Monthly Favorites - August 2013

Hello!

From this month on I decided to start having a Monthly Favorites rubric here on the blog.

This month you won’t find any makeup products in my favorites. Why is that? Well August is the only month throughout the whole year during which I feel like not wearing makeup. I just don’t feel like I need it (I wish things were like that every month but one can only wish for so much...). I sleep better, eat better, reduce my caffeine intake, my stress levels are at its lowest and usually I get a bit tanned. All of this makes for really nice, happy skin that looks its best- with almost no redness or sallowness to it, no pimples or bad breakouts and most importantly much reduced under-eye circles. Unfortunately September has already come along and this past couple of days I’ve already seen myself forced to fall back on my makeup stash. As sad as that is, now is time to talk about August and the products that really made a difference.

• 1.       Garnier Skin Naturals Pure Active 3 in 1 Wash/Scrub/Mask
• 2.  Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Recovery Complex
• 3.       La Roche-Posay Posthelios Melt-in gel

These three first favorites were the ones responsible for keeping my skin on perfect conditions all summer long. I used the wash/scrub every morning before applying my sunscreen and going to the beach. I also used it as a mask once a week. It kept my skin free of breakouts and prevented black heads to overpopulate my nose. Using this product as a mask also helped my skin stay a little less oily in the T-zone, especially.

Garnier Skin Naturals Pure Active 3 in 1 Wash/Scrub/Mask

The Advanced Night Repair has been a part of my nighttime skincare routine for almost 2 years now and I absolutely love it. Its effects are particularly noticeable when your skin is exposed to a more aggressive environment (sea salt, chlorine, direct sun exposure). It seems to cancel all the bad things you’ve done to your skin during the day leaving it radiant and healthy looking again by the following morning. This is a product I just can’t live without!

As a last step in my nighttime, holidays version, skincare routine I would apply the Posthelios Melt-in gel. It’s the second summer in a row that I’ve used it and it’s just amazing. You can use it both on your face and body but I couldn’t enjoy more the way it works on my face. It leaves it super hydrated, nourished and soothed without being too greasy or clogging my pores. I used it on my lips a lot, as well.

La Roche-Posay Posthelios Melt-in gel

I’m planning to post thorough reviews of all this products soon.

• 4. Bioten Repairing-Nourishing Body Lotion

As for body products, I fell in love with this Bioten Lotion with Cotton Herbamilk and Rice Proteins for very dry skin. I already knew Bioten’s skincare line was good but had no idea their body care products were even better. This Lotion is super moisturizing but at the same time it absorbs quickly onto the skin. It’s also very refreshing and it smells better than amazingly.

I’ll blog about this lotion later, don’t worry. Besides that, I have other Bioten’s products that I’ll also be reviewing.

• 5. L’Oréal Professional Solar Sublime After-sun Nourishing Balm

Last but not least, I couldn’t not mention this hair mask. It kept my hair soft, shiny and healthy looking throughout the holidays. It’s smells amazing and it doesn’t have to sit long in your hair to do its job. If you want to know more, click here to read my review.

L’Oréal Professional Solar Sublime After-sun Nourishing Balm

And that’s it for my August favorites.

I hoped you enjoyed it.

Yours,

M.

Garnier Ambre Solaire, Golden Touch After Sun - Product Review

The end of summer is fast approaching but since I know some of you are yet to go on holidays, I think/hope it’s not too late to do a review on the after-sun lotion I took on holidays with me this year: the Garnier Ambre Solaire Golden Touch After Sun.

 For the past couple of years my go-to after-sun lotion/body moisturizer was Sephora’s After Sun Moisturizing Balm. I fell in love the first time I used it. It’s just amazing. And since the price range was so close to that of the drugstore versions, I didn’t even bother to look up for another. This summer I couldn’t find it anywhere – I just hope it hasn’t been discontinued!

 However, this summer when I went to buy my sunscreen (I’ll be reviewing it soon), every single sun-related product was at a major discount (75%!!! What??). There’s no need to tell you, I couldn’t not bring an after-sun with me as well (they were just so super cheap!) Anyway, I looked around and went for this one.

It reads:
- Shimmering hydration lotion enriched with nourishing Monoi oil and a luminous pearl shimmer

-Is the hydrating lotion Golden Touch After Sun for me?

