Is it possible to become addicted to your cleanser? Because I would say that I’m addicted to my cleanser. Like crazy.

I’ve gone through a lot of cleansers before. So when I say that Alorée’s Sweet Purifier Cleansing Milk is by far my favorite, I am not exaggerating. After that horrible experience I had with the Alorée CC Cream Second Life, I’m so happy to shed a positive light on a different Alorée product.

This cleansing milk proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Alorée truly is a top notch skincare brand.

Alorée, Le Safe Spirit

Alorée is a young and promising organic french skincare brand.

The brand launched in 2011 during the Beyond Beauty Expo in Paris. That year, Alorée won the Beauty Organic Award for its innovative use of chlorophyll as an active ingredient in its products.

The main active ingredients in Alorée products are in fact a complex of anti-oxidants, which includes chlorophyll, polyphenols, oligo-elements and omega-3. These ingredients work to slow down signs of aging by reducing the level of intracellular oxidation induced by UVB rays. In short, the anti-oxidant complex of ingredients help to boost cellular metabolism and oxygenation in the skin.

Abiding by “Le Safe Spirit”, Alorée products are made with a high content of natural ingredients. They are free of preservatives and synthetic perfumes and are therefore suitable for even the most sensitive of skin types.

The Sweetest Cleanser, Ever

The Sweet Purifier Cleansing Milk by Alorée gently removes makeup and impurities from the skin’s surface. At the same time, the main active ingredients work to oxygenate and detoxify the skin. It is suitable for all skin types, especially for normal to dry skin.

How To Use It: You can apply this directly on your face or with a cotton pad, then rinse with water. It’s gentle enough to use for both mornings and evenings.

My Experience:

Let me tell you! I have been using this cleanser for a month. And oh my goodness, I am positively addicted to it!

I think it’s mainly the scent that I’m addicted to. To me, the scent is so sweet to the point that it’s intoxicating. It’s a very natural scent actually, like green apples. And whenever I catch a whiff of it, I want to run to the bathroom and wash my face!

I also really love the soft, milky texture of this cleanser. When I apply it to my face, it feels incredibly soothing. I don’t hesitate to use this over my eyes, as it never stings. This cleanser also works well with my Clarisonic.

But what I really love to do is to give my face a massage with this cleanser. I swear I was lost in the bathroom for what seemed like hours, just enjoying the scent and the feel of this cleanser while massaging my face!! Okay, granted, this was while I was in Amsterdam and I may have been under the influence of a few things…

Really though. This cleanser always makes me want to take my time and give my face a therapeutic cleansing massage.

By the way, if you don’t know about the benefits of massaging your face or you don’t know how to go about giving your face a massage, I highly recommend watching this DIY Face Massage video by Kristen, an esthetician and founder of Holistic Vanity skincare.

The Results: Clean, soft and pampered skin. Howerver, this is not the most powerful of cleansers. So whenever I wear makeup, the only way I feel like my skin is sufficiently clean is if I use a l’Eau Micellaire beforehand.

What I like about Alorée’s Sweet Purifier Cleansing Milk:
- The sweet, intoxicating scent!
- The gentle, milky texture
- Feels very soft and soothing on my skin
- Does not sting, gentle enough to use on my eyes
- Effective at removing light makeup
- Natural and organic ingredients
- Oxygenating properties of chlorophyll

What I don’t like about it:
- I can’t rely on this cleanser alone. I usually have to use it with a l’Eau Micellaire beforehand. Or in conjunction with my Clarisonic brush.

How Much: €16 for 125 ml at Mademoiselle Bio

Would I Buy It Again: Yes, yes, yes! A thousand times YES!!! I don’t know what I’m going to do when I get back to the U.S. and will no longer be able to find this cleanser (T_T)

Ingredients:

HORDEUM VULGARE (BARLEY) SEED WATER*, AQUA (WATER), SODIUM LAURYL SULFATE, COCAMIDOPROPYL BETAINE, GLYCERIN, FRAGRANCE (PARFUM), SODIUM CHLORIDE, SODIUM LEVULINATE, HORDEUM VULGARE (BARLEY) EXTRACT*, SODIUM ANISATE, CITRIC ACID, PHENETHYL ALCOHOL, HORDEUM VULGARE (BARLEY) LEAF EXTRACT*, CI 75810 (CHLOROPHYLLIN-COPPER COMPLEX).

