I used to have a normal skin with occasional breakouts but a few years back my skin started to become very oily and the occasional breakouts turn to quite not so occasional anymore. So products that promises to control oil, prevent breakouts and diminishes enlarged pores always attracts me. I have tried several products and none seem to work. In the end I turned to the power of Google and did some searching on products that is supposed to be great on oily skin and I found information on the usage of Phillips of Magnesia on skin.
Phillips Milk of Magnesia is actually magnesium in liquid form that helps to neutralize excess stomach acid. It is also considered to one of the more gentle laxatives. Milk of magnesia can treat both indigestion and constipation. You must be wondering why the heck did I put this medicinal laxative liquid under my cosmetic review, right? Well, apparently I had read reviews on the Internet that milk of magnesia works wonders on oily skin. Many women uses the liquid for a makeup primer and some others uses it as a way to help control their oily skin and blemishes. It is also said to be great in tightening pores. So this is a definite must try for me.
A bottle of Phillips Milk of Magnesia.
Phillips Milk of Magnesia (MOM) comes in a blue plastic bottle complete with a white screw-on cap plus an additional measuring plastic cup. It weighs a whopping 12 fl oz (355 ml). There is a plastic safety seal at the bottle neck to ensure freshness of the medicinal liquid inside.
The safety seal still intact.
The blue bottle and the measuring cup.
The list of active ingredients: magnesium hydroxide.
List of inactive ingredient: purified water, sodium hypochlorite.
The bottle is opened by just a twist. The opening of the mouth is quite large giving a good access to the liquid inside.
Laxative anyone?
The texture of the magnesium milk is quite runny and looks just like milk. It does not have any smell. Just like any laxative/antacid medicine, the bottle needs to be shaken well before we can use/consume the medicinal liquid. The same goes for this milk of magnesia. Here's what it looks like:
Milky substance for the stomach and face.
Since it is liquid based, it spreads easily but if put too much on face, it could get drippy. Here's how the milk of magnesia looked like spread onto the back of my hands:
Here's how it looked like dried:
Applying the milk of magnesia on my skin is easy. It goes on clear while it is still wet but it will turn into a chalky white mask while it is drying if put too much. Lots of women use this as a makeup base to control their oily skin under their makeup. As for me, I just use this as a mask. There is a tightening effect felt as the milky substance is drying. My skin did felt a bit itchy initially but the feeling went away after a few minutes when the liquid had completely dried.
I had tried using a thick layer as an overnight mask and my skin was matte the next morning after I woke up! It don't think it will leave any whitish residue on my pillow but I covered my pillow with a towel just in case. I also had tried using a very thin layer on my skin for day wear and I found that it indeed helped my skin stay matte for half the day. The milk of magnesia can be washed off using a wet washcloth but for me, I just rub my skin it gently with water until all the dried milky substance is gone, then I follow up with my daily cleanser. I had to make sure that there is no dried particles left blocking my pores to avoid from my skin breaking out.
Since the bottle of MOM is quite large and I didn't want to contaminate the whole content inside the bottle, I poured out some of the MOM into a smaller bottle for my daily use.
My small bottle of MOM.
My verdict: I love this Phillips Milk of Magnesia as a mask to control my oil. In terms of oil controlling effect I think this is the best product that I've used so far. I only need to use a little bit of liquid for my whole face so the big bottle will last for quite some time.
You can read about Phillips Milk of Magnesia as a face care for oily skin here.
You can find more information about the product from Phillips' Relief official website.
I bought mine from Drugstore.com with the help from Ryan sgDrugstore@Lowyat Forum for RM43.64 excluding postage.
