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Monthly Archives: September 2010
Dollface Reviews: Decleor Hydra Radiance Smoothing Cleansing Mousse
(Disclosure: this was sent to me as a press sample.)
Decleor is one of those brands I’ve only ever experienced on the rare occasions I’ve gone for a facial, so I was more or less a newbie to the brand when their Hydra Radiance Smoothing Cleansing Mousse landed on my desk a few weeks ago.
My first reaction was that this seems very similar to Liz Earle’s Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser: like the Liz Earle product, it comes complete with muslin cloths (two of them), which are used to gently buff the cleanser off your skin. The application is similar, too: you just add some water to the mousse, and then gently massage it on to dry skin before getting down to business with the cloth. It claims to be a three-in-one product in that it will:
1. Cleanse: duh!
2. Polish
3. Plump and hydrate the skin
I was most interested in the final claim, because I’m a complete sucker for anything that promises it’ll make me look younger, so it was with great excitement that I started using it about three weeks ago.
This comes in a pump dispenser, and doesn’t look particularly mousse-like until you add water, at which point it lathers up nicely (and smells nice, too). I’ve found that a little goes a long way: one pump is all I need to clean my face, so I suspect it’ll last for a long time, thus justifying the £27 price tag. (QVC, who sent me this, currently have it at an introductory price of £24, but they’ll only be selling it until May next year).
As far as cleansing goes, I’m fan of this type of “hot cloth” cleansing anyway, and I really liked this, the main benefit being that it cleans the skin really gently, so you’re not left with that dry, tight feeling you can get with some cleansers. It also leaves my skin feeling very soft, but, much to my disappointment, I can’t really see any difference in it other than that: there’s no reduction in wrinkles, anyway, so while this works well as a cleanser, I don’t see much evidence of “plumping”. I’d also read claims that it would remove even waterproof mascara, but that wasn’t the case for me, and I’m still using my regular eye-makeup remover with it. (With that said, I’ve yet to discover a cleanser that removes my mascara: I really wish I could, because it would save me some money and free up some space in my bathroom cabinet!)
Overall, this is a lovely cleanser, which is a pleasure to use, but which I probably couldn’t justify spending £27 on. If you want to try it out at the reduced rate of £24, however, click here to buy it from QVC.
Dollface Reviews: Lancome Hypnose Precious Cells Mascara
If you’re blessed with a very good memory, you may well remember me mentioning that I’d picked up a tube of Lancome’s Hypnose Precious Cells mascara at the airport this summer.
And that was pretty much all I ever said about it, because when I got home I became so obsessed with the waterproof version of Hypnose Drama that it was the only thing I ever wanted to wear. I did have a quick play with Precious Cells, but nothing could drag me away from the Drama, so I threw it in a drawer and forgot all about it. Lately, though, my tube of Hypnose Drama has started to try out, so I decided to give Precious Cells a whirl. Here’s how I got on…
d.j.v. beautenizer Fiberwig LX false lash effect mascara
Imju Fiberwig is one of my favourite mascaras, but I must confess, as it’s been a while since I actually used it, I’d forgotten all about it until I saw this updated version of it on the Sephora website.
As well as the new name (It’s now calling itself .j.v. beautenizer Fiberwig LX, which is a bit of a mouthful, really), it also has a new, curved brush, and some lash conditioning ingredients: I get the impression that it’s now a serious faux pas in the beauty world to release a mascara that DOESN’T claim it’ll make your lashes healthier and longer as well as making them prettier. The curved brush should technically make the lashes curlier as well as longer: my only reservation about the original formula was that it didn’t do much in the way of curling, so this is one I’ll definitely want to check out when I can get my hands on it.
I liked to layer the original Fiberwig over any other mascara to add extra length (layer it over a mascara that already has a lengthening effect and you’ll look like you’re wearing falsies), so I’d be interested to see how well this performs on its own, and once again I find myself cursing Sephora for their refusal to ship to the UK.
If you live in a country they DO deliver to, however, you can click here to order this for $24 – remember to tell me what you think of it!
Product Comparison: GOSH Bronzing Shimmer Brush Vs Lancome Tropique Minerals All-Over Magic Bronzing Brush
GOSH’s Bronzing Shimmer Brush is another of the GOSH goodies I was sent this week, and as soon as I pulled it out of the bag, it reminded me of the Lancome Tropique Minerals All-Over Magic Bronzing Brush I’ve been using for the past couple of months, so, rather than do a straightforward review, I thought I’d compare the two products for you.
Both are bronzers (surprise, surprise) which promise to give a hint of iridescent shimmer as well as creating that sun-kissed glow beauty companies are always banging on about. As you can see from the photo above, these look very similar, but come from very different price ranges: the Lancome product is £33, whereas the GOSH one retails for £7.50. (Er, sorry about the state of the Lancome bronzer, by the way: it’s been rolling around inside my makeup case for the past few weeks and is looking the worse for wear. I’m always amazed when I see beauty bloggers’ photos of their immaculate beauty products: mine almost always look like this.)
