cleanser

Shiseido is one of my go-to skin care brands and one I often recommend when asked for advice. I like their eye  creams and the White Lucent range and always count on them for performance. That's why I find the Gentle Cleansing Cream so odd. They promise a lot- a cleanser that works with or without water to remove makeup and impurities. Only it doesn't.

Maybe my primers have superpowers, but if other cleansers and wipes can take care of a full face of makeup, Shiseido's Gentle Cream should be able to do it, too. Yet, no matter if I use it wet or dry, about half the makeup (foundation, blush, powder) just smudges and smears, so I must follow up with a better cleanser rendering the Shiseido utterly pointless. I've tested it with three sample tubes from different sources (including one from the Salon du Palais royal Shiseido in Paris), always with the same results. It might be a nice product for morning cleansing, when you don't have any makeup on (I hope), but even I'm not so high maintenance to require a morning and an evening cleanser.

Bottom line: Not for me.

Shiseido The Skincare Gentle Cleansing Cream ($30, 4.3oz) is available from most department stores. Nordstrom is quite generous with samples.

Image: vintage Pond ad from paperpursuits.com

It says a lot about my trust in Erno Laszlo skin care that I was willing to test their firming face soap. I'm not a huge fan of soap bars in general, and face soaps tend to be far too drying. But the concept of a treatment bar that promotes skin renewal, firming and moisture binding seemed quite good. Moreover, this is not an acne fighting product and is labeled as suitable for slightly dry to slightly oily skin. And it's blue.

Testing Blue Firmarine for weeks has gotten me addicted to the clean feeling it creates. The main result I see after about four weeks of use is a more even skin and less tendency to flake around the nose, as long as I don't use the bar on very cold days. Super dry days are not the right time for an overachiever cleanser, so I'll never use it in the winter, but after a day spent in a sunny NYC, this is the perfect treatment.

The instructions for use recommend we follow with Laszlo Blue Firmarine SPF 30, but I admit I use either my trusty Secret de Vie or the Erno Laszlo pHormula 3-9 cream.

Bottom line: This is going to be a summer essential. Not for mature or extra dry skin.
Bottom line 2: I still wish it came in a liquid formula. Leaving a bar of soap out in a house full of cats is asking for trouble.

Erno Laszlo Blue Firmarine Treatment Bar  ($39) is available from select department stores. I received it as a PR freebie.

Image: The Big Blue by Bob Clark

I admit it: I bought the pack of Josie Maran Bear Naked Wipes because of the polar bear picture on the packaging. Other than being a vegetarian, I'm not very crunchy and usually get annoyed when companies use questionable "natural" claims to convince me their products are healthier. But Josie Maran had two things going for her with these wipes (other than the bears): They are biodegradable and a portion of every package of sold goes to the Natural Resources Defense Council's Polar Bear SOS initiative (I wish they'd say how big that portion is, though).

The wipes are much softer than others I've tested and used so far, which gets them major points. They remove all the face makeup quite easily and efficiently with no rubbing. Following with a mild toner shows that all makeup has been removed with no residue. Eye makeup was a bit harder- the wipes aren't a match for most mascaras or for the eyeliners I'm using, so an efficient eye makeup remover is still required. It doesn't matter much since I'm always using separate products for eye and face cleansing, so the Josie Maran product is definitely becoming part of my regular rotation.

Bottom line: Do it for the bears.

Josie Maran Bear Naked Wipes ($12 for a pack of 30) is available from Sephora, online and in store.

Photo: naturescrusaders.wordpress.com