REVIEW

Sweet Sixteen: Dermalogica Soothing Booster

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OMGGGGGGGGGGG. Why does my skin still insist upon breaking out? I am surely peri-menopausal at this stage, I really can’t continue to be brewing spots at that time of the month, can I?

Oh, yes, I can. Crikey, it’s annoying. More annoying is the fact that even after all these years of being told not to, I am still desperate to poke and pick at pimples. It’s gross, I know! But don’t even think about trying to convince me of your own virtuous, non-popping ways.

I have been extremely fortunate in the acne-department, in that I escaped the worst sorts of ravages that plagued several of my adolescent contemporaries, and that continue to torture lovely ladies of all ages. I don’t even feel like I should call my teenage eruptions acne: they were really only zits, which is an anodyne term, really, compared with some folks have to deal with.

Whatever the degree, we can all agree that no one wants even one stupid spot on their face, one which always makes its appearance at the worst possible time, and can sometimes be painful, to boot. The ones you get around your nose? Ugh. Just last month I had one that was in my nostril, and oh lordee, did I want to pop that bitch, but it never came to a head — okay, those ones, those are the worst.

The nostril-zit went away within two days, through the good offices of Dermalogica’s Gentle Soothing Booster. I know how those bad boys like to hang around, I’m sure I’ve had equally stubborn and painful little feckers like that hang about for at least a week (the ones at the hairline? Ach!) I had tried any number of things in the past, including that auld models-trick-using-toothpaste, but this little gem from our friends in The International Dermal Institute is the best thing I have ever used. Since I was sticking it up my nose, I noticed perhaps too well the slightly oily smell of the stuff, but apart from that minor quibble, I’d bronze this thing and set it on a plinth — except that I’d really prefer to use it.

€55.80/£43.50/$48.00

Sweet Sixteen: Clinique Clarifying Lotion

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When I was in my 20s, my godmother recommended that I start a proper skin care regimen. The gist of her argument was that just because I looked amazing and youthful right then didn’t mean that I could I take it for granted, and if I wanted to extend my years of amazingness and youthiness, I had better get cracking right away.

I chose Clinique. I can’t remember why, except that their fresh and spare ad campaigns made them, in my mind, modern and suited to my youthful amazingness. I got the 3-step thingie — the soap, the yellow moisturiser, and the Clarifying Lotion 2. I had to google the yellow stuff just now (Dramatically Different!) because I stopped using it ages ago, and the soap is distant, misty memory, but I have not yet found anything that is as effective as the Clarifying Lotion in terms of cleaning and toning the skin.

Despite its slightly astringent tingle, it doesn’t dry the skin. I just don’t feel like I’ve cleaned off the day if I don’t feel that blast of icy freshness. And who can argue with the power of Clinique Bonus Days! I ask you! Even after all these years of beauty largesse, the sight of a wee collection of cunningly assembled samples in some class of clever case sends a thrill racing through my veins. I’ve still got the mini bottle from that one Bonus that one Time, that had held Clarifying Toner — I continue to decant into it when traveling, and wouldn’t be without it.

Yes, indeed: many, many years on, it’s still a go-to/must have,/unassailable element of my beauty regimen. If you must know how many years it has been, well, I remember when all this product came in glass bottles. I think the years have been pretty kind to me, so clearly Clinique has done its job well. Many thanks to them, and to Auntie Sue, too!

€36/$46/£33

I see that InStyle agrees with me…