Sea Kelp Ultramarine

 

  This jar of lovely bubbly blue gel has to be one of my favorite Skin Actives products so far! Just looking at it is almost soothing. 

As with most of Skin Active's products, the Sea Kelp Ultramarine can also be used by male or female and anyone from children to the elderly can reap the benefits lying in the jar!

I first have to say, this is not, I repeat not your average face mask. It won't burn or irritate your skin and will not leave it as dry as the desert when it's rinsed away. 

What it will do however, is leave you with glowy, smooth, pore-reduced, firm and even skin. Not only that, but unlike your drugstore masks, the Sea Kelp Ultramarine's lovely benefits will not diminish after a few hours. Is it only me or have y'all had those results with most masks? It's like right when you rinse a mask off your face looks nice or at least better and by the time you've slept for a couple of hours your skin's right back to normal! Enlarged pores, redness, etc. I hate that!

Thankfully, you won't need to use the Sea Kelp Ultramarine daily although you certainly could. Once a week has kept my skin looking great, but I will probably use it a couple extra days this week since I've had some sort of freak breakouts suddenly. Why does it seem like I've written that sentence a lot? Maybe I have these freak breakouts more often than I though. Crap.

Anyways, what I love about the Sea Kelp Ultramarine is the cool soothing and redness, inflammation reducing properties. It's what I'll run to when my skin acts up!

You only need a small amount to totally cover your face/neck and it does not burn! I feel a little cooling, but nothing irritating. I've actually had some "mud masks" as well as others burn the skin off of my face. Really! The Sea Kelp Ultramarine cleans so deep into the pores that I could swear they feel cleaner! It tightens and closes everything up and leaves you with the nicest clean, dewy glow! A major plus, you aren't left with dried out skin.

If you've had inflammation, acne or irritation, the Sea Kelp mask works wonders. Once it has dried and you are ready for it to come off simply rinse or wipe away with a warm wash cloth! That's another thing that really impressed me. Being able to rinse it away quickly without having bits stuck all over my face was so convenient.

According to Skin Actives this works as a moisturizer too. It does in fact leave you with moisturized skin, but since it dries like a mask, I wouldn't use it as a lotion. It will peel off easily too.

The other night I was so exhausted and I had washed my face and applied the Sea Kelp Ultramarine and planned to get in the shower when it dried. I was reading and ended up passing out for several hours with the mask on. I'm not sure if leaving it on for so long helped, but I appreciated how nice my skin looked the next AM due to my crashing!

WHO, WHAT AND HOW?
The Sea Kelp Ultramarine is good for normal, oily and dry skin and combination skin. You can use it all over the body, hair, eyebrows, lashes, eyes, hands, lips, etc. I'm a little worried about using this on my eyes as It'd be a pain if it got inside and I've had terrible eye irritation lately and I'm finally getting over that. 

Another awesome thing about the Sea Kelp mask is that it can be used as a shave gel and it is paraben free so y'all paraben-haters, rejoice!

This product is supposed to be great for rosacea! You can even add water to it and turn it into a serum! In fact, I think I'll take a small amount of it and do just that. It will soften your hair and if used as a shave gel will prevent nicks and if used after shaving it'll help with irritation and redness, red bumpies! Like I said, a very soothing Skin Active product. 


INGREDIENTS:

Lactobacillus/kelp ferment filtrate, Porphyridium extract,  Laminaria japonica extract, Arthrospira extract.

 Check out Skin Actives to see this as well as many, many other products for any skincare need!


*Too see more info on sponsored reviews see my disclosure page and honesty pledge at the top.*

Ultramarine Nutrient Serum

 The Ultramarine Nutrient Serum is another lovely product from Skin Actives. It comes in a very convenient bottle with a eye dropper style lid so you can easily grab the amount you need in a second. In the second photo you can somewhat see the consistency, texture and color of the Serum. It is white like a moisturizer and somewhere between a thin moisturizer and serum in texture. It's smooth and leaves no greasy or sticky residue behind. 

