MOISTURISER

I Used It All Up: Payot Paris Design Lift Visage

/ brightandbeautyfull / Leave a comment

I have never done this before. STG: I’ve never used up a face cream down to the very bottom.
PAYOT 1
Seriously.
PAYOT 2
What was it about this that made me keep turning to it? I asked myself…

This was out where you could see it every day — did that have something to do with it? Eh, maybe. I’ve got several creams in various states of use in the top drawer of a dresser, bu they are out of sight. They may have been out of mind. I think it’s more than that, though.

It doesn’t look any different to anything else you’ve used in the past. I know! So I just googled it: this has got calcium in it, as well as the fashionable Omega 3 and 6, and to quote is also contains ‘Payot’s new pepti-oriza calcium complex combined with a relaxing rice extract works at the heart of the cells to reactivate the skin’s vital functions and restore its elasticity in-depth’.

Okay. No, I know, so many words. Seriously, though, I used this after I applied serum, and I felt like this acted in perfect accord with said serum. It felt like it absorbed really quickly, but also left my skin feeling well-hydrated. Sometimes I feel like a day cream and a serum don’t mix very well — this one worked with a number of different brands.

I think it’s enough that you obviously used it all up. Well, maybe. I mean, it is expensive: I found prices from €60-80 for 50mls. But I will also say that it took me 6 months to use it all up through daily use. The serum helped it stretch, I think — let that be a lesson to us all!

Do you miss it? I do! And there is a nighttime version of it, I’d love to see if knocks out my current faves {which are: Clinique Turnaround Revitalizing Treatment Oil, Garnier Ultra-Lift Miracle Sleeping Night Cream and Clarins’ Mission Perfection Serum. Things are the same at night as they are in the day, apparently.} That would be quite the knock to the pocket, however.

Honestly, now: any difference to the face at all? Look, taking care of your skin is a cumulative, not an instantaneous process. I exfoliate, I get facials, I tend to it day and night. I gotta say, though, those brackets around my mouth that I am not crazy about? I have hardly noticed them. Could it be from this cream? It could — sure, we’ll see if my face falls off now that I’ve no more…

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Prices varied wildly, and I couldn’t even find one in sterling, so YMMV.

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UPDATE: It’s been discontinued, which explains the above, I guess. I understand that this is a more than reasonable facsimile.

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The Thing About Samples: Sisley Paris All Day All Year

/ MANY BRAVE FOOLS / Leave a comment

The thing is, samples can make you want something.

Want this:
SISLEY ALL DAY ALL NIGHT

I am not a comprehensive Sisley fan. That Black Rose Cream Mask is beast, but I found the Global Perfect Pore Minimizer to be no use a’tall. I’ve had more time for their makeup, in fact — Phyto-Ombre Glow Luminous Eyeshadow, and Mascara So Intense, yes and yes — and generally tend to choose between either skincare or face paint when I’m thinking about a brand. {Do I? Will have to give that a serious think.}

I had a facial ages ago in the Brown Thomas beauty rooms, and of course the products show to their best effect when used by a pro. I got some wee samples, hence the above, and they’ve been languishing in one of my organisational units. I went on my usual New Year Clearing Out Tear, and it was either pitch it or give it a go, so I reckoned, just use it — why let even .13 ounces of something really expensive got to waste.

Well, this stuff is terrific. Which is bad news because: spendy — ruinously so. At €250 for 50 mls, I guess I have about €3 worth of this stuff in that wee pack. The thing is, my skin felt both tightened and moisturised simultaneously, which sounds impossible, but in practice, feels exactly correct and what you want out of an anti-aging product. I felt like I was fighting dryness and gravity — and! my foundation looked amazing even after a full day out and about. This promises that after 28 days of use, you’ll look more youthful, and I gotta say, I’d love to give that a try…

Is it worth €250/£236/$410? Will I wait for your answer until you pick yourself up off the floor?

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It may be worth cruising by your local Sisley counter to see will they give you a little sample of this extreme goodness…

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Wind-ter Getting You Down? Moisturise at Night!

/ MANY BRAVE FOOLS / Leave a comment

I don’t know about you, but the gale force winds are wrecking my head, espesh with being out on the horses in it. I haven’t minded the noise at night, though, and I’m doing my best work in the dreamtime to keep my skin from getting wrecked, never mind my head.

