moisturizer Archives - Curiously Carmen

Vichy Normaderm Anti-Acne Treatment

June 2, 2016

Vichy is back with another new launch this past spring! This line is really targeted for those with acne prone and oily skin. All of these products contain salicylic acid + LHA. Back in high school when my skin broke out a lot more, I always looked for products with salicylic acid due to its efficiency. As always, Vichy’s products also contain soothing thermal water, paraben-free, and are hypoallergenic.

The new Vichy Normaderm line comes in a sleek, green packaging with a plethora of information on the bottles. It includes an anti-acne treatment lotion, deep cleansing purifying gel, and pore tightening lotion, all of which I will be reviewing today!

I’ve loved all of the Vichy products I’ve tested this far, but unfortunately one of the products fell through. Keep reading to find out why!

Starting off with the anti-acne treatment lotion, this is the star of the new line. It is clinically proven to help treat and prevent recurrent and occasional acne. The lotion contains a higher dose of salicylic acid, which is a super-power ingredient to kill and combat acne.

However, the downside of salicylic acid was that it tended to dry out my skin as it sucks out the oils that cause you to break out.I was relieved when my skin didn’t have that tightening feeling afterwards. It had a slight cooling effect which felt nice as well. The only thing I didn’t really like about this product was the scent. It reminded me of men’s cologne and I prefer my girly girl scents, haha!

Although I don’t really have reoccurring acne anymore (SO glad after dealing with it for so many years), I can see myself continuing to use the lotion. I like how lightweight it feels, yet does a great job in keeping my skin hydrated.

Moving on to the gel cleanser! I really liked the packaging of the cleanser, it had that modern and sleek feel to it. After mixing the cleanser with water, it foams up lightly and provides a very gentle, but clean wash. My skin felt really fresh and I was happy to find that my skin did not over dry as it normally does with salicylic acid products.

Last but not least, the purifying pore tightening lotion! It is definitely more of a toner than a lotion though. Unfortunately, this lotion did not work AT ALL with my skin. It felt very harsh on my skin and also stung, which is probably due to the alcohol inside the product. Immediately, I washed it off because I knew my skin would over-dry and feel leathery if I left it on. My skin was stinging for about 15 minutes after I removed it =(

Overall, I enjoyed the anti-acne treatment and the gel cleanser, but the lotion/toner was too harsh with my skin type. These days, my skin type isn’t as oily and acne prone as it used to be. I would recommend this line to those with oily and acne prone skin!

What is your skin type? Have you tried Vichy’s Normaderm line?

Yay!

Thanks for reading!

Carmen

Media samples included. Opinions are own.

Vichy Ideal Body Aqua Sorbet

March 26, 2016

One great thing about beauty blogging is that I get the opportunity to try products that I otherwise wouldn’t have the chance to try! One of my favourite skincare brands I discovered through beauty blogging is Vichy. I’ve done a couple of reviews on Vichy products already, which I have really enjoyed and found worked with my skin.

Time and time again, Vichy has proved to be a quality skincare brand and I would not hesitate to recommend it to someone who is looking for a new line to try out. I am back with another Vichy review, this time with the new Vichy Ideal Body Aqua Sorbet.
Unlike the other Vichy products I have tried so far, the Ideal Body Aqua Sorbet is a body moisturizer. It is meant to apply liberally after a shower for an instant cool and refreshing moisturizing session.

One thing I REALLY love about this body lotion is the smell. I would describe the scent as somewhat peachy and happy.

I can’t wait to use this as summer approaches. Upon application, my skin feels very cool and light due to its ultra-cooling effect. This will be a perfect temporary relief during heat waves because I don’t have AC in my house!

This lotion is pretty light weight and is more on the gel side, as far as texture goes. It is not thick at all but it does a great job in moisturizing and making you smell really nice.

The key ingredients of the Ideal Body Aqua Sorbet are Gingko Biloba (sourced from the Gingko tree found only in China), hyaluronic acid, and Vichy mineralizing water (which is also found in the review I did of the Vichy Aqualia Thermal Moisturizer).

Overall, the Vichy Idealia Body Aqua Sorbet (Phew, what a long name haha) has easily become one of my favourite body moisturizers and I will only use it more once the warmer weather approaches. It does a great job at moisturizing your skin without feeling heavy, and it smells amazing.

Yay!