 This too is a product that can be used by children to the elderly and both male and female. Very versatile and a product that can benefit the whole family. 

 INGREDIENTS:

 Distilled water, Lactobacillus/kelp ferment filtrate (and) Porphyridium extract (and) Laminaria japonica extract (and) Arthrospira extract., Sodium PCA, Alpha Bisabolol (natural), Coconut Endosperm, Natural Active Peptides, Sodium Hyaluronate, Guaizulene, Propylene Glycol, Diazolidinyl Urea, Methylparaben (and) Propylparaben.

  The Ultramarine Nutrient Serum applies and dries quickly and easily and can be used before applying makeup as it will not react negatively or roll up in those tiny balls like some moisturizers and serums. I like that this Nutrient Serum never leaves a thick residue on my face. It can be used for dry skin, combination, oily and normal so this will fit most skin types wonderfully. I can't think of any skin type or person that couldn't benefit in some way by the Nutrient Serum.

Like the Ultramarine Sea Kelp mask, this too can be used as aftershave or as a mask. I like to apply some any time I need it, night or day and leave it on all day or night. Since it will go on without peeling or drying you out or leaving residue, it's great for a quick application while giving your skin what it needs.

The Ultramarine Nutrient Serum is amazing for any inflammation, redness or irritation. I just had this enormous cyst like bump come up on my nose and it's terribly painful and it's the type that does not go away no matter what. I decided to try some of the Nutrient Serum on the area as well as another inflamed bump and the huge cyst-like bump has drastically gone down in swelling and I am telling you, it's unbelievably miraculous! That huge bump had the entire side of my nose swelled up and it hurt so bad just to touch it. I applied the serum maybe 12 hours ago and there's no sign of that sucker! No swelling, no soreness, nothing! I love this stuff.

I used to get these cyst-like nightmares on my nose as a teen and goodness they're awful. I've never ever found anything that would actually help those until today. It's pretty amazing! I have no idea what it is that worked such a miracle.

I also added some of the Antioxidant Booster to the area a while after letting the Nutrient Serum absorb and that may have had some great effects on the bump as well. All I know is that if it done something that major, then there's truly no telling what else it is capable of. I won't hesitate to use this stuff daily. 

It also works as an antihistamine as well as helping with atopic dermatitis, inflammation and sun damage. This, my lovelies, is some powerful stuff! Once it cleared my awful bumps, I was recommending it immediately. The 12 year old has some break outs recently and I can't wait to try this out on his forehead! 

Here's what Skin Actives has to say:

" The objective of our marine serum is to alleviate inflammation and soothe the skin. It helps with mosquito bites, after shaving and sun after-effects.

This is the perfect nutritive base for users with oilier skin types. It is the perfect base for KGF, EGF, and our other water soluble actives. It provides all the advantages of our Sea Kelp Ultramarine but is easier to work with in terms of dissolving actives. It can be layered with our ELS Base Serum to achieve a perfect wet/dry balance. This serum has a beautiful blue tinge, thanks to Guaiazulene, which also gives it anti-inflammatory benefits."

The Ultramarine Nutrient Serum can be used alone or mixed with other actives like the Antioxidant Booster. ALA will not dissolve in this product though.

I absolutely recommend this lovely serum to anybody who wants healthier skin or has inflammation or anything I've mentioned here. Even if all it does is clear up those awful red bumps, I'll be totally satisfied. I'm positive that it'll help in so many ways and will update y'all each time I have results!

You can find the Ultramarine Nutrient Serum at Skin Actives as well as products for any skincare need you may possibly have! Have fun and if you do use any of the products from Skin Actives, share your results! I'd love to have some recommendations from you guys. I've used several of their products, but am always happy to try more!

*For more info on sponsored reviews see my disclosure page. Honesty pledge can be read at the top of this page!*

Coffee for your face!

