Laugh, Love, Contour: Acure

Press Sample

We are at that time of year where you throw your hands up in the air and shout fall's most known and loved war cry: Pumpkin All The Things! It is certainly one of the things I love the most about this season, from the colour to the smell to the delicious taste of all the pumpkin breads and pies..... Of course, today's post isn't exactly focused on pumpkin products that you consume, but for those wanting to continue the love on into their beauty routine or just want to introduce a new-to-them quality lineup, this post is for you!

I was gifted sample sizes of the Mega Moisture shampoo and conditioner set and the Brilliantly Brightening Facial Scrub by Acure, and now that I have finished them up, I can get my thoughts up on them. Let's do this!

Since I started this post off with pumpkin everything, let's start with the Mega Moisture shampoo and conditioner. These products are advertised to contain argan oil and pumpkin seed oils to boost shine and eliminate frizz from your hair, but they are so much more than that. They also contain assorted fruit extracts from açai to blackberry to pomegranate and more to give your hair a luxe experience without the harsh treatment. Formulated without parabens, sulfates, mineral oil or silicones, these hydrating hair products gently clean your hair, leaving behind healthy natural shine.

I only got a few uses out of these products, but my hair certainly enjoyed the tender lover care it received by them! If you're on team "must have lots of lather to clean", the shampoo will be a let down for you. I used to be of this mindset, but once I discovered the head-full of foaming bubbles isn't actually necessary for cleansing, I had a change of heart. Because that foamy lather is attributed to sulfates that strip your scalp of healthy natural oils, it should come to no surprise that Acure opted to not include them in their product line, especially for something that is geared towards hydrating dry, damaged, or curly hair. I really enjoyed these hair products and will be picking up more! I would have done so already if it weren't for already open bottles of shampoo and conditioner and with my move out of California coming up quickly. As tempted as I was to hold onto and use the extra set I have included at the bottom of this post for a giveaway, I opted to be a nice blogger and let one of you try these instead. I was seriously tempted because they are that good!

The shampoo and conditioner are available in 12oz bottles and retail for $9.99 each.

Up next is the Brilliantly Brightening Facial Scrub! While this product does not contain pumpkin like the Mega Moisture shampoo and conditioners, it does still contain argan oil. The key ingredients to this scrub are kaolin clay and lemon peel to draw out impurities in your skin and nutrient-packed sea kelp soften the skin. It also contains walnut shell powder, which is a key ingredient found in mechanical/physical facial exfoliants.

I have mixed feelings about this product, and I will do my best to get it into something understandable here. For one thing, the smell is very green. In small quantities, it isn't something that I mind, and you certainly only use a small amount at a time. That said, I did want to note that as I know some of my wonderful readers have sensitivities to certain scents. Instead of avoiding the elephant in the post, let's go ahead and get to my biggest issue: walnut shell powder. Because walnuts are a natural product, there is no way to possibly get them entirely smooth and rounded out for what I consider adequate use on the skin. Even in a finer state like a powder, walnut shells create micro-tears in the skin, damaging the top layer as well as introducing the potential for skin infections. This ingredient is a no-go for me when it comes to skincare products, although for the purpose of this post, I did set those feelings aside to test out the scrub. This scrub is just that- it is coarse and even with gentle rubbing onto my face, I could still feel it in action. It is a sensation I do not consider pleasant, although I am glad to report that my sensitive skin didn't have any redness after use. I cannot use these types of products on a daily basis, and I found about once every four days to be plenty. I cannot say that I saw any noticeable results in my skin after using this scrub, but I am also willing to admit I am already a little biased against them and others may find the experience more pleasurable.

Now on to my giveaway!

One lucky reader will get their own set of travel-sized bottles of Mega Moisture shampoo and conditioner and Brilliantly Brightening Facial Scrub! Enter in the Rafflecopter widget below!

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