Sometimes it’s all about me.

There, I said it. I’m a Leo. If you know any Leos, you know what I’m talking about. We’re leaders and like to be the center of attention. (My fellow Leos: President Obama, President Clinton and not-very-presidential Madonna!) We do tend to have big personalities and are often accused of being somewhat overbearing.

All Leos probably have blogs.

So, as an egotistical Leo, I want my skin care — like everything else — to be about me. Ingredients need to address the needs of my skin. Product textures need to work with my own skin texture. I even want brands that touch me personally — intellectually and emotionally. Call me stubborn.

Wait…

Meet Stubborn Cosmetics!

I love the Stubborn packaging. I’m a real sucker for dope packaging! :)

I came across Stubborn through my Skincarma IG page, where I met the niche skincare brand’s founder, Annalisa. I have no idea if she’s a fellow Leo, but I know she’s a paisana — a fellow Italian! Not only is Annalisa the founder of this very cool skincare company based in New Orleans but, as she shares, she’s also “the Lead Cosmetic Scientist, the Production Engineer, the Procurement Agent, the Graphic Designer, the Lab Technician, the Operations Manager, the Cleaner, the first Customer and the ‘We.’”

That’s a lot of responsibilities — and if her product is any sign of her strength and abilities, I’d say she’s got all those things figured out. All of the Stubborn products — each of them moisturizers for every skin type and need — are quite masterfully formulated. And her packaging is delightful with names that, as a skincare copywriter, I would be so proud to say I worked on.

Says Annalisa, Stubborn Cosmetics’ creator and doer of 87 things…

“People always ask me why I chose this name for my company. Well, let me tell you that I was an engineer working in an electrochemistry lab when I was struck by the passion for skincare. In other words, I had a crazy idea. I was fascinated by ingredients, their functions, properties, and the science behind them. Sure, changing careers and becoming a cosmetic formulator hasn’t been easy. Things took turns and swirls, yet I never looked back. This required a dash of recklessness, a spark of madness, a pinch of perseverance, and a gallon of stubbornness, and that is how Stubborn Cosmetics was born.”

But back to me wanting things made just for me.

One of the most intriguing of the brand’s offerings is the Stubborn Custom Moisturizer. Yes, it was made for me! How? Well, Stubborn presents you with what they call the “Stubborn Skin Quiz,” which comprises a series of questions that gauged a number of important factors like my age, skin type, levels of stress and sensitivity, my personal skin concerns, environment where I live — and even the amount of sleep I get each night (6.5 - 7 hours!). Beyond the crucial factors required for the brand to know my exact skin needs, you have a choice of “scent” — essentially a selection of plant oils and extracts that will give the formula a pleasant aroma, if desired. I opted for unscented but among the options are coconut, cucumber and raspberry. Then, because Annalisa is also a Graphic Designer, you even get your choice of package design — do you want the “Doodle” one or the “Geometric” one. Even though I nearly failed geometry in high school (and am still traumatized by the whole experience, including my barely passing grade of a C-), I went for Annalisa’s geometric design.

The online quiz takes about five minutes. A week later, I received a genius moisturizer that blew me away.

Why is it genius? Well, my Stubborn Custom Moisturizer is the perfect blend of good-for-skin non-fragrant plant oils, antioxidant botanical extracts and vitamins, peptides, and humectants. Honestly, if I were making my own Skincarma skincare (one day!), I would focus on all of the same ingredients that Annalisa included in my moisturizer — perhaps the single best moisturizer imaginable.

The Product Identity Card included with every custom order.

In fact, there isn’t a single ingredient in the formula that I would remove. That’s really quite rare. My skin loves all of it! The top ten ingredients in my Custom Moisturizer include: Water, Niacinamide, Rice Bran Oil, Passion Fruit Seed Oil, Olive Oil fatty acid, Propanediol, Camellia Seed Oil, Panthenol, Behenyl (fatty) Alcohol and another fatty acid derivative of olive oil, Sorbitan Olivate.

See for yourself here on the Product Identity Card that Stubborn includes with every custom order. In addition to the ingredient list, Stubborn details everything that I answered in the online questionnaire — my personal details as well as my concerns for my skin. It made me smile with its level of detail. But what made me really grin ear to ear was the quotation on the back from Winnie the Pooh:

“Some people care too much. I think it’s called love.”

