Which are your favorite SkinActives (SAS) products?
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free skin care · Mon Aug 16, 2010 3:08 pm

I've been looking at the SAS ready-made products for a while now. there seems to be some pretty hard-core formulas, and its kind of difficult deciding which ones to choose 1st.
So, i was wondering what the wonderful EDS ladies thought -

What are your favorite SkinActives (SAS) products?.... and, more importantly, why?

It would be really helpful to give a short description of your skintype, age, and what you think any particular product does for you.

Thanks ladies! xxx

free skin care · Mon Aug 16, 2010 4:06 pm

I love the Bright-I serum. I use it over an eye cream. It firms up my 50-year-old undereye area amazingly well.

free skin care · Mon Aug 16, 2010 4:40 pm

CHAS serum. I think it is a great antioxidant. No visible results, but I feel it has great ingredients in it for prevention.

free skin care · Mon Aug 16, 2010 5:04 pm

I've tried so many SAS products just because of the "great ingredients" but they all ended up lying on my shelf until I throw them out one by one! They are just not elegant enough for me skin Embarassed

free skin care · Mon Aug 16, 2010 5:25 pm

RussianSunshine wrote:

I've tried so many SAS products just because of the "great ingredients" but they all ended up lying on my shelf until I throw them out one by one! They are just not elegant enough for me skin Embarassed

LOL. I actually have done the same thing. The CHAS is the only thing I have used up from SAS! Laughing

free skin care · Mon Aug 16, 2010 5:40 pm

Skippie wrote:

I love the Bright-I serum. I use it over an eye cream. It firms up my 50-year-old undereye area amazingly well.

I was looking at Bright-I Cream and Bright-I Serum, wondering what the difference was between them. Is it just the base that differs?

free skin care · Mon Aug 16, 2010 5:46 pm

rileygirl wrote:

CHAS serum. I think it is a great antioxidant. No visible results, but I feel it has great ingredients in it for prevention.

I've just bought ingredients for Kassy's DIY C,E, FA Serum, but i may give CHAS a try if i dont get on well with that (altho i have high expectations with all the rave reviews of Kassy's skin recipes!).
I wonder how the DIY C, E, Ferulic serum with added MAP would compare in potency and anti-oxidant benefits to the CHAS Serum?

I was contemplating trying the Coffee Berry Cream to amp-up the anti-oxidant benefits of the C, E, FA Serum, but not sure if that's really necessary.

free skin care · Mon Aug 16, 2010 5:57 pm

RussianSunshine wrote:

I've tried so many SAS products just because of the "great ingredients" but they all ended up lying on my shelf until I throw them out one by one! They are just not elegant enough for me skin Embarassed

LOL

- i know they would feel more luxurious if they came in pretty, elegant packaging, but as i've never used expensive skincare (before now - i figure its time i started looking at the state of my skin!) i really dont mind as long as the actual product is potent and effective!

I'm particularly interested in the possible anti-aging benefits of:

Mitochondrial Booster Cream,
Anti-Aging Cream with Resveratrol,
Be Kind Rewind Cream,
Coffee Berry Cream.

I've just ordered the Lets Make Collagen Serum and Twilight Cream (with Vit A), as a starter point to build up my anti-aging skincare routine.

However i've smoked since i was 12 yrs old, so despite only being almost 30, it feels (and looks!) like my skin needs a lot of extra help to repair the damage all those awful toxins have done.
I really dont know where to go from here to be honest - im guessing plenty of anti-oxidants would be good (not sure if i need more than are in Kassy's DIY C, E, Ferulic Serum?), and iv been hearing wonderful things about the Mitichondrial Booster, Peptides and.. the list goes on!

Would love to hear more about what people think to the above 4 SAS Creams...
.. and if any of them are to be avoided for congested/breakout-prone skins like mine? x

free skin care · Mon Aug 16, 2010 6:09 pm

I've used the Mito cream and the coffee berry cream from SAS. I preferred the coffee berry, although neither did anything special for me. The mito cream has a strong smell that kinda bugged me.

They did not seem exceptionally moisturizing. My skin tends towards slightly dry though.

Let's us know what you think of the LMC and Twilight cream once you get them.

free skin care · Mon Aug 16, 2010 8:37 pm

MissCleopatra wrote:

LOL

- i know they would feel more luxurious if they came in pretty, elegant packaging

However i've smoked since i was 12 yrs old, so despite only being almost 30, it feels (and looks!) like my skin needs a lot of extra help to repair the damage all those awful toxins have done.

I think a lot of the SAS products tend to feel gritty, MissCleopatra, and not necessarily that they don't come in pretty packages.