*Ingredients sourced from organic agriculture

Certified organic by ECOCERT
100% of total ingredients are from natural sources
59.6% of total ingredients are from organic agriculture

Concluding Thoughts

For such a gentle cleanser, I’m rather surprised at how well the Alorée Cleansing Milk works at removing makeup. But if you tend to wear heavy stubborn makeup everyday, it’s best to use this cleanser with another makeup remover.

I would highly recommend Alorée’s Cleansing Milk if your skin tends to become inflamed and irritated. This cleanser will gently clean your skin while giving you a sweet and soothing experience!

When I say that the sun is our frenemy, I’m kind of joking. But kind of not.

The sun is a life-giver! Without the sun, life on this planet wouldn’t even be possible. On an everyday basis, the sun can brighten our day and provide warmth. But, at the same time, the sun is also sneaking in a lot of long-term damage to our skin.

Our skincare routine should always include some kind of sun protection.

Most people are happy to just slather on some kind of product containing the highest number of SPF that they can find, without a clue as to what that number means.

So, today I’m going to quickly break down the important things you need to know about SPF in sunscreens.

And why a higher number isn’t always necessarily better…

• 1) SPF stands for Sun Protection Factor.This was a number introduced in 1962 to measure a sunscreen’s effect against UVB rays, the type of UV ray chiefly responsible for sun burn and skin cancer.

• 2) The SPF number stands for how long you can stay in the sun without getting burned.The idea is, if you tend to burn under the sun within 10 minutes of exposure, using an SPF 10 product will multiply the time you can stay out in the sun by 10 without getting burned (in this case, 100 minutes).

• 3) SPF number indicates protection only against UVB rays.It’s important to look for a “broad-spectrum” label which will protect against both UVB rays and UVA rays, the other type of UV ray that can penetrate deeper into the skin and cause long-term photo damage.

• 4) Increasing the SPF number does not exponentially increase your level of protection.For example, an SPF of 15 absorbs 93.3 percent of UVB rays, but an SPF of 30 absorbs 96.7 percent. Even though the SPF number has doubled, the UVB absorption rate has increased by only 3.4 percent.

• 5) Suncreen’s effectiveness decreases when exposed to water or sweat. Even if it is waterproof.All types of sunscreen break down over time, especially after exposure to water. So re-apply every 2 hours to keep your skin safe.

• 6) No matter how high the SPF, sunscreen can protect only the skin it covers.Your whole body is vulnerable to skin cancer, not just the areas that burn easily or wrinkle faster. Areas that tend to be overlooked are the lips, the backs of your hands and ears, and the tops of your feet.

• 7) After applying sunscreen, wait 15 to 30 minutes before stepping out into the sun.This gives chemical sunscreens enough time to be fully absorbed into the skin.

Other important things to remember:

To have well-rounded coverage, SPF protection should be combined with protective clothing and sun avoidance during the hottest and brightest parts of the day, usually between 10 am and 4 pm, when UVB rays are strongest.

SPF strength is less important than frequent application!!

And finally, you should be protecting your skin from the sun on a daily basis, no matter what the season! You do know that, right??

I know that summer is the season when people love to get their tan on. And for those people, I’m going to leave you with a very powerful image of what the sun can do to your skin over time.

Maybe you’ve already seen this? But if not, this is a photo from a New England Journal of Medicine study, about a 69-year-old man who drove a truck for 28 years, and was exposed to the sun only on the left side of his face.

Eep! The sun really is our frenemy.

“Breathing Is Essential!” I hear Jane Fonda say in a singsong voice from the TV screen.

I raise my eyebrow and snort out of my nose. I’m in the middle of doing a side leg lift, hands on my hip and I’m feeling extra ridiculous. ”Oh really, Jane?”

