 Shoeperwoman |
 Dollface |
 Fashion Police |
 Follow Us |
 Become a Fan |
 Subscribe |
 Follow |
 Subscribe Via Email |
Category Archives: Skincare
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.
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!)
Dollface Reviews: Johnson’s Daily Essentials skin care range
[Disclosure: these products were sent to me as review samples]
I love Johnson’s. Their famous Baby Lotion is one of my constantly repurchased products: no matter how many other skin lotions I try, nothing is guaranteed to make my legs quite as soft as good ol’ Johnson’s, so I’ve come to associate the brand with great quality, no fuss products that do exactly what they’re supposed to while generally only costing a couple of pounds. (I also wear their contact lenses, but that’s neither here nor there…)
A new skincare line from the brand was always going to be of interest to me, then, and I’ve been using four products from the Daily Essentials line for the past couple of weeks. As you can see from the image above, there’s quite a lot of choice with this line, and it’s available for normal, dry and combination skin. I was sent some of the products from the “normal” line (I’d class my skin as combination: oily on the t-zone, dry under the eyes, normal everywhere else), those being:
Daily Essentials Refreshing Gel Wash, £2.99
The first time I used this product , I actually thought I’d opened the exfoliator by mistake, as the clear gel has tiny pink particles through it which help lift dirk and makeup off your skin. Despite how that sounds, this is very gentle on the skin: it gets rid of a faceful of makeup and the residue of my mascara (which I always use eye-makeup remover on as it’s waterproof) without any problem, and my skin felt smooth and soft afterwards, with none of the tightness I experience with some harsher cleaners. It also smells lovely, as do all of the products in this range, which makes it that bit more pleasant to use.
Daily Essentials Gentle Exfoliating Wash, £2.99
Needless to say, this one actually IS an exfoliator: it’s a white liquid with very fine particles (“micro beads”, the package informs me) to slough away dead skin cells and leave the skin feeling refreshed. The texture feels almost like very fine particles of sand: as with the gel wash, it’s not remotely harsh, and is a nice little pick-me-up for the skin, which I’ve been using a couple of times per week.
Daily Essentials Hydrating 24 Hour Day Cream
Daily Essentials Rehydrating Night Cream – £3.99 each
I’ve lumped these two products together, because going by the look and feel of them alone, there’s not much to tell the difference between them: they’re both a light, creamy texture, they both smell divine, and while I would expect the night cream to be a little “heavier”, for extra nourishment while you sleep, in practice I honestly don’t see much difference. Where I know there IS a difference is in the fact that the day cream contains SPF15, which is always good news for me (and I’m constantly amazed by how many skincare products still don’t contain an SPF of some kind). I’ve really been enjoying using both of these: texture and scent combined make you feel like you’re giving your skin a treat, and they’re easily absorbed, non-greasy, and while I can’t claim to see any obvious difference in my skin since I’ve been using them, they’ve kept it feeling soft and hydrated, and I have no complaints at all – in fact, quite the opposite: I think the low price and high quality makes these excellent value for money.
If you want to give them a try, the range is available from the usual mix of chemists and supermarkets: click here to view it at Boots.
Dollface Reviews: Hylexin eye cream for serious dark circles by Bremenn Research Labs
Ever wondered who actually buys all of those expensive skin creams you see in Sephora et al? The ones which carry too-good-to-be-true style claims on their boxes about how they’ll get rid of your dark circles, or make you look 16 again overnight?
Yeah, that would be me.
In my defence, I don’t buy all of them. I have, however, more than once been described as the “ad man’s dream”, and this means that I will linger too long in front of those stands, looking at the shiny rows of products and thinking to myself, “Well, if it works, it’ll be a bargain, really!”
This is how I came to find myself standing in line at Sephora this summer, waiting to purchase a tube of Bremenn Research Labs Hylexin: the new wonder cream for dark circles under the eyes. Well, that and the fact that I was desperate. Totally desperate, people. As long-time readers will know, the last year or so has been a never ending battle between me and the dark circles under my eyes. Actually, the phrase “dark circles” doesn’t really do justice to what I have. They’re more like dark canyons, which people could get lost in for days. They make me look ill and exhausted, and by the time my summer holiday rolled around, I was ready to try just about anything.