They both come with brushes to distribute the powder:
Dollface Reviews: GOSH Brow Kit and Defining Brow Gel
A couple of days ago, I received a bag full of GOSH goodies to try out, and as soon as I saw these two brow products, I leapt upon them with an enthusiasm that only the straggly-browed among you will be able to understand.
My brows are a nightmare. As well as my oft-mentioned uni-brow, they’re also long, thick and super-straggly: I could tweeze them into the most perfect arch imaginable, but without the aid of some kind of product to practically glue them in place, they’ll still look spiky, straggly and just downright messy. My last brow gel (An Anastasia one) ran out a few weeks ago, and I haven’t got round to replacing it, so I decided to try out the GOSH gel right away, and while I was at it, I took the Brow Kit for a spin, too.
First up, the Brow Kit:
Dollface Reviews: Liz Earle Naturally Active Haircare
I’ve been using Liz Earle’s skincare products for a few months now, so when they contacted me to ask if I’d like to try out their new haircare range, I obviously wasn’t going to say no!
Using the same principles they apply to their skin range (natural ingredients, no fuss approach, etc), the Naturally Active Haircare range keeps things simple: there’s a “one tube suits all” shampoo, which can be used regardless of your hair type, plus three conditioners – one for normal hair, one for dry or damaged hair and one for oily hair.
My hair very definitely falls into the “oily” category, so I had no problem working out which conditioner to request. Mine is the kind of hair that has to be washed every day without fail: I do occasionally skip a day if I’m planning to wear it up, but even those times where I think I’ll be able to get away without shampooing, I’ll generally find myself back in the bathroom after a few hours, with my head hanging over the bath, desperately trying to wash my hair without also washing off my makeup. Oh, and those greasy roots generally mean that I can wash my hair first thing in the morning and it’ll still be looking limp and greasy by evening: fun times!
Needless to say, then, I requested the conditioner created for oily hair, and received it and the shampoo just over a week ago. My first impressions were that this is definitely a “no nonsense” brand of product: while the squeezable tubes these come in are of a high quality, the design is simple, and there’s none of the fruity scents or bubblegum colours I’ve come to associate with so many hair products these days. Instead, you just have simple, natural ingredients: the shampoo is formulated with West African shea butter, natural source vitamin E, plus apple and orange extracts, while the conditioner contains black cohosh and yangu oil, to make the hair shiny and manageable without weighing it down.
I’ve been using these products since they arrived (in fact, I just used the last of the conditioner today) and the most obvious difference is how much bigger my hair seems when I use these. Generally flat and limp, I noticed that I have much more volume at the roots, which makes my hair look thicker and bouncier than it usually does: something of a novelty for someone with such poker-straight, flat hair! It also seems to stay clean for longer: I’ve still been shampooing every day, but there have been a few days where I felt like my hair didn’t really need to be washed, and just did it anyway out of sheer force of habit.
Overall, I’ve been impressed with this line, and have enjoyed having bigger hair than usual for the past week! This is slightly more expensive than my usual budget buy shampoo and conditioner: both shampoo and conditioner cost £7.50 for the full, 200ml bottle, but if you’d just like to try them out, you can buy the 50ml versions for £4 each.
Click here to buy direct from Liz Earle.
Batiste Shimmer Dry Shampoo: add a touch of gold or silver to your hair
I’ve mentioned Batiste Dry Shampoo a few times now, and swear by it for those days when I just don’t have time (or can’t be bothered) to dry my hair: I also find that if I’m going to attempt an updo or curls, unwashed hair sprayed with this stuff is much better at holding a style than squeaky clean, freshly washed locks.
Batiste have released quite a few variations on their classic spray over the years, and now here’s the latest version: Batiste Shimmer, which comes in your choice of gold or silver, and has exactly the same “dry shampoo” effect as all of the other releases, the main difference being that it’ll add a metallic shimmer anywhere you spray it.
I’m really curious to see what this’ll be like in real life: my one issue with Batiste is that the regular formula can make my roots look grey if I don’t spend lots of time rubbing it in – there are black and brunette versions to help avoid this, but, alas, none for redheads or blondes, and I’m thinking a hint of gold could make an interesting look for a party.
If you want to give either of these a go, they cost £2.99 per can, and are available from Boots and ASOS amongst others.
Dollface Reviews: The Burt’s Bees Facial Kit
I picked up this little kit ages ago now, but such is the state of my “products still to try” drawer, that I didn’t get round to trying it until this weekend. I don’t know about anyone else, but for me, face masks and the like fall into that category of “things that are fabulous, but which I never seem to find time for”, hence the delay in reviewing this one.
Anyway, Saturday rolled around, and I found myself with a bit of extra time, so I got out the kit and marvelled at the little mini versions of some of Burt’s Bees popular products, namely: the Pore-Refining Mask, Citrus Facial Scrub, and Orange Essence Facial Cleanser.
The pore refining mask was the product I was most interested in, but I decided to do this properly, so I washed my face with the facial cleanser (orangey: very orangey. In a good way, though.) and then applied the Citrus Facial Scrub. Both products met with my approval: as you probably know, Burt’s Bees pride themselves on their all-natural products, and both of these use orange oil as their main ingredient. The cleanser in particular was lovely to use, and the scent is definitely of REAL oranges, as opposed to that “fake orange” scent found in so many things these days. Both products were also very gentle: I’d somehow expected something based around orange oil to feel slightly astringent, but nope, not a bit of it.
