One of our favorite websites, InventorSpot, brought a new product to our attention: GlamGLow’s tingling face mask.  According to GlamGlow’s website the tagline for this product is “Tingle effect + exfoliation = sexy!” So it is an exfoliationg mask? Or is it a masking exfoliant? And why the heck does it tingle?  Let’s look at the label to find out.

GlamGlow Tingling Mud Mask Ingredients

Purified Water, Montmorillonite, Kaolin, Magnesium Aluminum Silicate, Polyethylene, Pumice, Camellia Sinensis Leaf, Camellia Oleifera Leaf Extract, Vitis Vinifera Extract, Chamomilla Recutita Flower Extract, Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract, Cucumis Sativus Fruit Extract, Hedera Helix Plant Extract, Symphytum Officinale Leaf Extract, Lavandula Hybrida Oil, Vegetable Glycerin, Aroma, Phenoxyethanol, Methylparaben, Butylparaben, Ethylparaben, Propylparaben, Isobutylparaben, Diazolidinyl Urea.

Contrary to what you might think, there are no menthol-type ingredients like you would find in a scalp tingling product. Instead, the tingling effect most likely comes from the abrasivity of the pumice and polyethylene beads combined with the skin tightening effect of the kaolin and Montmorillonite clays.

Ingredient inaccuracies

It’s also interesting to note (at least for those of you who care about such things) that a few of these ingredients are not listed accurately. (Hey, this is a Look at the Label post, so we get to nitpick stuff like that.) Anyway, “purified water” is not the officially allowed name since any water used in cosmetics is purified to some extent. Usually it’s deionized. I also think it’s entertaining that my spell checker wants to change “deionized” to “demonized.” But I digress… Another error is “Vegetable Glycerin.” The correct name is just glycerin. And finally “fragrance” is the proper name for any kind of scent, not “aroma.”
Image credit: GlamGlow.com

If you’re inclined to want your face to tingle while you’re scraping off its upper layers, you can buy GlamGlow by clicking the link below. You’ll also be supporting the Beauty Brains and that makes our insides all tingly.

Palacinka Beauty blogged about Ambi Even & Clear Exfoliating Wash and thinks it’s the the perfect choice if you have sensitive skin. Why oh why is it so good? Let’s look at the label! This is an over the counter acne drug product and it correctly lists the active drug ingredient first, followed by the “inactive” ingredients. Non-drug would be a better term since these ingredients do have function in the formula.

Ingredients

Active Ingredients:

Salicylic Acid (0.5%)
Acne Medication

Inactive Ingredients:

Butylene Glycol
Primary solvent or carrier for the product. (Normally that’s the role of water. Products made without water are called “anhydrous.”)

Cetearyl Alcohol
Emulsifier, thickener, bodyifier (is that even a word?)

Citric Acid
Adjusts pH

Fragrance
Sniff sniff

Glycine Soja Protein (Soybean)

Menthyl Lactate
Gives a cool tingly feeling. Sort of like listening to Kenny G. 

PEG 16 Soy Sterol
Emulsifier aka “mixing agent.”

Polyethylene
Gentle little scrubby beads. Many people prefer polyethylene beads to ground up walnut shells or bits of broken glass.  Also mentioned in a Beatles song as “Polyethylene Pam.” 

Polysorbate 60
Fragrance solubilizer

Potassium Cetyl Phosphate, PPG 15 Stearyl Ether
More emulsifiers.

Salicylic Acid
Did we talk about this already? Not sure why it’s listed twice.

Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate (Vitamin C)
Hey, who doesn’t love vitamins! But they won’t really do much from this rinse off product. It may be present to help protect the product from oxidizing. 

Steareth 21
A classic emulsifier. Used in a lot of hair conditioners. 

Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E)
See Vitamin C. (The ingredient, not the music star.)

Water
Probably carried in with another raw material at trace amounts because it looks like this is an anhydrous products. 

Xanthan Gum
Thickener. Or a chewing confection from outer space, not really sure. 

