Review: Atrixo Intensive Protection Cream

This is the last in my big pile of Atrixo products that I've slowly been working my way through for nearly two years (!!) and I gotta say that it seems like I left the best till last - this one is by far my favourite product!

The love starts already from the outside. While I know some people find tubs unhygienic, I personally prefer them over squeezey tubes for three reasons:
a) They look nicer on my bedside table
b) You always know exactly how much you've got left
c) There's this satisfying feeling of dipping your finger into a big ol' tub of cream (just me on this one?)

Then there's also the scent... I really love the scent on all Atrixo products and this one is no different. It's soft, very subtly sweet and extremely comforting. This particular one actually reminds me a little bit of sun lotion, which is definitely not a bad thing!

The cream is very similar in texture to a silky body butter and is very satisfying and smooth to apply. Even though this is the intensive cream, I find that it actually sinks in a lot quicker than the regular version. I still only use it overnight - there have only been two hand creams ever that I've used during the day time just because I hate that dreadful sticky feeling you get from applying hand lotion. It works wonderfully as an overnight treatment, though, and has me waking up with baby soft hands every morning. What more could you ask for?

Granted, the tub isn't particularly handbag friendly, but at £4.59 for a gigantic 200ml tub it's truly amazing value for money.

Review: Atrixo Regenerating Treatment

I like winter, but I absolutely hate what it does to my hands - dry, chapped skin with knuckles that crack so bad they even bleed sometimes are the norm. A thick, moisturising hand cream is a must for the colder months to avoid the agony of my skin splitting every time I move my fingers.

I've had this hand cream for a while, but it was only during the last couple of weeks that I dug it back out, as my hands were in need of some serious TLC. I'm really not a fan of greasy hands during the day, so I tend to just apply a thick layer of rich cream at night and let it do its work while I'm fast asleep.

Upon first application I wasn't quite sure if this would be moisturising enough for my extremely dry hands. It doesn't give that "instant hit" of moisture that I've had from some other creams and there remains a slippy layer on my hands for quite some time. However, when I wake up my hands are visibly softer and smoother and with frequent application they are now crack free and soft.
I'm not sure I could recommend this for constant application during the day time, as it does take quite a long time to sink in, but over night it's a great way to pick up dry and chapped hands during the colder months.

Atrixo Regenerating Treatment retails at £5.79 a tube.

Sample Summary #11

I've been rubbing, spreading and smothering my way through an array of samples again, so it's about time I gave you another run down of mini sample summaries to see what's gone straight on the wish list (or straight in the bin).

1) Kerastase | Elixir Ultime

Full size: £34.50

Rating: 4.5/5

The Kerastase Elixir Ultime is hailed as the mother of all hair oils, so I was expecting nothing short of miracles for my hair. After the first application, I have to admit that I do see where the hype is coming from. Despite being an oil, this doesn't really feel oily - it's more sticky in texture and my hair literally drank it up like there was no tomorrow. It did everything I look for in a good hair oil: It gave my hair a little extra kick of moisture, smoothed away flyaways, added a bit of shine, but without making the hair seem greasy and limp. It wasn't quite mindblowing enough for me to rush out and spend £30 on a full sized bottle, but if you're in the market for a hair oil and don't mind spending a bit extra, then you really can't go wrong with this.

2) Clarins | Hand and Nail Treatment Cream

Full size: £20

Rating: 4/5

I remember getting my Mum one of these as a present, as it was highly recommended to me by the shop assistant for somebody who uses their hands a lot. It's hailed to be a fast-acting hand cream that takes no time at all to sink into the skin, but at the same time repair some serious damage both from ageing and harsh environments. As far as sinking in goes, this is right up there with my favourites and one of the few hand creams I could apply during the day. As far as damage control goes, it did leave my hands nice and soft, but it didn't work quite as well as my beloved Yes! Nurse hand cream (which is also a lot cheaper). I don't think it's quite heavy duty enough for what my poor hands have to withstand in the winter.

3) Clinique | 7 Day Scrub

Full size: £18.50

Rating: 3/5

I'm a bit lost here with the 7 day claim on this scrub. What is it supposed to mean? Are you meant to use it every day for 7 days? Does it take 7 days to see results? Does an application last for 7 days? I don't know!! What I do know is that this performed like a pretty average facial exfoliator. The grains were a good size, the texture firm enough not to end up down the sink, but soft enough to not tug skin when you spread it. A decent product, but at that price point I would expect something to really wow me to justify spending that extra bit of money. As it stands, you can find pretty good drugstore alternatives at no more than half the price.

4) Weleda | Millet Nourishing Shampoo

Full size: £8.95

Rating: 1/5

Oh my.... is it possible for a shampoo to leave your hair even dirtier than it was before the wash? This is an all natural product free from SLS and other foaming agents, so I wasn't expecting a rich lather anyway, but this just left my hair heavy, tangled and slightly on the oily side. Such a shame, as it has a zesty scent that is simply to die for under the shower.

