skin 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 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.

My Melody Face Mask

October 4, 2015

When Maki went to Taiwan and Hong Kong last month, she came back with an assortments of gifts and souvenirs for me! Thank you, Maki, if you’re reading this! I don’t buy many Asian beauty brands, but to my knowledge, I believe that they are a lot cheaper in Asia so it is a good time to stock up on them while you are there.

I received a bunch of facial masks from her, which I am slowly trying out.. as well as an liquid eyeliner that I really love! One of the facial masks that she got me was the My Melody face mask.

For those of you that don’t know, My Melody is one of the Sanrio characters. You can think of Sanrio as the Disney of Japan… their characters are very popular and everywhere in Asia! The most popular Sanrio character is probably Hello Kitty.

I grew up with a lot of Sanrio characters in my life, my favourite characters would have to be Hello Kitty, Keroppi, Little Twin Stars, My Melody… and the list goes on. I’m feeling so nostalic as I type this, I had Keroppi stickers all over my room and door when I was a kid!
This is what the packaging looks like – simple and minimalist, yet still very cute!
Although I took a Japanese beginners class three years ago, sadly I did not continue with it although I hope to be able to read fluent Japanese one day. That, or be able to travel to Japan and understand or get around!

With that said, clearly I can’t tell you what the ingredients are or what this mask claims to do. I’ll just leave it up here for you all to see and if you can translate the back, please leave a comment down below =D
I was very surprised when I took out the mask, and saw that it was an actual My Melody face! How cute is that?! Seriously, Japanese products are amazing and are so detailed. It also smelled like strawberries, which was an excellent delight.

At first, my skin reacted a bit with the mask as it stung a little, which went away in less than 30 seconds. I left it on my face for 15 minutes, and I thoroughly enjoyed the scent of strawberries the whole time. I am a big fan of strawberries, if you didn’t know 😛

I was a bit confused as to if this mask would fit my entire face, since it is more horizontal than vertical. It actually covered my whole face area, except for the tip of my nose because the nose flap was a bit too short for me.

Overall, I thought that this mask was very cute and I enjoyed using it. I really loved the packaging and design of this. The mask felt very moisturizing, although I wish I could read Japanese so I can tell what this mask targets.

Thanks for reading!

-Carmen

Bliss Fabulous Makeup Melt- Gel to Oil Cleanser

August 11, 2015

Once in awhile, you come across certain beauty products that you just can’t stop thinking about.

Enter Bliss’s Fabulous Makeup Melt!

We had a bit of a rocky start and I initially didn’t like it. However, after giving this product a second try and carefully reading the fine print on the packaging, I was blown away at the effectiveness of this cleanser.
As the package states, the Bliss fabulous makeup melt is a gel to oil cleanser. Initially, the cleanser comes out of the tube in a clear, gel form. As you massage this into your pores, the gel slowly turns slightly thicker and into an oil.

From wearing a full face of makeup, this cleanser easily melted away even my toughest foundation & primer regime (Hello, Urban Decay!). The result was moisturized, fresh, and soft skin that lasted until the next day.

In fact, while studying for my final, I was subconsciously touching my face and wondering why it was so soft that afternoon. Could it be the study gods, rewarding me for studying? It wasn’t until a few hours later when it hit me. The only difference in my skin care that day was introducing this amazing cleanser!
Initially, I had applied this cleanser on wet skin as I usually do. What resulted was a cleanser that did not bind and pull off my makeup, but instead smeared my eyeliner in a slightly horrific manner.

I’m really glad that I gave this product a second chance and that I read the instructions properly. Apply this on dry skin, everyone!

A disappointing start with a happy ending. I can definitely see myself incorporating this cleanser into my routine, especially if I have a full makeup face on.

This product effortlessly lifts my makeup off, revealing skin so soft I didn’t even recognize it as my own!

Thanks for reading!

-Carmen

Press product featured, all opinions are my own.

Favourite Drugstore Facial Washes

February 21, 2015

Good afternoon everyone! (Or whatever time it is where you are!)

I’ll be talking about my favourite drugstore facial washes today. These two face washes never fail to disappoint me, and always do an amazing job taking off my makeup at the end of the night. I’ve tried higher end face washes, such as the Bliss Fabulous Foaming Wash which was pretty disappointing. It’s kind of sad that a $3 product removes makeup better than a $24 product does… and it’s 8x more cheaper!

My two current favourite drugstore washes are the Olay deep cleaning face wash and St. Ives apricot scrub. They are both great at deep cleaning and will remove all your face makeup, no matter how much you have on or how much primer you put on!
Starting with the St. Ives apricot scrub, I’ve been using this for many years now… probably even since high school. I just have nothing bad to say about this product. For $3, it is seriously amazing. It smells great, removes all your makeup, and acts as a great exfoliant. After using this, my skin always feels great, refreshed, and re-energized.

While I was writing this review, I decided to look up some other opinions on this scrub. Some people said that the exfoliant in the apricot scrub was too abrasive and rough on their skin. For me personally, I don’t mind but I don’t use this product daily. I use it on days where I have full foundation coverage on because it does a great job in breaking down the foundation, or days where I feel my skin feels extra oily.

My second favourite drugstore foundation that works wonders is the Olay deep cleansing face wash with witch hazel. My mom bought this and at first, I didn’t really like it because of the scent, but it does a great job at deep cleansing your skin. It has a thicker and creamier texture, and is a weird silvery/grey colour. This one is suitable to use daily as it is not an exfoliating scrub like the apricot scrub.

When I’m taking my foundation off, I first start with the apricot scrub since the naturally grainy texture in it really separates and breaks apart foundation. I gently rub my face in small circles to get all my makeup off. If I feel like going the extra step, I’ll use the Olay wash next which is more gentle. My skin seriously feels soft, refreshing, and is makeup free after these two quick steps.

These two full sized products combined will definitely not break the bank. I get the St. Ives apricot scrub at Wal-mart for $3, I can’t believe how cheap it is. Actually, it might even be $2.50 or $2.95… I can’t remember exactly. I believe the Olay wash is around $4.

You really don’t need to spend lots to have effective face washes! =)

Also, if you’re wondering, my daily cleanser is the Lush herbalism cleanser. While the Lush cleanser is just as effective as these two, it also costs more and I try to only use a little bit each day because of the price. With that said, I need more product when removing a full face of makeup, so I rather use the apricot scrub or Olay wash. You can read my detailed review on the herbalism cleanser here.

What are your favourite face washes? Have you tried any of these products and how did you like them?

Thanks for reading!

-Carmen