-Yes, if your skin feels tight after sun exposure and you want to moisturize it and enhance your tan at the same time. The Golden Touch Lotion is specifically formulated to nourish and soften skin that has become drier due to sun exposure.

It reads:

- How does it work?

- Its formula is enriched with nourishing Monoi oil and a luminous pearl shimmer.

- Original from Tahiti, Monoi oil results from the combination of Tiaré flower and coconut oil. Monoi oil is recognized worldwide for its nourishing properties as well as ability to restructure the superior layers of the epidermis that were damaged by external aggressions.

- Its texture is subtly enriched with luminous pearl shimmer to illuminate your complexion and enhance your tan, after sun exposure. Its sensual perfume leaves in your skin a sense of being on holidays. Nourished and soothed, your skin stays hydrated for 24 hours and your tan is enhanced.

- How to use it?

- Non-greasy and non-sticky, the Golden Touch lotion is quickly absorbed and leaves your skin with a golden touch and delicately fragranced. Apply to clean skin, after each sun exposure.

 

The description was quite catchy: “Shimmering hydration lotion enriched with nourishing Monoi oil and a luminous pearl shimmer.” Who doesn’t want that?

 It also promised to:

·         Illuminate tan

·         Soothe the skin

·         Provide 24 hour hydration

·         Have a cooling sensation

·         Be dermatologically tested

All good things, right?

Ingredients

 So, what’s my final verdict?

It’s really nice (BUT in all honestly, it doesn’t even come close to the Sephora one, just saying!):

-          My skin didn’t react to it – in a bad way (which is known to happen – I have atopic skin and had my share of allergic reactions)

-          I love the scent, it’s really lovely – quite fresh and summery – but not strong enough to interfere with your everyday fragrance.

-          The lotion is super light and absorbs quickly onto to skin, which is great.

-          It did feel cooling (a little bit – if you are on the look for a cooling product I wouldn’t recommend this).

-          It was hydrating but I guess I’d prefer it if it were a bit more moisturizing – I have normal to dry skin (I’m talking about my body, obviously). In a day-to-day basis this would probably be enough for me but the sun, sand, salt and chlorine always leave my skin feeling much drier.

-          It didn’t hydrate my skin for 24 hours but maybe 6 to 8 hours.

-          I don’t think it prolonged my tan – but can’t be sure. Anyway, it doesn’t promise to do it either, I guess.

-          It soothes dry skin but it isn’t particularly good with soothing your skin if you have been sun burnt, it cools the area a bit but nothing special.

-          All in all, quite an average product but for one thing: the shimmering part. This moisturizer has tiny little glowing golden particles on it. They are only visible on the skin if you are under direct sun light or bright lighting. They give a nice subtle slightly shimmery look to your skin. I liked it but didn’t adore it. Some of you might love it, or hate it though. It’s certainly not for everyone’s taste – if you apply it just to the legs and/or arms maybe – but for an all over body lotion it might be a bit too much if you go clubbing after applying – the lighting effects might make it less subtle (but I haven’t tested it so they may not).

 

The shimmery particles
- Keep in mind that in the picture they are a bit more concentrated than usual - it was just for me to be able to show you more or less the look of them

Do I recommend this product?

-          Maybe. It’s not the best product I’ve ever tried but it’s good enough, just not as good as my beloved Sephora’s one. I’d say, quality wise, it’s quite similar to ones from other drugstore brands such as Nivea. The only difference is that this one has shimmery particles and the Nivea one doesn’t – so if it were me undecided between Garnier’s and Nivea’s after sun I would use the shimmering detail as my decisive factor. If you want subtle shimmer just go for this one, if you don’t the other one might be better for you. If you are interested in buying it, I’m sure you can find it in any supermarket or drugstore that sells sunscreens or you can buy at Feelunique.com for 12,49euros (now, on sale, for only 8,74 euros!)

 Will I repurchase it? 

-        Once again, had I not “met” my darling Sephora’s After Sun Moisturizing Balm I’d probably would but as I have, I don’t think so. Unless Sephora has discontinued it (please, please no!) which would break my hard and put me back on the market for a new “Holy Grail” to replace it.

  

Yours,

 M.

Essence, My Skin Moisturizing Cream-Gel - Product Review

Hey, you!

