Neutrogena

[The Shower Files] Gel Cream Dreams! The New Neutrogena Hydro Boost Body Gel Cream, Body Balm and Hand Gel

September 27th, 2018 by Karen 19 Comments

A few times… Alright, alright, alright, more than a few times, I’ve stared at the shelf in my bathroom where I keep all of ‘ze body lotions and thought to myself, “K, there’s only so much skin real estate on your person, so you don’t really need another bottle of lotion.” Then I come to my senses and realize that I totally do. Ha ha ha!

I’ve had dry shins for 43 years (had to stop there for a second to remember my age, OY VEY), so it’s not like I’m never NOT going to need to moisturize… It’s exactly like my glam granny always says, “Boys come and go, but dry skin is forever.” (OK, she really didn’t say that, but I bet she would!)

Anyway, Neutrogena launched a new line of pretty good gel cream body lotions, but first…what the heck is a gel cream?

Gel creams are water-based moisturizers with a formula sort of halfway between a watery lotion and a thick cream. Most of the time, they’re slippery, jiggly and translucent, and their main selling point is how quickly they absorb into your skin. You won’t have to spend forever and day working them in. They’re also usually packed with humectants, which are capable of holding many times their own weight in water, like hyaluronic acid in the case of the Hydro Boost line, and silicone, for that signature slippery feeling.

Hydro Boost Body Gel Cream ($8.99)

Hydro Boost Body Gel Cream comes with a pump in a scented and a fragrance-free version that both quench thirsty heels and shins equally well (I swear, my legs go “Ahhh!” when I put it on), but I’m all about the scented one, which smells like lemons and freshly folded warm laundry to me. If you’ve worn any of the CLEAN fragrances, you’ll love it, as will anyone who smells you, and I have proof!

The other night after I showered and lotion-ed, I walked downstairs and plopped next to El Hub on the couch to watch the season finale of American Ninja Warrior. As he was falling asleep (at 8 p.m., ha ha ha! He works for a finance company and gets up before the chickens, so it’s a miracle whenever he stays up past 7:30), he sleep-mumbled, “You smell really good.”

This is a moisturizing CHAMP! My skin is dry, dry, dry, and it feels happy, happy, happy when I use it. It should be sufficient for fall and winters here in the Bay Area, and I bet it would even handle more extreme weather. #TeamLizard

❤️❤️❤️❤️ 4 out of 5 hearts.

Ingredients, original scent:
Water, Glycerin, Isopropyl Palmitate, Petrolatum, Dimethicone, Cetyl Alcohol, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Polyacrylate, Cetearyl Olivate, Caprylyl Glycol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Sorbitan Olivate, Carbomer, Sodium Hyaluronate, Sodium Hydroxide

Ingredients, fragrance-free version:
Water, Glycerin, Isopropyl Palmitate, Petrolatum, Dimethicone, Cetyl Alcohol, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Polyacrylate, Cetearyl Olivate, Caprylyl Glycol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Sorbitan Olivate, Fragrance, Carbomer, Sodium Hyaluronate, Sodium Hydroxide, Blue 1

Hydro Boost Whipped Body Balm ($5.99)

Body balms are usually the big guns of the moisturizing world, but this one doesn’t work anyway near as well as the Body Gel Cream does for me.

Weird, I know!

It’s sightly thicker and heavier than the Gel Cream, which I thought would mean more moisture, but the Body Balm never completely sinks into my skin… It just sits on top like a layer of frosting. I’m not the biggest fan, but if you like a thick, silicone-y layer (and I know some people do), it’s worth a try.

❤️❤️ 2 out of 5 hearts.

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Latest Drugstore Loves! —> Neutrogena Deep Clean Purifying Micellar Cleansing Water and Micellar Cleansing Towelettes

September 14th, 2018 by Karen 10 Comments

If you’ve ever donned a smoky eye to go get Baked Cheetos at 10 in the morning, or if you’ve ever “needed” to bust out three tubes of mascara to simply continue living your life, you already know that whatever makeup goes on, must come off, and that’s when micellar cleansers like these two new ones from Neutrogena are handy.

For the uninitiated, micellar cleansers are a type of liquid makeup remover comprised of tiny balls of cleansing oil molecules suspended in soft water, and they’re designed to remove makeup, grit, grime — basically everything, even the hard-to-remove stuff like waterproof mascara. Also key: they work without heavy scrubbing, so they’re gentle.

Neutrogena Deep Clean Purifying Micellar Cleansing Towelettes ($6.99) and Micellar Cleansing Water ($11.99)

Neutrogena’s micellar cleansers work quickly and well. I can completely remove a full face of makeup with one swipe, and I’m talking about a look with all teh things — multiple layers of mascara, highlighter, bronzer, foundation, concealer — and they don’t irritate my skin or my eyes.

They’re so much better than the last drugstore micellar wipes I tried (*ahem* Garnier).

“Neutrogena Deep Clean Purifying Micellar Cleansing Towelettes effectively remove makeup while gently cleansing and purifying skin. These gentle, ultra-soft face wipes provide a deep clean by targeting 100% of impurities, leaving skin feeling soft and refreshed. The pre-moistened cleansing towelettes purify and revitalize skin. The formula is powered by Triple Micellar Technology which combines three gentle cleansers that work together to help remove even the toughest makeup, effectively cleanse, and purify skin without being harsh. Neutrogena Deep Clean Purifying Micellar Cleansing Towelettes require no rinsing and are non-comedogenic and oil- and alcohol-free.”