Image credit: Drugstore.com

Elle asks…I love to exfoliate and use face masks (not at the same time of course) and was wondering if using masks and exfoliators will counteract using a gradual self tanner on my face. It seems like as soon as I exfoliate, even if a day or two later, it would remove some of the self tanner I had applied, especially if it is of the gradual variety? What’s your take, should I ditch the self-tanner?

The Right Brain comments:
Good catch, Elle. Exfoliating does indeed remove the surface layers of skin that are darkened by self tanners. In fact, one of the tests used in this industry to show how well an exfoliater works is to stain the skin with a self tanner and then use a color measuring instrument to show that skin color gets lighter as it’s exfoliated.

Now, depending on how much you’re scrubbing your skin and how much you’re self tanning, you may or may not notice a difference. But in theory, it is a problem.

The Beauty Brains bottom line

Exfoliating does counteract self-tanning to some degree but you may be able to experiment and find the balance that’s right for you.

Back by popular demand: here’s our newest member, Forebrain, with another reference-laden post. Enjoy!

Julie’s cleansing question: I’ve read a lot about using baking soda to clean and exfoliate your face. Do you have any evidence this works either instead of a cleanser or for an acne treatment? Is there any down side? This is obviously much cheaper than all the fancy treatments out there if it works.

Forebrain’s favorable response:
I’m so glad you asked this question Julie, I’ve been hearing many great things about all the uses for baking soda as well, it’s use in natural skin care and especially with respect to its exfoliant and cleaning properties! The quick answer is that baking does in fact work as a great exfoliant and may be useful in treating acne. Read on for more details and how you should use it.

Chemical and Physical Exfoliants

Although many of you already know quite a bit about exfoliating, let’s quickly go over the process and some differences between the chemical and physical methods.

The point of exfoliation is to slough off the cells from the top layer of skin and reveal the younger, healthier cells underneath. Some exfoliants contain mild acids such as Alpha Hydroxy Acid (AHA for short), which help renew the skin layer by burning off some of the skin. The effectiveness of these chemical exfoliants depends on the acid concentration, with too low being not effective enough, and too high being damaging to the skin. Physical exfoliants (like brushes or scrubs) on the other hand remove the skin cells from the top layer by physically scraping them off. With physical exfoliants, the level of irritation and potential damage to skin becomes an issue when coarser methods like hard bristled brushes are used.

Baking soda (aka sodium bicarbonate) falls under the category of physical exfoliants, and what makes it especially effective is that it is a fine, yet hard powder, making it highly effective at removing the dead skin cells without causing excessive irritation. Chemically speaking, baking soda is acid neutral, and acts a mild buffer which means that it has the ability to neutralize other substances it comes in contact with that are acidic (like vinegar) or basic (like soap). Many people also believe that baking soda has cleaning properties; however, scientific evidence has shown that this is due to baking soda’s physically abrasive nature, and it is not an effective anti-microbial agent.

Exfoliating with baking soda

To reap the benefits of exfoliating with baking soda, add a teaspoon of the powder to your facial cleanser, mix well, and massage into skin like you would with a commercial exfoliant. Do this 2-3 times a week or as per your regular exfoliation routine. If you notice that your skin is red or irritated afterwards, try putting in less baking soda and use the treatment at night so that your skin has a chance to get back to normal while you sleep. Remember to always moisturize afterwards!

Baking soda as an acne treatment

While there are numerous testimonials in which people claim that baking soda cleared up their acne when nothing else helped, please remember to take these statements with a grain of salt. We don’t know what else that person had changed in their skin regimen; it’s possible that besides using baking soda they also started drinking more water, switched their cleanser or moisturizer, or maybe even changed the number of times they cleanse their skin per day. Seasonal changes and stress levels also have a very strong impact on how much and how noticeable your acne may be. However, there is some evidence that baking soda may be beneficial in treating acne since just the exfoliating properties of baking soda alone lead to an increased skin cell turnover rate making your acne look less noticeable. Plus, baking soda’s neutralizing properties maybe reduce redness of the skin also reducing the appearance of acne. If you want to try using baking soda as an acne treatment, my recommendation is to use one teaspoon of it in your cleanser at night to exfoliate your skin, as well as make a thicker paste of just baking soda and water and apply it to the acne as a mask for 5-10 minutes or overnight (beware, when it dries the mixture will crumble so you might up wake up to a messy pillow).