5) Shiseido | Ibuki Refining Moisturizer Enriched

Full size: £42

Rating: 4.5/5

Eugh, how I miss this little pot. This was pretty much the perfect moisturiser for me. It was rich, yet lightweight and an absolute pleasure to apply. Even from this little sample size I could tell the difference it was making to my skin, which seemed clearer and just a little bit more alive. Good enough, in fact, to run errands and go shopping completely make-up free. The only downside is the price. At £42 a pop, it really ain't cheap, but I'm still hovering over the buy button, as this might just be worth a little extra splurge.

6) Louis Widmer | Skin Appeal Peeling

Full size: £11.20

Rating: 4/5

I can't say I've ever heard of a brand called Louis Widmer, but judging from the writing on the sample it seems to be a Dutch brand. The Skin Appeal series in particular is targeted at young, breakout-prone skin and while that's not exactly me (my skin is more on the combination side and my teenage years are well and truly a thing of the past), I really enjoyed using this product. It's definitely one of the harsher products I've ever had the pleasure of using, so not one for those with sensitive skin. But on the plus side, it left my skin feeling really squeaky clean, as if it literally got into every single pore to get rid of all of the rubbish that has accumulated there over time.

7) Eucerin | Dermo Densifyer Day

Full size: £24.42

Rating: 3/5

Another name that leaves me a bit baffled. I've heard of many different skin concerns, but does anyone really want their skin to be... denser...? Opening this sample I didn't think I'd get on with it at all, as it's just the type of heavy, thick cream that usually leaves me looking like I've been in an oil wrestling match, but I thought I'd give it a go anyway. Turns out it wasn't quite as bad. As it's so thick a little goes a long way on my skin type and you can definitely feel that there's something on your skin, but it's been working pretty well in the cold winter months at creating a barrier on my skin that has kept the occasional redness or dry patches completely at bay. As far as samples go it's huge and even though I've been using it for 3 months I've only just started getting to the bottom of it. I feel that while it's good on my skin, it would perform absolutely exceptional on dry to very dry skin types.

8) Rodial | 5 Minute Facial

Full size: £35

Rating: 5/5

This stuff is flippin amazing! I'd never tried anything from Rodial before and I'd highly questioned their approach to beauty with names such as "Size Zero" cream and rather dodgy looking meal replacement sticks. But, I've got to give it to them, as far as face masks go, this might just be the best that I've ever tried. It applies as a smooth cream, then dries and hardens, just like a mud mask would. You're then meant to rub off the hardened product, but I found that only about half of it came off by rubbing and I had to rinse the remainder off with water. (It also made a right mess of my bathroom sink, let me tell you that!) What I was left with was skin that was (sorry, there is no other word for it) radiant and just... just, wow. Absolutely worth the £35 - although I found it £10 cheaper on Allbeauty (see link above) and will be purchasing a full sized tube soon!

Surprisingly Good and Surprisingly Bad

This post is about two products that have really surprised me after I bought them - one in a positive way whereas the other was underwhelming to say the least.
I will start with the good surprise:

Nivea Pure & Natural Hand Cream

Before I start there's something you should know: I HATE hand creams. I'd never ever use hand cream if I could get away with it, but unfortunately my hands get really dry and when it gets cold it can get so bad that the skin around my knuckles cracks open and bleeds. So I have to use hand cream. My problem is the really horrible greasy feeling it leaves and walking around like a T-Rex for half an hour, unable to touch anything because I'll leave a sticky film. The solution I've come up with is that I only use hand cream at night before going to bed, which means it needs to be quite moisturising.
The ONLY reason I bought this was because it was cheap. Nivea strikes me as a brand that is very good at being average. They don't seem to have any stand-out products, neither exceptionally good or exceptionally bad - essentially a brand to stick with if you don't want to take any risks.
It actually took me two or three weeks to realise that this hand cream is as a matter of fact really good. It only takes about five minutes to sink in and leaves my hands feeling velvety rather than gloopy and disgusting. At the moment it's moisturising enough for me to only apply it over night, but I feel that as the temperatures drop I'll have to apply it during the day as well. But you know what? I haven't got a problem with that.
I can't find an RRP, but you can get this for £2 for a 100ml tube at Tesco at the moment. This is really a product that has wowed me when I wasn't expecting anything from it.

On to a more negative surprise:

Origins Modern Friction face scrub

This had just won a beauty award when I was looking for a new face scrub. It's one of Origins' top sellers and as I hadn't tried anything from this brand before I decided to give it a go. I read some reviews about it being quite harsh and grainy, but that didn't really put me off as I like my scrub to give me a good scrubbing.

My skin isn't overly sensitive, but this stuff it couldn't handle. "Harsh" is an understatement. It has a very dense texture and the grains inside are relatively large. You're supposed to use it dry if you have normal skin which I found absolutely impossible, as it felt like I was tearing off bits of my skin. Sensitive skin types can use it damp and it's a bit better then, but you're still faced with another problem.

Once it gets wet, it starts foaming on your face. This isn't really a problem as such, as many of us will love a good lather, but this scrub is so jam packed with LDL and fruit acids it physically hurts. A little bit of the foam got in my nose when I was washing it off and it stung so badly it made my eyes water. And don't get me started on the two times I opened my eyes too early and got some of this product in! You may as well just dunk your face in petrol.

Retailing at around £30 it's not cheap, though you do get a generous 125ml tube, which (unfortunately) seems to last forever.