 

 This yellow creamy, butter-looking stuff in a jar happens to be the Coffee Antioxidant Cream from you guessed it, Skin Actives!

  While the color may be a bit unusual and the scent a tiny bit like chicken noode soup, the Coffee Antioxidant Cream has more benefits than you may have thought. 

  I'll start by telling you what, who and how. 

The Coffee Antioxidant Cream can be used by both male and female and on the body as well as the face. 

I was really interested in trying this sample of the Coffee Antioxidant Cream after doing some research on coffee and reading a little about the benefits it possibly has for skin. I had to know how well my skin would react.

Since the Coffee Antioxidant Cream can be used on oily, dry, normal or combination skin, it was a perfect choice for me as my skin varies from week to week.


As you would assume from the name of this cream, it is rich in antioxidants. According to Skin Actives, the Coffee Antioxidant Cream can do the following:


- Prevent oxidative damage.
- Prevent cancer! (A must!)
- Nourish the skin.
- Promote cellular health and function.
- Prevent Vitiligo
- Moisturize skin.


Here is what Skin Actives has to say about it:
  "This is a super anti-oxidant cream, harnessing the amazing anti-oxidant properties of the coffee fruit and complementing them with our Anti-Oxidant Booster and Superoxide Dismutase and several other actives. This  is the equivalent of our CHAS Serum in a cream form.The coffee fruit (cherry) has similar chemicals to those found in the seed (the coffee we drink) but it is not used much because of its bitterness. Chemicals found in the cherry: Caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, trigonelline, ferulic acid, quinic acid and more."

The antioxidant booster they refer to in the above paragraph is a tube of red, somewhat greasy liquid that contains antioxidants. This stuff can be mixed with your other creams from Skin Actives such as the Coffee Cream and Canvas Base cream which I previously talked about. You can put a little on your face without mixing it with something. I prefer mixing with the other creams because then you're getting double the benefits and then some.

HOW?
Simple. Apply the Coffee Cream to your face, body, neck or wherever you choose once or twice daily on clean skin. I shower before bed so I use it after the shower. This is a great idea because your skin works when you sleep to repair itself and all that wonderful stuff so topping it with the beneficial cream while you sleep will really help you reap those benefits.

Oh, and incase y'all were curious about what vitiligo is, it's actually a skin disorder where the skin has discoloration. Whiter areas than the rest of your face. The Coffee Cream prevents and can help with that specific condition which is nice because I don't think I've ever known of any other skincare products that do this. I also think it could help with those areas where your skin is darker than the rest of your face. It's common to have that in places like around the mouth. I had suddenly been experiencing it for months and it looked really weird and I had no clue what caused it, but recently came to the conclusion that it may have been caused from the injections I take. It did clear up completely though. 

INGREDIENTS:

 Water, Jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis) seed oil, Sorbitol, Butylene glycol, Cetyl alcohol, Glyceryl Stearate, PEG-100 Stearate, Stearyl alcohol, Rosehip oil (Rosa affinis rubiginosa), Sesame (Sesamum indicum) Seed Oil, sweet almond (Prunus amygdalus dulcis) oil, Avocado (Persea gratissima) oil, Sodium hyaluronate, Coffee (Coffea arabica) fruit extract, EGCG from green tea, Ascorbyl palmitate, Coenzyme Q10, Ellagic acid, alpha lipoic acid, Grape seed proanthocyanidins, Resveratrol, tetrahydrocurcuminoids, glutathione, superoxide dismutase, glutaredoxin, Pomegranate (Punica granatum) Seed Oil and Astaxanthin and Tocotrienols and Lycopene and alpha D-Tocopherol and Thioctic Acid and Lutein, Polysorbate 20, Citric acid, Dimethicone, Carbomer, Triethanolamine, Diazolidinyl urea, phenoxyethanol, methylparaben, propylparaben.

