PRODUCT LINE REVIEW: DR.ALKAITIS

1. THE CONCEPT.

According to their website, Dr. Alkaitis is a highly-regarded research scientist with a Ph.D in physical chemistry. Their tag line is: "IF YOU CAN'T EAT IT DON'T PUT IT ON YOUR SKIN." TM but we will say that these products smell divine and their ingredients are divinely uncomplicated (see ingredients.) The site also says that:

Dr. Alkaitis' formulations are guided by the perspective that each individual's skin is a complete organ and our products therefore help to:

a. Bring one's skin into a healthy balance that is unique to that individual.TM

b.Maintain that healthy balance.TM

Not sure what "unique to the individual" means - the same product works differently on each individual? Is that not the case for any product? It's not like they are formulated for you individually. 

Also, neither of us (Nicki or The Nose) thinks of our skin as UNbalanced -- unless we're talking about the amount of it that looks OLD - which is tipping the scale daily, but still seemingly balanced with our age. Lastly: why are these statements trademarked? We are sure that there are dozens of 'beauty' products that purport to 'maintain a healthy balance.' The 'TM' symbol makes us feel weird.

"It's Spurious!"

So the language on the site is pretty cryptic to us, feels like a lot of smoke and mirrors, no? That said, it is also not outrageous, offensive, and pretty spurious - like SPANISH FLY, whose slogan is "It's spurious!" which confused me (The Nose) as a teen when i saw it in head shop windows on Bleecker Street because they made it seem like 'spurious' meant "works great!" Smoke n mirrors....

3. THE CLAIM.

The site says: "Dr. Aklaitis' therapeutic skin care products support your body's natural healing tasks so you may take an active part in caring for your precious commodity."

We don't know what healing tasks of our body' they are referring to, but the products smell amazing and we believe skin is a precious commodity, so if slathering on Dr. Alkaitis is a part of caring, we are all for it.

3. THE INGREDIENTS.

LIKE they say: "All of our ingredients are edible, Dr. Alkaitis uses an absolute guideline when formulating his products." And they say a whole lot more stuff as well which you can read on their site. In short, they are using premium ingredients, these are probably some of the most natural, wholesome non-toxic products out there. And they better be for the price tag.

4. THE NOSE.

Last year was all about lemongrass and geranium for me, the Nose. This year I am much more attracted to cedar, musty, musky, nostalgic, bordering on hippie smells. They make me feel calm and hopeful. Go figure. Every time I put Dr. Alkaitis creme or oil on,  I put my face up to my manpanion’s nose for him to get a whiff and he always says (as if it were the first time he ever smelled it)  my face smells amazing.

5. THE PACKAGING.

Pretty simple, not offensive. Dark green plastic, generic typeface. Not overly difficult to use and not too much material. No complaints.  No awards.

6. THE PRICE TAG. $$$

Not as pretty, which is to say, not affordable to normal person. But if you are a splurgier on products then this is probably average for you.

7.  THE HUMANITY.

They don’t test on animals and their products are gender neutral. Amen.

7.  INDIVIDUAL PRODUCT HIGH & LOW LIGHTS.

I love the nourishing treatment oil - did i mention? You can put it on your face, body, and your hair. It is lovely. But it is roughly $80 bucks, so I dare not put it anywhere but my face and neck sometimes my hair ends when i want to wrap them in front of my nose and smell them on my pillow. Even if i could afford it, I probably would not because it seems insane to spend that much on any kind of product - but that’s me.

I love the SMELL of the face cleanser, but it doesn’t feel like it cleans my face, feels like i am  putting something on my skin that doesn’t entirely come off or take anything else off, sort of waxy.  

The eye creme is thick so it kind of feels like it’s filling in the cracks like putty, in a good way, and it also smells crantastic (not like cranberries) but I cannot say it does anything lasting. But again, I don’t expect a miracle, even if I am promised one….

7. THE OVERALL FEEL/TAKEAWAY. 

I have been using the day/night/eye creme and treatment oil for about a month. I love the smells - that is what keeps me using it. My skin feels soft, and it does not cause any breakouts, and my skin is sensitive. If i could afford it, i would use this as my primary moisturizing product on my face and body until a new smell caught my nose.  That said, nothing extraordinary has happened to my skin, which I don’t expect from a product, so that’s fine by me.  

They call their organic nourishing treatment oil a “miracle in a bottle.” A miracle has not happened. They do say the are especially beneficial for dry, mature, problem, or multiple chemeical sensitivities. My skin is mature only, but perhaps you have some of these other blessings and we’re not discounting the possibility that in Dr. Alkaitis you just may find your miracle - and if you do, please let us know.  