Thanks for reading,

Carmen

Vichy Idealia Skin Sleep Lotion

March 13, 2016

We’ve all heard of getting enough beauty sleep, so that your skin will be radiant, glowing, and eye bag-free! But what if you are just too busy or not sleeping well enough to reach that goal?

For myself, having a good night’s sleep is something I’ve always struggled with and continue to do so. Even though I ‘sleep’ a decent amount of hours, I am constantly waking up throughout the night or plagued with nightmares so sometimes I am just exhausted when I wake up in the morning. It takes a toll on my body and my skin 🙁

Vichy’s Idealia Skin Sleep targets skin while you are sleeping, and helps to restore your skin so that it looks healthy even if you didn’t have a good night’s sleep!

The powerful synergy of active ingredients created in the Vichy laboratories makes for a product that is capable of stimulating all of skin’s deep sleep mechanisms to recreate and optimize their repairing effects. The formula also includes caffeine to improve micro-circulation.

The jar itself is pretty sturdy, and comes with a slightly reflective lid. It is a pretty good size to bring with you on vacation or to just leave at home. One thing I noticed immediately after opening the jar was how great this smelled! It had a very feminine scent, and reminded me of fresh flowers.

I looked forward to putting this on my skin every night because I loved how great it smelled! Sometimes, I’ll also use this as a morning moisturizer as I love the smell of it so much 🙂
I would say that the texture of the cream is more of a gel based. It is also more on the light side and wasn’t that thick or heavy.

As we go into Spring & Summer now, my skin is finally going back to its normal state – aka oily/combination. I only have to use a little bit for my skin to feel moisturized, but I really think it depends on YOUR skin type.

If you have dry skin, I would recommend using a bit more. When I wake up, my face feels plump and moisturized! My skin really does look more ‘energetic’ and less dull – I have the caffeine in the lotion to thank for that.

Overall, I do like the Vichy Idealia Skin Sleep and find it a decent moisturizer. Since it is not too thick but does a great job at moisturizing, I would say that it is probably suitable for most skin types. So far, I am really loving Vichy’s skincare line and have nothing but great words to say about their great quality products!

I also started trying out the new Vichy Aqua Sorbet body lotion, and have been LOVING that as much as I have been with the other Vichy products. Keep your eyes peeled on a review for that!

Yay!

Thanks for reading,
Carmen

Press sample featured. Opinions are own.

Estée Lauder Nutritious Vitality8 Overnight Cream

June 2, 2015

Hi everyone!

Can’t believe it’s June now! Summer is finally here =)

Anyways, I have been using this Estee Lauder Nutritious overnight cream for the past two weeks now, and decided it was time to finally write a post on my thoughts about it.

Prior to this night cream, I used the same The Body Shop seaweed mattifying moisturizer in the day and evening. But my recent trip to Kelowna really dried out my skin, as I don’t think it was used to the drier, interior BC climate. When I came back, I spent the first couple of days trying to repair by skin. It was flaking badly around my lip and nose area, something which has never happened!

I received this as a gift from the Estee Lauder media preview event in March, and had used it a couple of times here and there. Looking back, I should have brought this on my trip if I knew how dry my skin was going to get!
Here is the description from The Bay’s website:

This rich overnight moisture creme restores skin’s balance and infuses deep hydration and nourishment. Helps re-activate skin’s natural moisture defenses.Can also be used as a nightly mask for intense nutrient infusion. Awaken to skin that looks rested, renewed, radiant. In just 8 days, 96% of women felt their skin look more nourished and supple.

My cousins tried the cream, and the first thing they noticed was how amazing this smells! Seriously, this cream smells absolutely wonderful – clean and fresh.

Normally, I dab this cream around different areas of my face – cheeks, around my lip (this was the flaky area after I came back from Kelowna), and forehead.
I love this cream because my skin feels great after I put it on. My skin feels deeply hydrated, supple, and healthy. I feel that my complexion has improved and my skin feels a lot more radiant and bright when waking up in the morning.

This cream has quickly became one of my favourites and I have incorporated it into my daily routine. I honestly look forward to putting this on each night because it smells so great and my skin absolutely loves this stuff!

This cream is so nutrient rich and moisturizing for me that I don’t really need to apply moisturizer in the day. I used to wake up with dry skin, but I haven’t had a problem with that after using this everyday. I’m so glad that I discovered this product!

What’s your favourite night cream?

Thanks for reading!

-Carmen

Press product featured, all opinions are my own.

GUEST POST: Sasa.com Makeup & Skincare Haul!

April 16, 2015

Hi everyone!