As you can see, this is one of the Skin Active products that contain parabens. Not many people are sensitive to them, but if you are you may want to proceed using with caution. I've never had a bad reaction to using products with them, but some people prefer not to. 

I can't say for sure how accurate this is, but I have read that coffee in skincare can be very, very good for preventing signs of aging! I have read that just at random, unknown places online, not actually somewhere totally legit so I can't say 100% but it's totally worth it anyway.


I've also read that it will protect your skin from free radicals. As for my results, I'm still using my sample of the cream, but it does soften and smooth my skin like nothing else! It feels wonderful. 


This, like the Canvas Base Cream tends to roll up in tiny balls if you use too much. I found that it hardly reacted in that way as much as the canvas cream did so if you're looking for something you can use before applying makeup, the Coffee Cream is just fine. I just have to make sure I don't get too coffee cream happy and over use. If I use just enough for a light layer, I have no cream balls. It won't roll off my skin when I rub or apply makeup.


As the photo shows, the Coffee Antioxidant Cream is very yellow in color. It has the texture and consistency of your average moisturizer. There's no noticeable scent unless you hold it under your nose. To me, it has a very faint scent and smells like chicken noodle soup! Lol. My cats and weiner dog must have thought so too because they were trying to lick my face! Ha. Ha.


I actually have no idea why, but everytime I use any Skin Active product, my cats sniff and try licking my face! It's so weird and cute. The lip collagen even had that effect!






If there are any changes, I'll certainly update on the Coffee Cream. For now, I'm loving how smooth and soft my skin is after using it!






*FOR MORE INFORMATION ON SPONSORED REVIEWS SEE MY DISCLOSURE PAGE. VIEW HONESTY PLEDGE AT THE TOP OF THIS PAGE.*

The Dream Cream

The Dream Cream from Skin Actives is a moisturizer with additional benefits, which I'll discuss in a moment. First let me tell you a small bit about Skin Actives:
Skin Actives has what seems to be a truly endless variety of products for absolutely any skincare need you may have. How is that even possible? Because Skin Actives offers specific products such as the Canvas Base Cream which I'll review soon, that you can mix your very own "actives" in. This may be a little confusing at first, but you have the kind, knowledgeable customer service as well as forums where you can get advice from other users. You can purchase actives for you cream, cleanser or serum and mix to meet your own personal needs. I'm a perfume mixer, but I'm not so expert when it comes to mixing and creating your own skincare product. However, I'm learning and working on trying different things from Skin Actives. I'll be reviewing some that I already have (samples) and then when I've used enough of the samples to know what I'll need, I'll purchase that and let you know how it goes!


You have a lot to choose from with Skin Actives. Rosacea, Eczema and more and more and more! Like I said, I'm not very experienced in mixing the actives or knowing what it is I need just yet and that's why I stuck with sampling some of the pre-made products. Yes, you can buy Skin Active's ready-to-use products! You may already know what actives you want to use, but if not, I encourage you to check into what others have to say. See what others with the same conditions (acne, rosacea, etc) recommend on the Skin Actives forums! They are customers too and share what they like best.
 


What does Dream Cream do?

  

Why, I'm so glad you asked! (Ha.) The Dream Cream is a good, paraben-free moisturizer choice for those who suffer from very dry skin, (ME!)  psoriasis, eczema, rosacea. This has to be the best moisturizer I've used for my dry skin that doesn't leave some type of residue or problem. 

 You can also use Dream Cream around for a cuticle softener and the like. It works wonderfully for softening the cuticles before removal during a manicure/pedicure! 

 Based on my own experience and results with the Dream Cream, I would label it as an intensive, great long-term moisturizer. Usually I rarely will refer to a moisturizer as so great because it's so hard to find one that will really make a difference for my dry skin. 

  The Dream Cream can be used on dry skin, combination skin and normal skin types. As far as oily skin types using Dream Cream, you'll just have to use your best judgement here. For my oily T-zone, the cream did not make it worse or cause break-outs. If you recognize specific ingredients though, that do tend to cause your skin problems then you may want to choose something else, but I'm pretty confident that most skin would respond well to this.

