2 Fridays ago, I was on an outdoor shoot where we were under the sun for about 3 hours. I seeked shelter under the shade of a huge tree for about half the time but when I got home, I found that some parts of my face darkened, and parts of my legs and arms as well. I looked like a dalmatian! I figured that it would go away in time but it really wasn't nice to look at. I did some reading and the only way to stop my skin from further darkening was to use whitening products because these products control melanin production which darken the skin when you have been exposing yourself in UV in long periods of time. I have always been afraid of these products because I was afraid to look white-pink or even gray! So that's why I avoided whitening lotions and soaps at all cost. I do however use Lancome's Spot Eraser for my freckles though, but this is the most whitening I would dare apply on my face. (and OH!! And the occasional Eskinol toner when my face needs some freshening up!) I have a friend who works for Belo and she told me about Belo's whitening product line, BELO ESSENTIALS. I've seen their products in supermarkets and in Watson's but I never thought of checking them out. She told me that Belo's products were safe and hypoallergenic so I thought, WHY NOT? I checked out their website www.beloessentials.ph and read about their products. She sent me their whole Belo Essentials product line (she bought them in Landmark with her own money) just so I can try it out and so a review on it. She's such a sweetheart :) THE WHITENING TONER FOR NORMAL TO COMBINATION SKIN Their toner has 2 formulas. One is for oily skin (which comes in a white bottle like this one, but with pink trimming), and this one is for normal to combination skin which was my skin type. The smell is very nice. I absolutely LOVE the smell of Belo Essentials' products. It's not perfumed, and it doesn't smell like medicine either. I can't really describe it exactly, but it really smells gentle and "clean". What I noticed about this product is that when you wipe it around your face, it doesn't give a sting like some toners that I have used. It feels light and soft like water. It doesn't leave your skin feeling "squeeky clean", but it leaves it supple and soft. THE WHITENING FACE WASH The pink one is their pore minimizing whitening face wash, which I didn't need. So I told my friend that the normal wash was what I wanted to try. It's a clear formula that doesn't really foam up like other facial washes, but it isn't like Cetaphil either which doesn't have suds at all. This facial wash feels light on the skin and has the same smell as the other Belo Essentials products. After washing however, it has that tight feel on the skin. Your skin feels like it has been stripped off it's oil specially around the nose area when you scrunch your nose. I wasn't really ecstatic about that but I continued to use the wash for a week. Except for the tightening feeling after, this product feels light on the skin and didn't cause me to have red blotches or itchiness. Overall, I like this facial wash. THE WHITENING MOISTURIZERS The pink one is called "Day Cover Whitening Cream with SPF15", and the blue on is "Night Therapy Whitening Cream". These moisturizers are not creamy. They have that same color as Cetaphil, it's like a water-based hair gel and when you apply it, it's like a film of oil that sets on your skin. So after that facial wash comes that tight feeling right? After applying this product, it still has that tigthening effect. It doesn't dry your skin whatsoever, it just has that feeling that your skin feels tight. Maybe that's what it really does? Maybe it's a lifting product too. I still pair the day cream with my regular SPF55 moisturizer, and the night cream with my Lancome Nuit Cream because I don't like that tightening feeling on my skin. Some women like that but for me personally, I feel uncomfortable. During the whole week of using this product, I have grown about 3-4 pimples around my face but not at the same time. They sprung up one after the other. I have yet to figure out if these moisturizers caused my sort-of breakout, or it was just brought upon that "time of the month". I plan to continue this product until I finish it and ride that time of the month out and see which one cause my mini breakout. Another thing I like about this product is that it doesn't dry sticky. THE WHITENING LOTIONS The only difference between the pink and the blue is that one has SPF. The pink bottle has SPF15 so you use this during the day, and the blue one at night. I don't usually put lotions when I go out during the day because I don't like feeling sticky after smoothing lotions on. And when you sweat in the afternoon, that sweat makes you sticky as well. But these lotions doesn't do that. It quickly dries on your skin and it's not extremely creamy. I like that it doesn't make me feel sticky the whole day! As soon as you put it on, you'll feel a little bit icky because you know... It's lotion! But after about 10 minutes, it's quickly absorbed by your skin. These body lotions also has that tightening feeling after. I really don't mind that with my body lotion because it has that "firming" feel. You will have to apply on your whole body though, don't miss any areas so that you will achieve even skin. You wouldn't want to look like a dalmatian. Take your time applying it. This is the only thing I don't like about whitening lotions, you have to really take the time to apply in ALL areas so that it's even. Unlike regular lotions, you can just skip your back and your stomach, etc and just apply on your arms and legs. But overall? I love it! I may get another bottle if I want to grow any lighter. Hahaha! THE WHITENING BODY BARS The pink one has beads for smoothening, and the blue one is just your regular whitening beauty bar. I really love how Belo Essentials smell. It smells clean! I really don't like soaps smelling like flowers or mint or anything like that. I like this smell because it just has a faint, soft sweet smell that smells really clean and very derma-ish. The small beauty bar lasts about a week and a half, and the bigger one maybe 2 weeks to 2 and a half depending on how often you shower. After soaping your entire body, you body feels "squeeky clean" it even gives that squeeky sound when you run your finger on the surface of your skin after. I'm still not sure whether I like this or not. I may have gotten used to it already. I tried to air-dry my skin by just standing in the shower so I know how the feeling is afterward and again, this soap has that tight feeling on the skin. I also don't mind this because at least the soap doesn't leave you dry. It just has that feel. I didn't think that these whitening products changed my skin in any way. Every time I looked in front of the mirror, my skin still looked the same and so did my face. I did however noticed that my Maybelline BB Cream blended more on my face and so did my face powder. 2 weeks ago, the BB Cream really looked white on my skin but after 10 days of Belo, my BB Cream blended better. I just religiously applied these products on my skin diligently for 10 days and didn't think about it. I was in the mall yesterday for dinner when I bumped into my friend. He noticed that I was lighter and I told him that I was given the whole product line of Belo Essentials to test :) I guess, I tol him, that it seems to be working! Hahaha! When I got home, I stood in front of the mirror and I noticed too that my underarms lightened a little bit and so did the skin around my neck. The shadows that were tanned around my arms when driving disappeared and my feet lightened too! (I used to have flip-flop tans on both my feet). Their prices are not that bad either! My friend told me that she bought the entire line for just a little over PhP500.00. So it's really budget friendly and it's safe to use as well. I am still not sure though which parts lightened and which still needed some work. But overall, I guess their promise of whiter skin in 7 days is true. I can tell you that my skin already started showing improvements and have evened out already. Of course, I can't go under the sun for too long now without sunscreen, but that's ok. I'll just leave that for the summer! TWO THUMBS UP FOR BELO ESSENTIALS! I would recommend this to women who would want to even out their skin all over. *Skin testing is still recommended. Belo Essentials have travel sizes that you can buy so test it on your skin first for 1 day. Stop using if you see any reactions.
4 Comments
2/16/2011 03:46:57 pm
Thank you very much for the information I really appreciate it!!
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uyen nguyen
10/23/2011 05:14:06 am
do the pink lotion and the blue lotion have same smell?
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10/9/2012 11:40:54 am
Because curiosity so just come to your blog to see, the result is astonishing, write so good..
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