Beauty: La Roche Posay Effaclar Review

Inspired by the lovely Lollipop26 and an rather unsuccessful encounter with an Elemis kit from QVC (not so rave review to follow) I paid a visit to my local Boots to pick up some (very generous) samples from the La Roche Posay Effaclar range: Purifying Foaming Gel, Effaclar Duo and Effaclar K.

PURIFYING FOAMING GEL

This cleanser is nice, but nothing special. It does its job and is actually paraben free but it still contains sodium laureth sulphate and sometimes feels a little bit drying.

EFFACLAR DUO

This is another product that I found to be only ok, although the fact that it is an acne treatment product that did not break me out is quite an achievement in itself.

The Elemis kit had left me with very small, sometimes red, bumps all over my cheeks, along with milia - nice - and this product, along with the cleanser, did seem to help a bit, but I really had to look to see any difference.

Maybe if I had used it longer it would have had more of an effect but, for the moment at least, I don't plan on buying a full size one and finding out.

I used it morning and night for one week.

EFFACLAR K

This is the product that I think I might actually buy in the full size. I have been using it for three days, morning and night, and FINALLY the bumps seem to really be getting smaller.

This product feels like a light lotion and actually hydrates my skin a little, unlike the Duo which waas more of a gel-cream texture and did very little to moisturise.

I will update if anything bad happens, but at the moment I am looking forward to a red bump/milia-free face!

It was very easy to get samples of these products (thank you to the very friendly SA in Boots, Swansea!)

and I highly recommend that anyone with problem skin give them a try.

Beauty: Double Wear update

I have been testing different methods with this foundation because I really wanted to find a way to make it work and, happily, I did :)

I put a little Double Wear on the back of my hand, then use a duo fibre brush (Pout Airbrush - Ebay bargain!) to stipple and blend the foundation all over my face.
Then I put out a small amount of Bare Minerals and use a  Kabuki (mine is from Tarte) to lightly press and buff the minerals over the top.
That's it.
It's not perfect, I still needed to powder during the day and my nose became very streaky for some reason with some patches that were completely bare by mid afternoon - not very flattering.

But, if you are not as oily as me, but you are as pale (unlikely, I know!) then this combination of products should work really well because the addition of the minerals seemed to completely stop the Double Wear turning orange.

At the moment I would not buy this product myself but I would definitely recommend that you give it a try if you get the chance.

Beauty: Review of Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation

I was able to pick up a sample of this last week and finally got a chance to try it out today.
It went on really nicely, very smooth and with good coverage. I was even able to add a second layer and it looked great.

The finish is satin-matte on me, I have very oily skin, and I did feel the need to powder afterwards, but I was very happy with the look it gave my skin and I left the house feeling rather good.
A couple of hours later I happened to look in a mirror and my good feeling turned to horror -

I was orange.......shiny and orange.

I will be trying this again over the next couple of days to see if different application methods make any difference. My biggest hope, I think, is trying it with a layer of my, supernaturally pale, Bare Minerals over the top to see if that curbs some of the oxidising.

I tried Ecru which is the palest Neutral shade in the range.

If you are brave enough to risk orange horror head on down to your nearest Estee Lauder counter where they will be happy to match you up with your ideal shade.

Beauty: Sarah Chapman Skincare

So this is another product that came to my attention thanks to QVC.
Sarah Chapman is a Facialist who is quite well known in the beauty industry and I believe treats quite a few celebrities.
The products I have tried are:

                                                                     Overnight Facial
This product is a gorgeous smelling oil that you apply at night after cleansing.
I usually use it by itself but you can layer a separate night cream over it if you prefer.
I have to be honest, I don't wake up "glowing" when I use this but it smells amazing (Jasmine?) and really soothes my skin if I'm feeling a bit sensitive.

                                                     Dynamic Defence SPF15 Day Cream
I prefer to use a higher SPF than this (at least 25) but it came as part of a kit and I am glad it did because it's a lovely product. It's really great for (not very Sunny!) days when I feel I need a bit more moisture. It has a fairly thick texture but it doesn't feel heavy or overy greasy on my skin. I am very oily across my T-Zone so there is always shine whatever I use but, even with this thicker texture, I am no shinier than usual.
Like the Overnight Facial, it smells lovely but in a completely different way, sort of herbal, excellent description I know but it smells quite unusual!

                                                                    Ultimate Cleanse
Ultimate Cleanse is a cleansing balm that is removed with a cloth and warm water. It has a similar smell to Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish but more camphor and less menthol.
I was not massively keen on this product because I didn't feel like it came off properly and I would usually use a facial wash straight afterwards to make sure my skin was clean.
However, most people seem to love this product so it's probably worth a try!

                                                                   Age Repair Serum
This serum is nothing like a typical serum, it feels more like a light moisturiser. It has a similar smell to the Day Cream and gives a nice hit of moisture. However, like the cleanser, I was not overly impressed. I did not suffer any adverse reaction to this product I just didn't feel like it was doing anything other than moisturising which was something that the Day Cream already did. So, for the moment, I will not be adding this to my routine.

Overall I was quite pleased with my Sarah Chapman experiment. There are some really nice products there and well worth a try.
This is the kit I bought:

                                   Sarah Chapman 3 Piece Overnight Facial Collection - 229628

I had previously tried a different collection which included the serum and is no longer available, but this kit gives you a travel size of the day cream and the cleanser as well as the full size Overnight Facial for less than the price of the Overnight Facial on it's own!! Weird, but I'm not complaining...

All products can be found on QVC and, sadly, I did have to buy them myself!