 Skin Actives says that the Dream Cream can be used from basically babies to elders! That's pretty awesome. Babies, teens, those in their 20's-30's, 40's-50's and 60 years of age can benefit well from this.

INGREDIENTS:

 Water, Jojoba Seed (Simmondsia chinensis) Oil, Sea Kelp Bioferment, Shea Butter, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Squalane, Polysorbate 60, Sorbitol, Butylene Glycol, Glyceryl Stearate, Cetyl Alcohol, C14-22 Alcohols, C12-20 Alkyl Glucoside, Stearyl Alcohol, Rosehip Seed Oil, Sesame Seed (Sesamum indicum) Oil, Sweet Almond (Prunus amygdalus dulcis) Oil, Avocado Seed (Persea gratissima) Oil, Coconut Endosperm (Cocos nucifera), Ceramides, Tetrahydrocurcuminoids, Natural Active Peptides, Coenzyme Q10, Sodium Hyaluronate, Pomegranate Seed (Punica granatum) Oil, Astaxanthin, Lycopene, Alpha-D-tocopherol, Tocotrienols, Lutein, Alpha Lipoic Acid, Citric Acid, Xanthan Gum, Potassium Sorbate, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol. 

This dream cream contains SAS antiOx booster with the best lycopene, lutein and more, the antioxidant benefits of cumin (in tetrahydrocurcuminoids), complete nutrition provided by sea kelp bioferment and coconut endosperm, plus the emolliency of shea butter and the essential fatty acids of rosehip oil.

The Dream Cream has a wonderful whipped/mousse like texture and is so rich! When I first began using it, I was used to having to use a large amount of my normal moisturizer so I plunged my fingers in the Dream Cream expecting to need that much and ended up having to put half of it back in the jar! That's a good thing because it means you don't need much of the cream to cover your face. The rich and super creamy cream spreads nicely and evenly over the face.

I like to apply moisturizer before bed and immediately before applying makeup and sometimes I even mix the moisturizer with my foundation so it's necessary to have one that won't interfere negatively with the makeup. Dream Cream creates a nice surface for even application and won't add that shine/greasy look to your face! As for mixing Dream Cream with my foundation, that's not working for me. I have found a better way to actually reap the benefits though.

The problem was, when I would rub it into my face, the Dream Cream would roll up into little Dreamy, Creamy balls! I hate when that happens. The first time I used it, it did not do that, but as I've continued using only the Dream Cream (no other moisturizers or products except my makeup and face wash) it keeps doing that.

So instead, I went back to my old Lumene moisturizer today for mixing into my foundation and it's OK because it doesn't roll up in balls, but it leaves my face shiny as heck. Then I have to add lots of powder to reduce the Lumene grease.

I mentioned that I did not use Dream Cream in combination with any other product. That's because I want to be able to give accurate info on the specific product alone. I do this any time I use a new skincare product. Then, I'll put it in with my other products/routine if needed.

Today I changed it up and had to add the other moisturizer for my foundation. I started using the Dream Cream a few hours before I apply the foundation for the past couple of days so that my foundation won't roll up in balls too. That worked out really well! I could even do this before bed and then wipe the rolly balls off in the AM before makeup. When I did this, even though a lot of it rolled off in those balls, my skin is very velvety and smooth and has a nice, matte finish. This is after using the cream and before using foundation. So I know it's doing nice things for my skin, but it's just not compatible with makeup. Since I'm really liking the results of the soft, smooth and nice looking skin, I'll continue to use it and then let the rolly balls do their thing and then go on with my day.

Everyone may not experience what I did, but I never wash the Dream Cream off due to the way it rolls up. I just use my hands to rub the little balls off that way I'm not removing the Dream Cream entirely.