I have to back up a bit here, though: earlier this year, as you may remember, I’d had some success with Nivea’s Aqua Sensation Anti-Shadow Eye Cream, which I’d been pretty pleased with for the price, although it hadn’t totally shifted the circles. It had long since run out, though, and by the time I reached the bottom of the jar, I’d started to find it much less effective than it initially had been. It was clear that something much stronger was required in my fight against dark circles, and as I wandered around Sephora, carefully avoiding all the mirrors so I wouldn’t have to see my vampire-face looking back at me under those harsh lights (Pretty sure they do that to convince you to buy more makeup, by the way. It totally works.), it became clear to me that the “something” I needed was going to be Hylexin.
Now, this costs $59, which is a lot for me to spend on an eye cream, and an indication of how much I wanted it to work. Before leaving on my trip, I had actually done quite a bit of reading about this product, and had discovered mixed reviews of it: those who loved it seemed to REALLY love it, while those who hated it said it did absolutely nothing whatsoever for their dark circles. On balance, however, I’d found more positive reviews than negative ones, which was why I decided to take the plunge. Oh, and the fact that there was actually a photo of my under-eye are on the box helped too:
L’Oréal Paris Dermo Expertise Collagen Micro-Vibration Eye
I guess we can file this one under “Why Am I Not Surprised?” After all, everything else seems to vibrate in the beauty world these days, so why not skincare?
This is eye care, to be exact: it’s L’Oréal’s Dermo Expertise Collagen Micro-Vibration Eye cream, and as well as delivering many of the benefits we’ve come to expect from an under-eye cream (reduces puffiness and dark circles, claims to reduce wrinkles), the vibrating pen it comes in can also be used to gently massage the under-eye area, helping to improve circulation and will also help to “drain” the area, apparently.
Priced at £16.99, this is available exclusively at Boots, and delivers 130 micro-vibrations every second. Anyone tried it?
The secret of Kylie Minogue’s youthful looks? Pond’s Cold Cream!
I’d imagine the people at Pond’s are feeling pretty happy around about now: their sales have apparently risen by 120% since Kylie Minogue announced she’s given up Botox and is now relying on Ponds Cold Cream to keep her skin looking its best!
The “Kylie Effect”, as they’re calling it, came after the singer spoke about the difference the cream has made: “It’s really changed my skin,’ she said. ‘It’s all I really use to look after my skin. It’s such an old classic. My mum uses it and it really does work. It’s made such a difference.”
Kylie also said she’s stopped using Botox, and would never have plastic surgery, as she wants to “embrace the wrinkles”. Is Pond’s really that good, though? I used the brand briefly in my teens, lured in by the low price (A jar costs just £3.99 at Boots) and what seems to me at the time to be the old-fashioned glamour of using “cold cream”, which I’d heard my mum and grandmother talking about, and which seemed very grown up to my much younger self! I don’t remember noticing a dramatic difference in my skin, but then again, I was only thirteen or fourteen at the time, so lines and wrinkles were the very least of my worries.
Do you use Pond’s? Will you be joining the women who’ve rushed out and bought it in the wake of Kylie’s amazing PR job for the brand? The jury’s still out for me, but I must admit, it’s nice to hear a celebrity reveal that she swears by a product that’s accessible to the rest of us, rather than the usual caviar-and-unicorn-hair creams they normally seem to use, which cost more than I spend on shoes in a month!
Dollface Reviews: Witch Skincare Blemish Stick and Cleansing & Toning Wipes
I’m lucky enough not to be cursed with too many blemishes (although watch them all jostle for space on my skin now that I’ve said that…) so when these two products dropped through my door, I didn’t initially think I’d be able to review them.
As my lack-of-luck would have it, however, the very next day, I woke up with a giant zit right in the middle of my right cheek. I mean, seriously, who gets zits on their cheeks at my age? Oh yeah, that would be me. Anyway, I immediately reached for the Witch Blemish Stick: I remember buying a similar product as a teenager – in fact, I’m pretty sure it was from the same brand – and this works along the same lines. As you’d expect from Witch, the main ingredient is Witch Hazel, and they’ve become famous for creating products which cleanse, tone and zit-zap using it, so I twisted up the tube, and applied a healthy dose to the offending blemish.
