a few weeks ago, the fine people at aol asked me to serve on their panel of judges for the fall beauty awards in the skincare division. (for the record, when someone offers to ship you the lot of goodies show in the photo above, you don’t turn them down.) i will say that lending your face out to test this number of products is no laughing matter! it was a jam-packed couple of weeks, but it’s no surprise that i had a ball playing with the products looking to take the prize for best in lips, exfoliator, cleanser, night cream and moisturizer.
i loved all of aol’s selections for the nominees and landed on some early favorites. in lips, this new-to-me version of rose salve by c.o. bigelow was the clear winner. it’s moisturizing, long-lasting and makes a gorgeous addition to the nightstand. i am the biggest fan of the way that it smooths things out and leaves my lips feeling healthy and nourished in the mornings.
my favorites for cleanser and night treatment came from the same brand – gr8/skn – which i had never seen before. it’s a line made for teenagers, but when i tell you that these products waged an all out assault on my acne, i mean that the reduction in aggravated skin was impressive. the reset serum is my favorite product to come out of this little project. it’s a probiotic cream with the consistency similar to beaten eggs. slightly eww, but it does all kinds of heavenly things for my pre-pubescent skin (that’s actually 33).
my favorite exfoliator is still these pads from first aid beauty, so i was thrilled to see them in the mix. then for daytime moisturizer, i was most impressed with pca skin clearskin. it does what it says and while i needed to layer it underneath of my current favorite moisturizer, i do feel that it impacted my breakouts in a very positive way, protecting my sensitive skin and keeping my oil glands from going into overdrive.
participating in these awards was crazy fun and my skin thanks aol for all of the new products doing lovely things for my problematic face. you can view all of the winners in skin and other categories here!
