I Feel Pretty Products New Cleansers - Review
EDS Skin Care Forums Forum Index » DIY and Home-based Company Skincare Product Reviews

free skin care · Sun Jan 28, 2007 1:12 pm

I know some people were asking about these products, so I just wanted to add a quick review here.

For the past two weeks I have been using both of the new cleansers from the I Feel Pretty line. http://www.ifeelprettyproducts.com/facial.htm

Two products are available.

Pure & Pretty Clarifying Cleanser for for oily/acne-prone skin

Pure & Pretty Gentle Cleanser for all skintypes incluiding sensitive, oily, dry, mature

My skin is acne prone, used to be super oily. I have now normalized skin due to current skin care regiment. Now it is basically normal, slightly oilier in the T zone, but not bad. Hormonal breakouts only once a month, though I am slowing improving this as well. LOL

I personally prefer to avoid harsh cleansers/detergents and those with high pH to minimize acid mantle damage, protein damage, and stripping issues. Which contributed to my past super oily and pimply skin.

Ingredients:

Both cleansers are pH 4-6 and SLS free. They use a mild non-irritating natural surfactant. Plantapon or poly decyl glucoside carboxylate which is a new group of surfactants known as polyglucosides.

They both contain essential oils, and botanicals that aim at healing and normalizing the skin without irritation or pore clogging.

This gives you a mild cleanser that does not strip or damage the fragile acid mantle on the skin. And can be maintained at a lower pH then typical stronger Sulfate cleansers.

Performance:

These products do have some low foaming effect, but not as heavy as commonly seen in drugstore SLS based detergents. So though it will foam a little with water, these are not “foamy” products. (remember foam does not clean skin)

Both products left skin feeling cleansed, slightly moist, but neither dry or tight or striped. Neither caused breakouts or irritation or dryness. Even when used twice a day. (Normally I only wash skin with a cleanser once a day)

Both have a light herbaly scent, from the plant extracts used. No added fragrances.

Gentle Cleanser was an Herbally Grassy, wild flower scent.

Clarifying Clenser was Citrus/Herbal scented

Makeup Removal:

Thick sunscreen lotion removed well in one cleansing coat.

Mineral Make-ups and bronzers removed well in one wash step.

I found both did remove a heavy silicon based foundation, with finish powder, and eye makeup fairly good. But a second coat was needed to remove all traces of eye makeup.

I do use a microfiber cloth for rinse wash off. For those who have used the Azulene or Tea Tree Cleanser from Geografx – it was similar in removal.

Tips:

Normally to remove all heavy high silicone foundation makeup with these type of cleansers I do the following.

Apply a skin friendly oil to entire face and eyes to loosen all makeup. Rub around. Let soak a minute, which allowing tap water to warm, and wetting microfiber cloth or washcloth.
Set warm wetted cloth aside.
Pour cleanser into wet hand and work with water to create a bit of foam. (you won’t get much) Then rub onto face etc with fingertips.
Then wipe all off well with Microfiber cloth.
Rinse cloth and go over skin again for final rinse off.

Or do one wash as above, without oil step.
Then after washing off product from skin with cloth, soap up a second time and do a final rinse off. So do two soap and rinse steps.

Either of these methods have always removed all foundation and eye makeup with even the mildest cleansers.

One could of course go over skin with a mild non irritant, alcohol free toner. Or a VERY dilute Apple Cidar Vinegar and water tone for a final cleanse. But if I do the steps above, I find that is not needed.

I liked both products. Wink

free skin care · Tue Feb 13, 2007 5:44 am

The IFP BHA can be used as a toner, but depending on skin type it can be too harsh for daily or twice daily use. But if you can use it daily that’s fine. Though twice daily can be too much for most. This is why it’s not normally used as a toner. But it certainly can be.

A toner is not technically necessary at all. A toner is not really a benefit itself normally, as the skin will lower is pH all by itself in 20-30 minutes – even if you do nothing. Remember when you shower, water pH is 7.0. So it also raises the skin pH to 7.0 (which is neutral) for 20 minutes or so, that’s normal. Neutral pH is not skin stressful for short times. The skin can handle that unless it is very very fragile or damaged.

Unless your activates are pH sensitive, (acids for example) you don’t need the toner. Skin pH at a shorter time higher level (around neutral) in itself is not bad, assuming we are not talking 13 pH or something. (anything over neutral)

Ideally you should always aim to use products, especially cleansers, with the same pH as skin roughly 4.5 – 5.5 range And aim for pH below 7.0 on other products. (as close to skin range as possible) Lower is better, Not higher.

It is the combo of harsh ingredients/detergents etc and high pH that really does a real number on the skin. But that does it in a split second, so adding the toner after removing the harsh detergents and cleanser, really is “closing the barn door AFTER the horse has left” The damage has already been done.

Much better to not use harsh cleansers at all, and especially those with a pH above 5.0 range. Because higher then that is more stressful on the skin, especially when combined with harsh mantle or oil stripping ingredients. (which cleansers in most cases are).
Because the cleansers strip the skin, they remove any surface protection the skin has, to harsh ingredients – so it is very vulnerable.
(the skin acid mantle is made of skin cells, oils, and proteins, and help skin maintain its health, prevents penitration of harsh ingrediants, and germs, and plays a role in regulation of oil production, moisture holding etc)
Then you add a harsh ingredient on that “unprotected” skin – like a strong detergent, it swiftly penetrates to the uppermost skin layers and cell damage, and irritation at a cell level starts.

But some toners are a treatment, like IFP – which is fine. Paula’s Choice also has one, in her toners, or BHA or AHA liquids.

However YOU must have a cleanser of 5.0 range or less pH. If you cleanser is above 5.0 – You MUST wait 20-30 minutes after cleansing to use your BHA or AHA acids.

10 -15 minutes may not be enough, because the skin takes about 20-30 minutes to drop its pH from a high level back down to 5.0 range. If you cleanser is say 7.0 pH. Its takes skin 20-30 min too return down to 5.5.

Apply any BHA or AHA before the skin has dropped pH, means the acid (which needs a pH of 3.0 or less) must now spend minutes dropping the skin pH from a high level down to a level the acid can work at, which is 3.0 or less.

During that time, your acid does not exfoliate at all. And if it takes 20 minutes to drop that low, you are only left with 10 minutes of exfoliation action (assuming you rinse or apply another product 30 min after your acid) Exfoliation will only work the first 30 minutes of acid use. After that its really only and anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant.

(If you acid pH is over 3.0 it is ineffective. A surprising number of companys distribute acid treatments with to high a pH. 4.0 for example. Which means you have really wasted you money, because the product will have very poor exfoliation action.
Acid wash products are also poorly effective, as you rinse all the acid off, when you rinse off your cleanser. A leave on product is better.)

If you use your toner as a second step in your cleanse process, you should either cleanse twice with a mild low pH cleanser. Or use a micro fiber cloth to rinse off your cleanser. Skin should not be squeaky clean, many try to over cleanse skin. You should remove makeup, but skin should feel moist and soft when finished not stripped.

If you really feel you need a toner to finish cleaning, use a mild toner at a pH range of 5.0, with non irritant ingredients. (no alcohols, menthols, camphor’s, peppermints etc.) Paula’s Choice makes one. Nivea Visage, and Neutrogena both make mild Alcohol Free toners, that are non irritating.

Or you can make your own with distilled water, and VERY dilute Apply Cider Vinegar mix. (1/2 to 1 oz of ACV to 3 ounces of water) Stronger can be irritating and drying.

So ideally, if you don’t know pH, it should be

This can change a bit if you have pH sensitive activates those that cannot be layered over anything, like Retin A,.

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