Today I have a special post featuring Know Your Ingredients (KYI) products plus a GIVEAWAY at the end, so keep reading!! 😍 🎁
If there’s one thing I learned from my mid-to-late twenties to my early thirties now is that less is more when it comes to skincare.
Less products and less ingredients in those products.
I used to love going to Walgreens and Target—weekly—to randomly pick out the latest beauty scrub or lotion. Believing each one held the key to perfect skin. I would say, “this will be the time that my skin changes forever!” In reality they were making my skin worse, stripping it of natural oils and creating breakouts that otherwise wouldn’t be there.
I was spending money on products that made my skin worse.
I put 2 + 2 together one fateful day after I had been sick for several days aka no shower. I realized my skin looked pretty flawless. What?! How could my skin look so good when I haven’t washed it? How did my blemishes disappear without salicylic acid and a toner that burned?
Less is More
That’s when I first made the connection that less is more. That’s about the time I started using coconut oil on my face, replacing my Neutrogena moisturizer for a 1-ingredient product. It saved my wintery-Chicago-area skin. Saved it. It took away the redness, dry patches, and a smattering of forehead pimples.
Since then I’ve learned a lot about the types of products my skin prefers. I’ve also learned that not all ‘natural’ products are created equal.
So you can imagine how excited I was when Samantha from Know Your Ingredients reached out and asked if I would like to try a few of their products.
Who is Know Your Ingredients?
KYI creates whole food skincare and is dedicated to raising consumer awareness regarding the health benefits of selecting and using skincare products that are good for you.
KYI believes that skincare products should be simple, uncomplicated and minimally processed. KYI’s products produce amazing results in fighting the signs of aging yet are non-toxic and gentle enough to use on children and are especially effective in fighting problems that plague children, as well as adults, such as eczema, rosacea and keratosis pilaris. Best of all KYI’s products are multi-functional and help reduce the need for multiple products (and the resultant packaging and waste). KYI will always provide products in an unscented version, and in a choice of luscious scents all created using only essential oils.
About their Product Line
- Sweet Almond Softening Oil: sweet almond oil & essential oil (if scented) {Chamomile Lavender • Orange Mandarin • Litsea Cubeba • Unscented}
- Whipped Shea Butter Mask: refined shea butter, jojoba oil, and essential oil (if scented) {Chamomile Lavender • Orange Mandarin • Litsea Cubeba • Unscented}
- Argan Oil Serum + Vitamin C: argan oil, tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate (oil-soluble form of vitamin c), and essential oil (if scented) {Orange Grapefruit • Unscented}
KYI prides itself on offering all of its products either unscented or in irresistible scents made from more good stuff from nature: essential oils of litsea cubea, chamomile, lavender, orange, mandarin, ginger, lemongrass and grapefruit.
At KYI, our goal is to create natural, simple products that have little or no processing using the highest quality ingredients available to produce extremely effective results.
My Skin Needs
A little bit about me first, I currently live in a drier non-humid climate. My complexion is fair and mostly clear (when sleep/eating/hydration are balanced). I have a little t-zone oiliness with normal to dry cheeks. I also have a little rosacea on the center of my cheeks that dominates a little bit more on my right side. The redness is a million times better than it used to be years ago, but I’m still looking at different ingredients/diet to see if I can eliminate it completely.
My skincare throughout the year is a balance of the following depending on the season: a gentle but effective cleanser, oil-washing, exfoliating, serums, and moisturization.
What KYI Products Did I Try?
I tried the Whipped Shea Butter Mask in two scents, Chamomile Lavender and Litsea Bubeba as well as the Argan Oil with Vitamin C in the scent Orange Grapefruit.
Whipped Shea Butter Mask
Product Description: To ultra-moisturize skin, reduce lines and wrinkles, soften and condition. Heals dry, chapped or irritated skin in adults and children. Conditions dry, coarse hair while adding shine.
I’ve had the opportunity to try several shea-based and shea-centric products over the last 3 years thanks to all the vegan/cruelty-free subscription boxes available (Vegan Cuts|Petit Vour|LaRitzy) and to date my skin has been the most amenable to KYI’s whipped shea butter mask.
Shea butter has always been something that feels and looks good on my body, but not my face. It’s a heavy product that way and my skin has reacted quickly in opposition by getting small pustule-type breakouts accompanied by a greasy complexion.
Not the case with KYI’s whipped shea butters. It hasn’t clogged my pores or caused breakouts. It has made my facial skin smoother, tighter, and less red in the cheek area. I’ve specifically focused the chamomile lavender on my face because of the calming properties and saved the litsea cubeba scent for my body.
I prefer using a small dab on my face at bed time—even during the spring and summer months and I plan on using it during the day come winter when it’s drier.
It truly is a ‘whipped’ product, super silky and absorbs into the skin effortlessly.
I love that the glass jars are reusable. They’ll be perfect for future homemade goodies like deodorant.
Argan Oil Serum with Vitamin C
Product Description: To soften and condition skin, minimize lines and wrinkles, brighten skin and increase elasticity. Apply to hair ends for smooth, shiny, frizz-free locks.
I love it!! I’ve been using this as my moisturizer during most of the week. A light sensible application wears well under foundations and BB creams. I also have run a little on my fingertips to rub into the ends of my hair between shampoo days.
The 0.25 oz I received is probably a sample size and is not currently available for sale, their normal offering is a 2 oz glass spray bottle. I loved the roller ball application, plus it’s the perfect size for traveling.
Know Your Ingredients can be used on your face, body, nails, and hair. They have helped fade cellulite, rosacea, scars and the argan oil has even been great at removing makeup!
I’m thrilled to have learned of this company and their lovely offerings. I can’t wait to try the sweet almond oil. Let me know if you have a favorite of theirs!
Giveaway Time!! 🎉
Enter below to win YOUR choice of a Know Your Ingredients product. They have generously opened this giveaway to 3 lucky winners!! Contest is open to residents of the United States and Canada. Winners must respond within 24 hours or a new winner will be selected.
Thank you for entering!!
Know Your Ingredients provided Feed Your Skull with products for reviewing purposes, but all opinions are my own.
Great line of products, will check it out. Thanks