— neutrogena.com

Although…I’d still exercise caution if you’re thinking about removing the eyeliner on your water line with one of the wipes because IMO they’re kinda scratchy for such a delicate area. Instead, I soak a soft cotton pad (I highly recommend the ones from Shiseido) with the Micellar Water, which removes my eye makeup just as well (even waterproof mascara, liquid and gel liners, and other long-lasting stuff).

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Unsung Makeup Heroes: Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hydrating Tint

May 4th, 2018 by Karen 14 Comments

What’s an unsung makeup hero? For me, it’s an oftentimes underrated makeup morsel, a permanent collection product that scoots under the radar screen of many makeup lovers but regularly rocks my world. The long-running Unsung Heroes series features some of my favorites.

ANNOYING FACTOID OF THE DAY: Ya know…I bought a $50 YSL face tint at the Sephora VIB sale, and I don’t like it anywhere near as much as Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hydrating Tint.

Grrr…

Hydro Boost is so, SO good. I started using it when it came out about a year ago, and I’ve been wearing it off and on ever since.

As I’m sure I’ve mentioned (a zillion times), I have combo skin. Some parts are dry, others are oily, and even though I’m a little irked that Neutrogena raised the price from $14.99 to $16.99 in that time, whenever I wear this stuff I remember why it’s one of the best drugstore foundations out there (right up there with L’Oreal True Match Lumi).

It feels like nothing at all, keeps your skin looking like actual, you know, human skin, and it looks just as amazing in pics as it does in real life, even outside on a sunny day!

As a tint, it starts off sheer, but you can build it up to medium. You can’t really push it further than that, though, unless you mix in a concealer (and, if you do that, I recommend Make Up For Ever Ultra HD because they blend very well together).

Hydro Tint has a natural demi-matte finish, so it reflects light ever so slightly, and it also has a slight pore-blurring effect. Very similar to the awesome (and more expensive) NARS Velvet Matte Skin Tints, but with a touch less coverage and a more moisturizing formula.

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The Neutrogena Kerry Washington Essential Eye Palette Is on the Cusp of Greatness

May 3rd, 2018 by Karen 9 Comments

neutrogena kerry washington essential eye palette k2 — Lids by Neutrogena and Kerry Washington. I’m wearing the new Essential Eye Palette, which is only $12.99!

It’s not exactly a scandal… Get it? Haha… But I’m definitely getting Olivia Pope vibes from the poised, polished browns in Kerry’s chic new Neutrogena eye palette.

Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I’ve only seen a few episodes from the first season of Scandal (tried but didn’t really get into it), but I remember loving the clothes, like the all-white ensembles! The stiletto pumps! The bags!

Oh, THE BAGS. Olivia Pope’s character dresses like she eats nails for breakfast, and I LIKE IT. No matter what she wears, though, her makeup always looks sophisticated, so yeah, definitely see her wearing this palette.

It has five powder eyeshadows, all in surprisingly cool neutral tones, which is so refreshing betwixt all of the orange and reddish neutral palettes all over the place these days.

neutrogena kerry washington essential eye palette swatches — Swatches of the Neutrogena Kerry Washington Essential Eye Palette

I mean, I like fun warm tones, too, but when you have a slightly hooded lid situation like I do, cool-toned browns are just so handy. They’re perfect for contouring a crease that isn’t very deep, but that really only works with shadows that have a semi-matte or matte finish, because when you’re using them this way, you don’t want them to reflect a lot of light.

I thought Kerry’s palette would focus on semi-matte or satin finishes, but it does not. On my skin, the shadows are shiny… Actually, borderline frosty, even. And they seem to get progressively shinier as I blend.

All of them are moderately pigmented, which I like because I’m not apt to over-apply, and they’re relatively easy to blend (compared to intensely pigmented shadows), but once I get a brush up in the mix and start buffing away, the color diffuses pretty quickly, leaving behind a shiny opalescent finish that highlights every mother-lovin’ line on my lids…

The only one that doesn’t do this is the dark bronzed brown on the far right, and that one is EPIC.

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Neutrogena Essential Cheek Palette by Kerry Washington

April 30th, 2018 by Karen 6 Comments

neutrogena kerry washington essential cheek palette — Blush, bronzer and highlighter for the price of lunch!

As a font enthusiast/typography aficionado, I would like to point out that the “K” in Kerry Washington’s signature on the front of her new Neutrogena cheek palette merits my stamp of approval. I spent an inordinate amount of time — weeks, perhaps even years — perfecting the “K” in my signature, and IMHO, this is a good “K!”

neutrogena kerry washington essential cheek palette packaging — That’s a good K!

You probably know Kerry Washington from her role in Scandal, but did you also know that she was in one of my favorite movies from the ’90s, Save the Last Dance? And that she’s an ambassador for Neutrogena? And that her LE collection also has an eye palette? And a body wash?

I’ve watched this movie at least 50 times.

The cheek palette caught my eye because it looks a little like BECCA’s epic Chrissy palette (minus a highlighter), and in one way it’s similar — the pigmented peachy coral blush. It’s not nearly as shimmery as the BECCA blush, but the color’s almost a dead-on dupe.

Kerry’s blush is the most pigmented thing in the palette, by the way. It’s much more pigmented than both the bronzer and highlighter, so you’ll want to take it easy the first time you dab it on your sweet cherub cheeks.

neutrogena kerry washington essential cheek palette swatches — I wear Honey 85 in Neutrogena’s Hydro Boost Skin Tint, for reference.

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