What I Don't Use and Why

So many of my blog posts are dedicated towards products I recommend and to some extent favour but I don't think I have ever sat down and typed up a post full of products that I don't enjoy. No not specific products but rather categories of cosmetics and skin care that I go out of my way to avoid and why. I should point out as I do not purchase the below products all that often if ever, I don't have them to hand to photograph hence the somewhat generic shot above fron my archives.



Lipgloss
Admittedly I have a good few lip glosses rolling around my bag and make-up storage but very seldom other than testing purposes do I reach for them. Why? I personally dislike the texture, generally speaking they are sticky which is less than ideal when you have long hair and live in a city known for its less than sunny weather.

Aerosol Deodorant
Oddly I am allergic, it doesn't matter which brand I use sooner or later my underarms will react. This is only something that has happened in the last year or so, despite all my efforts there seems to be no spray on brand that I can use. The best thing for my skin is natural formulations which more often than not are roll-on's. I personally recommend the Melvita deodorant range, it is really gentle, free from nasties and effective. As a side note it has been said before that aerosol deodorants can cause cancer, anyone concerned about this risk should really read this article (by cancer specialists) to put their minds at ease - link.

Traditional Face Scrubs
I am heavy handed, which when it comes to scrubs does not bode well. I scrub far too harshly and irritate my complexion - no-one sets out to create red, inflamed and painful skin do they? It is safer for me to use acidic toners as they exfoliate gently leaving my skin soft and glowing. I also don't agree with the plastic exfoliating beads that certain brands use, environmentally they don't make sense but I will leave that research up to you.

Foaming Cleansers
As a teen and in my very early twenties all I used was a combination of facial wipes and foaming facial cleansers - whoops and whoops. Truthfully what others use on their skin is their business and if it works for you, great but foaming cleansers (generally speaking of course, there are exceptions to every rule) don't work for my skin type. Most will know I have oily and on occasion combination skin, the foaming agents in certain brands are simply too harsh and strip my skin of natural oils. The end result is either my skin produces more excess oil than normal to over compensate or it dry and flaky. Less than ideal, hardly surprising when some brands use a similar ingredient to that found in liquid soap i.e hand wash and dish soap. Lovely!

Black Khol Liner
I have small hooded eyes and typically I apply khol liners to my waterline, as someone with small eyes the last thing I want to do is optically reduce the size of my eyes. Don't get me wrong I have a few black khol liners within my stash but I tend to use them as eyeshadow bases rather than in the typical sense. If you have small eyes I can not recommend a nude or white khol liner for your waterlines enough!

Do you agree with anything above or would do you have completely different beauty products you avoid?