Garden Review: Week 1

I have a confession to make. This past week was the first week of my Garden of Wisdom experiment. I was scheduled to use one product, but I ended up using....

Wait for it....


Five!
I couldn't help myself. I have a reason (aka excuse) for all of the extra products, but really, it was just because I could not resist. And two months of incorporating products was just way too long for me. Not when the solution for perfect skin was sitting on my dresser. Keep reading for my reviews!

Oats, Milk and Honey Cleanser
This was the product I chose to test this week. I figured that I should start at the beginning of the routine. I loved the texture of this product; it almost reminded me of the First Aid Beauty cleanser, which has great reviews on Makeup Alley, that I have tried a sample of. There was almost no smell and a little goes a long way, so my half ounce container was a generous sample size. At this point, my routine was this cleanser, a Thalgo toner and coconut oil for a moisturizer. However, a few days into this, my nose started flaking with dry skin and it was probably the driest looking it has been all winter. This leads me to my second product sample.

As you can see, the ink will smudge if you get it wet. 

I plan on taping over the labels to prevent this in the future.

Jen's Green Tea and Shea Cleanser
I then switched to this cleanser sample because I attributed my dryness to the other cleanser. This cleanser also has a smooth texture, but is green in color. A pea size amount is enough for my whole face and after working it between my hands for a few seconds it becomes a little milky (not foaming, which can be harsh on dry and sensitive skin). I also really enjoyed this cleanser, but I was still seeing some flaking on my nose.

Fruity Meow Meow Lotion
Since my skin was dry, I figured that what it really needed was some moisturization. So a few days into the week I added in this lotion. I have the kind with wax (which has not seemed to irritate my skin or clogged my pores). This lotion has a purple tint, glides on easily, and dries to a somewhat matte finish. Because of this matteness, it is not the most moisturizing product that Garden of Wisdom offers. It almost acts as a sealant.

Bluberry HA Serum
I then decided I must fully commit to the moisturization technique that GoW recommends. This includes an HA serum. I selected Blueberry to try first. I love the way this feels and the faint smell of blueberries is very pleasant. Once I added this into my routine, the flakes were gone. My current routine is: wash with Jen's Green Tea and Shea Cleanser, apply the HA serum to a barely damp face, let dry, add some type of oil at night (I rotate between Jojoba, Argan and Coconut) and then seal it all in with the Fruity Meow Meow Lotion.

As for the fifth product, I am still working on my review, but it will appear in some later post.

I do not think that the cleansers dried out my skin appreciably. However, I feel that with a consistent, effective routine, my skin could calm down enough to show what it was really lacking. Before this experiment, I used different products every night. Finally, it had a chance to slow down. I have always had skin on the drier side. This school year it has been somewhat oily, which probably means that I was stripping my skin with products that were too harsh for my skin (I'm looking at you Arcona).

My skin is already looking a bit more even and I have had only one breakout (which could be purging). The spots I did have have cleared up nicely. This week I will be working in a few more products (hopefully I can limit it to one or two) and I am already planning another order from GoW.