Tag Archives: toner

I’m Not Lazy, I’m Efficient: Weleda One-Step Cleanser and Toner Review

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Here’s the thing: my skincare regimen takes too long. Cleanser. Toner. Serum. Moisturizer. Oil. Sunscreen. When you’re running late in the morning, that adds up.

When I end up sleeping in because of a late night Sherlock marathon, I really need to streamline my skincare routine.  Recently, I have been loving how easy and quick Weleda One-Step Cleanser & Toner ($24) takes care of cleansing and prepping my skin for my daily lotions and potions.

As the newest member of the gentle cleansing line, the 2-in-1 formula is what you get if the Gentle Cleansing Milk and the Gentle Refining Toner had a baby. At night, after taking off my eye makeup, I moisten a cotton pad with it and run that all over my face. It’s not recommended for the eye area, but I quickly do it anyway (live on the edge, babe!) with my eyes closed. Then I rinse that off with water.

You don’t get any sudsing action with this cleanser. It looks and feels watery like milk. But it is effective. On heavy makeup days, I use it as my second cleanser and it doesn’t dry out my skin. On normal makeup days this has become my cleanser of choice. It leaves my skin clean and hydrated, and takes off the last bits of eye makeup left behind by makeup remover. This is a great cleanser for those with normal to combination skin.

Weleda One-Step Cleanser & Toner is available online; Whole Foods Market; natural independent health food stores; Planet Organic Market; Nature’s Fare; Noah’s Natural Foods and Rexall Pharma Plus stores.

Now that you’ve heard what I think, would you like to try it for yourself?

Giveaway (Canada Only)

You have a chance to win a huge prize pack containing a 1-year supply of the Weleda One-Step Cleanser & Toner PLUS a Weleda facial care collection best suited to your skin-care needs.  You can pick one of the following:

  • Almond Soothing Facial Care: for sensitive skin
  • Iris Hydrating Facial Care: for moisturizing and balancing very dry to normal to combination skins
  • Wild Rose Smoothing Facial Care: for skin that’s experiencing its first lines
  • Pomegranate Firming Facial Care: for mature skin

All you have to do is answer the following questions in a comment:

What do you do to save time in your busy day? And what do you do with that free time?

Don’t forget to mention your chosen Weleda skincare line in your comment.  After you have commented, for additional entries, you can tweet about the contest once daily.

Contest ends on Saturday, April 21 at 12:01 AM Eastern Time.

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Keep It or Toss It? Summer Skincare Edition.

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Summer is a tricky season for one’s skin regimen. Cleansing becomes a big deal. You need to moisturize sensitive, possibly sun-damaged skin, but you don’t want to slap on anything too heavy. I’ve been trying a lot of new skincare lately, and it’s time again to talk about them!

Today I’m trying a new review format, called Keep It or Toss It?  It will feature 5 or more product reviews, and each review will be quick — only 5 sentences or less. Here we go!

Cleanser: Consonant Body Organic Foaming Face Wash* ($18). Keep it. This face wash takes off all non-waterproof makeup as well as my all-time favourite, Philosophy Purity Made Simple. It doesn’t make my skin tight or uncomfortable after cleansing. Unfortunately for me, my hand eczema reacts pretty badly to the foam, so I’ll pass it on to my sister.

Eye Cream: Origins Eye Doctor ($34). Toss it. I’m 24 and I have some fine lines under my eyes. Sure, this smells refreshing (like cucumbers). But, it’s expensive and it doesn’t do anything.

Eye Roller: Garnier Nutritioniste Skin Renew Anti-Dark Circle Roller ($20). Keep it. I’m a big fan of eye rollers. Naturally, an eye roller that brightens my dark circles, to me, is a pretty good deal. This doesn’t conceal major under eye circles, but it’s great for that extra boost on top of your concealer. Turn around bright eyes.

Toner/Hydrosol: Pure + simple Organic Lavender Hydrosol* ($12.95 for 50ml). Toss it. There’s something about this hydrosol that just did not agree with my nose at all. It doesn’t smell like lavender, or at least the kind that I’m accustomed to. It smells like pee. So no, I’m not going to spray my face with what smells like toilet water. Instead, try Weleda Refining Toner.

Serum: Pure + simple Soothing Mimosa Emulsion* ($39.95 for 50ml). Keep it. This is a light, hydrating serum that I wear under my moisturizer. It is incredibly soothing and cooling on sensitive skin after a hot sweaty bike ride under the sun. Oilier skin types can wear probably wear it as their day moisturizer.

Moisturizer: Origins VitaZing SPF 15 (around $40 for 50ml). Toss it. I bought mine in CCO in Las Vegas for US$27. This moisturizer has garnered so much hype thanks to a YouTube guru, but I thought it’s just alright. It’s a very sheer illuminating tinted moisturizer; one shade only. I like the way this smells and looks on the skin, but I’m pretty sure it causes breakouts every time I use it. Next!

