Your Best Face Skincare Restore Review

June 29, 2018October 14, 2020 ~ Michele Raiyne ~ Leave a comment

Restore, by Your Best Face Skincare, is a nighttime cream serum for face, hands and neck. This product claims to increase elasticity and thus reduce saggy and crepey skin, brighten and even complexion, reduce dull-looking skin, soften fine lines and hydrate dry and damaged skin. Directions say to apply a small amount to clean, damp skin and massage in.

Ingredients: reverse osmosis water, Leucidal® (leuconostoc/radish root ferment filtrate), SYN®-TC (glycerin, aqua, tetradecyl aminobutyroylvalylaminobutyric urea trifluoroacetate, palmitoyl tripeptide-5, palmitoyl dipeptide-5 diaminobutyroyl hydroxythreonine), ethylhexyl palmitate, Uplevity™ (water, acetyl tetrapeptide-2, caprylyl glycol), TEGO® Pep 4-Even (tetrapeptide-30 (and) glycerin (and) water), Elhibin® (glycine soja (soybean) protein), cetearyl olivate (and) sorbitan olivate, sorbitan olivate, ceteareth-6 olivate, meadowfoam seed oil, vitamin E succinate, cupuacu butter, hydroxyethylcellulose

SYN-TC uses tri and tetrapeptide technology focusing on collagen for smooth, plump skin with improved elasticity. Uplevity is a combination of peptides and actives that apparently enhances the expression of genes involved in the organization of elastic fibers and dermal cohesion to combat sagging skin. TEGO Pep 4-Even diminishes pigmentation spots and brightens the skin. Elhibin comes from soybean protein and is a proteinase inhibitor. Proteinase plays a role in irritation and accelerated skin aging.

Hands are one of the first areas to show signs of aging; they are always exposed to the environment and I rarely remember to put sunscreen on my hands. I decided to try Restore on my hands; the skin is thinning (I didn’t really realize how thin until my daughter compared her hands to mine and said “oh my god, your skin is so thin” after pinching my skin), I have increased fine lines and my hands go through cycles of dryness every couple months (if you are looking for relief of dry skin, I love this product). I have no hyperpigmentation on my hands.

YBF Skincare products work well together and layer beautifully with no pilling. Restore can be mixed with the Private Reserve oils, the Antioxidants Concentrate or the Advanced CE Concentrate for customized benefit. I used Restore on its own.

I used this in the evening about 5 times a week for 4-1/2 months on clean, damp skin. The product has better spreadability and faster, easier absorption when the skin is damp. Restore is a lightweight, white, thick serum/thin cream that is unscented, but has its own somewhat medicinal smell that only lasts for seconds. On application this has an amazing silky feeling on the skin that immediately has a softening, slightly plumping effect. This is such a different feeling than any other product I’ve used. This feeling lasts for about 30 minutes.

In touching and looking at my hands after 4-1/4 months of use and looking at close up views of the photos above, while this product gave immediate very short term results, I don’t think I really see the longer term results I would need to continue purchasing. My hands feel a bit softer and some dryness on my knuckles has improved (but this could also be achieved by using an oil on the hands; vitamin C also works for brightening ). The finer lines around my knuckles and those due to the thinning skin look the same, so I can’t imagine this product helping deeper wrinkles on the neck or fine lines on my forehead (though to be fair, the skin is thinner on the neck and face than it is on the hands). I don’t have pigmentation issues on my hands, but I know these spots are very hard to get rid of as I have hyperpigmentation due to sun damage, and consistent use of a product for months, if not upwards of a year, especially products without containing something like hydroquinone or kojic acid.

I tried Restore a few times on my face just to get a sense for texture and this would make a nice lightweight moisturizer for the face (I don’t like using heavier moisturizers as I have oily skin). It absorbs after about 20 seconds and there is the immediate softening plump on the face, but it didn’t seem as silky as when used on the hands. This would make a nice treatment for the lips.

I will not be repurchasing Restore.

Thanks for reading.

The Ordinary Multi-Peptide Serum for Hair Density

June 13, 2018October 14, 2020 ~ Michele Raiyne ~ 4 Comments

Deciem’s recently launched hair care from The Ordinary, Multi-Peptide Serum for Hair Density, replaces Deciem’s discontinued Stemm product (which I also used likely about 2 years ago now). This is a concentrated serum that claims to make hair look thicker, denser, healthier and fuller. This is more of a first impression post (this product has not been on the market long enough for anyone to see results of the claims). I wanted to post some before photos of my hair and invite you to follow/check back, I expect in about 3 to 6 months, when I hope to see some results.

