My 5 Favorite Skincare Cleansing Products | In Partnership with Juno & Co.

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Disclosure: This blog post is in partnership with Juno & Co. Juno & Co kindly sent me their products to try for free. Thank you again to Juno & Co. for partnering with me for this blog post!

As a bit of a beauty junkie, thoroughly cleansing my skin at the end of the day has become a vital part of my routine in order to try and prevent makeup related breakouts and give my skin a chance to breathe at the end of the day! However, there are SO many cleansing products out there, it’s hard to know which ones are going to work best for your skin. Today, I’m sharing a couple of my favorite cleansing products - in partnership with Juno and Co! 🥰

To help determine whether these products are a good fit for your skin, I want to mention that my skin is generally pretty oily or combination. I tend to get pretty oily around the T-zone and am usually fighting off breakouts on my chin, cheeks, and in the nose area. Although I think most of these products can be used on both oily or dry skin, if you’re someone with dry skin, you may want to consider how frequently you use products that may be more geared towards drying out and exfoliating the skin! 

Juno & Co: Cleansing Cookie ($8.00)

Y’all, this cleansing cookie has been a game changer for my cleansing routine! I’ve tried a lot of different cleansing cloths but none of them have been a match for the Juno & Co cleansing cookie. I’ve tried several cleansing cloths as well as the make-up eraser brand cloths but none of them are as effective at getting waterproof makeup off as this cute little cleansing cookie. While most of the other cleansing cloths out there are pretty flat, this one has a bit of squish to it which makes it feel super soft on the skin and just makes taking off your makeup a little more fun :) Plus, a reusable makeup pad is better for the planet because you can use it over and over again! 

A Good Cleansing Balm!

One of my favorite things to do to get a good double (or even triple!) cleanse in is to start removing my makeup with a cleansing cookie or cleansing cloth and follow-up with a good cleansing balm to really get into all the nooks and crannies! My two favorite cleansing balms are the Juno & Co JunoSkin Cleansing Balm ($31.43) and the Farmacy Green Clean Balm ($28.95). Both of these balms smell amazing, really get at hard-to-remove makeup, and come from brands that prioritize sustainability. Though a makeup wipe will remove some of the makeup on your face, I find that balms are most effective at getting even difficult makeup - like waterproof mascara - to really melt right off! 

Dr. Brandt PoreDermabrasion Exfoliant ($58.00)

This Dr. Brandt exfoliator has been a LONG time favorite of mine because the exfoliating beads in it are so thin that it really feels like you’re going to an esthetician for a microdermabrasion treatment! I tend to get breakouts around my chin and cheek areas and use this exfoliator from dr. Brandt to exfoliate these areas 2-3 times per week. It prevents additional breakouts and helps my skin recover from breakouts more quickly. It’s a little on the pricer side but I think it’s worth the price point because a little goes a long way with this exfoliator! 

Juno & Co: Clarifying Cleansing Powder

Though I’m generally not too picky about my facial cleansers, I’ve really enjoyed this clarifying cleansing product from Juno & Co because it comes as a powder that foams up when you add water - so cool! I’ve also been traveling lately and this cleansing powder has come in handy for trips because it doesn’t take up space in my liquids bag. I prefer to travel with carry-ons only and this can get complicated when I can only bring so many liquids. Usually my facial cleanser is liquid, too, but recently I was able to pop a bit of this cleansing powder in a bag and I was off! Super convenient!

Dickinson’s Witch Hazel Toner ($10.37)

The last step in my skincare cleansing routine is always a toner! Although I’ve tried about a million toners, I always tend to gravitate towards a simple witch hazel toner. My favorite is the Dickinson’s Witch Hazel Toner - super affordable and easy to find at pretty much any Target or CVS type store. Some toners I’ve used leave my skin too sticky or overstrip my skin, while others seem like they’re not doing much at all! This one is the perfect balance of effective - cleaning and tightening my skin - while also not being so harsh that it dries everything out. 

Thanks again so much to Juno & Co for partnering with me on this blog post! Have you tried any of these products? What did you think? Let me know in the comments! 

Meow Meow Tweet | Sustainable Beauty Review

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Hi, friends! Coming at you with the first of hopefully many sustainable beauty and skincare posts! I've been on a year long journey of trying to make my everyday routine more sustainable and it's been a lot of trial and error. It can take a lot of time to try out different brands to find what works best for you so I'm sharing my experiences in the hopes that it will help those of you on your own sustainability journey ❤️

Today's post is about the lovely brand, Meow Meow Tweet. Meow Meow Tweet is a great beauty and skincare brand that focuses on creating vegan, cruelty-free, low waste products that are good for both your skin and the planet.