Sunscreen: Pure + simple SPF 30 For Sensitive Skin* ($25.95 for 100ml). Keep it (and buy in bulk when it goes on sale). This is an great mineral sunscreen (none of that -benzone junk!) to wear under makeup as it won’t turn you into a grease ball. German chamomile calms irritated skin. It goes on white, but you can minimize this by patting it on over a face oil (like Argan oil). Pure + simple SPF 30 for Oily/Impure Skin works as just well, and I prefer the scent of that one, too.

Night Cream: Weleda Iris Hydrating Night Cream* ($28 for 30ml). Keep it. I love this almost as much as my holy grail night cream, Martina Gebhardt Black Mud Cream. Both brands are German and all-natural, so I’m pretty sure every person in Germany has perfect skin. While not as greasy as the Black Mud cream — a greasiness I prefer in my night cream, actually — the Iris Night Cream is rich enough to give you perfectly hydrated, plump skin in the morning.

Your Turn!  What Summer Skincare Products Have Wowed Or Disappointed You Lately?

That was fun, eh? Have you tried any new skincare lately, or do you stick with what works?

Because You Absolutely Must Wash Yo’ Face, You Might As Well Do It Naturally with Weleda’s Facial Cleansing Line.

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Before I started beauty blogging, I didn’t know there were so many different ways to cleanse one’s face.  Now facial cleansers come in many different formulations: cream, gel, mousse, no-rinse, and even oil!  How am I ever going to choose the right kind for me?

While I can’t usually make a generalization on what will work for you, it’s safe to say that a gentle cleanser is probably the way to go.  You already know that I am in the process of switching to natural skincare, and so I was very excited to try Weleda’s new cleansing line.  It’s a two-step combo that includes a Gentle Cleansing Milk ($24) and a Refining Toner ($22).

Weleda Gentle Cleansing Milk and Refining Toner

How to Use

Before I dive into the actual review, here’s a little bit on how to use the two.  Trust me, you need me to tell you this part.

Massage a quarter-size of the Gentle Cleansing Milk on your dry face.  The instructions instruct you to avoid the eye area, and because I am too awesome to follow instructions, I thought “hey, why the hell not?  What’s the worst that could happen?”  I’ll tell you what: burning eyeballs of death.  Don’t do it.  (‘kay, I might be exaggerating here, but they really did burn.)  Wash off with warm water.

Then, apply the Refining Toner on a cotton pad and run it all over your face, again avoiding the eye area.

Gentle Cleansing Milk

$24 for 100ml

Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Sesamum Indicum (Sesame) Seed Oil, Alcohol, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Lysolecithin, Fragrance (Parfum)*, Glyceryl Stearate SE, Hamamelis Virginiana (Witch Hazel) Distillate, Iris Germanica Root Extract, Xanthan Gum, Limonene*, Linalool*, Citronellol*, Geraniol*, Citral*. * from natural essential oils

Good for all skin types, just a quarter size dollop of the cleansing milk takes care of all my face gunk.  It contains Biodynamic iris root extract, which helps retain moisture in and regulate the skin.  One of the main ingredients is witch hazel, which is a light natural astringent.  Its consistency is like a very runny lotion and the smell is nice and citrusy.  Don’t expect any foaming action during cleansing, because there’ll be none of that.  After washing it off, my face not only feels comfortable (not tight), but also slightly moisturized due to the organic jojoba seed oil.

Refining Toner

$22 for 100ml

Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Alcohol, Rosa Moschata (Rosehip) Leaf Extract, Hamamelis Virginiana (Witch Hazel) Distillate, Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon) Juice, Fragrance (Parfum)*, Limonene*, Linalool*, Geraniol*, Citral*. * From natural essential oils

I like the gentle cleansing milk, but I worship the refining toner even more.  As a former toner snob, I was skeptical that I actually needed to tone my face after cleansing.  Now, here I am doing a total 180.  This toner is very refreshing, again with a citrusy scent from lemon juice and other essential oils.  It balances my skin beautifully, removing any excess dirt and oil that your cleanser didn’t catch.  It doesn’t sting despite the fact that it contains alcohol.  Instead, it just leaves my skin so soft, touchable and perfectly prepped for moisturizer.  LOVE this one.

What’s Not to Love?

Since my skin absolutely loves natural skincare, the verdict is simple and very evident: I love these.  The combination of the cleanser and the toner leaves my skin unstripped of its all natural oils and soft.  Very soft in fact, that I ran out of the bathroom and uttered the following words to my boyfriend: “Feel my face.  Seriously, touch it.  Soft, right?  I’m not even wearing moisturizer!”

I wish they made the cleanser to be eye friendly as well, because I’m a lazy girl!  I can’t be bothered to reach for an extra cleanser to take care of my eye makeup.  They do have an Almond Soothing Facial Oil, which I haven’t tried, for this purpose.

These and other Weleda products are sold at www.weleda.ca, Whole Foods Market, natural independent health food stores, Planet Organic Market, Nature’s Fare, Noah’s Natural Foods and Rexall Pharma Plus stores.