I rather enjoyed writing my Disappointing Products | Makeup post so thought I'd write a skincare post to go with it. First things first, though. Skincare is extremely personal and individual, and I'm in no way suggesting that the products that didn't work for me won't work for you. By all means go ahead and give them a go, experiment, find out what works for you! I have particularly tricky skin that acts all sorts of crazy on a daily basis so this post is very much based on my personal experiences. I have a rather marvelous blend of acne, dermatitis, shine, and sensitivity to deal with, so it's probably no wonder I can't use some of the products others seem to love! *violins*
L'Oreal Skin Perfection 3 in 1 Purifying Micellar Solution £4.99
The micellar craze is still going strong it seems! Until picking up L'Oreal's Micellar Solution I'd been using B's offering available at Superdrug which I really liked. I thought I'd give L'Oreal's offering a go, seeing as it claims to 'act as a purifying magnet on skin's surface to capture and draw out excess oil and impurities'. Sounds good, right? I have quite a few blemishes most days so I like anything that helps unclog my pores and freshen my skin. I'm a big fan of double cleansing, so I usually use a water followed by a hot cloth cleanser.
While L'Oreal Micellar Solution did make my skin feel soft and cleansed, and therefore worked well initially as a pre-cleanser, it brought me out in even more spots. As in, a sudden face full of spots, all over, that refused to budge. The horror! I gave the bottle the benefit of the doubt and used it again a couple of times but the same thing happened. I noticed on Twitter that someone mentioned this might contain mineral oil and that this could be the culprit? Either way I've relegated this to eye makeup removal only as it was doing more harm than good!
Super Facialist by Una Brennan Tea Flower Deep Clean Pore Purifying Clay Mask £8.99
It seems this mask is something of a favourite among other bloggers BUT I just couldn't get on board with it, mainly because it smells like hair removal cream. You know, the stuff you smother all over your legs to defuzz... It starts off smelling OK but after a few minutes the scent becomes unbearable and I just couldn't get used to it no matter how many times I tried (about four, in case you're super curious!) Maybe I have a super sensitive nose?! I haven't heard anyone else complain about this so it could be that my sense of smell is a little cray cray. I just couldn't stomach the stench.
Pore Purifying Clay Mask contains Salicylic Acid and Dead Sea mud for deep cleansing and oil absorbing, as well as soothing Avocado and Acacia Honey to rebalance and refresh the skin. Unfortunately though, I didn't really find this did much for my complexion. My chin still looked pretty congested afterwards and my skin didn't really feel soothed or 'rebalanced'. I feel a little confused writing this review as I know so many other people love it! Sadly it just didn't work for me.
Elemis Freshskin Skin Clear Purifying Face Wash (£11.99) & Mattifying Moisturiser (£19.99)
I'm always on the lookout for products that promise to tackle problem skin as it seems as soon as I've successfully blitzed one blemish another one appears! I spotted these lovely blue and white goodies in Superdrug and finally picked them up when they were on offer as I can't resist a bargain! The Purifying Face Wash contains 'Vitamin A, zinc and botanical actives from iris and white willow bark', which aim to 'balance and purify'. It has a really pleasant minty citrus scent which I instantly loved, but unfortunately my skin proved a little too sensitive for this. I didn't really find it to be very 'creamy' and unfortunately it left my skin looking quite dull and dry. The Mattifying Moisturiser also has a nice refreshing scent and it applies very smoothly, sinking in quickly. Unfortunately, though, my skin felt quite sensitive afterwards and dry patches in particular appeared quite red and irritated.
I felt quite deflated with these purchases, especially considering the price tag... BUT all is not lost! My fiance absolutely loves these and uses them all the time (maybe it's the blue packaging?!) He doesn't have sensitive skin and he finds both products give a great clean feeling without stripping the skin of moisture. I was very fortunate in that Elemis contacted me to ask for feedback after I had tweeted about my experiences, and they offered to send me some products better suited to my sensitive skin which I'm in the process of testing out. So far, so very, very good! I guess this is a lesson to really take your skin type into account when shopping for skincare products. I probably should have gone for something slightly gentler and aimed at sensitive skin, but it's so tempting when you have blemishes to reach for the strongest products available!
Garnier 5 Sec Perfect Blur £12.99
I purchased this during my 'when I am ever going to find a decent primer?' phase (concluded by the discovery of Revlon Photoready primer, which is brilliant!) and instantly regretted it. I know this little pink tube has a legion of fans, but it really didn't work on my sensitive, oily, combination skin. Firstly, it felt quite silicone-y and I detest primers that feel like plastic... Which is unfortunate as most of the high street ones tend to. I didn't see a difference in the appearance of my skin at all once applied other than a slight mattifying effect, but this didn't last long and my makeup slid off my face after only a few hours. Majorly disappointed in this *sad face* Perhaps it's just not suited to my skin type, and it does seem that anti-aging is it's main angle so alas I may have simply picked something inappropriate for my needs. It's quite expensive at £12.99 so definitely give it a good swatch if you can before purchasing, just to be sure it works for your skin type.
Biore Deep Cleansing Pore Strips
These are admittedly really fun to use! You simply dampen your nose and stick one of the pore strips on, wait for the paper to dry and peel off gently after ten minutes or so. They have a refreshing medicinal tea tree scent that I love, but when I peeled off the first strip absolutely nothing had been removed from my nose. Not one single dot of dirt. My pores still looked clogged and there wasn't a reduction in blackheads. Major fail. I figured I might have somehow gone through the steps incorrectly, so I tried again a week later... But still, nothing. While these are fun to use and while they smell great, they did pretty much nothing at all for my skin. For £7.99 I expected a lot more and while I'll use up my pack just for the fun of walking around with a huge pore strip on my nose (only me?!) I won't be repurchasing anytime soon.
I'm penning a special skincare tag post this week so have no fear, a positive skincare haul is on its way soon! It's not all doom and gloom ;)
Have you tried any of the above products? Have you used certain skincare products only to be disappointed? I'd love to hear your stories!
Baci e abbracci,
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