SMELL THIS: HOW OUR SITE WORKS.

HOW OUR SITE WORKS. rating system 1-5.

NOSES how it smells.    

FINGERS for how it feels. 

TAKEOUTS for overall TAKEAWAY.

SKULLS for toxicity level. (note: 5 is worst!)

HOW WE BREAK IT DOWN.

1. THE CONCEPT: 

Why this product was invented according the the product makers.

2. THE CLAIM: 

What the makers claim the product does for you. The more claims a product makes, the less trustworthy it seems to us. That said, we take those claims with a chunk of salt, focus on what we want out of a product, what is realistic to expect and try stuff out.

3. THE INGREDIENTS.

Overall assessment of the product line ingredients and their toxicity levels.

4. THE NOSE. 

We are all about the smell, If you  go for products with no smell, (which we know is less toxic) this is not the site for you.

5. THE PACKAGING.

Is it practical, wasteful, attractive, smart?

6. THE PRICETAG. 

how much and is it worth it?

7.THE HUMANITY.

Is it nice?

8.  INDIVIDUAL PRODUCT HIGH & LOW LIGHTS.

specifics we like or don't like...

9. THE OVERALL FEEL/TAKEAWAY.

In short: We like a product that doesn’t claim to make you look years younger, or reverse the aging process, or any other such nonsense, and not goals we want to aspire to. We just want our skin to look as healthy as it can using products that are not toxic to ourselves, our environment, and we want to smell good. So there.

WHY NICKI AND THE NOSE?

OUR PHILOSOPHY.

Welcome to our blog! We are Nicki and the Nose. You can read our full bios in the ABOUT US section, but here’s how WHO WE ARE applies to WHY WE ARE doing this and what YOU MAY OR MAY NOT get out of it:
Nicki Ledermann is an Emmy Award winning makeup artist, who, over the past 20 years has worked on some of your most favorite faces. 
Think: Anne Hathaway, Susan Sarandon, Sofia Vergara , Amy Adams,  the entire cast of Sex and the City, Jude Law,  James Franco, Justin Timberlake and even Woody Allen. Nicki has applied to these mugs just about EVERY PRODUCT UNDER THE SUN. We mention these faces not to brag about how GREAT & TALENTED Nicki is, but to emphasize that the people who own those MUGS are very, sometimes very very, serious about their skin and often look to Nicki to tell them what is best.

Nicki’s experience has led her to draw some serious opinions and facts by trial. The bulk of that has been boiled down to 4 SIMPLE statements for your convenience.

THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAYS TO IMPROVE THE APPEARANCE/CONDITION OF YOUR SKIN:

1. Call a plastic surgeon or dermatologist.  Going UNDER THE KNIFE, injectables, peels, laser treatments, and other such procedures, offer dramatic results - for better or for worse.

2 .Hire your own personal MAKE-UP ARTIST. They really know how to make a person look great, which is what they are paid to do.

3. Put VASELINE  on all of your mirrors and on your iphone - takes years off. If you can’t change yourself change the lens. Which brings us to our favorite and most corny, but most realistic:

4. Change your LENS (and live healthy.) It’s all about your own relationship to how you feel about yourself, isn’t it? (We can recommend 2 great therapists for this, just ask us.)  

Mind you, we are not saying we have achieved this ourselves, but what we ARE saying is… the stuff that comes in a bottle that you buy over the counter doesn’t achieve it either.

AND...once you accept the fact that there is not a product in the world that will make a dramatic difference on your skin’s apprearance* AND  they are pretty much ALL THE SAME (any respectable dermatologist will tell you so.)

YOU ARE FREE to basically ignore claims and choose your skin care with a more pragmatic and fun approach- which is how WE do it and here’s how we do it:

* we are not referring to medical skin conditions or products used for that purpose- we’re talking about you and your regular old/young skin.

OUR APPROACH.

We choose what WE USE based on the following criteria:

1. What’s in it?  We aim to use products with the lowest levels of toxic ingredients)

2. How it makes us feel -  Do we feel softer, prettier, calmer, confident, blah, blah.

3. Last and most - How does it smell?

[INSERT WHY SMELL MATTERS - nicki]

ENTER: THE NOSE:

You may have noticed that this site has a nose - that is, it’s not called simply “NICKI.” That’s because Nicki comes with a partner who is (wherever she has been in the) WORLD RE-NOWNED smeller from a long line of smellers. The power of her sniffer is remarkable, (not to mention Nicki’s own sniffer) and she has been called upon by perfumiers, winos, and homemakers to detect and identify  flavours, odors or recommend eau d’ors for every mood or occasion. Her skills are second only to a bloodhound (whose sniffer trumps us humans by 1000.) For more on her qualifications, see ABOUT US.