Lashings of cream at night is my only man these blowy days. I’m a big fan of sleeping through the hard stuff, and by deeply moisturising at least three times a week, at bedtime, I feel that I’m keeping my complexion in good nick.

Here are three of my favourites.

GREEN ANGEL
Yeah, I know it says ‘daily’ on it, but GREEN ANGEL Seaweed Daily Moisture Face Cream with Jasmine, Neroli & Vitamin E {€24.95} is well able for double duty at night. Anything with seaweed in it is going to be alright by me — add in those oils, and this is bliss in a jar.

NUXE
NUXE have a new addition in their Merveillance Expert Rich Correcting Cream {€40}, and it’s a good one. I’m happy to use this as directed in the morning, but have been finding it to be great at night, too. Actually? Rather better, as the consistency of the cream is rich and thick. While it does absorb nicely, I’m finding its thickness and richness to be better at the end of the day as opposed to the beginning of it.

ORIGINS
Oh, hello, darling. I love, love, love ORIGINS High Potency Night-A-Mins Renewal Cream {€45}, and wish they would make a version that was for the entire body. I hoard this, TBH, because it is like a miraculous new-face-in-a-jar. It never fails to make my skin glow the morning after the night before; the only thing I’ll say against it is that it smells so good, sometimes I keeping myself awake breathing it in. Just me…?

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I had long wondered about the day cream v night cream debate — as in, what’s the difference? — and posted about it here…

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Haiku Review: Human+Kind Anti-Ageing Cream

/ brightandbeautyfull / 1 Comment

Oh, my God! Oh, wow!
Nature’s Botox how are ya!
Firmness on contact!

There was already a lot to like as far as Human+Kind were concerned:
> They are an Irish brand
> They are deeply interested in making multi-tasking products so that people don’t have to spend a lot of time taking care of their skin
> They have really beautiful packaging
> And last but not least, their products are made from highly concentrated active, natural ingredients.

Me, I don’t care so much that I have a rather complex beauty regime, but I am beginning to give some of the stuff I’ve got a bit of the side eye. What exactly is it made of? What exactly am I putting on my face and hands and body? And is it really working, or just making me smell nice?

At a meeting with the H+K fellas — co-directors and founders Rene van Willigen and Jeroen Proos, and scientist John O’Sullivan — I was impressed by their passion for their product. I mean, you know when someone’s just sellin’ ya something, and when some others are fully invested in their gig. These guys are definitely the latter. The vibe overall was enough to make me interested, especially when I tested wee samples of the various products. Everything felt good, but most importantly, they smelled good. I’d use more all-natural products if they didn’t smell so weird, like the interior of a health food store. You know? That oat-y smell. It’s so unappealing.

I was tidying up today, and since I’m so behind, I was going to put the sample of the  Anti-Ageing Cream in the queue, and get to it whenever; instead, I decided to put some on my face, because I was just standing there, and my face was not otherwise employed, so why not? A pump or two, and I moved to go make some more coffee, and I swear to God, maybe three seconds had passed, and I felt instantaneous — instantaneous — tightening and firming everywhere I had applied the stuff. I think I actually stood stock still for a second? In disbelief? Or, as if my moving around had affected, what, rate of absorption?

The secret ingredient is achmella oleracea, which would have made a killer second line to my poem had it been just one syllable shorter. The flowering herb is found in South America and it’s known as ‘nature’s botox’. Now, I’ve never had Botox, and I’m feeling confident that with stuff like this available, I won’t be lead astray by my vanity to the Botox office, or wherever you get it.

It’s all I can do to not just sit here all day slapping this stuff all over my face.

Then there’s the multitasking aspect, meaning you can use this as an eye cream, a moisturiser, an anti-wrinkle cream and a night cream. Because I’m in the process of testing a couple of other face things, I’m going to concentrate on using this on my neck and decolletage — I’ll let you know how I get on.

As far as the science-y bits go, I’ll get back to that later as well. H+K have a great blog, full of info on their all-natural approach. Why not get it straight from the horse’s mouth?

So, Human+Kind: it looks nice, smells nice, and works considerably more than nicely. Can’t want to try the rest of the line!

€29.95