Friday, January 08, 2010

Product Review

I received a lot of packages in the mail today, so I thought I'd bore you with my impressions of these natural beauty products.

First up, moisturizer. Pangea Organics wowed me from moment I opened the package. The box is made of 100% recycled post-consumer waste, and to add even more oomph to the eco-friendliness, they've impregnated the paper with basil seeds so it can be planted! I purchased the cream for combo skin, and it's great for day, though I think in winter, I definitely need a stronger nighttime moisturizer. Wood heat really sucks all the moisture out of your skin. The ginger scent is strong but pleasant, and wears off quickly, so even if you weren't a fan of ginger or lavender or thyme, it doesn't linger all day. I love how it doesn't feel like I'm smearing grease on my face and yet really does moisturize. I'm a fan. The eye cream (which I purchased in sample sizes from ebay-probably not super legit, but it's for research purposes, right?) is also dreamy. Just right for nighttime and a little bit goes a long way. I'll be making some purchases direct from their site just as soon as my beauty budget goes back up to normal!

Makeup is one of my weaknesses. I decided that using mascara for more than a year was maybe not such a good thing for my eyes, so I found a mostly-natural option in Korres, who also makes a makeup primer I'd heard good things about. As mineral makeup really needs something to stick to, I purchased a small size of the primer as well.

It's so cold here, both the mascara and the primer arrived frozen solid! I had to thaw them out for a while before I could test drive, but it didn't seem to affect the consistency at all. The primer smells wonderful and goes on soft and silky. I'd found the blue-black mascara on sale; I'm usually a black mascara kind of girl, but I can't really see any blue yet. Maybe it's something you only get glimpses of in certain kinds of lighting. I definitely goes on much less goopier than the drugstore variety I was using.

My mineral makeup arrived, a test kit with a couple of foundations, a blush, eyeshadows and several makeup brushes. Brushes=awesome. They appeal to the artist in me. Unfortunately, I think the company might have mixed up my order, because the eyeshadows are sort of funky colors I wouldn't have purchased and the foundation makes me look like a geisha. So they're sitting on the dresser to be exchanged. But I could see this replacing my old routine, if for nothing more than the chance to play with all those differently angled brushes! I never wear foundation, and the mineral stuff (while too light), is much, much better than either foundation or regular powder. So when the right colors arrive, maybe I'll do a glamorous photo shoot...

All in all? I'm happy with the products I got. Pangea Organics is hands down the coolest, both for the product, the packaging, and the philosophy. (Also, the possibility for alliteration!)

Next week, we're making hand lotion!

1 comment:

Catherine Denton said...

I'll be checking them out. Looking forward to the lotion.