn't dare wear myself. So yes I notice hands. Also let's not forget, dry hands do look older and we don't want that.


Here is what I do, my tips...

Start with a gentle, non stripping soap, especially in the kitchen. The ones I like...

Savon de Marseille
I don't use anti-bacterial soaps nor do I go for liquid soaps in Winter. Like most everybody I have used them but most of them where being too harsh after a while. Savon de Marseille has several options, the basic olive oil is quite nice to have and has barely any fragrance to it. You can find it in health food stores as well as some drugstores.

For the bathroom I alternate between the following...

Dove Beauty Bar
Scented or not, gentle and almost creamy. I had stepped away from this for years until I rediscovered it last Summer. Non stripping and so inexpensive. Review here.

Avène Cold Cream bar
I received one as a gift with purchase and fell in love with it. Feels very creamy and is extra gentle on skin.


Keep them moisturized...

For moisture, I keep a bottle of almond oil in the kitchen next to the sink. A few drops on the back of my hands is all it takes to keep them moisturized when I'm at home cooking or doing chores. If my hands get wet they don't get slimy like they would with a hand cream and my food doesn't taste weird. Any oil will do for this. If like me you alternate between evoo and canola oil for cooking and don't want an extra bottle on your counter, they will do nicely. Simply use what you have.

Hand creams I like, Caudalie for daytime. This one penetrates quickly without leaving a greasy feel and the fragrance is not overwhelming. For night, Avène Cold Cream and if on any particular night my hands are extra dry, I layer it over a few drops of argan oil. For cuticles, unrefined shea butter or Dior Crème Abricot are favorites of mine.

And no, it's not necessary to spend a fortune on hand creams. You could go for Nivea, Neutrogena, Vaseline or any other drugstore brand of your choice and simply layer over a few drops of oil as mentioned.


The power of gloves...

Rubber gloves to protect your hands when doing the dishes.
Cotton gloves when you want really help to keep the moisture in at night.
Warm gloves when you go outside. Protecting them from the cold is a must.

Gloves are also to be considered to help prevent the proliferation of germs like cold, flu and any other nasty bugs out there. Wearing them reminds us not to touch our face.


A bit of history...

Apparently this brand was quite popular. I was looking for an old image to feature here and I stumbled on this one by accident. Apparently well know, I had never seen it before. Want to know more about it? Click here.

Pacquins Ladies Hand Cream (1942)

Dry Winter Skin? Start With A Gentle Cleanser.

Winter can be brutal and we all know that moisturizing is the key to soft skin but sometimes it seems we have to constantly reapply to get the results we want. Have you thought about the cleanser you use in the shower? Believe me, in Winter, your watermelon shower gel or you're husband's Irish Spring just won't do. If you don't want your skin to feel like itchy sand paper you may want to start with a gentler body cleanser.

Here are a few suggestion you may want to consider. These options are gentle, non stripping and will definitely help make your moisturizer of choice more effective.


Body cleansers I like...

Dove Beauty Bar 
Review here.

Avène Cold Cream Ultra Rich Cleansing Bar 
More expensive than the Dove Beauty Bar this cleansing bar is amazingly rich and non stripping. Had it not been for the fact that I received one as a gift I probably would have overlooked it. Using this was the reason I gave Dove a try after so many years or using shower gels. As with Dove, if you don't have any particular skin issue, you can use it on your face as well. This is a great option for travel since it's in solid form. I think it sells for about $12.00.

Aveeno Skin Relief Body Wash
Creamy, with or without fragrance and not drying. Very affordable and at under $10.00 it's worth a try.

The Body Shop Creamy Cleansers
They have several options my favorites, Cocoa butter and Coconut. I love the smell of both. A little trick if you purchase one, unscrew to top completely to get the product out. It's much easier than trying to press the cleanser out through the tiny hole in the cap. Review of Cocoa Butter cleanser and moisturizer here.

A-Derma Sensifluid Extra-Rich Foaming Gel
This is a beautiful skin care line for anyone with sensitive skin. Not well known but available in drugstores. I'm now wondering why I haven't reviewed this before. It's a lovely soap-free formula good for anyone intolerant to soap. It does have a light scent if fragrance is an issue.

These are the ones I've tried and liked the most but of course if you have a brand of choice, a product that you're already using with good results, keep using. I know they can be quite tempting but try to avoid over fragranced cleansers. I find them to be harsh in general. Once or twice a week is fine but for everyday they tend to be drying after a while for me anyway.