On to the pore-refining mask, then, and I must confess that I was slightly perplexed by this. As part of this particular kit, you get one small sachet of powder, which you have to mix with water in the little ceramic bowl that’s also provided until it turns into a paste. (The instructions state that you can also mix it with various other liquids to help with particular skin conditions, but naturally I didn’t have any of those other liquids in stock at the time, so I stuck to good ol’ water) Me being me, I found it a little tricky to gauge the right amount of water to use – I’m pretty sure my “paste” was a whole lot runnier than it was supposed to be – and it seemed a bit of a waste of packaging to have a ceramic bowl just for one sachet of powder, but I guess if you decided to purchase the full-sized version of this, the bowl would come in handy. (Mine is currently sitting all forlorn in the bathroom, gathering dust). It’s just a minor point, but I think I’d rather be able to just buy the product already mixed, so rather than having to faff around with the mixing bowl and powder (and, er, making a bit of a mess of the bathroom in the process, to be honest), I could just apply it direct from a tub, or tube, or something. I am very lazy, though, so that could just be me.
Once the mask was applied, however, all of this was forgotten. Even although my paste was very runny, it dried in quickly, and I don’t think my slapdash mixing skills made much of a difference. This is made from French green clay, so, as you would expect, while you’re wearing it, you’ll look a bit like a clay statue. (I always live in fear of someone arriving at the door during this stage of face-mask use. They almost always do, too.) I could feel it starting to get to work right away, with that familiar, skin-tightening, “Oh my God, I think my face just cracked” feeling you get from clay-based masks. I actually quite enjoy this sensation: it makes me feel like the mask is definitely doing something, which is always reassuring.
As per the instructions, I left it on for about 15 minutes before washing it off with warm water. My skin was left feeling smooth and slightly tingly: I don’t really see a huge difference in pore size, but I think that kind of thing is pretty hard to gauge, to be honest, unless the difference is dramatic.(And if you know of a product that makes a truly dramatic difference to the size of your pores in just 15 minutes, tell me and I will buy it.), but I was left with a fresh faced, wholesome kind of glow, and the feeling that my skin had definitely had a good old clean. Four days on, I haven’t suffered any of the outbreaks which can be the result of this kind of treatment either, so that’s another point in its favour.
This starter kit is £4.49 at Amazon, and from various other retailers. You can also buy the full-sized versions of the products from the Burt’s Bees website.
Handbag shaped pink lipgloss from Accessorize
Never having purchased lipgloss (or, indeed, any other kind of cosmetic) from Accessorize, I can’t vouch for the quality of this raspberry scented lipgloss, so you’ll be unsurprised to learn that my interest in it is all about the packaging. Sure, it’s gimmicky, overly-kitsch and girlie, but hey: sometimes you need some of that in your life, and £4 it could be a cute little gift, either for yourself or for someone else. In fact, I was just about to write about how this could make a nice little stocking filler, when I looked again at the product description and noticed that Accessorize themselves have described it that way. So at least I’m not the only person starting to think about Christmas.
Click here to buy it.
Clinique Repairwear Laser Focus Wrinkle & UV Damage Corrector
I can’t seem to pick up a magazine at the moment without reading a glowing review of Clinique’s new Repairwear Laser Focus Wrinkle & UV Damage Corrector, and the more I read, the more I start to foresee a £35 skincare purchase in my near future.
Actually, though, if this product lives up to the hype, I think £35 will be a bit a of a bargain. Essentially a serum, the difference with this one is that they’re claiming it performs almost the same function as a laser resurfacing procedure. True, the Clinique product is only about 63% as effective as a laser treatment, but when you consider the difference in price (laser treatments can cost hundreds, this is just £35), that’s still sounding fairly compelling to me.
The serum takes a three-pronged approach to making skin look younger: there are anti-oxidants to neutralize free radicals and allow the skin to repair itself naturally, peptides to boost collagen production and hep smooth fine lines, and repair enzimes to help make the skin stronger and more able to heal itself. Put all of this together and you get a product which, Clinique say, will start to make a difference to the skin after four weeks of twice-a-day use: give it 12 weeks, however, and you should start to see results comparable to laser resurfacing.
Now, I really, really want to believe that all of this is true, and most of the reviews I’d read so far do seem to be positive. As someone whose spent a lot more money than I’m prepared to admit to over the years on so-called “wonder products”, however, I’m naturally a little cynical. Somehow, though, I doubt that cynicism will stop me giving this a try at some point as the price seems reasonable for a serum, and downright cheap if it really DOES do everything it claims to.
Want to give it a try? Click here to buy it direct from Clinique: and if you do, I’d love to hear what you think of it!
(P.S. In a bid to simplify my Twitter accounts and make it easier to keep track of mentions, etc, I’m in the process of merging the Dollface Twitter account with my personal one, so please follow @foreveramber to continue to be notified about new posts here. And if you do, please say hi, so I can follow you back!)