Geranium Palmarosa Face Toner | $24

There are very few sustainable skincare brands that make a toner because it seems that toner is one of those products people often don't need or will give up when they try to go for a more sustainable skincare routine. But since I have acne prone skin, toner has become a very central part of my skincare routine so I've been on the hunt for a toner to replace the one I'm currently using. Meow Meow Tweet has two toners on their website. I opted for the gernaium palmorosa one because of the formula - the other toner they offer is a gel formula and I wanted one that could be sprayed all over the face.

I really really wanted to like this toner, but after testing it out for over a month, I could not get used to the smell or the feeling on my skin. Usually toners tighten your pores and make your skin feel fresh and smooth. I'm sure this one also tightens the pores but because one of its main ingredients is apple cider vinegar, the smell of it is SO strong and it leaves your skin a bit sticky. I always found myself cringing at the smell on my skin so unfortunately it was not for me.

On top of that, the price point of this toner is a whopping $24. Most of the time, with zero waste products you're paying a higher price that ultimately pays off in other ways (e.g., the product lasts longer, vegan ingredients, eco-friendly packaging) but for me, this price point was definitely too high for a product I didn't really like.

Lavender Coconut Milk Shampoo Bar | $12

There are only two shampoo bars listed on Meow Meow Tweet's website and I wasn't a fan of either smell but opted for the one I found slightly less offending (the other option is a rosemary avocado). Luckily, the lavender coconut smell wasn't too overpowering and it performed similarly to other zero waste shampoo bars I've used from other brands. Generally, these zero waste shampoo bars tend to dry out my hair more than a regular shampoo so it's important to remember that a little goes a long way. Although I liked using this shampoo bar, I felt like it melted away really quickly - more quickly than shampoo bars from Lush I've been using - so it isn't something I'm likely to repurchase since there are others that I like better. I'm hopeful that as Meow Meow Tweet continues to grow that there will be other shampoo bars that I'll try in the future!

Grapefruit Mint Body Soap | $10

Out of the products I chose, the grapefruit mint body soap was by far my favorite. Lush products are usually my go-to when it comes to body soaps but I find that oftentimes their soaps have a ton of coloring in them. Though the coloring never dyes my sink permanently, I'm usually left with a bunch of brightly colored streaks all over my soap dish. This soap from meow meow tweet didn't do that at all and I really liked that it was a more natural-looking color as well as a natural scent 🙂  - Although it didn't blow me away in any particular category, I liked it enough that I'll probably continue purchasing it in the future.

Verdict:

My favorite part of shopping with Meow Meow Tweet is feeling like you can do no wrong. They're a fantastic small, eco-friendly company that uses vegan and natural ingredients in their products. They also have a great refill program that allows you to save money on their products as well as save trash from being dumped into the environment. Although I didn't fall in love with any of the products I purchased this time around, I did fall in love with the brand and everything they're doing. All of these sustainable good for the planet initiatives make Meow Meow Tweet a pretty cool company. I'm going to continue testing out more of their products in the future and I'm hoping to stumble on some that I like as they continue to make more great products.

Lash Extensions vs. Lash Lifts ~ Which one is right for you?

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Hello, friends! I thought I'd wrap up my lash experience blog posts with a comparison of lash extensions and lash lifts. I've been on the lash lift train for the last year or so but before that, I was a regular lash extension-er for 2 years. If you're curious about the process for each - check out my full review of each ( Lash Extension Review, Lash Lift Review. ) but if you're debating between the two and curious about how they compare - today, I'm going to break it down for you, so let's dive in! 🙂

The Application Process

Lash Lifts: Lifts tend to be a lot shorter than lash extensions and usually last anywhere from 20-45 minutes depending on how fast-acting the perm solution is.

While the whole process is faster, the experience of getting a lash lift is a little less pleasant than getting extensions. Generally, lash lifts meant to be painless and as comfortable as possible, but there is more room for error that might cause discomfort.

To get your lashes lift, the lash technician has to essentially glue your lashes onto a template and then apply perm solution to get your lashes to stay in place. Gluing the lashes is generally fine - maybe a little tugging here and there - but the perming part can sting a lot if the solution gets too close your eye (or god forbid - IN your eye).

