July's Favorite New Products

Hey guys! I am a real creature of habit. Once I find a shampoo or a lipstick I like, I tend to stick with it and use the same product over and over and over. It makes shopping easier when I know exactly what to buy and having a set routine makes getting ready in the morning before work much more efficient. I think this is compounded by the fact that I have pretty unusual characteristics: very sensitive skin, fine hair, and unusual coloring: auburn (dark red) hair with green eyes, dark eyebrows and eyelashes, fair with freckles. (As a redhead, I am almost never able to find a lipstick that goes with my hair and complexion, so I all but buy it by the case when I do! Any makeup execs reading this? If so, please get on it!) There's also a downside to my habitual ways, though. When you use the same shampoo repeatedly, it can start to not work as well on your hair, ditto with lotions, makeup, and even lip balm. For this reason, I have to periodically shake off my routine and reassess what I'm using because I really like it and what I'm using simply out of habit. I tried a few new products during July as I adapt to summer in a very different climate, which made my evaluation extra important. Here's what I bought and what I thought of each of them:

#1 Loreal Go Clean 360 Face Scrub. 

With the added humidity of Germany, I felt the need for a different face wash. I've been using Cetaphil for years, but I really didn't feel like it was getting the job done here. I actually bought the sensitive skin version of this first, a milky liquid with a funky smell. It did a great job of cleaning my face, especially with the cool rubbery scrubber that comes attached to the bottle, so I decided to give the full strength version a try when I used up the sensitive bottle.  It also comes with a rubber scrubby and has natural exfoliants (crushed apricot pits) in the liquid, which is peach in color and has a sweet, fruity smell.  This one seems to do an even better job of cleaning my pores and removing my makeup at the end of the day.  It also doesn't leave my skin tight or dry, which is an added bonus for sensitive skin.  I've only used the full strength version of this a few times, but so far I think it's a keeper!

#2 Neutrogena Revitalizing Lip Balm

It's always nice to have a lip balm in your purse for dry lips, and this one has the added bonus of a hint of color and sunscreen.  I've found that as I get a bit older than my lips retain the look of little lines a lot longer after they've been dry.  Naturally, I hate this!  The Neutrogena lip balm seems to plump them up and diminish those lines.

I actually bought two of these.  The first shade, Toasted Almond, wound up being a bluish-tan than looked horrible with my skin tone- way too cool and pale!  But I liked the smoothing effect that it had on my lips so much that I went back and tried a second color, Fresh Plum, which despite the name isn't purple at all.  You can see in the picture above that it's a warm reddish brown, which fits perfectly with the shades I tend to favor in lip products.  

By the way, I'm a die-hard fan of Burt's Bees Lip Balm and there's no way that this is going to replace my obsession, its just for when I want a shot of color and am feeling too lazy or hurried to go full-on lipstick or lip stain.

#3 L'Oreal Lip Stain and Gloss

Step One- Lip stain.

Step Two- Clear gloss

I'm finding that I really like a lot of L'Oreal's products, especially their nail polishes and their collection of neutral lipsticks.  This combination of lip stain and clear gloss is a great combination and I really like the color (Always Almond).  Stain and clear gloss is my go-to lip product for work.  As a teacher, my days are super busy and I don't have time to re-apply lipstick every five minutes.  (Does anyone else seem to have this issue?  My lipstick NEVER lasts!)  By going with lip stain, I usually have a shot at keeping some color on my lips all day.

Like the face wash, this is a tentative replacement of a long-running favorite: Revlon's Color Outlast in Endless Spice.  The last two tubes of this that I've bought have both seemed far to pink compared to what I am used to them being and also suddenly very short lived.

This is a bit more metallic that I would normally go for, but it is a nice, neutral shade with a bit of golden flakes, just dark enough to add some color to my mouth without looking overdone or unprofessional.

Since it is still summer, I haven't had the chance to try out it's longevity with a teacher work day, but I will try to let you know how it stacks up when I can.

Let me know what you think below!

Stay stylish,

Amy