The Beauty Brains bottom line

In summary, all signs point to baking soda being an excellent and cheap physical exfoliant. It is ph neutral and a fine powder, which means that it will be gentle on your skin. Baking soda may also be useful in treating acne when made into a paste and applied to the affected areas although there is not as much scientific evidence to back that up. Please comment if you try out any baking soda treatments to let us know what they were and if they worked for you. And always remember to moisturize!

Fun fact: Did you know that baking soda was the primary cleaning agent in the restoration of the Statue of Liberty? Leave a comment and share your favorite statue and facial exfoliating tips wih the rest of the Beauty Brains community.

References:

Parnes, C.A. 1997. Efficacy of sodium hypochlorite bleach and “alternative” products in preventing transfer of bacteria to and from inanimate surfaces. Journal of Environmental Health, 59, 14-20.

http://www.alive.com/3744a1a2.php?subject_bread_cramb=76

http://www.acne.org/baking-soda-reviews/209/page1.html

http://www.meredy.com/nursetips/skinhealthtips.html

From The Beauty Brains Forum Member: Cate

Most everyone should know how important it is to exfoliate your skin to keep it bright, fresh, youthful and healthy. But if you don’t know here’s a quick overview. When you exfoliate, you remove old layers of skin cells that can dull your skin, thus brightening it. I am always looking for a good facial exfoliant and I was extremely please when I had the chance to try the Neutrogena Healthy Skin Rejuvenator Kit. From the Neutrogena website:

“For softer, more luminous skin today and firmer, younger-looking skin tomorrow, Neutrogena® Healthy Skin Rejuvenator Kit™ delivers noticeable results every time you use it. Even more effective than professional microdermabrasion, Healthy Skin Rejuvenator is a simple, convenient at-home system that features single-use puffs and the Neutrogena microdermabrasion applicator. Each puff is pre-dosed with ultra-fine crystals and mild purifiers for the perfect degree of gentle exfoliation. What’s more, the massaging micro-vibrations boost microcirculation and oxygenation for increased radiance, while surface stimulation increases cell turnover.”

The kit came with the microdermabrasion applicator, 12 rejuvenating puffs, puff attachment head, and 2 AA batteries. It was extremely easy to use. I just snapped the attachment head on to the applicator and then stuck a pre-dosed puff on the head. The directions say to massage for 1-2 minutes per facial area. Use it 3 times a week in place of your normal exfoliant.

I was given a full month’s supply of pre-dosed puffs. I wanted to get the most out of my experience and really see if there was a difference in the way my skin looked so I used it for the entire month every other day in the shower. It’s great because the applicator is waterproof. I just left everything in the shower when I was finished…except the puff that went into the trash.

My experience with this system was bittersweet. I have combination skin and this really dried out my entire face especially my cheeks. I really had to moisturize after using this. Also, I knocked down the length of time that I used the applicator in hopes of less drying. Instead of 1-2 minutes per facial area, I used it for about 1-2 minutes for my entire face. That being said, my face looked amazing and felt smoother. It was bright, clear and acne free. I felt fresh and barely wore any make-up…maybe just a little tinted moisturizer or some powder. I really love the way I looked, but didn’t love all the drying out in the process.

You can get the Neutrogena Healthy Skin Rejuvenator one-month starter kit for $39.99. Refill puffs are available in packs of 24 for between $18-$20. If you go to the Neutrogena website and register you can get a $5 off coupon for the Healthy Skin Rejuvenator Kit and a $3 off coupon for the refill puffs.

What do you think of the new beauty gadgets, like Neutrogena Healthy Skin Rejuvenator? Are they a flash in the pan fad or the future of beauty care? Leave a comment and let us know. Or, you can start a thread and talk to Cate directly in the Beauty Brains Forum. And if you’re interested in getting free goodies of your own, join the Forum now and show us you’ve got what it takes to be a Beauty Brainiac!