If you’re not in the mood for a custom treatment, Stubborn offers four pre-made face creams for the most common skin types — normal, oily and dry. Like my custom product, they’re all very well-formulated. But the one that stands out has to be the most innovative face moisturizer of them all. It’s the Face Smooch for combination skin. Face Smooch is literally two facial moisturizers in one package — one side for oily skin, one side for dry skin. There are many people who experience dryness on their cheeks and oiliness on their nose and forehead — an area you likely know is called the T-zone. But I personally didn’t know that the cheeky dry area is called the C-zone!

Of Face Smooch, Stubborn asks, “When you have combination skin why use the same moisturizer for the whole face, when you can multi-moisturize?”

The answer is obvious: you need two different facial moisturizers. So Stubborn made just that!

Of course, Face Smooch is formulated with a unique blend of ingredients in each cream — with many terrific ingredients every skin type needs, all of them pro-skin health like: antioxidant Superoxide Dismutase, peptides, Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid, Niacinamide, Panthenol, Green Tea and Chamomile Extracts. Is it the best anti-aging cream I’ve come across for combo skin? It’s certainly right up there with anything from Drunk Elephant, a brand I consider top-shelf.

I love what Annalisa has created with Stubborn. All of the personalization, thought and thoughtfulness is both unique and super relevant today. It’s what people of all types (and all zodiac signs) want and need from their skin care.

Bravissima, paisana mia!

🖤 SKINCARMA

**WATCH MY VIDEO REVIEW OF STUBBORN COSMETICS ON MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL HERE.

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**EXCLUSIVE TO SKINCARMA FOLLOWERS**

In the spirit of love, use code LOVESC for 10% off all Stubborn skincare through Valentine’s Day — Thursday, February 14, 2019. Want to win your own Stubborn Custom Moisturizer? Enter the giveaway on the Skincarma instagram page!

Go to Stubborn

My very own moisturizer! Thank you, Stubborn!

The Ingredient List of the Stubborn Face Smooch:

White side (dry/C-zone):
Clitoria Ternatea (Butterfly Pea) Flower Infusion, Niacinamide, Mangifera Indica (Mango) Seed Butter, Cetearyl Olivate, Passiflora Incarnata (Passionfruit/Maracuja) Seed Oil, Isoamyl Laurate, Panthenol, Propanediol, Behenyl Alcohol, Sorbitan Olivate, Camellia Japonica (Camellia) Seed Oil, Superoxide Dismutase, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Oil, Glycerin, Cetyl Alcohol, Hydrolyzed Sodium Hyaluronate, Palmitoyl Dipeptide-5 Diaminobutyloyl Hydroxythreonine, Palmitoyl Dipeptide-5 Diaminohydroxybutyrate, Hydroxypropyl Cyclodextrin, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-38, Matricaria Recutita (German Chamomile) Flower Extract, Gluconolactone, Tocopherol, Sodium Hyaluronate, Glyceryl Caprylate, Kaolin, Tetrasodium Glutamate Diacetate, Allantoin, Aveena Sativa Kernel Protein (Hydrolyzed Oats), Beta Glucan, Xanthan Gum, Acacia Gum, Sodium Levulinate, Sodium Anisate, Potassium Sorbate, Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract, Mentha Spicata Flower/Leaf/Stem Extract, Geranium Maculatum Extract, Citrus Aurantium Amara (Bitter Orange) Flower Extract, Citric Acid.

Green side (oily/T-zone):
Clitoria Ternatea (Butterfly Pea) Flower Infusion, Niacinamide, Isoamyl Laurate, Cannabis Sativa (Hemp) Seed Oil, Panthenol, Propanediol, Polyglyceryl-3 Methylglucose Distearate, Sucrose Stearate, Behenyl Alcohol, Cetyl Esters, Superoxide Dismutase, Glycerin, Gluconolactone, Zinc Oxide, Kaolin, Salix Nigra (Willow) Bark Extract, Palmitoyl Dipeptide-5 Diaminobutyloyl Hydroxythreonine, Palmitoyl Dipeptide-5 Diaminohydroxybutyrate, Hydroxypropyl Cyclodextrin, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-38, Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea) Leaf Extract, Sodium Hyaluronate, Tocopherol, Hydrolyzed Sodium Hyaluronate, Glyceryl Caprylate, Tetrasodium Glutamate Diacetate, Allantoin, Aveena Sativa Kernel Protein (Hydrolyzed Oats), Beta Glucan, Xanthan Gum, Lecithin, Sclerotium Gum, Pullulan, Sodium Levulinate, Sodium Anisate, Silica, Potassium Sorbate, Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract, Mentha Spicata Flower/Leaf/Stem Extract, Geranium Maculatum Extract, Citrus Aurantium Amara (Bitter Orange) Flower Extract, Citric Acid.