Since you are also a smoker, I was curious if you saw this post by Hannah on the SAS forum?

This is my Ebay guide:

Smoking is bad for your skin
...but you already know that. The point of this guide is, what can you do about it?

Cigarette skin
“Cigarette skin” is characterized by puffiness, increased facial wrinkling, red-orange complexion and sallowness.

The skin of smokers ages prematurily. Eventually, smoking will lead to irregularly thickened skin resulting from broken elastic fibers (smoking increases the activity of matrix proteinases, enzymes that break down collagen and other proteins). Superficially, the skin of smokers resembles sun damaged skin, but anatomical studies reveal that the damage goes deeper in the skin, as far as the dermis.

Smoking decreases vitamin A and hydration. Blood vessels that provide nutrition and oxygen to the dermis deteriorate, blood flow to the skin decreases and so does skin oxygenation. Maybe for this reason, smokers’ skin heals more slowly, a problem that goes further than the face and affects post-surgery healing. Smoking increases the incidence of pre-cancerous skin lesions and of squamous cell carcinoma on lips and oral mucosa. Hair is also affected and turns gray early.

What can be done?

If you are planning to have cosmetic or any other type of surgery, try to stop smoking for at least a couple of weeks before the procedure, your skin will heal faster if given a few days "holidays" from smoking.

For those of you that continue to smoke, you need to try to compensate the increased concentration of strong oxidants in your skin by using both hydrophilic (water loving) and lipophilic antioxidants. You will find both of these types in Skin Actives Scientific ELS (every lipid serum) and CHAS (complete hydrophilic antioxidant serum).

For former and present smokers, use every tool at your disposal to reverse the clock: SAS sells anti-age and eye creams that can do just that. Our anti-age cream contains important actives like Coenzyme Q10 (for mitochondria damaged by smoke) and resveratrol (anti-cancer, anti-age). Liquid rainbow will provide protection, nutrition and antioxidants to the lips, which is the part of smoker's faces that ages the fastest.

The Bright-I cream will help with the eye area, helping with puffy eyes and dark under-eye circles.

For damage to blood vessels: resveratrol, grape seed proanthocyanidins, in our capillary health cream.

For wrinkled lips: liquid rainbow with antiOx booster

Once that you start treatment with SAS anti-age cream, you can use the alpha/beta exfoliator to improve your skin faster, but don't forget that nutrition is even more imporatant once you start exfoliation, and especially for smokers.

Smokers' hair
The free radicals that affect the skin will also affect the hair, which will gray prematurely. Help your hair with our hair serum, it will decrease damage done by oxidants.
(http://skinactives.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=2284898)

And this from a newsletter:

Hannah's Notes

Smoker’s kit
If you have the bad luck to be a smoker, splash antioxidants on your face and hair and neck and body. Add ascorbic acid crystals to your bath water. Try our CHAS serum, antioxidant cream with coffee fruit extract and antioxidant enzymes. Massage your scalp with ascorbic acid before rinsing.
Remember your lips! Use our lip trio. For the area between the upper lip and your nose, use everything: CHAS, let’s make collagen serum, Dream cream and anything you can think of. This area suffers terribly in smokers. Men have the option of growing a moustache, but we don’t!

A short list for current smokers:
Retinoid cream, CHAS serum, antioxidant cream, ascorbic acid, lip trio, let’s make collagen serum.

Former smoker’s kit:
Retinoid cream, mitochondria cream, lip trio, let’s make collagen serum

(http://skinactives.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=4655406&highlight=smoker)

free skin care · Tue Aug 17, 2010 4:57 am

MissCleopatra wrote:

Skippie wrote:

I love the Bright-I serum. I use it over an eye cream. It firms up my 50-year-old undereye area amazingly well.

I was looking at Bright-I Cream and Bright-I Serum, wondering what the difference was between them. Is it just the base that differs?

I've used both at different times, and the bases are very different. The cream is like any other eye cream in its consistency. The serum's base is sea kelp bioferment which smooths out the skin and can be flaky if too much is applied.

free skin care · Tue Aug 17, 2010 5:25 am

Skippie wrote:

I've used both at different times, and the bases are very different. The cream is like any other eye cream in its consistency. The serum's base is sea kelp bioferment which smooths out the skin and can be flaky if too much is applied.

Skippie, didn't you find another product that was almost identical to the Bright I serum that you liked, or am I thinking of something else?

free skin care · Tue Aug 17, 2010 5:28 am

rileygirl wrote:

Skippie wrote:

I've used both at different times, and the bases are very different. The cream is like any other eye cream in its consistency. The serum's base is sea kelp bioferment which smooths out the skin and can be flaky if too much is applied.