The product itself is light blue, but it goes on clear and has a pleasantly astringent feel to it: I don’t know if it’s just me, but when I use products designed to get rid of spots, I like to actually be able to FEEL them getting to work. It’s almost like that tingly sensation offers proof that the product is, indeed, doing something to zap those zits, and I imagine the cells inside the blemish all throwing their hands up in defeat and dropping down dead. But maybe that’s just me.
I reapplied the stick a couple of times during the day, and again before going to bed, and the next morning I did notice a huge improvement in the status of my zit, which had dried up enough to allow me to conceal it quite effectively. Luckily for me it seems to have been a lone soldier, and it hasn’t been followed by reinforcements, so I can’t say for sure that it was the Blemish Stick that helped, or whether the spot simply died of natural causes, but it did seem to clear up much quicker than would normally be the case, so the Blemish Stick has earned its place in my bathroom cabinet for now at least.
Following my success with the first product, I decided to give the Cleansing & Toning Wipes a go, so I started using them the next day and have now almost finished the pack. Again, these contain witch hazel, and I’m sure no one will be surprised to hear that they’re designed to both cleanse and tone your skin.
Now, I’ve never really used wipes before, preferring more traditional cream or soap-based cleansers, but I think I’ve become a convert. What appeals to me most about these is the simplicity of them: there’s no need to use a separate cleanser and toner, or to get out a wash cloth or sponge (which then has to be cleaned), you simply pull out a wipe, use it to clean your face, and you’re done. These don’t have the astringency of the Blemish Stick, but they do leave my skin feeling fresh and invigorated, and I may be odd, but I also like being able to see the residue on the wipe – it may be yucky, but at least it lets you know your skin is clean!
Both of these products are available at Boots and Superdrug, with the Blemish Stick retailing for £2.69 while the Cleansing & Toning Wipes are £3.99.
Dollface Reviews: Nivea Visage Aqua Sensation Anti-Shadow Eye Cream
Well, Dollfaces, you can colour me amazed.
As many of you know, I’ve been complaining about the dark shadows under my eyes for a loooong time now, and I have to admit, I’d actually reached the point where I was about to give up on them. Absolutely nothing worked: creams, concealers, highlighters, lifestyle changes - no matter what I did, I still looked a lot like a raccoon, and, short of booking myself in for expensive surgery, I’d started to feel that I’d just have to learn to live with the Shadows of Mordor, as I’d come to think of them.
Obviously I wasn’t exactly thrilled about this. I actually think dark shadows are more ageing than wrinkles, and I was permanently walking around looking like I hadn’t slept in weeks. I was tired of shelling out for products that didn’t make much of a difference, though, so when my current eye cream ran out and I started scanning the Boots website for a replacement, I was guided mostly by price.
That’s the main reason I decided to take a chance on Nivea Visage’s Aqua Sensation Anti-Shadow Eye Cream. At £5.99, it’s definitely one of the least expensive eye creams out there, and while I’d learned not to trust the claims of shadow-blasting creams, I figured it couldn’t hurt that this one promises to “effectively reduce puffiness and the appearance of under eye shadows “. So I bought it, and started using it as soon as it arrived.
As far as the appearance and texture of the product go, there’s nothing much to write home about. It comes in a 15ml glass pot, and is a white cream of medium consistency, with a very faint fragrance. It contains cucumber to refresh and de-puff the eye area, vitamin E to nourish and protect, plus magnesium, ginseng and light-reflecting pigments to get rid of those blasted shadows. I had absolutely no expectations at all about this product: I thought that, at best, it would probably be a reasonably good under-eye moisturiser, so you can only imagine my surprise just a few days later when I looked into the mirror one morning and noticed that my eyes were looking better than usual. Quite a bit better, actually.
Now, I’m not going to tell you the dark circles have disappeared altogether, because they haven’t. They are, however, looking significantly better, and are more like the “normal” dark circles people with pale skin tend to get, rather than the “I am actually a vampire and I haven’t slept for fifteen years” look I was previously sporting. I’m using much less under-eye concealer than I used to, and I really notice a difference in the under-eye area. I don’t think there are any other changes that could account for this, so I’m assuming Nivea has done exactly what it promised to do, and trust me, no one is more surprised than I am.
I noticed an improvement after just a few days use: I’ve been using the cream for about two weeks now, and while I can’t say that the shadows get less noticeable every day (they don’t), I’m still very happy with this, especially given the low price.
