allantoin

How to choose the best shaving products: Should you opt for shaving cream, gel, or foam?

What's the best type of shaving product? And does it make a difference if it's packaged in an aerosol can or a tube?

Recently, I was browsing Brandless’s website—more specifically, the beauty and personal care section. When everything is priced at $3, it all looks dangerously attractive. But don’t forget to price check how much quantity you get for those seemingly low prices—for example, Brandless’s organic cotton rounds are more expensive than my favorite ones from MUJI, on a per-round basis. Brandless bans 400 ingredients from all of its beauty products, including “aerosol…

What is allantoin, and why is it used in skincare products?

Let's take a closer look at this ingredient, which is included in many types of products, ranging from eczema balms to sheet masks.

Do you ever notice the same ingredients appearing in lots of skincare products? Stuff you never noticed before? This happened recently with phenoxyethanol, a preservative that is often used as an alternative to parabens. Now it’s happening again with allantoin—I’m suddenly noticing it in lots of products that I write about on this blog. Allantoin is a white powder that has no odor, and provides conditioning properties to the skin, according to the National Eczema Foundation.

The best sheet masks for sensitive skin, according to The Face Shop

I asked The Face Shop why so many of its sheet masks include denatured alcohol. I also asked for fragrance-free recommendations. Here's what they had to say.

A few days ago, I contacted The Face Shop to ask why so many of the company’s sheet masks contain denatured alcohol. This morning, I received an email with the answers to my questions. Although the customer service rep recommended a product that wasn’t actually fragrance-free (even though she implied it was), she did introduce me to an interesting product line from The Face Shop: the Dr.Belmeur collection.