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PRODUCT REVIEW: IN FIORE

www.infiore.net

5 NOSES (amazing)

 

5 FINGERS

1/8 SKULL  (our lowest and best) possible rating!

TAKEAWAY/OVERALL

1. THE CONCEPT. 

“Perfumery as Medicine” how perfect for us Noses!

2. THE CLAIM.

According to their site:

"In Fiore is total floral seduction for your skin and for your soul. Our distinctive, all-natural beauty line promises wondrous healing benefits wrapped in aromatic charms of perfume. Flowers are gentle to use yet powerfully restorative. Decadent, fragile, and precious, they contain the highest healing vibrations of all plants, having a subtle though profound effect on one's health and well-being down to the cellular level."

Sounds too good to be true! The claim here is the product is seductive and that is totally true. I am a slave to In Fiore... for now. We like that they are not claiming any miracles. We ignore the part where they talk about "the highest healing vibrations" because then we would have to kill ourselves and we like the way these products smell and feel too much to die right now.

3. THE INGREDIENTS.

All ingredients are natural and organic, made from plants/flower hence the name ‘In Fiore”- “in the flower.” Their site states (edited down) that their ingredients are of the most extraordinary quality- which is certainly subjective, but okay. Certified organic or wildcrafted essential oils, herbal infusions, and floral waters are imported directly from producers around the world... organic food-grade oils are produced to the highest standards...never bleached or processed. Cold-pressed... not made from hybrid or genetically engineered crops and it is organic and certified kosher as well as verified "Non GMO Project Verified". Their Organic Soy Lecithin is Certified by GMA, USDA, KSA< Quality Assurance Ltd. & the Islamic Food & Nutrition Council of America... no exposures to hexane or acetone. Who are we to say otherwise?

4. THE NOSE.

I, Nicki, was worried that the overall smell of the product line, being all plant derived, may be too overwhelming. But surprisingly, with a clever certain compatibility of all the scents in the line, I have to say the nose is deliciously exquisite, calming and even exciting, post modern hippie smells - in a good way. In fact, their solide parfume, one in particular which I won’t tell you, so you won’t copy me, just knocked me off my feet and I am obsessed! Oh well I tell you, it’s Fumee D’Ambre, but I am confident that anyone could find their favorite scent in the In Fiore perfume line to delight their own olfactory.  THE NOSE AGREES! She wears it on her upper lip so she can smell it all day - and it lasts that long, too!

5. THE PACKAGING.

The creme and oils come in simple red glass jars, and bottles with droppers (which we love to keep the content from getting contaminated through filthy fingers and other surprises while dispensing). The solids- balms for eyes, lips, and scents  are in gorgeous brass metal compacts. When it’s done, we’ll keep our heroin in there (JBF!). The copy on their site is written with a florally, mesmerizing choice of words - like if it was straight out out of San Fran!

6. THE PRICE TAG. $$$

It is not cheap - meaning it is moderate to high. But if you are willing to fork out dough for products this is the one to indulge in.

7. THE OVERALL FEEL/TAKEAWAY.

The very fact that the entire In Fiore line has low or no toxic ingredients makes us feel great- and on top of it it smells delicious. I, Nicki,  have sensitive and dry skin. The face oil definitely makes me feel more hydrated and I do like that bit of a greasy feeling for the first 15-20, which then settles in nicely into the skin leaving it dewy, soft and subtle. No breakouts as of yet- have been using it for a month now. I would recommend the oils to use before bed,  Creme during the day, because makeup sits better on the cream than the oil. (beauty tip!)

The fact that we adore the smell leaves us in a good mood, even feeling more attractive, which makes us more attractive - according to the science of smell.

7.  INDIVIDUAL PRODUCT HIGH & LOW LIGHTS.

My favorites products are the Creme de Fleur, Calme face oil and the solide parfume.

Do the products change your skin dramatically? Of course not. But i am impressed how supple and smooth it feels and looks.  My least favorite product, though I do like it, is the Fleur Vibrante oil because it smells like straight up, but good olive oil I'd rather have on my salad - but I discovered that it does a great job calming down thick coarse hair and eases a dry flaky scalp - but too expensive to just use it as a hair or scalp treatment only.

7.  HUMANITY.

They don’t test on animals and their products are gender neutral.