Hey Friday! Review Series! & Things

I have not updated in almost a month, and I'm kinda upset over it! I've been super busy with school and now I've got a LOT of blog reading to catch up to. :P

So Now I'm going to make a plan, a blog mini series every friday called "Hey Friday!" Where I review, rant, or rave about some of my favorite products...or least favorite. This way I can actually post some more :)

This Week's Hey Friday! Review features Biggs & Featherbelle
I recently went to Crafty Bastards, which is a local Arts & Crafts fair in the DC region and many local artists, shops, ETSY artists come to showcase their stuff!

Biggs & Featherbelle makes "Health Conscious Body Care" and they're located in Baltimore MD, they had quite a busy booth(will post more pictures from the fair later in this post)
So I picked up a couple of their handmade soaps

Barbados, and Lemon Bar  


Both of these bars smell amazingdeliciouscitrusdivine, think LUSH but more local, lol

Barbados is made with pink grapefruit, sweet orange & essential oils
Lemon Bar has Shea butter with lemon grass, and more essential oils.

I've only now just tried barbados, and this bar leaves my skin squeaky clean! and smell of orange, Love it!

here's the naked barbados bar that I've tried lol

Lemon bar smells super refreshing, like a cool glass of lemonade...good enough to drink, or eat lol. I mean, they're all natural soaps anyway =)

Their packaging is so freaking cute!!!

So go check them out at www.Biggsandfeather.com! They have some great soaps,soaks,body butters!

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More photos from the fair,

cute lil monster scuplture figurine

There was a HUGE bboy battle :)

more battlin'

monster journals! super soft

Sourtang & I

Soo Happy Friday, I have so much to do this weekend but I gotta get back in to my regular postings!!!


~Lily

The Battle for Clear Skin: NeoCeuticals Skin Care Review!

 My skin in the summer is very very unpredictable(aka crappy), so I try to find the best ways to prevent and treat my summer breakouts!

A few weeks ago NeoStrata sent me some products to try out and included was the NeoCeuticals® Acne Regimen Kit

Review is purely my personal opinion :)

kit includes:
Antibacterial Facial Cleanser
Oil Control Gel
Acne Spot Treatment Gel
Skin brightening Gel (5 packets)

I've been using it for the past month and here's my review!!

Antibacterial Facial cleanser: 2 fl oz
comes in a clear gel consistency, no smell. It's super super gentle, and is great at removing make up! Its active ingredient is Triclosan (.3%) which is the antibacterial agent, helps to keep your face clean and lessen the chance of oil build up, clogged pores.
It's pretty great and one of the few facial cleansers that I've tried to have cleaned my make up off!!! 5 stars :)

Oil Control Gel: .35 fl oz
 This is pretty amazing, I apply it before make up and my face stays matte for a very long time. this is saying something since my face is like an oil slick. and the best thing is that a very little amount can cover my whole face. Contains mandelic acid (AHA) which also possesses antibacterial properties + PHA to minimize pores and even skin tone. 5 stars

Acne Spot Treatment Gel: .5 oz
active ingredient: Salicylic acid 2% 
here is the main thing that is probably the star of the set. I've always liked gel form because it absorbs into the skin quicker and works better. This gel after using  left a stickiness to my skin which I didn't really like because usually I apply my moisturizer, make up etc. touching my face when it's still sticky is weird. It also has a light scent resembling hand sanitizer which I didn't find too pleasant, (though it's not strong and goes away after a minute).
As for the spot treatment quality, I didn't see a huge effect. all in all a bit of a disappointment on this one. 2.5 stars

Skin Brightening Gel: .07 oz /packet, 5 packets
contains AHA/PHA to brighten and exfoliate skin discoloration (totally reading this from the box), Kojic Acid, vitamin C, botanical skin brighteners.
I have a lot of blemish scarring on my cheeks and after using this some marks seemed to disappear or lighten up. When using this always make sure to put on sunscreen as well!!
This also has a scent to it that I didn't find pleasant, kind of smells like a burnt out match but again, it goes away. I also didn't like the packaging because it came in 5 packets. I can understand that it's a small kit, squeezing the gel out of a packet can be a bit messy. 3 stars

Overall: 

While I didn't see much improvement in my overall blemish issues, I loved using the cleanser and the oil control gel. And my overall skin tone got slightly better from the brightening gel. I suggest this to anyone who wants to try some beginner light AHA/PHA products, and if you like salicylic acid.and anyone looking for a gentle cleanser I totally recommend the antibacterial facial cleanser!!!
Final: 3.8/5 stars.

Price: $32 for a $48 value
Neostrata


thanks for reading, and more review to come in the future :)