Confessions of a Product Junkie

Good morning friends! I am exhausted from a wonderful trip to Los Angeles and lots of quality time with my best friend Robin.

After one day back at work I am headed off to New York (that's right, again) for today and tomorrow for a secret meeting. Can't tell you more than that right now but patience and, in time, I will let you in on my little secret ;)

Erin is back this week with another Confession of a Product Junkie post. 

Take it away sister!

Philosophy: The Microdelivery Peel

Hello lovely readers!  I don’t know how the weather’s been where you live, but down here in Houston it has been hot, cold, humid, dry, and everything in between lately, and my skin is not happy about it.

So naturally, I hit up the black and white striped candy store (aka Sephora) to see what remedies might be available for my confused skin. Enter this baby:

As you saw last week, I’m already a Philosophy fan (as is Miss Emily- loved reading your comment last week! :) ), so I was instinctively curious about this peel. 

A couple hours later I found myself hair pulled back, headband on, clean faced, and ready to give this thing a try.

Step 1: Apply the Vitamin C/ Peptide Resurfacing Crystals

Here’s a helpful hint I’ve learned during my multiple bouts with Weight Watchers- portion control is your friend.  4 oz. of boneless, skinless white meat chicken does not mean you get to deep fry 5 chicken legs and eat every last bite for only 4 points- unless you feel like lying to yourself and then screaming at the lady weighing you in the following week that the scales are wrong.  Which I may or may not have done.  Multiple times.

Anyways- when it comes to products, I’ve found that portions matter just as much as they do with foods.  If it says use a dime sized amount, don’t use a quarter.  If, like it does in this case, it says to use a teaspoon, then get yourself a teaspoon measurer for $.99 at Target (because you know you’re already there 3 times a week anyways) and measure out a teaspoon.  If you’re anything like me, you’ll be surprised at how much a teaspoon actually is.

For those of you fairly familiar with exfoliator lingo, this one is definitely very grainy, but not overly harsh or scratchy.  You’re supposed to use it on dry skin, so at least for me, spreading it around my face was a bit of a process with no water to work with, but the wonderful orange smell more than makes up for any added elbow grease.

60 seconds of scrubbing later, Step 2: Apply Lactic / Salicylic Activating Gel

I poured this stuff into my hand and have to admit I was not at all impressed:

That’s it?  That’s the magical second step that turns this orange juice scrub into orange creamsicle wonderfulness?

Ahh, young grasshopper, you have much to learn.  Mix the gel with the scrub, and like a vision out of Willy Wonka’s Skincare Fantasy:

Poof!  It’s foamy, it turns warm once you start rubbing it into the scrub, and it somehow miraculously sucks up the all graininess until your skin once again feels smooth.

I’ve got to admit, this is by far the best feeling peel/exfoliator I’ve ever used.  There’s no stinging, no burn, and have I mentioned how good this stuff smells?  We’ve come a long way from the Apricot scrub baby.

This is me letting all the orangey goodness soak in for the recommended 2-3 minutes. 

And this is the aftermath- less than 30 seconds after I rinsed off the peel, and trust me, if I had just finished using a more harsh exfoliator, as much as I love y’all, you best believe you would not be seeing no pictures of me with my face beat up and red. 

Three Weeks and Three Treatments Later:

Erin’s Final Grade: A-

Pros: delicious orange smell, miles and miles more gentle than other exfoliators, wonderful warming sensation

Cons: slightly difficult to apply, not quite as deep of a clean as other exfoliators

The Bottom Line: I was looking for something stronger than my daily routine, but not as intense as Exfolikate, and I think this product is a great in between.  I’ve been using the Philosophy Microdelivery Peel mid-week and Exfolikate on the weekend and now instead of running for cover every time the weather patterns shift, my skin looks up at the clouds, puts its hand on its hip, snaps its fingers and says “oh no you didn’t,” and then keeps going on like nothing happened.  And that makes this chica very happy with her purchase.

Thanks for the reviews Erin. I am in major need of an exfoliation treatment.