Review – Stratia Soft Touch AHA

Hi guys! It’s me! Your super-inconsistent blogger! Heh.. Anyway, I was just looking through my site and saw this post that I had reserved and saved way back in the year 2017! *inserts horror face emoji* Yup, so that’s why you see this product Stratia’s Soft Touch in its previous packaging! Anyway, I thought that since I had taken photos and have already finished this product, maybe I could give you guys a proper review. 

Ingredients

Water (Aqua), Mandelic Acid, Propylene Glycol, Polyacrylate Crosspolymer-6, Panthenol, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Matricaria Recutita (Chamomile) Flower Extract, Glycerin, Sodium Hyaluronate, Allantoin, Sodium Hydroxide, Diazolidinyl Urea, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate

How does the Stratia Soft Touch AHA fare?

Stratia’s Soft Touch AHA is claimed to be a hyper-gentle, highly effective exfoliant that sloughs off dead skin cells to help reveal smoother, clearer skin. Although AHAs are excellent in dissolving the intercellular “glue” between dead cells on the surface of your skin and revealing the smooth, bright skin underneath, many AHAs can also cause significant irritation and redness, especially to those with sensitive skin. However, the AHA included in this product (Mandelic Acid) is the exception. It is a much larger molecule than glycolic acid, so it doesn’t penetrate the skin as deeply and therefore causes significantly less irritation. Soft Touch AHA has 10% mandelic acid, along with skin-soothers like aloe, chamomile, and allantoin to give you bright, smooth skin with the least amount of irritation possible.

In a nutshell, Soft Touch AHA is a very gentle AHA product especially formulated for sensitive skins.

I usually use this product in the mornings straight after cleansing. True to its claims, it is very gentle and has never caused any stinging sensation to my skin. But guess what?! After a few weeks into using this product, my skin was the smoothest that it could ever be.. What kinda sorcery is this, Alli?? *Alli is the founder of Stratia Skin*

Anyway, to cut it short, I think that practically all skin types (except if you are truly super sensitive, then maybe do a patch test first?) can benefit from having this product in your skincare regime. In fact, I find that even on days when I use tretinoin, my skin is still able to tolerate this product. So if you are looking for an exfoliant but is scared to try one (just in case your face melts off), I think that this is a safe bet! 

Where can you find it?

You can purchase it from their official website. It retails at US$16 (50ml sized).

Review – Philosophy Resurface – The Microdelivery Dual-Phase Peel Set

The OG and the Best!

Philosophy’s Microdelivery Dual-Phase Peel and I go back a long way. In fact, I think that I first starting using this product nearly 10 years ago when my elder sister bought it. Throughout the years, I’ve repurchased it many times and it is one of the few products that truly wow me every time I use it. So I thought that I should share my love of it with you guys since I truly think that it deserves more hype!

Ingredients

Step I: Peg-6, Sodium Bicarbonate, Oleth-20, Glyceryl Stearate Se, Silica, Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Retinyl Palmitate, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Oil, Tribehenin, Sorbitan Isostearate, Palmitoyl Oligopeptide, Beta-Carotene, Isopropylparaben, Isobutylparaben, Butylparaben, Methylparaben, Propylparaben.

Step II: Water, Lactic Acid, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Linoleamidopropyl Pg-Dimonium Chloride Phosphate, Salicylic Acid, Polyquaternium-10, Propylene Glycol, Diazolidinyl Urea, Methylparaben, Propylparaben

How does the Philosophy Resurface – The Microdelivery Dual-Phase Peel Set fare?

The Philosophy Microdelivery Dual-Phase Peel is a two-step, in-home peel that resurfaces and rejuvenates sun-damaged, hyperpigmented and aging skin. Unlike other peels that only exfoliated, this peel delivers peptides and vitamin c to the skin as it is being rapidly exfoliated. It resurfaces and replenishes the skin at the same time with essential skin-brightening vitamin C and peptides with absolutely no downtime.

You’ll need to use the product in the following manner:

Step 1 – Vitamin C/Peptide resurfacing crystals – apply a teaspoon amount to clean, dry skin. Once applied, crystals should appear almost like a mask. Gently massage in a circular motion over entire face for up to 60 seconds, avoiding eye area. Remember, do not scrub! Use less pressure for sensitive skin.

Step 2 – Lactic/Salicylic Acid (AHA & BHA) activating gel – place a generous teaspoon amount in the palm of your hand. Massage gel onto fingertips, and apply on top of crystals. As the activator is applied, a warming sensation will occur. Do not be alarmed! It’s supposed to feel that way! White foam will appear, indicating activation. Just leave the foam on 2-3 minutes to infuse Vitamin C and peptides into the skin (massage foam for extra exfoliating benefits or let it sit for sensitive skin). Rinse thoroughly.

After you rinse off the mask, you’ll be shocked at just how smooth your face feels! For me, my skin is left feeling so soft just like velvety rose petals and it literally looks one shade lighter. Pores look minimised and my whole face just looks so bright and even. It’s love at first peel! This product is great just before a big event when you absolutely need your skin to look its best. It’s a complete makeover for your skin in just minutes! However because this product is so intensively exfoliating, I do not recommend that you use it more than once a week or even once every fortnightly for the more sensitive skin types. I also highly discourage you from using any other actives in your subsequent skincare steps if you use this mask beforehand to avoid over-stimulating your skin.

