Kosmea Certified Organic Rose Hip Oil

Kosmea Certified Organic Rose Hip Oil 42ml

Kosmea is an Australia owned company with humble roots. It began with buying one drum of rose hip oil and introducing the concept to health food stores around Australia.

I have been using rose hip oil on again off again for about 3 years now, now you might think a rose hip oil is a rose hip oil, but you would be wrong. How oil is extracted is very important to the quality of the oil. It can be crushed, extracted via heat or cold pressed amongst other methods. Kosmea uses a process they call "supercritical extraction" which is done without heat and they remove all other sources that can potentially degrade the quality of the oil, such as light, air and water. As such Kosmea rose hip oil has been found to be up to 8 times more potent than the Australian competitors.

With all that in mind I thought I'd give Kosmea a go, despite it's slightly higher than the competitors retail cost. Let me assure you off the bat, the higher quality of the rose hip oil means you actually require so much less of the product, and furthermore used in conjunction with their hydrating mist spay it goes even further.

A lot of people who have tried rose hip oils will comment that it ends up on their pillowcase more than their face or that the smell is too fishy for them to handle being on their face - now let's clear this up - you are probably applying the oil wrong. The oil should never smell like fish and if it does it has probably gone off. The products only have a 6 month expiry once opened and exposed to the air. Good rose hip oil should have an earthly smell to it, but once applied to your face if applied correctly you should be using such a small amount that you don't notice any smell. 

So now, the correct application technique - Wet your face (I use either thermal water or Kosmea's hydrating mist) by spraying water on until your face is beaded with water but not yet dripping. Then put two drops of Kosmea Rose Hip Oil onto your hand. Run your hands together to spread the oil and also warm it a little bit to be able to spread it nicely. Then simply pat your hands over your face to apply. Your face should neither be stained yellow not have a oil slick finish to it, if it does, you've used too much.

I personally use rose hip oil as a bit of a night moisturiser but it really needs to be treated like a serum. So I cleanse, tone use the serum and occasionally moisturise ontop of that. 

The high content of vitamin A in rose hip oil makes it great for healing scars, and even acne. A lot of people think using an oil with acne is a bad idea, but rose hip oil actually balances the skin out and can help prevent further breakouts. Before I understood this I had noticed those results with Kosmea. 

As Kosmea Rose Hip Oil can be used by anyone from infants to the elderly there are a lot of applications for it. It can be used as a wrinkle treatment, a moisturiser, but also in infants who are suffering from dermalogical issues or cradle cap.

Rating - 

Instant feeling - 4 out of 5
I do have a soft spot for Rose Hip Oils but Kosmea rates higher than any I have used before. It goes on nicely and a small amount goes so far! It also has a very nice absorption into my skin.

After 1 Month of Use - 4 out of 5
My skin looks and feels great! I get comments frequently on how good my skin looks despite not wearing makeup. I am still getting the odd hormone caused blemishes but they're not hanging around for so long now!


Learn more about Kosmea's products at Kosmea's Website - http://www.kosmea.com.au/

La Roche Possay Effaclar Duo

La Roche Possay Effaclar Duo 40ml

What Effaclar is to cleansers Effaclar Duo is to treatments. It's a sensitive combination of key ingredients that will help reduce the size of pimples within 3 days and work to prevent future breakouts.

Contains breakthrough key ingredients - 

• Micronized Benzoyl Peroxide [5.5%]: Powerful acne medication in a unique format to penetrates pores, clear blemishes, and minimize potential irritation.
• Micro-exfoliating LHA [0.4%]:Precise cell-by-cell exfoliation to smooth roughness and gradually even skin texture. 6x more effective than salicylic acid alone.

Rating - 

Instant feeling - 4 out of 5

This product is smooth on the skin, a small amount goes a fair way but as with any treatment, it won't work straight away.

After 1 Month of Use - 5 out of 5

Given time and used in combination with Effaclar cleanser, this works deep in the skin to prevent future breakouts. I've noticed a substantial reduction in blackheads as well as general breakouts.

