REVIEW || Acure Brightening Facial Scrub

Hello again! Today I'm reviewing Acure's Brightening Facial Scrub, as you can see from the title. I was sent this product for consideration, but this post is not sponsored, and I am always completely honest with my opinions. This is also not the first time I've tried out Acure products, and I've always liked them quite a lot! I had thought I'd written about more of the Acure products I had tried, but it seems like I only included one of them in a skincare favourites post, so I guess I have another review I should put on my list!

Anyways, onto the product at hand: the Acure brightening facial scrub is meant to be good for all skin types and says that it features argan stem cells and chlorella, as well as sea kelp and lemon peel (to gently exfoliate), French green clay (to remove impurities), and Madonna lily stem cells (to help brighten). Acure products are always full of great ingredients, though, and this one also contains acai, blackberry, pomegranate, and rosehips fruit extracts, chamomile and calendula flower extracts, rooibos, sage, and spearmintleaf extracts, walnut shell flour, and olive oil. It's cruelty-, paraben-, and sulfate-free, and also vegan, so it's safe for just about everyone in that way as well!

So, my thoughts? First off, this stuff smells awesome! It's kind of a citrus-y, mint-y green tea scent, in my opinion, which just comes from all the various extracts and ingredients, since this product doesn't contain any extra perfumes or fragrances, which is great, especially if you are scent-sitive like me. (See what I did there?) The scent is herbal, refreshing, and calming.

Aside from that, I really like the formula of this scrub, as well. It's got some good grit to it, but it is not too harsh. If you've ever used a face scrub that was a little too intense, you know how much that can hurt, but this doesn't do that; it isn't scratchy and doesn't hurt at all, it just sort of gently massages away impurities and dead skin. It doesn't strip your skin of all it's natural oils, either. Some face washes and exfoliators can leave my skin begging for moisturizer, but this leaves me feeling clean and fresh, not tight and parched. I would agree that this is likely a good product for anyone for that reason: it doesn't dry or add moisture, it just leaves a clean, fresh canvas for whatever other products you want to follow up with, whether that's acne products, toners, or moisturizers.

Oh, and by the way, this isn't meant to be a daily scrub. I'm sure you could use it that way if you wanted, or especially for acne-prone or oily skin, but it recommends using it 3 times a week for best results.

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That's everything for this review! Let me know in the comments if you've tried anything from Acure and how you liked it! Also let me know your favourite face scrubs and washes. I like this one a lot, but I'm still not sure I've found my perfect face wash, so I'd love some suggestions!

Thanks for reading!

SKINCARE || Top 3 Favourite Body Moisturisers for Dry Winter Skin

Hey guys! I'll be the first to admit that I don't have a huge problem with dry skin, even in the winter months. Maybe I'm lucky, or maybe it's just that I don't spend a lot of time outside, but whatever it is, my skin stays pretty good on most of my body year round. That said, I do get dry patches on my face, hands, and legs. I could also moisturize A LOT more than I do... I hate the feeling of being sticky or greasy all over, so I very rarely moisturize my whole body at once, instead sticking to spot treatments on dry areas or just moisturizing my hands, legs, or arms. Oh, and since I got my tattoo, that left shoulder has been pretty nicely taken care of too...!

So with all of that in mind, I wanted to share with you some of my favourite, go-to moisturizers this winter. Some are great for spot treating dry patches, some are just great at moisturizing without feeling greasy, sticky, or heavy... but all of them are really good, hydrating products I think anyone could use! Now, without any more ado, let's get into the products:

1. Lubriderm Unscented Lotion for Normal to Dry Skin

Pretty basic stuff, I know, but so good at its job! I bought this for my tattoo's aftercare, but I've also taken to using this for any really dry spots. It's a water based lotion, so it isn't greasy, and it's thick and hydrating without being heavy or too much. Plus, it has no perfumes or fragrance, so you can use it anywhere, as much as you want. Aside from Vitamin B5, it doesn't boast any fancy, trendy ingredients, so I feel like many people might overlook this stuff as old-school or too basic, or whatever, but it honestly really does its job well. Apart from my tattoo, I've been using this mainly on my hands and knees, but I've also used it on my lips to great success, and it doesn't taste like anything! I mean, don't try to eat it, but it won't be end-of-the-world awful if you get some in your mouth!

2. Acure Ultra-Hydrating Body Lotion

I've loved both products I've tried from this company so far, and I love their cute, snarky packaging. This was sent to me to test out, but I've honestly fallen in love with it. This one is a fragrance-free lotion with loads of good ingredients like cocoa butter, CoQ10, evening primrose, argan oil, acai extract, chamomile, and aloe, to name a few. This stuff is kinda weird—in a great way!— because it comes out looking like a thick creamy lotion, but as soon as you start to rub it into your skin, it's like it dissolves into this water-like texture and absorbs immediately! And it's super hydrating, my skin feels immediately softer and healthy after using it. It's gentle and soothing, and again I love that it has no scent, so I have no problems using as much as needed anywhere on my body. Since it's healed, I've been using it to keep my tattoo'd skin soft, and to try to get some hydration back into my peeling palms. I think it makes a great hand lotion, also, because of how quickly it absorbs!

3. Jergens Green Tea After-Shower Moisturizer

I know I've mentioned this one before, but I had to include it in this post, since it's the only moisturizer I can make myself use on my whole body! It goes on right after the shower on your wet skin, so a little goes a long way, it seals the moisture right into your skin, and once it's all rubbed in, you gently pat away any excess water on your skin (don't rub or you'll be taking lotion off too!). It does stay a bit sheen-y and almost oily for a little while, but it isn't heavy and your skin will feel so good you won't mind. It does soak in quickly, though, as the rest of the excess water on your skin air dries. It isn't a heavy moisturizer, and I can even bring myself to use it in the summer because the green tea scent feels light and cooling, but any hydration you can add to your skin in the winter is good too, so I wanted to include this for anyone like me who hates moisturizing your whole body. Maybe this can work for you too! I did receive this product from an LDBeauty event, but the fact that I'm still using it, I think speaks for itself.

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To be honest, I was going to make this a Top 5 post and include 2 more products, but I realised as I was writing this that I really only had 3 I wanted to tell you about, and to add 2 more I would have been fishing around for products I don't truly love as much. There are a couple of lighter body lotions I really love, but I don't really feel like they're winter moisturizers; maybe I'll try to do another post like this in the summer! So I'm stopping here.

Let me what your favourite moisturizers are for the dry winter weather, especially if they feel light, absorb quickly, are fragrance free, or smell amazing.

Thanks for watching!