Skippie, didn't you find another product that was almost identical to the Bright I serum that you liked, or am I thinking of something else?

I'm using the Bright I serum instead of Easy Eye Solutions, Riley. It works just as well for me and is much cheaper - one of the few things I've found where cheap turned out to be good.

free skin care · Tue Aug 17, 2010 6:06 am

Skippie wrote:

I'm using the Bright I serum instead of Easy Eye Solutions, Riley. It works just as well for me and is much cheaper - one of the few things I've found where cheap turned out to be good.

LOL. Ok. I had it mixed up in my mind, but that is good to know that you like the Bright I serum. I didn't care for the Bright I cream.

free skin care · Tue Aug 17, 2010 7:33 am

MissCleopatra wrote:

LOL

- i know they would feel more luxurious if they came in pretty, elegant packaging, but as i've never used expensive skincare (before now - i figure its time i started looking at the state of my skin!) i really dont mind as long as the actual product is potent and effective!

MissCleopatra, this is not about the pretty packaging, but the way the cream "sits" on my skin instead of sinking into it. They all leave greasy residue on my skin.

rileygirl, CHAS ingredient list is important-looking!

free skin care · Tue Aug 17, 2010 9:00 am

RussianSunshine wrote:

rileygirl, CHAS ingredient list is important-looking!

I think so, too, which is the only reason I use it!

free skin care · Tue Aug 17, 2010 9:08 am

rileygirl wrote:

RussianSunshine wrote:

rileygirl, CHAS ingredient list is important-looking!

I think so, too, which is the only reason I use it!

Are you able to apply sunscreen and/or foundation on top of it?

free skin care · Tue Aug 17, 2010 9:45 am

RussianSunshine wrote:

Are you able to apply sunscreen and/or foundation on top of it?

I don't wear foundation, but I do apply sunscreen on top. I haven't had any problems personally with that.

free skin care · Wed Aug 18, 2010 6:17 pm

ShastaGirl wrote:

I've used the Mito cream and the coffee berry cream from SAS. I preferred the coffee berry, although neither did anything special for me. The mito cream has a strong smell that kinda bugged me.

They did not seem exceptionally moisturizing. My skin tends towards slightly dry though.

Let's us know what you think of the LMC and Twilight cream once you get them.

Sorry for my delay in responding - iv been sending myself crazy researching actives and going over SAS ingredients lists and forum posts (ugh, and i get rewarded by being banned from their forum just for asking a few well thought-out questions about the products - LOL, DR.Hannah *detests* me for some reason!, but that's another story!)... anyhoo.... Confused

As well as the *Twilight Cream and *Lets Make Collagen Serum i already ordered, im just putting together another order id like to get off tomorrow, for:

*Anti-Aging Cream with Resveratrol,
*Mitochondria Concentrate (to add to the Anti-Aging Cream).
*White Willow Bark (to add to the Twilight Cream for pore clearing etc),

and i cant decide between Be Kind Rewind Cream, or Coffee Berry Cream.

I know this is a heyyuuuge amount of new products to order from SAS (at least for me!) but if im going to get stung witha customs charge i dont want to have to order again for a good while!

I was intending on using CHAS serum & Anti-Aging cream (with added Mitochondria) for a.m., and the LMC serum & Twilight cream (with added White Willow Bark) for p.m.

I really sont 'need' another cream (in fact it will be kinda hard working out when to use it) but im kinda worried that iv missed off some important actives that would help with the damage 18 yrs of smoking has done to my poor skin (OMG! 18yrs?! *cries* - Im only 30yrs old ffs!) Shock

I still dont know if i should add the Coffee Fruit Cream for the extra anti-oxidants (are these lipophilic anti-oxidants in this cream, does anyone know?... The CHAS serum covers me for hydrophilic antioxidants). Or should i add the Be Kind Rewind (BKRW) cream seeing as its meant to reverse UV damage (which i havent got much of, but i heard that smoking damage was similar?).
Or should i just add another Anti-Aging Cream with Resveratrol?

Eek - what would you do? Smile

free skin care · Wed Aug 18, 2010 6:30 pm

rileygirl wrote:

MissCleopatra wrote:

LOL

- i know they would feel more luxurious if they came in pretty, elegant packaging

However i've smoked since i was 12 yrs old, so despite only being almost 30, it feels (and looks!) like my skin needs a lot of extra help to repair the damage all those awful toxins have done.

