Beauty Review: Clarins Advanced Extra-Firming Neck Cream

Promise:
helps firm and smooth away lines and wrinkles as it immediately "lifts".

Product Profile in Short:
The ultimate firming neck treatment that enhances skin's youthful-looking appearance for women over 40. The feather-light, silky texture disappears into the skin instantly.

Contains:
- Stimulen®: reinforces skin's "guardian cells" which helps preserve skin's firmness and tone longer.
- Plum extract: delivers an immediate "lifting" and softening action.
Sunflower, Bocoa and Anthyllis: help smooth away fine lines and tighten skin.

(Don’t you just love how manufacturers create these cute scientific sounding names like “Stimulen” :-))

Close-up on Active Ingredients:
Water
Cyclomethicone – derived from silicone, emollient
Cetearyl Isononanoate - emollient
Cetearyl Alcohol – emulsiifyer and stabilizer
Dipropylene Glycol – Masking, Viscosity controlling
Cetearyl Ethyhexanoate - emollient
C14-22 Alcohols
Cetearyl Glucoside – skin-friendly emulsifier
Butylene Glycol- humectant
Phenoxyethanol - preservative
C12-20 Alkyl Glucoside – emulsifying agent
Parfum
Glycerin - humectant
Sodium PCA
Ethylparaben
Tocopheril Acetate
Carbomer
Tromethamine
Prunus Domestica SeedCake Extract
Methylparaben
Disodium EDTA
Anthyllis Vulneraria Flower Extract
BHT
Sunflower Extract
Bocoa Prouacensis Extract
….

Sorry I did not have the time to write details about each ingredient but at least we can see what is of the highest concentration. It is great to see all the emollients and humectants at the top of the list but I was hoping to see some of the key ingredients such as plum and sunflower extracts etc.


Experience:
Texture: very rich texture but not too oily
Smell: medium intense sweet fragrance

At first when I just started using Clarins Neck Cream I got obvious allergic reaction. My eyes were irritated and itchy. I was soooo upset! The price was tooo high to just give it away to somebody. So I persisted even though it felt pretty uncomfortable. To my great surprise, this reaction went away in about a week or so. Either my body got used to it or I got used to the irritation in my eyes :-) who knows…

I liked the texture. It feels very rich but not too oily. You don’t need much to cover the area of the neck and décolleté. It spreads and absorbs nicely and immediately makes skin look smooth.

Results: My observation is that neck creams very seldom give much result. It is pretty hard to do much to wrinkles or lines developing in this area. However with this cream, after a month of use I could see definite positive results. I don’t have wrinkles or sagging. I have these strange lines starting on the sholder and going over décolleté. These lines did not disappear but started to look much smoother. By the end of the month they seemed not so noticeable with the whole décolleté and neck area being smooth and firmed.

Price Tag:
80$

Bottom Line:
I would definitely come back to this product in about 5-7 years. I am a bit afraid of the reaction though as It was pretty strong and the price is VERY high to take a risk. Maybe I will ask for a sample first.

Beauty Shopping: Substantific Neck and Decollete Treatment

Just when I thought that I will never go more expensive than Clarins’ Advanced Neck and Decolte cream I bough about a month ago, I went completely insane and got Guearlain Substantific Densifying Nourishing Sculpting Neck and Decollete Treatment. It seems even more crazy because it is definitely for more mature skin than mine. Well, in my defense it doesn’t hurt to try it out and I wouldn’t have even looked at it if the sales girl didn’t lure me into buying it by offering all kinds of presents. Just look at this!
I got
Success Eye Tech Up-Lifting Wrinkle Reducer– deluxe sample

Super Aqua Lotion – Toner Optimum Hydration Resistance

Guerlain Beauty Discovery: Success Age Splendid Deep Action Oil Serum Face Sculpting, Success Eye Tech, Success Future Regenerating Toner

However the price for this décolleté cream is so high, I feel like I didn’t get those for free but I did buy them. As you remember I really wanted to get Guerlain Success Eye Tech for Christmas from my hubby – it was on my wish list I handed to him :-) However I guess the price a bit scared him! Lol! So now I get this wonderful deluxe sample of 5 ml and another one in the Guerlain Discovery Kit. I am thinking if it works for me I will use both samples, otherwise I will give the kit to one very good friend to try out. I am also planning to give her the Super Aqua Lotion. Even though it sounds absolutely gorgeous being highly moisturizing…. with the extract of a desert rose and all that, but I am not soooo big on toners so probably she will enjoy it more!

Watch out for my review. I know I am always very late with reviews but they do eventually get posted!

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Beauty Review: Estee Lauder Stress Relief Mask

Promise:
Pre-moistures pads hydrate and soothe skin, diminish puffiness and other signs of fatigue, reduce appearance of tiny lines and wrinkles.