The Dream Cream can be used on your  face, hands and body.The Dream Cream does not contain parabens which is awesome and if you're a person that's sensitive to parabens or prefers not to use products that contain them, this is absolutely perfect.

Skin Actives says:

NOTE:

Cream may settle during shipping. If this happens use a hand whisk to whip it back to its original texture then place the cream in the fridge for three or four hours.



*To learn more about my sponsored reviews see my disclosure page and you can view my honesty pledge at the top of this page!* 

Lip Collagen Serum

The Lip Collagen Serum is also a Skin Actives product. Don't let the color fool you, this stuff isn't actually brown on the lips, but goes on clear and smooth. 

If you're looking to smooth things out, have a healthier set of kissers and need to prevent or heal dry, chapped lips, the Lip Collagen Serum just may be your miracle. 

I actually have never heard of or seen a lip product that does what Skin Active's lip collagen product does. It's very unique and has some amazing benefits. 

You know those lines you get in your lips and around them? The Lip Collagen Serum reduces those and creates smoother, softer and healthier lips. I didn't know what to expect from it at first. I wondered if it would feel thick and glossy or stick (hate that!) or like chap stick. I had no idea! So I was too excited to slick it on my lips. 

It feels very liquidy and runny. That was a surprise for me and the color goes on clear and dries instantly. Since there's no residue or glossy finish left on the lips, both men and women can use the Lip Collagen Serum.

At first it simply feels like wet lips. It really doesn't have a scent and hardly a taste. Most people would never notice the taste, but since I was curious, I licked my lips right after applying the Lip Collagen Serum and it had a subtle hint of something. The only thing I could think of that it resembled was the light taste you get after licking an envelope. Nothing that will get your attention unless you are deliberately trying to taste it. This diminishes seconds after applying and your lips are left feeling like lips! No gloss, thick residue or shine. It felt as if it just disappeared until I touched them with my fingers and could notice a sort of squishyness to them. That made it clear that the lip serum was absorbed and working only without leaving you sticky.

I have the habit of picking at my lips and it leaves them dry and scabby so I have to use a chapstick or gloss of some sort to help heal them and moisturize them. I hate chapped lips and if I feel any skin there, I pick! My lovie is always getting on me about it. Many times I don't even notice that I'm doing it and he tells me that my lips are "too pretty to pick and destroy." How nice! 

I used the Lip Collagen Serum for the first time right before leaving the house and later in the car went to picking and there wasn't anything to pick! The skin wasn't scabby and dry! I'm really liking that and am hoping that with further use of the serum, I'll be able to kick the lip-pickin'-habit! Needless to say, my lovie is all for making sure I keep this stuff around. He's hoping it'll keep the skin healed and I'll be less likely to pick as well. 

The Lip Collagen Serum can be used by anybody 20 years of age and up and I believe most of us could benefit from it. It's great for healing and soothing as well as smoothing out those lines. 

It is antioxidant rich properties as well as anti-aging (yippee!) and increases collagen synthesis. It also contains protective lipids and is supposed to help growth. That last part I'm positive it does! Remember. The lip-pickin' story? Yes, this stuff works great and it works fast!

INGREDIENTS:

Distilled water, cherry juice, sea kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) bioferment, pomegranate (Punica granatum) juice, sodium PCA, coconut (Cocos nucifera) endosperm, magnesium ascorbyl phosphate, sodium chondroitin sulfate, natural active peptides, fucoidan, L-carnosine, niacinamide, N-acetyl glucosamine, hyaluronic acid, liquorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra) extract, resveratrol, lycopene, epidermal growth factor, keratinocyte growth factor, stevia (Stevia rebaudiana) extract, propylene glycol, diazolidinyl urea, methylparaben (and) propylparaben

 You can find the Lip Collagen Serum as well as any skin care active or ready made product to fit your needs at Skin Actives.com!

For more info on sponsored reviews, see my honesty pledge and disclaimer page*