Tag: skincare

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Beauty

Battle of Micellar Waters

micellar waters

A short while ago micellar waters have been touted as some sort of panacea for any skin care problem or need one could possibly have. That isn’t so, obviously. But claims for miracle-working aside, I found micellar waters a welcome addition to my beauty regimen and, indeed, at times a multitasking one.

If I haven’t worn much make-up on that day – like only some powder and brow pencil – I might skip the full cleanse and clean my face with micellar water.

If I’m not planning on doing much, make-up wise, or if I’m running abominably late, micellar water becomes the only morning cleansing step.

I’ve also been using this as a toner quite often (don’t particularly recommend this step, but in the absence of a good toner it’s best to use a micellar water), and to remove traces of mascara and eyeliner after I’ve done a full cleanse, but the suckers are still there.

Overall I enjoy the feeling of using them, so micellar waters are to remain part of my ‘routine’ for quite a while.

Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water for Sensitive Skin is the winner here. It beats the quality/ price ratio of the La Roche Posay micellar water, it has minimal scent, and it’s also the strongest, yet the gentlest, cleanser. It’s on my ‘buy again’ list.

La Roche Posay Physiological Micellar Solution is good, but I probably wouldn’t have bought this micellar water if it wasn’t on buy one, get one free offer. The pricing of La Roche Posay is not outrageous, but either because of import tax or pricing policies of local sellers, it bites, and is not comparable to the prices I see when I look the brand up online. La Roche Posay micellar water gives the greatest feeling of freshness, I’d say, and it also has a very subtle, yet very pleasant aroma.

Oriflame Diamond Cellular Micellar Solution Cleanser (21339), unfortunately, loses in this comparison. It has the strongest scent, which is by all means not offensive, but a bit old-fashioned for my tastes. The packaging is a pump one, which I found unnecessary, simply because one pump wouldn’t give you enough product, and would also make the liquid foam a bit, which destroys the illusion of cleaning your face with water. I can’t be fully certain, but I suspect it gave me an occasional break-out. The price tag, for the amount, was also quite serious – I only bought it because it was on a special offer for distributors. It’s also the harshest cleanser – though, it has to be said, probably the strongest, too. So if your micellar water goal is make-up removal, you should give this one a go.

Next in line for me are: AVON, Eveline, L’Oreal, and the classic Bioderma – have you tried any of these? Which one should I go for first?

(Products purchased with my own money. Oriflame Diamond Cellular bought as a special consultant offer.)

Categories
Beauty

Shu Uemura Depsea Hydrability Kit.

shu uemura depsea hydrability

Depsea Hydrability Moisture Program was a birthday gift from my cousin, all the way from Japan. We don’t get Shu Uemura where I live, and although there are a few outlets where I could buy Shu Uemura online, I’ve always been reluctant.

Depsea Hydrability Kit is a set of four travel-sized products aimed at hydrating your skin. I’ve got oily skin that somehow always manages to suffer from dehydration and flakiness, even though I’m way past using harsh cleansers and toners.

My favourite part of the kit was the serum-like product – Intense Moisturising Concentrate. It was amazing. Lightweight, absorbed really well, and provided hydration even when used with other creams (cream in the kit, Depsea Hydrability Moisturising Emulsion, was the first one to run out). The second favourite is the cream, and then goes the toner. The toner was good, but as a person with acne I constantly felt the need to add something with salicylic acid into the mix.

Now, the cleansing oil. It cleansed well, but having oily skin always leaves me wary of oil cleansers, even though I know that you should fight excess oil with – dun dun dunnn –  oil. The oil was the last one to go, but not because I’ve been avoiding using it — I’ve actually been saving it, as it was the only thing that broke down my CoverGirl Outlast Smoothwear lipsticks with little to no pain.

Overall, I was very pleased with Shu Uemura’s Depsea Hydrability Moisture Program, and would happily take all the four full-sized products for a spin, the serum being my first choice. Amazing stuff, that Depsea Hydrability Intense Moisturising Concentrate, seriously you guys. I highly recommend you try it.

Thank you, cousin, for such an amazing gift!

shu uemura depsea hydrability moisture program

Categories
Beauty

Oriflame Optimals Oxygen Boost Day/ Night Cream for Oily Skin

oriflame optimals cream

Full title: Oriflame Optimals Oxygen Boost Day/ Night Cream for Oily Skin

Brand: Oriflame

Claim to fame: Deep hydration and rejuvenation with a mattifying effect.

Cruelty-free? Used to be, but lately the cruelty-free claim seems to be absent from the back of local catalogues. Sadface.

Select Ingredients: Lingonberry, the Swedish super-antioxidant fruit. (Well, berry.) Specially formulated in this case, with 50% berry extract and 50% leaf extract, which is said to give triple the antioxidant effect.

Scent:

The scent of this is pleasant. At first I thought it a bit harsh, but it grew on me. To my nose there’s a slight difference between day and night scents. I feel like it has a citrusy undertone, but one thing I’ll never be is a sommelier and a perfumer – my nose is shit at discerning anything that’s not gasoline, propane, or cat piss.

Packaging:

The entire Oriflame Optimals facial creams series comes in glass jars. They’re sturdy, with a wider bottom, and plastic caps. The glass feels almost luxurious in your hands, and at first I really liked them. But then the combination of their heaviness, the cream-covered hands, and my glass bathroom shelf started to worry me. Seriously, this thing feels heavy. I think if I dropped it, it’d leave a crack in the sink.

But either way, I shall remain the proponent of this packaging, because glass doesn’t come into a reaction with the jar’s contents — something I’m never too sure about when it comes to plastic packaging.