Ingredients: Aqua (Water), Propanediol, Butylene Glycol, Glycerin, Caffeine, Biotinoyl Tripeptide-1, Acetyl Tetrapeptide-3, Larix Europaea Wood Extract, Pisum Sativum Extract, Scutellaria Baicalensis Root Extract, Triticum Vulgare Germ Extract, Glycine Soja Germ Extract, Trifolium Pratense Flower Extract, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Apigenin, Oleanolic Acid, Arginine, Glycine, Calcium Gluconate, Zinc Chloride, Lactic Acid, Gluconolactone, Dextran, Maltodextrin, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Xanthan gum, Pentylene Glycol, Dimethyl Isosorbide, Polysorbate 20, PPG-26-Buteth-26, PEG-40, Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate, Sodium Metabisulfite, Sodium Benzoate, Phenoxyethanol, Chlorphenesin

The serum is thin and slightly yellow. It contains 1% caffeine by weight, and with a quick search I found an article citing the Journal of Dermatology that says “topical treatment with caffeine resulted in the increase in average growth of hair follicles by around 46%. It also extended its life cycle by 33%” and an article saying “hair products that contain caffeine are not able to reach the hair follicle and therefore can’t promote growth” though this was from a hair clinic. This contains the complexes Redensyl, Procapil, Capixyl, Baicapil and AnaGain. Redensyl is a complex that apparently gives better results than hair transplantation in 84 days with visible hair growth. Procapil apparently strengthens hair and prevents hair loss. Capixyl is a peptide from the extract of red clover that reduces the production of dihydrotestosterone (DHT) that causes thinning of the hair follicles which causes hair loss. Baicapil is an active of three plants that stimulates hair growth, increases hair density and reduces hair loss. AnaGain apparently reactivates hair growth, contributing to thicker, fuller hair. Deciem says that the above technologies make up 21.15% concentration by weight. Hydrogenated castor oil is toward the end of the ingredient list.

The ingredients sound promising, and I’m looking forward to seeing if this product works. For reference, I’m 37 years of age, my hair is fine (but I have a lot of it, other than the thinning front area of the head), I have some graying, I get my hair colored about twice a year and I have had thinning hair likely for a couple years now, more toward the front and sides of my head. I’m using the Multi-Peptide Serum on my eyebrows as well, as they are thinning and some hair follicles are likely dead due to over-tweezing in my early 20s.

I’ve used The Ordinary hair serum for about 4 days now. Putting a drop on my fingers, it has a slightly oily feeling for a few seconds, then a bit sticky for a few seconds and absorbs quite quickly into the skin. There is not really a smell to the serum.

Directions say to apply a few drops to clean, dry scalp ideally at bedtime and massage into scalp. This is a leave-on treatment. The first couple uses I parted my hair in a few areas and put a drop in each parted area toward the front of my hair and one drop on each side of my head (edges of the hair) and massaged into the scalp. This left a bit of an oily look and feel to the hair that lasted about 30 to 45 minutes until it absorbed and/or dried, so using before bedtime is ideal. I also tried putting a couple drops on my fingers then massaging into the scalp that way, but I’m not sure that applied product evenly to all areas. In the morning, my hair looked and felt normal with no greasy feeling or residue.

Update: September 2, 2018 – Three-month after photos coming soon; follow for a new Hair Density Serum post on September 8 or 9. Click here for 3-month after results and here for 6-month results.

Before photos:

Follow this space for after photos in the coming months.

Abnomaly Petrowhat Review

June 12, 2018February 28, 2021 ~ Michele Raiyne ~ 1 Comment

Abnomaly Petrowhat is Deciem’s recently launched lip and skin ointment that can be applied to lips and dry areas of the skin and claims to hydrate, protect and repair dry skin from the first use. This is not a lip gloss.

Ingredients: Squalane, Aqua (Water), Glycerin, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Sucrose Laurate, Sucrose Stearate, Sodium PCA, Sodium Lactate, Arginine, Adansonia Digitata Seed Oil, PCA, Glycine, Alanine, Serine, Valine, Isoleucine, Proline, Threonine, Histidine, Phenylalanine, Aspartic Acid, Isochrysis Galbana Extract, Tocopherol, Aroma (Natural Flavour).

The first ingredient is squalane, an emollient oil that hydrates and prevents hydration loss. Sucrose laurate and sucrose stearate are also emollients. This lip treatment contains amino acids which can hydrate, repair and act as antioxidants. Adansonia digitata seed oil is another name for baobab oil, containing fatty acids and vitamins which moisturizes and has a silky feeling.

I bought the coconut milk flavor that reminds me of the beach. It has a mild coconut scent and flavor and is not sweet tasting. The scent is stronger than the taste. The ointment comes in a metal tube, which is problematic; once the seal is pierced, a lot of product rushes out of the tube.

I’ve used this balm for a couple weeks now, about three times a day. On initial application to the lips it has an initial wet silky feeling, not particularly oily, and somewhat shiny. This silky feeling and shine lasted a few minutes as it absorbed into the skin. Once absorbed, about 15 or 20 minutes later, the lips had quite a dry feeling with almost peeling skin. This product actually made my lips dry. A lip treatment I like much more is Quench.

I get dry patches of skin on my hands every couple months, almost eczema-like with peeling. I tried Petrowhat on these dry patches as well. On initial application I had immediate relief of the soreness that comes with very dry skin. The ointment absorbed rather quickly, as my hands were quite dry and then left a kind of dry protective layer on my skin that lasted quite a while. So, while this protective layer was nice for my hands, it made my lips really dry. I’m not sure that these dry patches healed faster than with a good hand lotion or something like jojoba oil, but Petrowhat did offer a protective layer on my hands and would likely work well over a lotion or other oil.