Derma E | MakeUpGuineaPig

Favorites January 11, 2019

The Best of Cruelty Free Beauty 2018 – Skin Care Favorites

Wow! Did 2018 disappear in the blink of an eye! Anyone else with me? I know it’s cliched to say, but it is so true. It was a crazy year with a lot of major changes – mostly from mid-year and will be continuing on into the beginning of 2019. Nothing bad (I hope! 😉), but it’s been super hectic…thus the total lack of blog posts the past 6 months. I really tried (at least initially) to keep posting – in fact, I have an August Favorites post still sitting on my computer that was never posted. Good intentions couldn’t win out over the craziness. If you’d still like to see that post, let me know and I’d be more than happy to post it…or maybe transform it into a “Recent Favorites” type of thing. Anyway, back to the point. Since I love Favorites posts so much, I wanted to make a real effort to post my Annual Beauty Favorites. So here we are! I’m gonna do my best to keep it as short as I can, but we all know that I run on…and on…and on. 😄 To help with that a bit, I’m going to break the faves into a few categories. It should also help organize my thoughts a bit. I have yet to tackle my Makeup Favorites, so who knows if or when they’ll make an appearance, but I’m trying! All of these items were not necessarily new in 2018, nor were they all new to me, but they were definitely the things I reached for over and over again. So, let’s see how we do here and start with some of my Favorite Skin Care Products from 2018!

Favorites February 9, 2018

Cruelty Free January Favorites 2018

Happy late January Favorites! Apologies for this being so late. I was down and out with the flu for almost 2 weeks. Let me tell you, this horrible flu that keeps making the news? It really is awful! Finally I’m feeling a bit better and I don’t want to miss one of my favorite kind of posts to write. I have 2 apologies to make quickly before we get into it. One: deepest apologies for so many “Favorite” type posts the last while. I have been – and still am – feeling a bit at a loss for subject matter. I’m working on it though. Two: As I was sick most of the second half of the month, I wasn’t loving much outside of my bed and sleep! Therefore, I don’t have a crap ton of favorites for January…and there’s no makeup coming up, though I’m guessing if that’s your main interest, you aren’t reading this blog anyway. 😄 So, disclaimers out of the way, I did manage to wash my face a few times throughout the month as well as wash my hair here and there. That gives me a few “new” favorites to mention, so here we go!!!

Favorites January 11, 2018

Best of Cruelty Free Beauty 2017 – Skin Care

Today’s Best of 2017 is focusing on Cruelty Free Skincare. This is a bit of a tricky category for me because 2017 was the year that I finally started taking Accutane for my stubborn acne. If you’re unfamiliar, Accutane is an often controversial drug taken to (hopefully) “cure” treatment-resistant acne. It has the side effect of completely drying out everyone’s skin, so the second half of the year I was doing everything I could to keep my formerly combo-to-oily skin as hydrated as possible while taking the drug. Having said that, you now know what skin types we are working with here, and since I had two majorly different concerns throughout the year, I will specify which type of skin I had while using the product if it’s relevant. If it worked well either way, I won’t specify the skin type unless it’s still somehow relevant. So, with that out of the way, let’s just get going because there is a lot!

Favorites December 29, 2017

Cruelty Free December Favorites 2017

The wrapping paper has been strewn around the living room. The anticipation of a New Year is upon us and our pants are all feeling just a bit more snug. All sure fire signs that it’s time for some Cruelty Free December Favorites!!! For me, it’s been a strange month, but one of some great beauty products…and there’s mostly makeup for a change! 😜 It’s not been a bad month, just unusual. But we’re not gonna waste time on some fancy intro, so let’s just get into the good stuff, shall we?

Accutane December 8, 2017

Cruelty Free Accutane Skin Care – Dry & Sensitive Skin Recommendations

As a lot of you may know, I’ve been on an Accutane regimen for a little while now (I just found out I’m about to start my *hopefully* final month!). Accutane is infamous for the extreme skin dryness that everyone seems to experience while on the medication. To give an example, while I’m writing this, I’m on 7 day hair!!! 😳 Yup. It’s been an entire week without washing the not-even-remotely-greasy mop on my head which, I must say, is a positive side effect in my eyes. 😉 With that though, my face has certainly gone from combo / oily to definitely on the dry side. Given that, I have managed to avoid much of the flaky, itchy, tight or other such variations of actual discomfort from the drying effects of the Accutane…with the exception of my nose, which, to be fair, is usually a bit flaky. Since I’ve been using the same products pretty consistently, I feel like I can finally share my cruelty free “secrets” for managing super dry and sensitive skin that is also safe for using while taking Accutane.

Facial Cleanser October 27, 2017

Tatcha Camellia Cleansing Oil vs. Derma E Nourishing Rose Cleansing Oil – Is It a Dupe?

I’ve been a long fan of Cleansing Oils for washing my face. They are hydrating without being too much (even when my skin was oilier). They’re gentle yet effective, and they even remove makeup without much trouble. They really can be an all-in-one product. Plus there’s just something about the process of using a good cleansing oil that I really enjoy. I have tried a number throughout the years – from higher end to more budget friendly – and I’ve recently stumbled upon two very similar oils…but with dramatically different price tags! For the pricier option we have the Tatcha One Step Camellia Cleansing Oil and on the more affordable end, we have the Derma E Nourishing Rose Cleansing Oil. So, let’s go through the similarities and differences and see – do we have a budget-friendly dupe?!?