Picture credit: All Along the Injured Coast

Dove Beauty Bar

Contrary to Nivea cream, this staple I grew up with along with Lux soap and if I remember right, my mother used to also buy Dial once in a while and Ivory soap. These where, as far as I can remember, the popular brands of the day. Oh I almost forgot, there was also Camay which I believe was my mom's favorite.

For years I didn't even bother to look at it on trips to the pharmacy or the grocery store. What a snob! Preferring to go for liquid or more expensive formulas, I didn't think it was worth my attention or my money. Then I used Avène's Cold Cream Emollient Soap-Free Cleansing Bar and this product except for the fragrance, felt very similar on my skin. Considering the Avène bar is sold for about $9.00 and Dove can be found at $1.99 for 2 bars, I figured why not give it a go? Now a few years ago I did try one of the Dove creamy shower gels and didn't like it but the Beauty Bar was surprisingly nice to use. I even used it for a week on my face and must admit it didn't dry my skin the way I though it would. That was last summer when my skin was oilier. I don't think I would use it in the middle of winter. For the body, nice lather, the fragrance fresh and quite pleasant brings back tons of memories.

A bit of history

There isn't a lot of information out there about it which is surprising when you compare it to some other brands. All the different sites I visited repeated more or less the same things. I haven't listed any sites for referral for this reason. If you enter in your search engine "dove soap history" you'll likely come across some if not all the sites I've visited.

First developed and introduced in the Netherlands (I wasn't able to find the name of the original company) in 1955, the Dove Beauty Bar is not classified as a soap but as a synthetic detergent bar primarily made from synthetic surfacants, derived vegetable oils and salts from animal fats. Apparently in some countries there are no animal fats in its composition, making it a vegan product. Introduced in the US in 1957 it was quite successful right from the get go. In the 60's Dove continued it's success as a niche skin care product and in the 70's thrived by publicizing dermatologist test findings that indicated that Dove was less drying and irritating than ordinary soap. After a while, Unilever the company that owns the brand, started developing other products under the Dove name.

1957, the first television commercial for the US market

In 2004, Dove launched it's "Campaign For Real Beauty" making us reflect over the unrealistic images of women in advertising and it continued by promoting the "Dove Movement For Self-Esteem".

October 2006, the add that made us think!

About the "Self Esteem Campaign" see the Self Esteem Tool Kit on the Dove website.

The beauty bar is available in an unscented version for sensitive skin. The reviews and ingredient list below are for the original Beauty Cream Bar also known as Beauty Bar for Deep Moisture.

Who can use it? 

Questions about Dove pop up regularly on MUA. Depending on the day and who's on, the responses can be either positive or flat out negative. Some members do have serious skin issues and its quite understandable why they can't use it. Others I believe, will simply say "Heck no!" just because it's "Dove".

As a facial cleanser if you have dry, irritated skin you may want to skip but if you have combination skin that's on the normal side, it can be a nice, more than affordable option. Some clog prone people can't use it while others can. Trying it is really the only way to know. If you find it's not for you, it won't make a big dent in your budget and you'll be able to use it for your body or keep in in a soap dish for hand washing.

If you're planning a trip, consider putting a Dove bar in your toiletry bag instead of a facial cleanser and/or a shower gel. If your skin likes it, it's a great two in one (face and body) and since it's in solid form, no restrictions for air travel. At the end of your vacation/trip you can just leave it behind, at that price, why fuss with a wet cleansing bar? You forgot to bring one, it's available everywhere, really it is!

Reviews:
MakeupAlley: 4.4 / 5 lippies for 766 reviews
Beauté-test: 4.3 / 5 stars for 395 reviews

Ingredients, from the Dove website:
Sodium Lauroyl Isethionate, Stearic Acid, Sodium Tallowate or Sodium Palmitate, Lauric Acid, Sodium Isethionate, Water, Sodium Stearate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Cocoate or Sodium Palm Kernelate, Fragrance, Sodium Chloride, Tetrasodium EDTA, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891).

Just so you can compare the two, Avène's Cold Cream Emollient Soap-Free Cleansing Bar

Ingredients from Beautypedia

Disodium Lauryl Sulfosuccinate, Zea Mays (Corn) Starch, Cetearyl Alcohol, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Water, Paraffin, Stearic Acid, PEG-45 Palm Kernel Glycerides, Beeswax (Cera Alba), Benzyl Alcohol, Cetyl Alcohol, Fragrance, Glyceryl Stearate, Mineral Oil (Paraffinum Liquidum), Potassium Cetyl Phosphate, Sodium Hydroxide, Titanium Dioxide