Is it just a fluke? I really hope not, but if you want to try it for yourself, this is £5.99 from Boots.
Dollface Reviews: Lacura Double Lift Regeneration Anti-Wrinkle Cream and Firming Gel Serum
As I get older, I find myself becoming more and more susceptible to the claims of skincare companies who promise to give me youthful skin in a bottle. Or sometimes in a jar.
The thing is, though, despite wanting to believe these claims are true, I’m always highly skeptical about them, especially given that so many of these skincare solutions come with a hefty price-tag. This is why Lacura’s budget-priced offerings are looking better and better to me these days: ever since they got a lot of press attention with the launch of their Wrinkle Stop serum last year, they’ve been busily producing more products that cost less than £5, and yet still manage to draw comparisons with the high-end brands.
One of these creams is called ‘Double Lift’, and I’ve been trying it out for the last couple of weeks, courtesy of the people at Aldi, who sell Lacura. This is an anti-wrinkle cream and firming serum in one: the bottle actually contains two different products (the cream is white, the serum is red), which are mixed together in the pump dispenser, a bit like toothpaste. Press the left hand side of the pump and the red serum comes out, press the right and you’ll get the cream. Press it in the centre, meanwhile, and they’ll both come out together, allowing you to apply both at the same time, although you have to be careful to make sure that both products are dispensed: the first few times I used this, only the face cream came out and I applied it merrily, not realising there was also a serum. A few pumps of the dispenser will fix this out, though.
This cream promises an immediate firming effect, and sure enough, when I apply it I can feel a slight tightening of the skin: it’s not unpleasant or too extreme, and I was actually quite pleased, because it reassured me that the product was actually doing something. The tingling/tightening only lasts for a few seconds, and immediately afterwards, the lines around my eyes do look less noticeable, although they’re normally back in full effect by the end of the day. Boo!
The cream is really nice to use: it absorbs quickly, and leaves the skin nice and smooth in preparation for makeup. It has a sweet smell, but it doesn’t linger too long, so it’s not competing with any other products you might want to wear. So far I’ve yet to see any overall reduction in wrinkles, but the two weeks I’ve been using it may not be quite long enough to see a difference. My skin does feel softer and smoother, however, and given that this only costs £4.99, I’m impressed: I think it’s easily as good as the more expensive (sometimes much more expensive!) creams I’ve used in the past, and I will definitely re-purchase it when it runs out. Well, why pay £30+ when you can get the same kind of thing for £4.99?
If you want to try it for yourself, the products are unfortunately not available to buy online, but you’ll find a store locator at the Aldi website.
Dollface Reviews: Liz Earle Superbalm
This was one of the products Liz Earle sent me to try out last month, and in a short period of time, it’s already become my go-to product for “dry skin” emergencies. It’s called “Superbalm“, and as that name suggests, it’s a balm for, well, just about everything. You can use it on your lips, on your hands, elbows, heels: you name it. You can even apparently use it on your hair, but I’ve yet to try that, being wary of putting anything sticky near my head!
As for where I HAVE been using it, I’ve been sticking mostly to my lips and cuticles, both of which tend to get very dry. As you’d expect from Liz Earle, this is made from all-natural ingredients, and includes things like beeswax, avocado oil, lavender, shea butter, echinacea and rosehip oil to gently moisturise the skin. It has a thick, waxy texture, with lots of larger particles through it which make it a great exfoliator, especially on the lips. The scent is very strong, and faintly medicinal, although I’m notoriously bad at placing scents, so that could just be me!
For me, the fact that this feels like a scrub as well as a balm is what sets it apart from other similar products (think Vaseline, 8 Hour Cream, etc): it’s great at sloughing the dead skin off the lips, before giving them a heavy dose of moisture, and my lips always feel softer after just one application of this. It also makes it idea for rough skin on areas like the elbows and heels.
I have the 30g jar, which is fairly expensive at £15. Happily, though, there’s also a 5g version which is just £4.50, making it the perfect way to try the product out. Because I mainly use this on smaller area like the lips and cuticles, when I run out (which I’d imagine will tale a long time – this is a “Little goes a long way” product!) this is the version I’d go for.
If you want to try it out, both sizes are available from the Liz Earle website.
