Pretty and Under Protection: Dr. Denese Skincare/Suncare (glowing review)

First I want to give a big, supportive, empathetic, sympathetic shout out to my friend, John, who is having massive dental work done this morning (even as I type). That's right, folks…DENTAL WORK! Let's all take a moment and send some nice thoughts his way.

Now that I think about it…let's all just take another moment and send nice thoughts to anyone who might need them this morning.

OK? Did you think something? Good.

And now back to beauty business. For those of us in the northern hemisphere (of Earth); tomorrow (5:18pm EDT) is the beginning of Autumn (aka "Fall"). For some reason, I always hate to say goodbye to summer. Even though I dislike both heat and humidity; I love long days, warm nights, sandals, not wearing a coat, and the general feeling of ease. But now I'm starting to remember what's great about fall – especially early fall. For one thing, it's still warm enough to wear my summer clothes and sandals; but now the weather is comfortable instead of hot and humid.

Also, my complexion loves this weather. Not too hot or cold, not too humid or dry. Which means my skin is clearer, less red and more balanced. Which also means I can wear tinted moisturizers instead of regular foundation. To kick off fall, I tried out two excellent items this week from Dr. Denese Skincare.

HydroShield Tinted Moisturizer

Blurb: Discover flawless, radiant coverage--from a moisturizer! This oil-free, hydrating formula has a sheer hint of self-adjusting color that helps you achieve a practically poreless, perfected complexion. Applied each morning, it provides broad spectrum UVA/UVB SPF 15 protection to help protect skin from the aging rays of the sun. It is one of the best kept secrets, a true cult item in our brand. It comes in three shades, Light, Medium and Tan.

I love tinted moisturizers for daytime. They go on quickly, and the sheer coverage is so pretty and natural. This tinted moisturizer has thoroughly won me over. It's oil free and hydrates without making me shiny. I used "medium" and the color really did self adjust. It was absolutely invisible, and gave me the right amount of smoothness and coverage for "good skin" day.

And…did you think for one moment that I wasn't going to mention sunscreen? I certainly hope not. Okay…here goes: Fall absolutely does not – I repeat, does not – mean the end of sunscreen. In fact, protection is just as important as in the summer months. There may be fewer hours of sunlight; but you still need protection while the sun is shining. (Harping over…see, that wasn't so bad.)

That said, HydroShield provides excellent broad-spectrum, barrier-based (zinc oxide/titanium dioxide) protection while it's making my skin look all smooth and nice.

SPF 30 Defense Eye Cream

Blurb: Our SPF 30 Defense Eye Cream is the only broad spectrum UVA/UVB SPF 30 eye cream on the skin care market today that you can take up to the eye lashes, cover your upper eye lids with no tearing and no irritation. Our SPF 30 Defense Eye Cream serves three functions: it is an advanced peptide based eye cream with two patented peptide ingredients, to work on the appearance of already existing lines around the eyes. It conceals: it is tinted by our unique and proprietary self adjusting color to conceal and immediately diminish dark circles, uneven skin tone and imperfections under the eyes. Our unique self adjusting color is based on Melanin, the inherent color pigment of the skin so it matches nearly any skin tone. Third: it gives you an SPF 30 UVA/UVB protection to prevent future signs of aging if you wear it on a daily basis. If you are lucky enough not to have crows feet yet, start immediately so as to prevent, if you have them already, it may prevent them from getting worse.

This is probably the best eye sunscreen I have ever come across! Ever! Really…it's that good. It's broad spectrum (with a high percentage of zinc oxide), glides on, sinks in immediately and feels like absolutely nothing. No irritation, no creasing. It's also slightly tinted, so it evens out skin tone and works pretty well as a shadow primer. Throw in a few peptides and you have a damn near perfect product as far as I'm concerned. A++

So now I am all kinds of interested in Dr. Denese. Since I've got protection on my mind today, I'm also thinking of checking out their SPF 30 Defense Day Cream for when winter rolls around. Check out their website. In addition to their skincare, they also have beauty supplements, fragrance and makeup.

Happy Monday!
.