Odd thing about not being a teenager anymore: I thought breakouts would stop-- but they keep on coming like I'm still 13.

The culprit, I think, is the unusually rainy weather here. Rain means cold, which means turning on the heat, which means drier skin. And apparently, dry skin tries to overcompensate by producing lotsa oil. Hello breakouts!

I'd been using Aubrey Organics' safe and eco-friendly products, namely the Blue Green Algae with Grape Seed Extract moisturizer with SPF 15 for the day, and Natural Herbal Maintenance Oil Balancing moisturizer for nights. Both are for oily skin. But like many girls, my face isn't all oily -- it's just my T-zone that gets greasy. So my forehead remained clear and healthy and happy -- while my cheeks started breaking out due to this overcompensation issue.

Serendipitously, I got some Rare 2B samples. This new, family-owned face-and-body care line's vegan, with many organic and other eco-certified ingredients -- with no weird chemicals. According to Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep, which rates cosmetic care products on safety, all of Rare2B's ingredients fall in the "low risk" category except for one,
Tocopheryl Acetate, which ranks a "medium risk" 4.

And luckily for me, Rare 2B's Hydrating Day Cream and Restorative Night Cream are both more moisturizing than the Aubrey stuff I was using. Both products are creamy and absorb easily -- and aside from a slightly medicinal scent, are basically unscented. Rare2B's Natural Body Lotion feels and smells about the same too -- so much so that I tried comparing the ingredient lists to see if they were all the same. They weren't -- but I can't tell the difference.... The Rare2B line also includes a Natural Detox Facial Mask -- a quick-drying cool clay mask that feels and smells very natural clay-like.

Do they work? SheFindsBrynT at SheFinds.com reports that Rare2B's "organic plant-based products made my skin actually glow." As for my skin: My cheeks cleared up! But silly me -- I was putting the cream all over my face -- which meant that the oily areas got too much oil and this time, my forehead started breaking out! So I started using the Aubrey oily skin stuff on the T-zone and the Rare2B normal skin stuff on my cheeks --

As of right now, my face and I have reached a rather precarious detente --

To preserve it, I might just have to keep getting the Rare2B products -- except the day cream doesn't contain any sunscreen. Rare2B says that the marine elements -- algae and seaweed -- in the cream are "equivalent to the US FDA recommendation of 15 SPF." Sans actual SPF, however, I remain dubious.

Good vegan stuff also apparently doesn't come cheap. A 1.75 oz container of the day cream costs $53! And here I though Aubrey products were kinda pricy! I think I'm first going to try the products specifically made for normal skin in the Aubrey and other eco-friendly personal care lines that Co-opportunity carries. I mean, Aubrey has a lot of fans. Oliah of Eco-Heart Product Review loves Aubrey Organics's Vegecol Moisturizing Cream, and liquidmind of Did you know? loves the Sea Buckthorn & Cucumber with Ester C Facial Cleansing Cream. I know some of you readers like Aubrey Organics' shampoos.

But what about the facial moisturizers? Has anyone tried any of Aubrey Organics' facial moisturizers and liked them? Or really, does anyone have a recommendation for an eco-friendly, safe, facial moisturizer with sunscreen? Please share, and I'll give them a try --

But if those don't work out, I may have to plunk down the cash for Rare2B.
____

BlogHer Contributing Editor Siel also blogs for the Los Angeles Times at Emerald City, and at greenLAgirl.com.