Lash Extensions: Usually takes somewhere between an hour and two hours for a full set. Yep. You read that correctly. TWO hours. In order to give you a full set of lash extensions, the lash technician has to carefully place an extension on each of your natural lashes - it's a meticulous, time-consuming process.

If you're getting a fill where some of your lashes have fallen out and only part of your set needs to be refilled, then the process is shorter depending on how many extensions need to be replaced.

The good news is that the process is generally pretty comfortable. It generally just feels like someone is moving your eyelashes around and you get to close your eyes and relax for a couple hours. I maaaay have fallen asleep during several of my lash extension fills in the past 😅

with Lash Extensions

with Lash Extensions

The Lashes

Lash Lifts: A more subtle, but buildable look. Since lash lifts work with your natural lashes, it's essentially just allowing you to skip the lash curling step of your routine.

Lash Extensions: A lot more dramatic! You can get lash extensions that are less dramatic but generally, lash extensions tend to be a lot more obvious than lash lifts.

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Comfort

Lash Lifts: Hands down, lash lifts are much more comfortable than lash extensions because they're essentially your own lashes - just curled! In my experience, I haven't had to alter any of my everyday activities in order to accommodate my lifted lashes.

Lash Extensions: I've had really up and down experiences with uncomfortable extensions. Some would start to weigh down my lashes and get stuck on my eyeball (ack - sorry!) and I'd have to pull them out before they started stabbing my eye! My understanding now is that lash extensions aren't supposed to do that - but it's certainly still a risk you run.

with a Lash Lift

with a Lash Lift

Longevity

Lash Lifts: Similar to lash extensions, most lash places recommend that you avoid getting your lashes wet for at least 24-48 hours. Outside of that though, there aren't any direct guidelines for taking care of your lash lift because once the perm sets, the shape of your lashes is good to go.

Most lash places also say that lash lifts last between 6-8 weeks. For lash lifts, however, there's no filling process, so you simply get a lift and as the weeks go by, your lashes slowly go back to being straight or fall out naturally.

In my experience, most of my lashes are usually straight again by week 5 but for lash health reasons, I'll usually wait until the 6 week mark to get them lifted again.

Lash Extensions: Most lash places recommend that you do not get your extensions wet for 24-48 hours and that you avoid picking or pulling at them too much. Generally, you should also avoid wearing too much eye makeup around the area because taking off that makeup usually involve a lot of swiping and tugging that might affect the longevity of the lashes.

While most lash places say that a full set lasts somewhere between 6-8 weeks and recommend a lash fill once you hit the 2-3 week mark - in my experience, by the time I hit week 2, usually about half of my lashes are already gone and by week 4 there are really only a couple of lashes hanging on by a thread. I tend to sleep on my side and will wear a little bit of eye makeup with my lash extensions so both of these factors probably contribute to my lashes falling apart more easily.

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Cost

Lash Lifts: Lash lifts are a bit more affordable than lash extensions and usually go for $50-$100 per lift where you only need to get them re-lifted every 6-8 weeks. Some places do offer a lash tint that can add to your cost but might be worth it if you can't be bothered to wear mascara and want an easy one and done process.

Lash Extensions: Varies a lot based on the lash place but can range from $75 to $200-$300 for a full set. Fills are usually prorated (could be anywhere for $40-$150) based on when you get them and how many of the lashes you're missing.

with Lash Extensions

with a Lash Lift

Choose Lash Extensions if:

• You don't use a ton of make-up and want no-fuss situation where you can just wake up and run out the door.

• You sleep on your back! (I'm told that if you sleep on your side or your stomach you lose a lot more extensions - I am a chronic side sleeper)

• You have a highly photographed or one-time big event [vacation, wedding, etc] where you want a more dramatic look for a shorter period of time 🙂

Choose Lash Lifts if:

• You want to save a bit of money

• You rub your eyes a lot!

• You want to be able to wear eye makeup regularly (especially mascara)

• You have stick straight lashes that are long! (e.g., if you use a lash serum)

If you want a more in-depth review of both the lash lift and lash extension process check out my previous reviews below. Drop me a comment if you have any other questions about the lash extension or lash lift process and thanks so much for stopping by! ♥️

My Monolid Lash Extension Experience

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My Lash Lift Experience

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