I think a lot of the SAS products tend to feel gritty, MissCleopatra, and not necessarily that they don't come in pretty packages.

Since you are also a smoker, I was curious if you saw this post by Hannah on the SAS forum?

This is my Ebay guide:

Smoking is bad for your skin
...but you already know that. The point of this guide is, what can you do about it?

Cigarette skin
“Cigarette skin” is characterized by puffiness, increased facial wrinkling, red-orange complexion and sallowness.

The skin of smokers ages prematurily. Eventually, smoking will lead to irregularly thickened skin resulting from broken elastic fibers (smoking increases the activity of matrix proteinases, enzymes that break down collagen and other proteins). Superficially, the skin of smokers resembles sun damaged skin, but anatomical studies reveal that the damage goes deeper in the skin, as far as the dermis.

Smoking decreases vitamin A and hydration. Blood vessels that provide nutrition and oxygen to the dermis deteriorate, blood flow to the skin decreases and so does skin oxygenation. Maybe for this reason, smokers’ skin heals more slowly, a problem that goes further than the face and affects post-surgery healing. Smoking increases the incidence of pre-cancerous skin lesions and of squamous cell carcinoma on lips and oral mucosa. Hair is also affected and turns gray early.

What can be done?

If you are planning to have cosmetic or any other type of surgery, try to stop smoking for at least a couple of weeks before the procedure, your skin will heal faster if given a few days "holidays" from smoking.

For those of you that continue to smoke, you need to try to compensate the increased concentration of strong oxidants in your skin by using both hydrophilic (water loving) and lipophilic antioxidants. You will find both of these types in Skin Actives Scientific ELS (every lipid serum) and CHAS (complete hydrophilic antioxidant serum).

For former and present smokers, use every tool at your disposal to reverse the clock: SAS sells anti-age and eye creams that can do just that. Our anti-age cream contains important actives like Coenzyme Q10 (for mitochondria damaged by smoke) and resveratrol (anti-cancer, anti-age). Liquid rainbow will provide protection, nutrition and antioxidants to the lips, which is the part of smoker's faces that ages the fastest.

The Bright-I cream will help with the eye area, helping with puffy eyes and dark under-eye circles.

For damage to blood vessels: resveratrol, grape seed proanthocyanidins, in our capillary health cream.

For wrinkled lips: liquid rainbow with antiOx booster

Once that you start treatment with SAS anti-age cream, you can use the alpha/beta exfoliator to improve your skin faster, but don't forget that nutrition is even more imporatant once you start exfoliation, and especially for smokers.

Smokers' hair
The free radicals that affect the skin will also affect the hair, which will gray prematurely. Help your hair with our hair serum, it will decrease damage done by oxidants.
(http://skinactives.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=2284898)

And this from a newsletter:

Hannah's Notes

Smoker’s kit
If you have the bad luck to be a smoker, splash antioxidants on your face and hair and neck and body. Add ascorbic acid crystals to your bath water. Try our CHAS serum, antioxidant cream with coffee fruit extract and antioxidant enzymes. Massage your scalp with ascorbic acid before rinsing.
Remember your lips! Use our lip trio. For the area between the upper lip and your nose, use everything: CHAS, let’s make collagen serum, Dream cream and anything you can think of. This area suffers terribly in smokers. Men have the option of growing a moustache, but we don’t!

A short list for current smokers:
Retinoid cream, CHAS serum, antioxidant cream, ascorbic acid, lip trio, let’s make collagen serum.

Former smoker’s kit:
Retinoid cream, mitochondria cream, lip trio, let’s make collagen serum

(http://skinactives.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=4655406&highlight=smoker)

Thanks Rileygirl for a thoroughly interesting post - i hadnt seen it before (despite reading nothing but SAS material for dayyyys! Mad

). This was really informative general information and a big help, but... the product recommendations are totally different to the products Dr.Hannah suggested i try for the exact same reason - premature aging due to my smoking. This gets more and more confusing!
Confused

Dr. Hannah recommended me BKRW cream and/or Twilight cream and/or Mitochondria Booster cream, for smoking related aging concerns (along with some serums etc).

Seeing as the Mito & BKRW creams are a very rich base that can cause breakouts, i decided to use the Anti-Aging Cream as a base to add in the Mito Concentrate for a similar (but better?) cream with a lighter base - so i got that covered... i just dont think i have the lipophilic antioxidants or some of the actives in the BKRW cream covered.

Can anyone suggest which SAS products they would choose for my concerns? (on top of the 4 ready-made products iv already chosen, listed in post above.