Today I have another review for you. It's from a very affordable and very much loved (at least by me) brand. I’m talking about Essence and this review will focus one of the products in their My Skin skincare line, the Moisturizing Cream-Gel.

The My Skin is a line especially designed to satisfy young skin’s needs. The range of products in the line consists of: a gel cleanser; a face wash/scrub/mask, the all-in-one type of cleanser; a refreshing toner; two varieties of face wipes; a paper face mask; an eye roll-on; a tinted moisturizer and three different moisturizers, one for normal to combination skin, another for normal to dry skin and finally one suitable to all skin types. I’m going to review to the latter.

But firstly I’d like to share my opinion on Essence’s products since I have already tried several of the products from this My Skin line (both cleansers, the toner, the eye roll-on and the tinted moisturizer; I’ve also bought the mask but haven’t tried it yet) as well as a bunch of their makeup products and some skincare from the Pure Skin line.

The main thing I want to share is: they are super safe – so don’t be afraid to try them! I tend to stick to high-end skincare products just to be safe but I can honestly say that I have never been afraid to try a new/different Essence product. Even though their products are really cheap their philosophy is really to save on advertising to invest on better quality products. They also don’t test on animals!

Obviously their products won’t have state-of-the-art technology involved or the best anti-ageing ingredients on the market but that isn’t the brand's purpose either. Their products have in mind young girls, in their teens, with not a lot of money that want to have a nice basic skincare routine and that want to wear makeup that won’t make them break up, won’t cause any allergic reaction and (most important, perhaps) won’t lead them to bankruptcy. So if you haven’t reached your twenties but want to start taking care of your skin from an early age and don’t have a lot to spend this is the brand for you.

And before I get down to the moisturizing cream-gel itself, I just want to apologize for the detour but I really wanted to share the information because I know a lot of you might be reticent to try such cheap skincare products. And so was I before I started using their products. That’s why I decided to do a little reading, back then, and after using their skincare products for almost 2 years now (and makeup products for 7 years) I can really vouch for them.

Now, about the My Skin moisturizing cream-gel: as all products from the line it is dermatologically approved so not likely to cause any nasty skin reaction (unless you have super sensitive and reactive skin and if so I’d look for professional advice before trying any new skincare product), oil-free (so it won’t clog your pores) and has uva/uvb filters (I do still super recommend using an spf separately - this filters are not enough to stop sun damage!).

According to the description in their website this “cream-gel is absorbed quickly and offers your skin 24h of intensive moisture while protecting it from damaging environmental influences with uva and uvb filters” (once again you need extra SPF!- just saying!). “Enriched with lime and cucumber ingredients ensures a radiant complexion, it also contains light-reflecting pigments for a subtle glow”. It is recommend for all skin types.

In my perspective, I do agree with most of it.

It reads:
This energizing cream-gel is intensively moisturizing
and the light-reflecting pigments inside let the skin glow

This is a very fresh and cooling light textured moisturizer. It’s even lighter and fresher than the Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel. The texture actually reminds me of the Garnier Skin Naturals Fresh Essentials 24Hr Hydrating Day Cream for Normal/Combination Skin but a tiny bit more liquidy.

It’s so light that you won’t feel like you’re pilling up too much product on your skin - if you’re like me and follow your moisturizer with sunscreen (as you should) and then a full face of makeup. At the same time it keeps my skin moisturized for a good 8 hours I’d say – keep in mind I have combination skin.

I particularly love this cream to use in the morning, because it really gives a more awake and radiant appearance to my skin but in a very subtle, non-oily way. It’s almost imperceptible – it gives me glowing but not shiny-looking skin.

Don’t get scared though: in the packaging the product glows in the dark. It won’t happen on your skin though, if you massage it in (which is super easy due to the almost liquid consistency) – so don’t worry.

The scent really helps to wake me up as well. It has a very citrusy fragrance but toned down by the clean scent of cucumber.

I really enjoyed using it during my beach vacation. I would slather this on my face throughout the day, every time before I’d reapply my spf. This kept my skin from getting dry due to the sea salt and also was a great way to refresh my skin. And since the prince range is bellow the 3euro mark I didn’t feel guilty to go through this cream in such a short amount of time (a little over a month – liberally applying it on my skin up to 5 times a day!).

