Estee Lauder Good Skin and Grassroots

It seems the original Good Skin and Grassroots products launched by Estee Lauder's Beauty Bank division and sold exclusively in Kohl's stores has been discontinued in favor of a few new products. Good Skin is the Clinique equivalent at Kohl's and offered a variety of really amazing products. Grassroots is the Origins or Aveda version offering more natural sounding products.

While it was a great idea for Estee Lauder to offer many amazing and affordable products in a store such as Kohl's the displays are often not tidy and the products are difficult to get out of the displays. Overall the appeal of the beauty department at Kohl's is not ideal because it isn't kept neat and clean. Perhaps this turned some customers off who are more use to the elegant displays at higher-end department stores.

Yves Rocher Serum Vegetal 3 Plumping Force Day Cream

Yves Rocher has been updating a lot of their product lines; one of their newest product lines to be updated is their Serum Vegetal line. Available in a variety day or night creams these products are designed to help the skin with wrinkles, radiance, and firmness.

Yves Rocher Serum Vegetal 3 Plumping Force Day Cream is slightly thick, but spreads extremely well. I found that while very pleasant, the scent is slightly strong. And while it does seem to absorb pretty well, it does seem to leave the skin just slightly greasy and may be best suited to those with drier skin types.

According to Yves Rocher this product: "Fills in pronounced wrinkles, Restores bounce to skin, Moisturizes and protects skin."

Available from Yves Rocher's website, catalog, or Yves Rocher stores, an elegant jar of this cream retails for $46.00 for 1.7 ounces.

Ingredients: Aqua/Water/Eau, Glycerin, Ethylhexyl Cocoate, Lentius Edodes Extract, Dimithicone, Centaurea Cyanus Flower Water, Cetyl ALcohol, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Oil, Sodium Mannuronate Methylsilanol, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil, Methyl Glucose Sesquistearate, PEG-100 Stearate, Hydrolyzed Pectin, Talc, Sesamum Indicum (Sesame) Seed Oil, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Acacia Senegal Gum, Mangifferin, Butylene GLycol, Parfum/Fragrance. Glyceryl Stearate, Ethyl Linoleate, Methylparaben, Lecithin, Xanthan Gum, Phenoxyethanol, Carbomer, Tocopheryl Acetate, Sorbic Acid, Retinyl Palmitate, Allantoin, Ethylparaben, Sodium Hydroxide, Propylparaben, BHT, Tetrasodium EDTA, Propylene GLycol, CI 17200 (Red 33).

Avon Solutions Total Radiance Day Lotion SPF 15

When it comes to skin care, Avon is not usually my first choice. For a while it seemed as thought they had over perfumed, dated formulas. With the introduction of numerous products, that has all changed. Avon is now using very modern formulas and going easy on the fragrance which makes many of their products a great choice for those wanting something modern and effective.

Avon Solutions Total Radiance Day Lotion SPF 15 is a very lightweight and silky face lotion that spreads and absorbs quickly. It dries to an almost matte finish, doesn't feel oily or sticky, and leaves my skin feeling soft and hydrated. While the scent is quite noticeable, it is not overpowering or floral and smells rather fresh and citrusy.

This product, along with many of the others in the Avon Solutions line, contain peptides, vitamins, plant extracts, intense hydrators, and numerous other ingredients meant to help hydrate the skin and improve the look and feel. These elegant products contain ingredients found in much more expensive brands. There are numerous products available for different skin types as well as the recent addition of serums to correspond with the particular moisturizers. Overall, this is a very nice product and good for those who prefer a lotion.

While this product does contain numerous chemicals, the majority of such products do, it would be nice if companies would reduce their use of petrochemicals, silicones, preservatives, etc. A lot of companies have jumped on the bandwagon and are reformulating their products to remove the chemicals. Some chemicals are needed; however, many are not. Mastey de Paris, while their customer service skills may be lacking when it comes to communicating with their customers, has figured out a way to formulate high quality, elegant, skin care formulas without silicones, mica, titanium, alumina, mineral oil, or petrolatum. Their formulas are simple, effective, and some of the best.

This product is available in a 4 ounce pump bottle from the Avon website or Avon representative.

Active Ingredients: Octinoxate 7.5%, Octisalate 5.0%, Avobenzone 2.0%.
Other Ingredients: Water/Eau, Butylene Glycol, Glycerin, Cyclopentasiloxane, Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Hydroxyethyl Urea, Dimethicone, Lauryl Lactate, Dilauryl Thiodipropionate, Calcium PCA, Lactoferrin, Palmitoyl Oligopeptide, Saccharomyces Ferment Filtrate, Saccharomyces Lysate Extract, Phospholipids, Phytol, Tocopheryl Acetate, Aframomum Melegueta Seed Extract, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Ceramide 2, Cholesterol, DNA, Foeniculum Vulgare (Fennel) Seed Extract, Viola Tricolor Extract, Yeast Extract/Extrait De Levure, Peg-10 Rapeseed Sterol, Urea, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Peg-100 Stearate, Pentylene Glycol, Hexylene Glycol, Caprylyl Glycol, Boron Nitride, Silica, Isohexadecane, Cetyl Alcohol, Dimethiconol, Tribehenin, Polysorbate 60, Sorbitan Isostearate, Xanthan Gum, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Butylene/Ethylene/Styrene Copolymer, Ethylene/Propylene/Styrene Copolymer, Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Parfum/Fragrance, Carbomer, Sodium Dehydroacetate, Chlorphenesin, Disodium EDTA, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Hydroxide.