Special blog post today- everyone, virtually meet one of my good friends, Pauline (She’s super awesome)! She has agreed to write a guest post for me and I’m excited to share it with you all today. See what type of Asian cosmetics Pauline bought from Sasa.com and how she wore them to the Japanese cherry blossom festival.

Happy reading everyone!

Carmen

~~~~~

Hello everybody! I am doing this for my friend, Carmen, as a guest post, and will be the very first time doing this! So, hopefully this goes well… haha!

I recently bought some makeup and face products from this super famous Hong Kong make up store: Sasa. I usually purchase my makeup and face products from here because it’s cheap and my skin seems like to like Asian brands of makeup/skin products. They also often do free shipping once in a while!

The first product I’m going to introduce is an eyeliner by Majorlica Majorca: the cream pencil liner.

I must say, this cream liner is super smooth to line your eyes with, and it’s super creamy. Usually with creamy eyeliner, it smudges easily, but this eyeliner didn’t smudge and actually stayed on my eyes for the whole day! Especially when I tight lined with this eyeliner, I was ready for this to smudge all over my eyes by the end of the day. I was so surprised at how it stayed on so well! 5/5 for this product! =)
The second product is: Majorlica Majorca’s jeweling pencil. This product is basically a white eyeliner to put on your eye corners to brightening up your eye as well as giving an illusion of having bigger eyes!

Nothing really special about this eyeliner, as I think all white eyeliners can do the same as this one can. 😛

Third product: Majorlica Marjoca’s perfect automatic liner: This product was kind of weird to use at first. So, the first thing you do is twist the bottom of this eyeliner until the ink comes out from the tip. The con of this is that if you twist too much, the ink will splat out and comes into a big mess.

However, after you clean that up, you can just apply that on your eyes just like any other eyeliner would … If you do not want to clean up the mess, this might not be the best product for you, because you will have to twist the bottom every time you want to use this product.

This eyeliner also stayed on really well on my eyes, and was pretty easy to apply as well. So, other than the whole twisting thing, I would rate this 4.5/5 ☺
Hehe … I have combined the three eyeliners mentioned above today, for my makeup look of the day! I went to the cherry blossom Japanese festival with a couple of my friends today, so I thought “hey, why not try out these products if I am going to blog about them anyway!”

I used the cream eyeliner to tight line my upper line as well as my water line. Like I mentioned, it stayed on without smudging the entire day. I then used the perfect liner to line across my eye and winged it out just a tiny bit, facing downwards, to give an illusion of a cute round eye. (…or eyes…)

Finally, I used the white eyeliner to put on my eye corners to brighten up my eyes. ☺

And here’s me in a Yukata ☺ .. To protect my friends’ privacy, I have turned them into Rilakkuma and Korilakkuma.

Okay, on with the other products!
Fourth product: Shu Uemura Skin purifier (in premium A/I) This product … is godly. Although this is a “cleansing oil”, this will not clog your pores nor will you have a disgusting oily feeling left on your skin after. Honestly, I can say it is like rubbing pearls on your face. There are 4 easy steps to using this purifier:

1.) Pump 4 pumps on your hand (hand and face dry)
2.) Rub the oil all over your face (and eyes if you have eye make up on)
3.) Add water to the oil until it turns into a milky foamy wash
4.) Rinse and wipe your face

Your makeup is literally all gone, and you do not have to go through a second cleanser to clean your face. The oil also leaves you with smooth skin and feeling hydrated.

The best part about this product is : THIS IS FOR SENSITIVE & DRY SKIN!!! Which is a big problem for me, because sadly, I have super sensitive skin … So now that I have found this, I rate it 10/5!
Last product I’m going to talk about is: Laniege Multiberry Yogurt Pack. I have mentioned above that my face is super sensitive … and this mask did not go well with my skin. I gave this mask a try because of all the good things I have heard about it.

It also says that it is for “all skin types” – and let me tell you … It’s not. If you have sensitive skin, do not go for this product. My face reacted one minute after I put this on … The burning sensation and my face was literally all red like a cherry.

I must say, though, this mask smells like as if you are in a strawberry land … So the pro I can only say about this is that it smells super yummy.

That’s it to my guest post! I hope all of you enjoyed reading about these Asian products and maybe try some out on your own as well!

-Pauline

~~~~~

Thanks for guest blogging, Pauline! You look so good in the yukata. I want to wear one too!

What are some of your favourite Asian cosmetics?

-Carmen