That was years ago.

Please don’t ask me why I used to do Jane Fonda workout videos. It was just something my friend and I did for giggles, ok?

But to this day, I’ve never forgotten about that Jane Fonda workout. OR that ridiculous quote ringing in my head…

“Breathing is essential!”

Of course it is.

It’s a fact so OBVIOUSLY true, that oh my god, do you really need to say it?

But yes, actually you do. You do need to say it. And then repeat it. Again and again. Because most people don’t think about the importance of their breath. Or how the quality of your breath can affect the state of your mind. 

Many of our important emotions (ie. joy, fear, anger, sadness) are associated with a signature breathing pattern. A recent article from Acne Einstein‘s blog breaks down four different signature breathing patterns.

Basically, when you’re relaxed, you tend to breathe slowly and deeply through your nose. Your breathing pattern is regular.

But when you’re stressed or angry or anxious about something, your breathing pattern changes. It becomes shallow, irregular and your ribcage becomes tense.

Even without thinking about it, your body’s breathing patterns change with your emotions. But this connection between our minds and our breaths isn’t a one-way street.

Things can also go the other way.

If you can control your breath, you can also begin to control your emotions.

Yoga as a Stress-Buster

When we let stress run amok in our lives, it can wreak damage to our physical health. And the health of our skin.

Stress and acne are strongly linked together (in my case, I would even say that it CAUSED my acne). It can flare up eczema and rosacea. And it can keep us from getting the most out of our much needed beauty sleep.

But in the face of a stressful situation, if we consciously relax our muscles and control our breaths to become deep, slow and regular breaths, we can reduce and disperse the feeling of stress.

Control over your breathing patterns means the ability to keep stress at bay. 

And this is why I constantly encourage people to practice Yoga.

Yoga is amazing at keeping your body physically fit and keeping flexibility in your spine! What’s more, the breathing exercises and lessons that you learn from yoga are incredibly valuable.

Before you can control your breathing patterns, you must first become familiar with the way you breathe while being completely relaxed.

And the best yoga pose for this is one that’s so simple you wouldn’t even think that you’re doing yoga…

SAVASANA: Complete Relaxation

Savasana (also known as Corpse Pose) is usually the pose that you take on at the end of your yoga practice.

To take on the Savasana pose, you basically lie on your back, with the weight of your body evenly distributed throughout and your spine properly aligned. Then you allow yourself to completely melt into relaxation.

The best place to practice Savasana is on the floor because it provides a firm and even surface. You can place a blanket under the length of your body. Also, to keep your body from getting cold, be sure to cover up with socks and a long sleeved shirt.

This is the best time to become familiar with your relaxed breathing pattern.

During Savasana, you can actively practice diaphragmatic breathing. 

This is a deep, calm type of breathing that allows the maximum amount of oxygen to enter the bloodstream:

• Place one hand on your chest and the other on your abdomen.
• Breathe in slowly and evenly through your nose.
• When you breathe in, the hand on the abdomen should rise slightly higher than the one on the chest.
• Exhale slowly and evenly through your mouth.
• Find a regular rhythm between your inhalations, holding the breath in and exhalations.
• You can deepen the breathing by exhaling more air, so try gently contracting the abdominal muscles to evacuate any remaining air from the lungs.
• During exhalations, release any contraction of your muscles.
• Close your eyes and relax your eye muscles.
• Soften your tongue, your jaw and the skin on your forehead.

Even though this is a relaxation exercise, Savasana does require some effort to keep your mind focused. Your mind may tend to wander over to your worries or start going over your day’s To-Do list. But if this happens, just gently bring your mind back to the present moment.

Ideally, you would do Savasana right after a yoga session.

But even if you don’t practice yoga, you can and you should practice this simple pose!

Try doing this relaxing exercise at least once every day, right before getting out of bed or right before falling asleep.

I promise it will change your life!

Image Sources:

Breathe – by Shawn Rossi. Creative Commons License. Used with attribution.
Corpse Pose – by Yana Stowe of givemeballroom.com. Used with permission.