It also works perfectly before my gym classes. I go to the gym right before dinner. And since I hate exercising wearing makeup – if you do, you’re much more likely to get clogged pores – I usually wipe off my makeup right before leaving to the gym. I don’t like to have my face without any moisturizer on it but I hate to use my more expensive moisturizers when in an hour time I’ll be washing them off during shower. This, I found, was the perfect solution. It leaves my skin feeling: fresh again after taking my makeup off; moisturized but not with that heavy feeling that would bother me during exercise. And, once again, it's super affordable so after my practice I wouldn’t mind having to shower it off.

Those are some of the reasons I so adore this product.

 

Unfortunately, I would say it is not moisturizing enough for very dry skin and I probably wouldn’t advise you to use it as a night cream either no matter what your skin type is, because you might need a bit more moisture.

However, if you are the type of person that hates the feeling of moisturizer before going to bed (and it is better something than nothing – am I not right? ;)) or live in a hot humid place and just want something refreshing on your face to help you get to sleep - this might be the perfect nighttime product for you.

For people with really oily skin during the hot summer months: I’d recommend using the mattifying version of this product on your T-zone or using a serum with mattifying properties also on your T-zone (I really like the Bioderma Sébium Pore Refiner Serum) to prevent your skin from every looking greasy but keeping the glowing and fresh looking skin.

Do I recommend it?

Absolutely:

•   To normal and combination skin: to apply all mornings all year long.

•   To oily skin: to apply all mornings except in the summer months (unless you apply just to your cheek area or with a mattifying serum underneath it in your t-zone).

•   To dry skin: to apply in the mornings during hot weather.

•   If don’t have super sensitive or super dry skin.

•   If you haven't reached your thirties yet. (If you have: it's time to start spoiling you skin with some better quality products ;) : I'd sugest looking into French Pharmacy brands because they have products that are as effective as the ones from high-end brands but much cheaper)

- If you have acne-prone skin Essence has this Pure Skin line that has products specifically designed to prevent and/or disguise acne spots, in case you’re interested - however, if you have serious acne issues you’d better seek a Dermatologist’s advice.  

 Will I repurchase this product?

- Yes, I probably will. But, for now, I’m very curious to try the mattifying version.

Sorry for all the rambling but I really wanted to be thorough. 

Please leave a comment down bellow telling me if this post helped you! I'd also love suggestions of products to review.

Yours,

M.

Garnier Skin Naturals, Ultra Lift Eye Firming Anti-Wrinkle Eye Care - Product Review

Hi!

Today I am going to talk about the Garnier UltraLift Anti-Wrinkle Eye Cream. This is a drugstore cream with Pro-Retinol that promises to visibly decrease wrinkles and improve the appearance of the under eye area, making it look younger.

I’ve been using this product every single night for a couple of months and here is what I think:

• Even though it didn’t cause any allergic reaction and had a very subtle scent, which is good, this cream did not only cause puffiness but it also didn’t decrease any of the annoying wrinkles under my eyes – reason why I bought it (I usually say that I have young skin – I'm 22 - but an old lady’s under eye area).

The puffiness might be due to some plumping properties the product might have to temporarily disguise wrinkles (this is just a wild guess!). That caused me two problems: 

• First, the mornings after applying this eye cream I’d find my eyes particularly puffy which doesn’t look nice at all; 
• Secondly, by the end of the day the products effects would have worn off and by the time the puffiness had decreased I had been left with more wrinkles.

Besides that, this cream wasn’t particularly moisturizing either.

But let me know, if you have a different opinion about this product!

Would I recommend this product?

Not, at all. It might be that the reason I have an issue with this cream is my young age, maybe if you are older and have sagging skin that needs plumping it will work for you. But anyway I don’t believe too much in that – I can’t see how constantly plumping and de-puffing the skin might be beneficial - in my (non-scientific) perspective, it could even be the cause of more wrinkles.

But if you want to try this product anyhow, you can find it at local drugstores or supermarkets or you can buy it at the feelunique website for 13.39euros (at the moment it is at a discount price of 11,38euros – 15% off).

Will I buy it again?

This is a reverberating no! Even though I like some of the Garnier products I don’t think this particular one is worthed and there are better drugstore eye creams out there.

Yours,

M.