Product Profile in Short:
Pre-moistened pads sealed 2 in a packette
Contain targeted anti-stress, anti-fatigue hydrating ingredients, botanical soothers like aloe vera, cucumber and allantoin

Close-up on Active Ingredients:
Water
Glycerin - humectant
Butylene glycol - Humectant, Emollient
Bifida ferment Lysate - probiotic
Aloe barbadensis leaf juice – soothes, regenerates
Polysorbate 80,
Sodium Hyaluronate – humectant (super-moisturizer!)
Cucumis sativus (cucumber) fruit extract – soothing, softening, anti-inflamatory
Caffeine - anti-inflammatory, relieves skin redness
laureth-4 - surfatant - emulsfying agent,
Disodium EDTA - chelating agent and a viscosity adjuster (as I can see ther are some safety concerns about this ingredient but I don’t think any official facts)
BHT,
Sodium dehydroacetate - Organic salt used as a preservative
Phenoxyethanol - preservative
Methylparaben


Experience:

Texture: pads are moistened with colorless liquid that feels a tiny bit oily to the touch
Smell: no fragrance

Another one of my favorites by Estee Lauder! I can’t remember how many years I have been using this product. The first time I tried it – I fell in love! It’s convenient to use, has nice texture, and it works! The pads are very thin and feel like they are made from thin soft cloth. There is really a lot of liquid on them so they are dripping and you can get some more liquid from the bottom of the plastic packet.

This mask is really effective! Especially helpful to get rid of small thin lines around the eyes. I apply the mask on the area right under my eyes and give it 10-20 minutes to work its wonders or sometimes I allow even longer time till the pads are almost completely dry. I remove them and reveal to the world smooth moisturized skin under my eyes. Thin lines just disappear! And skin is more elastic! I know this because when I smile lines around my eyes are not there to stay, they just relax and smooth themselves away. However, note this mask doesn’t seem to have much effect on under eye puffiness. Such a pity!
I used to do this mask 2 times a week but now with years I resort to it more often. It really works great to revive dehydrated, tired eyes.

Price Tag:
35-40$ for a package of 10

Bottom Line:
Excellent product! Everyone just has to try this! However be warned, this mask won’t do much to deep wrinkles and puffiness.

Makeup Tip: How to Choose the Right Shade for Foundation

Perfect skin tone sets the perfect canvas for perfect makeup. A very common mistake when choosing foundation is testing it on the back of your hand. This way you most surely will select the wrong tone. Test foundation on your jaw line. Get the one that matches ideally or the closest. And better never go for a darker shade – it just makes you look older.

Beauty Tip: Get Break-Outs Under Control

Those nasty red pimples always appear just before a party or a date… Or worse: they just constantly seem to be there. You think you finally are about to concur them but here they are popping up in just another spot. Oh, don’t you hate them? Today I am going to share my personal experience with break outs. I have a couple tips that worked for me and that, hopefully, you may find useful. So here is how I got acne under control!

I had a bad problem with break outs as teenager and in my twenties. First thing that really improved the situation was finding the right cleanser! Your cleansing product is extremely important for the health if your skin. It has to be JUST the right intensity. Too strong and it will be stripping and will cause more acne, too weak and it won’t cleanse skin enough to keep pores clean and free from acne-causing bacteria. Many people with break outs make one similar mistake – they overcleanse and over peel their skin. I did the same before I found my perfect cleanser! I am using Estee Lauder Verite Cleanser and I love it.

Second step that made a DRAMATIC change was using paper towels or Klenex instead of a regular towel to dry my face. Surprised? I came across a tip from a dermatologist for those suffering from acne to change a towel every 2-3 days. So I decided it would be even better to use something single use to dry my face. And the difference it made was really amazing!

Another tip in line with the one above is please, do keep your hands off your face! If you pick on pimples you will just spread bacteria to other areas of your face. Very often people subconsciously keep touching a red spot that is bothering them with their hands. Be aware of this habit and stop it.

And finally find the moisturizer that works for you. Non-comedogenic is the key feature. It should be light but at the same time nurturing to your skin.

So here it is in a nutshell. I list the tips in the order of a difference they made for my skin:
1.Find the cleanser PERFECT for your skin. Do not overcleanse
2.Use single use towels to dry your face or use Klenex
3.Keep hands away from your face
4.Find the PERFECT moisturizer

My New Year Beauty Resolutions!

1. Get regular facials – This has been my dream for a long time and I would never be able to do this: either could not afford the money or the time. But now I am 30 for God’s sake! Time has come! (…Regular professional facials can really benefit your skin – you can never do a facial at home as well as an expert can…)
2. Start using SPF regularly… again! – Time for a confession: I stopped being careful about wearing SPF with the birth of my little one. I am always on the run, so I just forget or am too much in a hurry to take a sec and apply that sun protection. Have to get back on track here :-)
3. Eat less sweets – Oh my, that would be the toughest one to go through with. I have a sweet tooth!
4. Drink more water – drinking lots and lots of water used to be my best beauty habit alongside with applying SPF. I am not kidding, I used to drink liters of water in the course of a day. Then it suddenly changed and got much worse when I became a Mom. Now I often don’t even have time to think about drinking a glass of water. This has to change again for the sake of healthy skin!
5. Eat less meat – I used to prefer fish and veggies over meat. But again with the pregnancy and birth of my DS, this changed and now I eat meat every day. Which is not so good for my skin and my body on the whole. More greens for me in 2010!
6. Learn something new about Beauty... I feel I should learn more about makeup application. I just never had the time to do it. Will I manage this year? I hope so…
7. Try something new in Beauty Blogging – Am thinking about trying video reviews on YouTube!

So these are my 7 beauty resolutions for New Year 2010... 7 is my favorite number - hopefully it will bring luck and help make everyting listed above come true!