Alba Sea Mineral cleansing gel

When it comes to facial cleansers, I’m not really loyal to anything.  I used Mary Kay for almost ten years faithfully, but now that I’m no longer using it, I find that it’s a lot of fun to switch up cleansers every time I need a new one.  My only requirements are that a cleanser needs to clean normal to oily skin well without it feeling like it’s been stripped and that it keeps my face relatively acne free.  Since my skin’s pretty easy to get along with, most cleansers are going to work within those requirements.

Sea Mineral Cleansing Gel was no exception.  This is a clear gel that foams up and cleans normal to oily skin well.  My skin felt maybe a little stripped after using it, but it wasn’t anything that a little moisturizer wouldn’t take care of.  I think  it did an ok job of keeping my skin relatively clear.  I got the normal monthly breakouts, of course, but I can handle those.

The smell is a little perfumey, though not horrible or too strong.  It sort of reminded me of laundry detergent, which is weird when you’re washing your face with it, but it wasn’t bad enough that I had to toss it out halfway through.

If you’re skin is more on the normal side, this would probably be a good warm-weather cleanser (it might dry your skin out more in colder weather), and if you’re oily, you could probably use this year round.

Ingredients:

Purified water, certified organic aloe barbadensis leaf juice, sodium myreth sulfate, soyamide DEA, cocoamidopropyl hydroxysultaine, vegetable glycerin, extracts of spirulina maxima (algae), ulva lactuca (sea lettuce), laminaria digitata (kelp), chondrus crispus (irish moss) and macrocystis pyrifera (kelp), citrus grandis (grapefruit) fruit and camellia sinensis (green tea) leaf extracts, phenoxyethanol, ethylhexylglycerin, potassium sorbate, citric acid and fragrance (parfum).

Alba Gardenia hydrating conditioner

Well, the LUSH reviews had to end at some point, and it seems I’ve reached that point.

My review today is for Alba’s Gardenia hydrating conditioner.  This conditioner is from Alba’s Hawaiian collection, which has six shampoos and conditioners – honeydew, plumeria, coconut milk, cocoa butter, mango, and gardenia.  I haven’t used all these products, but have smelled all of them.  While I’m not crazy about the honeydew and plumeria smells, the rest of them smell fantastic.  If you’re a fan of single note fruit and flower scents, you’ll probably really like this collection.  The gardenia, to my nose, is a true gardenia, and reminds me of summertime.  Imagine using that in the middle of January, and having the smell of gardenias wafting around you all day.  Ah.

This is a lighter hydrating conditioner.  I generally like to use something a little richer than this, especially in the winter, but this us heavy enough for summer for me.  This is for all hair types, but keep in mind that if you’re hair is drier, you might want to use a deep conditioner at least once a week instead.

This has a thick, creamy texture, goes through wet hair easily, and provides good detangling.

Ingredients

Purified water, certified organic aloe barbadensis, cetearyl alcohol, ceteareth-20, stearamidopropyl dimethylamine, certified organic helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil, dimethicone, extracts of ananas sativus (pineapple), carica papaya (papaya) and zingiber zerumbet (awapuhi), citric acid, panthenol (pro-vitamin B5), soy protein, vegetable glycerin, simmondsia chinensis (jojoba) oil, macadamia ternifolia and aleurites moluccana (kukui) nut oils, carica papaya (papaya) oil, ethylhexylglycerin, behentrimonium methosulfate, amodimethicone, sodium benzoate, fragrance.