Another thing about the way these creams are packaged: I loved the leaf design on the boxes. I even saved it for photographs, as you can see below, and considered just keeping them as part of my general pile of paper ephemera. I dunno man, it just speaks to me.

oriflame optimals for oily skin

Also, the writing comes on stickers, but they are thin and surprisingly good quality. Usually I rip the stickers off because I get this tic where I absolutely have to pick at it. These were so even, though, they remained untouched.

Action:

So far I’ve used up two jars of day cream (light green) and one jar of night cream (darker green). It’s odd, because night cream was more to my liking. Day cream claims to be mattifying (haven’t noticed), and as a result of that it has just the slightest amount of residue that you can feel on your skin quite a while after the application. The night cream is also more hydrating (d’oh) and left my skin feeling more even.

oriflame optimals oxygen boosting

Aside from a little bit of residue that I felt after applying day cream, these two absorb quickly, and leave the skin smooth and plump. When I worked from home, day cream provided enough hydration. However, when I started working in the office, it proved to be less effective in battling the effects of air conditioners and electrified dust.

Both creams leave skin a bit tingly after application, especially if you use a harsher toner, but I actually kinda came to like the tingles. No rash, redness, or any adverse reaction – just a slight tingly feeling, that made me go a bit like, yeah the thing’s working.

These particular two creams are formulated for oily skin of all ages. As far as moisturisers go, this one is okay. Expect no magic from it, though it’s better than many others in its price range.

oriflame optimals

tl;dr/ Would I repurchase? On the fence. Currently trying other options, but I might go back to it, because I know that it will not fail me for basic daily use. No breakouts, no reactions, happy with its scent, nicely packaged, overall satisfactory.

Categories
Beauty

Oriflame Pure Skin Black Head Toner.

Oriflame Pure Skin Black Head Toner claims to prevent break-outs and help clean existing black heads. One of the main ingredients (36%) is ethanol.

I am not a huge fan of the scent. It’s a standard scent of this particular line of Oriflame products — Pure Skin. It doesn’t annoy me, but it doesn’t inspire me either. I’m trying to find adequate words to describe it, but have none so far.

I did get less blackheads on my cheeks, and on my nose too. My chin, on the other hand, especially closer to my jawline, became practically covered with them, with the added beauty of rather prominent pimples.

This toner is drying. Small wonder — the alcohol volume of this stuff is close to that of vodka. Such an attack simply provoked the skin oil production, hence the result of flaky skin and pimples.

I think my main problem with this toner is the age bracket. I’m acne prone, and I have oily skin, but I’m in my thirties. Oil secretion isn’t as intense as it is in teens. Teenagers, I believe, would love this product.

I wanted to make my brother use this product. His skin is similar to mine, but due to gender difference and testosterone and all that lovely stuff, his skin is more… durable, I figure. Unfortunately, my brother is the type of guy who believes that a man’s face should only be touched with a chainsaw. I’m slowly working on correcting that limited point of view. If that ever happens and he uses this toner, you’ll be the first to know.

I will not be repurchasing this product, however I might give the washer in the series a go. I also heard really good words about a limited edition shower gel from this line – the orange one, with the citrus scent.

(Product photo: Oriflame India.)

(All opinions are mine. I’m an Oriflame consultant. This is not a sponsored post.)

Categories
Beauty

Diadermine Essential Care Balancing Gel.

diadermine face washer for normal to combo skin

(Two notes about the photo: First, I apologise for quality. Second, it’s not a typo, nor is it a counterfeit product: Diadermine is called Diademine in Russia and CIS. It’s due to phonetics.)

This is what happens when I shop with someone else and am rushed: I buy things I haven’t read a lot about, ending up with products that are a poor fit for my skin.

Upon the first few tries this product was okay. My skin felt a bit tight after using it, but nothing out of the ordinary. Being the possessor of oily skin, sometimes I welcome such tightness. I continued to use it for a while, and then my skin started looking red after. The redness dissipated in a minute, and tightness could be fixed with moisturiser and a mask 2-3 times a week. I couldn’t decide on another washer, and didn’t want to go back to my old one or purchase another dud, so I continued using Diadermine’s.

But then one day I ran out of make-up remover and used Garnier’s micellar water to remove make-up all over my face prior to washing it.

And my face inflamed.

I swear I was as red as an oddly cool-toned tomato. For a moment I wanted to take a picture, but then my nerve endings caught up with my optical, and my skin started burning. Luckily I remembered that I had Oriflame’s Aloe Vera & Arnica gel still, so I applied that sucker all over my face. Didn’t have much hope, but: It took the redness and the burning down immediately. I watched it go in the span of seconds. It left my face both refreshed and moisturised.

Call me an idiot, but I’m still using the washer – because I currently don’t have anything else, and if I skip at least one of the wash-tone-moisturise steps, I break out. I use it very sparingly, taking care to use a tiny amount and mix it with water in my hands prior to coating my face with it, and I don’t massage my face too much. When used like this, it’s OK. Better than soap, but I cannot recommend it either.

It doesn’t dry the skin out, and it doesn’t provoke break-outs or additional congestion for me (in fact, it clears it up), as some of the so-called balancing washers sometimes do. I’m not sure where the ‘supports skin’s hydra balance’ promise comes from, though, because that’s something this product doesn’t do.

I really hope that The Burn was an isolated incident. It didn’t happen again so far, although I never tried repeating the Garnier micellar water/ Diadermine washer combo, nor do I intend to.

Long story short, I’m in the market for a good facial cleanser, and I will not be repurchasing this one.