Sorry for the long posts. Embarassed

I'll definitely let you all know what the SAS products are like when i receive them - loads of SAS reviews coming up!

free skin care · Wed Aug 18, 2010 6:53 pm

Skippie wrote:

I love the Bright-I serum. I use it over an eye cream. It firms up my 50-year-old undereye area amazingly well.

Skippie- Shouldn't you be using this under your eye cream instead of over?

free skin care · Wed Aug 18, 2010 7:09 pm

Cleopatra - If Hannah is suggesting something personalized for you I'd go with it. I use CHAS at times and also have ELS. I use these mainly when I dermaroll. Another member on here swears by I Bright and mitochondria cream. I have not used them but she is lovely and 58.

As you are a smoker I would certainly protect that lip area and around the eyes as these tissues are extra sensitive to smoking. (I hope you floss too).
Also due to your smoking you have depletion of important nutrients so I would recommend use of Vitamin C in high doses since this is tremendously diminished with smoking. Vit C can be purchased in two forms and I would get both (water soluble and fat-soluble). Also - I would take an anti=oxidant formula to help with the free radicals produced by smoking. And I would take a supplement specifically designed for skin since your blood flow is diminished. (Just to up the defense system).

I make a lot of Kassy's DIY serums - her stuff is high end and packed full of the good stuff. I don't use any other formulas and I used to spend big bucks on the skinceuticals stuff. Yikes - when I think what I used to pay before I really knew what I was doing..... Rolling Eyes

Good luck to you and at your age - still soooo young. Hope you can quit smoking and til then get yourself in a protection/prevention mode. Best of luck
~sis

free skin care · Wed Aug 18, 2010 7:50 pm

I totally understand why you want to place a large order due to customs, but just a piece of advice...
Start slow. Add one cream, product at a time. Give it a couple of weeks to see how it works. This will help you to determine what products are really working or on the flip side what may not be. Worse case, you may break out or have a bad reaction and may not know which cream is causing it. Just my two cents... Smile

I know you are excited to get started. I was in the same place you are now a year ago. It took me this long to feel confident.

I wish you the very best in your journey.

free skin care · Wed Aug 18, 2010 8:50 pm

MissCleopatra wrote:

As well as the *Twilight Cream and *Lets Make Collagen Serum i already ordered, im just putting together another order id like to get off tomorrow, for:

*Anti-Aging Cream with Resveratrol,
*Mitochondria Concentrate (to add to the Anti-Aging Cream).
*White Willow Bark (to add to the Twilight Cream for pore clearing etc),

and i cant decide between Be Kind Rewind Cream, or Coffee Berry Cream.

I know this is a heyyuuuge amount of new products to order from SAS (at least for me!) but if im going to get stung witha customs charge i dont want to have to order again for a good while!

I was intending on using CHAS serum & Anti-Aging cream (with added Mitochondria) for a.m., and the LMC serum & Twilight cream (with added White Willow Bark) for p.m.

I really sont 'need' another cream (in fact it will be kinda hard working out when to use it) but im kinda worried that iv missed off some important actives that would help with the damage 18 yrs of smoking has done to my poor skin (OMG! 18yrs?! *cries* - Im only 30yrs old ffs!) Shock

I still dont know if i should add the Coffee Fruit Cream for the extra anti-oxidants (are these lipophilic anti-oxidants in this cream, does anyone know?... The CHAS serum covers me for hydrophilic antioxidants). Or should i add the Be Kind Rewind (BKRW) cream seeing as its meant to reverse UV damage (which i havent got much of, but i heard that smoking damage was similar?).
Or should i just add another Anti-Aging Cream with Resveratrol?

Eek - what would you do? Smile

Rather than getting another cream, why don't you get the coffee berry extract and add it to one of the other creams? Then you won't have so many to use up.

The CHAS should be good to help counteract some of the smoking damage.

And by the way, I'm sorry to hear about your issues on the SAS forum. I won't post there because of this attitude. I've heard many stories of people getting banned and posts getting deleted. I much prefer the objectivity of EDS - where you can hear the good, bad and the ugly rather than one-sided "approved" opinions. I like SAS products but now tend to buy elsewhere because it's often hard to get objective input on the products.

free skin care · Thu Aug 19, 2010 4:59 am

sister sweets wrote:

Skippie wrote:

I love the Bright-I serum. I use it over an eye cream. It firms up my 50-year-old undereye area amazingly well.

Skippie- Shouldn't you be using this under your eye cream instead of over?

I've never thought about trying it that way, sis. When I was using Easy Eye serum, I'd put it over my eye cream too. Now you've made me curious - I'll have to try it out.

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