I think that this is definitely one of the best in-home peels that I’ve tried and my love affair with it looks set to continue for a long time. Try it now!

Where can you find it?

I bought this product from Sephora Online. It retails at S$109 (2 numbers of 2 oz product).

Thank you for reading!

 

Review – Dr Dennis Gross Alpha Beta® Universal Daily Peel (Packettes)

I bought the normal strength version of the Dr Dennis Gross Alpha Beta® Universal Daily Peel to see how it compares with the extra strength version. I had previously used the extra strength version and loved it to bits! Hence I thought that I should do a comparison post for you guys in case you were pondering which strength you should get. In any case, I could only evaluate the products based on my own skin condition so please keep this in mind while you read my post.

Let’s jump into the ingredients list, shall we?

Ingredients

Step 1 Comparison

Ingredients (Normal Strength)	Ingredients (Extra Strength)
Water	Water
Alcohol Denat	Alcohol Denat
Glycolic Acid	Glycolic Acid
Potassium Hydroxide	Potassium Hydroxide
Hamamelis Virginiana Water	Hamamelis Virginiana Water
Salicylic Acid	Salicylic Acid
Polysorbate 20	Polysorbate 20
Citric Acid	Lactic Acid
Lactic Acid	Mandelic acid
Malic Acid	Malic Acid
	Citric Acid
	Salix Alba Bark Extract
	Menthone Glycerin Acetal
Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract	Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract
Achillea Millefolium Extract	Achillea Millefolium Extract
Anthemis Nobilis Flower Extract	Anthemis Nobilis Flower Extract
soy isoflavones	soy isoflavones
Copper PCA	Copper PCA
Zinc PCA	Zinc PCA
Lecithin	Lecithin
Disodium EDTA	Disodium EDTA
Alcohol	Alcohol
Polysorbate 80	Polysorbate 80
Fragrance	Fragrance
Linalool	Linalool
Benzyl salicylate	Benzyl salicylate
Benzoic Acid	Benzoic Acid
Phenoxyethanol	Phenoxyethanol
Sodium Benzoate	Sodium Benzoate

Step 2 Comparison

Ingredient (Normal Strength)	Ingredient (Extra Strength)
Water	Water
Sodium bicarbonate	Sodium bicarbonate
Ascorbic Acid	Resveratrol
Ascorbyl Palmitate	Retinol
Retinyl Palmitate	Ascorbic Acid
Retinol	Ubiquinone
Tocopheryl Acetate	Ascorbyl Palmitate
Resveratrol	Phospholipids
Ubiquinone	Retinyl Palmitate
Achillea Millefolium Extract	Tocopheryl Acetate
Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract	soy isoflavones
Leuconostoc/ Radish Root Ferment Filtrate	Achillea Millefolium Extract
soy isoflavones	Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract
Phospholipids	Leuconostoc/ Radish Root Ferment Filtrate
Copper PCA	Copper PCA
Sodium PCA	Sodium PCA
Zinc PCA	Zinc PCA
Dimethicone	Dimethicone
Lecithin	Lecithin
Polysorbate 20	Polysorbate 20
Polysorbate 80	Polysorbate 80
PEG-30 STEARATE	Alcohol
Octoxynol-9	BHT
Alcohol	PEG-30 STEARATE
BHT	Octoxynol-9
Tetrasodium EDTA	Tetrasodium EDTA
Sorbic Acid	Sorbic Acid
Sodium Benzoate	Sodium Benzoate
Phenoxyethanol	Phenoxyethanol

I’ve highlighted in red the ingredients that are in different order or just simply different ingredients. As you can see from the above tables, the extra strength version of the Alpha Beta Peel has 7 acids in total while the normal strength version has 5 acids. Also, the order of the acids are different.

Nonetheless, I’m sure that you can tell from the comparison tables above that most of their main ingredients are basically the same and are also in the same order.

How does the Dr Dennis Gross Alpha Beta® Universal Daily Peel fare?

In all honesty, I think that the effects of this normal strength peel did not differ too much from their extra strength version. All my thoughts on the extra strength version of this peel also applies to the normal strength version (Read my full review of the extra strength version of the alpha beta peel here). I love this normal strength version as much as its extra strength version. Therefore, the only noticeable difference for me personally is that the extra strength version of the alpha-beta peel has a much more pronounced smell of alcohol. Again I’m not surprised at this, given that alcohol ranks higher in its ingredients list.

So if you were pondering on which version to get, I would say both versions are basically the same with the extra strength version containing 2 extra acids. If you have normal combination skins, you could just purchase the normal strength version. If you have combination oily skins, you might appreciate the slightly more exfoliating effects of the extra strength version better. Either way, both versions had worked very well for me and I would gladly recommend this product to anybody looking for maximum anti-ageing benefits.

Where can you find it?

I bought this product from Cult Beauty Online. It retails at £73.50 (30 treatments).

Thank you for reading!