The worst was a Burt's Bees facial moisturizer I tried recently. I can't remember the name of it, but it was like a thick waxy goop. I could actually feel my unborn zits forming. I washed it off and threw the whole thing in the trash.

Best-
Elizabeth Arden's Good Morning skin serum -can't live w/o it!

Smashbox cosmetics

Lancome lipstick- Mars

Worst-
Epil-Stop- what a waste of money!

Revlon's 3 day colorstay mascara- Made my eyes swell shut!

Best-Indulge Soothing Eye Mask by Mary Kay. I keep odd hours and quite often in the a.m. my eyes are puffy. This product works wonders, helps fix that up within minutes.

Worst-My sister in law gave me a lip conditoner to try out, I believe it was Mary Kay. My lips reacted horribly to this, swelled up for about 3 days and hurt for a couple more.

BEST MARY KAY's Satin hands Hand Cream with SPF4. Feels like youre wearing silk gloves! LOL.

BATH and BODY works WINTER CANDY APPLE antibacterial hand lotion. Smells heavenly and moisturizes great.

For my face, MARY KAY's age defying moisturizer. It's oil free and it really does hydrate and leave your skin 'plump looking' for 10 hours.

For my lips, Wet and Wild lipstick gets the prize of the decade! Been wearing the SAME shade since the age of 13 believe it or not and its still beautiful and gives excellent coverage as always. Blackberry, I believe. To achieve the smoldering matte look, I first apply Mary Kay TRIPLE ACTION LIP enhancer to my lips. Helps keep lipstick on also.

WORSTBurt Bee's ADVACADO hair conditioner. The one in the tin tube. I likened it to putting vaseline in my hair. YUCCCCKKK!

Wet and Wild liquid lip color. Very runny and seperates easily. Doesnt last a second.

Almay MILK eye cream. Dries under your eyes like glue and rubs away just as easily. You wake up in the morning with pieces of it in your eye!

rvlk I would love to do that except my skin color changes drastically 4x per year. Seems that just when I get what I need to be using, winter (or summer) comes and then the tan fades or reappears and its back to trial and error again. And then the spring and fall tropical vacations dont help either!

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hurry before its gone!

I have a new product I just tried and loved it. The Playtex heat therapy patches. They run around $5 for a box of 3 and they really work.

I didn't like the Kiel's Creme. But I do like the lip balm.

Mango lotion by Natural Body Care...OMG it's AWESOME! and best of all ....ALL NATURAL!

I love the Dr. Hauschka silk body powder, which I use on my face, it is translucent and doesn't look chalky. I also love their facial toner for oily skin. Their products are a little hard to find, but some health food stores carry them. For my hair I love the Logona Henna, I buy 10 boxes of it every year, wouldn't want to be without it!
I hate most cosmetics because they are full of unhealthy ingredients, such as petroleum by products. Geremy Rose is a great skin care line, all natural, no preseratives or other chemicals and also Weleda from Switzerland.

********************************************************* **** "If a man aspires towards a righteous life, his first act of abstinence is from injury to animals." --Albert Einstein

Favorite: Baby Magic Hair and Body Wash with Aloe (also like the baby shampoo with aloe). Diluted 2:1:1 with aloe vera juice and water. Not too perfumy. Mildly conditioning.

Anybody have any absolutely fragrance-free shampoos they like? (without chamomile --I'm allergic)

This is a fun and educational thread. Thanks for the ideas! Here are my observations:

BEST: Aveda Shampure, Aquage Working Spray, Borghese spa gloves and socks, Creative Nail cucumber heel cream (works on any dry skin). For gentle oral care I like Biotene products.

For air travel I keep Aveda 'Blue oil' in my carry-on, and dab bits onto my temples periodically. I also use Aveda 'Skin firming/toning agent to spray my face when it feels dry from the low humidity. The essential oils in it are just the right combination for me, to offset the dryness of the air.

I'm nail-vain and so I have definite preferences for my choices. I've found that a combination of Creative Nail 'Sticky' base coat, OPI nail lacquer and 'Seche Vite' topcoat gives me a 7-10+ day 'just manicured' look. I make my own cuticle conditioner with beeswax, essential oils, vitamin E, avocado oil, macadamia oil, peach kernel oil and sweet almond oil. (I'm considering whether to list it on ebaY--do you all have some insight as to whether there'd be interest?)

I use Obagi skin care products, under physician supervision. I'm pleased with the results and I find the cost competitive with department store lines. One other type of skin care product I like is the washcloth alternatives. I like Aveda's face chamois, or Shiseido 'Power of Silk' exfoliating puff.

I am exceedingly careful of the sun. For everyday face protection I've found that Origin's sunscreen is great. My skin is slightly oily, which the product corrects for and the feel is smooth, not greasy. I find that Chap Stik products with sunscreen are an economical and effective lip protection product.

WORST: (Note that these are individual observations, rather than blanket condemnations of a given product.)

I find that the Pantene products make my hair limp. Neutrogena shampoo turns it into an unmanageable tangle.

Liz