Learn more about La Roche Possay's products at La Roche Possay's Website

Also available in the La Roche Possay Oily Skin Range -

• La Roche Possay Effaclar 

La Roche Possay Effaclar

La Roche Possay Effaclar 200ml

This is honestly a miracle cleanser. La Roche Possay is a town in France known for its amazing thermal spring water which is naturally high in selenium, an antioxidant. Created with the input of dermatologists, the La Roche Possay brand strives for excellence in sensitive skin care. Now I hear you saying that you do not suffer from sensitive skin, well, neither do I, but in all the products I've tried to help with my hormonal acne, none have come anywhere near as close as the La Roche Possay brand. 

I've been using the cleanser on a twice a day basis for the past 2 months now (except when I have had really bad breakouts where I've used the olay as previously discussed) and my skin has never looked finer. Previously I would have one week per month where my hormones had the ideal conditions and my skin was clear, now it's the opposite, with weeks of clear beautiful skin.

Rating - 

Instant feeling - 5 out of 5
5 out of 5, this product feels great from the first instance. I didn't get any initial breakouts like sometimes I do from other brands 

After 1 Month of Use - 5 out of 5
I can't recommend this product enough. If you have oily skin or the occasional blemish through to full blown inflammatory acne, this is the product for you.


Learn more about La Roche Possay's products at La Roche Possay's Website

Also available in the La Roche Possay Oily Skin Range -

• La Roche Possay Effaclar Duo

Olay Acne Control Face Wash

Olay Acne Control Face Wash 200ml

I've been struggling with pimples for the past 8 years. Growing up I was under the impression that pimples (or acne) is a teenage ailment - one that goes away during your young adult life. Such a huge lie!  I started getting acne when I was in my final year of high school, and now I'm 26 I think I'm finally seeing the tail end of them. I think it's not so much that young adults don't get them, it's just they've worked out what products work for them so they stop getting them! 

One product that I've stumbled across in my mission to be rid of the pesky spots is Olay's "Acne Control Face Wash". It's an oil free product that has a powerful hydroxy complex which fights blemishes and prevents future breakouts. Further more - it also contains salicylic acid, which gently encourages skin turnover - helping to shift stubborn blackheads.

Acne basically occurs when excess sebum gets trapped in the hair folicle. Depending on where or how it gets trapped is how we classify them, as blackheads, whiteheads or blind pimples. Some simple things can be done to help prevent reoccuring breakouts, or scarring from a breakout. 

• The biggest advise I can give is to not pop existing pimples. Don't look at them, don't touch them - leave them alone! When a pimple is squeezed only a third of the gunk comes out, a further two thirds actually gets pushed deeper into the skin where it will cause further issues. Need more incentive - No matter how much that pimple hurts now, remember it always hurts hard more and for a longer duration after it's been popped! 
• The next thing you can do to prevent pimples from occurring is to stop over scrubbing your face. We think of pimples as a very dirty thing, and thus want to scrub them away. But in reality the harder you scrub your face, the more sebum your skin will produce, creating a higher risk of more pimples. A gentle cleanser with a gentle washing motion is enough to keep cleanse skin.
• Follow up with a good acne treatment on problem areas. Some treatments contain benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid or even tea tree. This treatment should only be used on specific problem areas as they can be drying to the skin.
• Use a moisturiser! A lot of people think that because their skin is oily they don't need a moisturiser - when in fact the skin is oily because it is dry. Sure, some people do just have oily skin types, but it's still not a reason to use a nice light moisturiser.

The Olay Acne Control Face Wash can be drying, particularly if used in combination with a acne treatment, and it is due to that, that I limit my use of this product to when I actually am having a break out.

Rating - 

Instant feeling - 3 out of 5
It's a nice cleansing formula which is tough on pimples, but with proper care still smooth on skin. I only rate this product a 3 as it's not really suitable for long term use.

After 1 Month of Use - 4 out of 5
Throughout using it across a month (when I had breakouts) it was effective. I felt as though my breakouts were for a shorter duration. 


Learn more about Olay's products at Olay's Website

Also available in the Olay Acne Control Range -

• Olay Blackhead Clearing Scrub