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WHATS WITH MARY KAY?

Hello everyone! Welcome back to my blog. I’m so sorry that I was missing in action due to assignments and commitments. Lucky that I have I could spare some time to write now hehe. So, today’s entry is about Mary Kay. I know this skincare line had controversial reviews from many. Some swear by the effectiveness but the rest, unluckily faced terrible breakouts. What about my experience using this? Let’s jump into the review.

To start with, you probably don’t know one fact about me when I was teenager, and even when I went through college; my biggest insecurity after my body was my acne face (huhu). I couldn’t leave the house without putting anything on. This had always been a problem for my family as they always scold me for not wanting to socialize with other people. (especially when distant relative are at home)

When I was 20, my acne has become much more manageable but I never really get a glass skin. I decided to try the Mary Kay Botanical Effects skincare line as I came across so many good reviews about it. Besides, I was drawn into skincare influencer’s experiences of using the same product such as Iman Abdul Rahim and Maisarah Mahmud. For your information, these two skincare gurus wrote a lot of reviews about the pros and cons of skincare products. You can head to their blogs to read more about their reviews but let’s talk about mine first hehe.

IS MARY KAY BOTANICAL EFFECTS EVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY?

I was excited to see Mary Kay is making efforts to create a skincare line that’s environmentally friendly (all of the packaging for the line is made from 50% post-consumer resin) and safe for your skin. Since I was struggling with the breakout, I became more aware of what I put on my skin. Skincare is just like our eating schedule. We ought to be aware on whatever products we choose as it will bring back the result to us.

To convince myself more, I used EWG’s SkinDeep Cosmetics Database to check the level of safeness of the ingredients.

Here are the main ingredients in the Botanical Effect

-       Silymarin (milk thistle)

-       Lou Han Guo (also known as the longevity flower)

Both are naturally derived and had no man-made alterations done to them during the formulation which mean

You should be warned though, if you are looking for an effective acne treatment skincare line, Botanical Effects is NOT what you want. This is because, acne treatment chemicals such as benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid are usually active acids which are both absent in the Botanical Effects set. Mary Kay’s mission in creating skincare line was to create a natural-based product. It does not help in treating but rather healing.

WHAT TYPE OF SKIN WILL LIKE BOTANICAL EFFECTS?

For my review, Botanical Effects skincare line focused on people with oily skin like mine. When you purchase the set, you will receive the following products with their own functions:

·         Cleanse (cleanser)

·         Freshen (toner)

·         Mask (gel mask)

·         Hydrate (moisturizer)

Mary Kay suggests that you use the product in this sequence;

      Cleanse – freshen – hydrate.

*insert photo*

The steps are very easy and all the products have mild subtle scents. I don’t mean clean as in that manufactured cotton scent; it doesn’t have a scent and that’s one of the things I like about it.

In addition, my mother is a loyal user of this toner. She recommended me to use the same product and that was where I felt encouraged to try it. I believed her as she was the closest example I could rely on.

After a while considering, my mom asked if I wanted to get the toner because she insisted to get it from her friend, one of the Mary Kay agents. I was hoping the product could work like wonders on my skin too. The first few weeks of using the toner was all fine which has made me more convinced that it could heal my skin concerns. However, after one month, I started to recognize that my skin was getting drier and dull within time. I started to assume that the skincare set was the culprit, so I told my mom about it. She mentioned it to her friend and she claimed that it was normal. She emphasized that it was only the process of getting rid of all impurities and toxins from my epidermis. Immediately, I stopped the usage but my face did not get any better. It got worst. Before using the product, my skin was in a process of healing. My only concern was to reduce dark spots. However, the product has made me experience terrible breakout as my skin flaked out and uneven skin tone got more visible

Months later, my mom decided to put an end in using Mary Kay products as she realized that her face is getting darker and wrinkly. Now, she uses qualified and trusted products and her skin improve like no other.

Good things about this product is the ingredients are non-comedogenic, meaning they will not clog your pores. When you choose a product that doesn’t suit your skin concern, your skin will be forced to adjust to unnecessary regime. As a repercussion, breakout happens.

. Some Mary Kay Botanical Effect users said that the product is a miracle for them as they have been struggling with breakouts.

Overall, I feel like there are numerous benefits of using the Mary Kay Botanical Effects. I appreciate the light texture of the toner which fasten the absorption into the skin. Moreover, what works on certain skin might not be suitable on the others. Thus, make sure you do a patch test beforehand around your jaw down to your neck. If there is no signs of irritation, you may continue the usage.