Review: Nivea 2in1 Cleanser & Toner

You know when a product claims to be good at two separate things and then ends up with a mediocre performance in both of them? Yeah, that. With this.
I bought the Nivea 2in1 Cleanser & Toner out of sheer laziness and I'm not afraid to admit it. I was feeling run down and stressed and came to the conclusion that I was much more likely to stick to a skincare routine rather than the occasional face wipe if that routine consisted of the minimum amount of steps I could get away with.

Now, I did have a picture of a blob of this on my hand so you could get a good idea of the texture, but it looked suspiciously like, err... a certain type of bodily fluid, so I thought I'd spare you the sight! You'll just have to take my word, that it's a lot like a creamy cleanser, but with a slightly runnier, more watery consistency.
While it definitely feels nice and gentle on the skin, my face just didn't feel particularly clean after using it, which was confirmed by a mucky face towel.

For me the idea of using a toner after washing my face is to have that extra purification, with a little bit of bonus moisture, but this just doesn't perform either of those criteria. I guess it would be alright as part of a double cleanse, but then that would defeat the purpose of cutting out steps in my skincare routine. Looks like I shot myself in the foot a little bit there, doesn't it?

What is your experience with dual- or multi-purpose products? Have you maybe even tried this one in particular? Let me know in the comments below!

Review: Nivea Double Effect Eye Make-Up Remover

I can't even tell you how long it's been since I last used a dual-phase make-up remover. Let's just say it's been a long, long time.
I tend to avoid oil-based make-up removers, as I find that they always sting my eyes. Balms are fine, micellars work wonderfully, but these dual action types can swing either way from my personal experience. That's probably why I've avoided them for so long.

Funnily enough I really like the way they look in the bottle. I know that it's really the last thing I should be judging a beauty product on, but I really enjoy the way there are two different colours in the same bottle. And shaking it up is always oddly satisfying as well. Here's a shot of the Nivea make-up remover in all of its shaken up glory.

Now, onto the good news: This didn't sting my eyes. Not at all, actually. As for how efficiently it removed my make-up, there is room for improvement, especially considering it is half oil-based, but it's also not the worst I've ever used. The one thing that really bugged me about it, though, is just how quickly I got through this bottle. It must have lasted no longer than two or maybe three weeks, whereas regular make-up removers usually last me for a few months!

I'm not sure I'll be buying a dual-phase make-up remover again after this. It just seems that now that there are lots of really rather excellent micellars on the market, these seem a bit old-fashioned and gimmicky. You could have the same product, just already shaken up for you and a lot more effective for pretty much the same price. What do you think? Do you still use two-phase make-up removers?

A bottle of Nivea Double Effect Eye Make-up Remover will set you back £3.59.

Sample Summary #3

I've been swamped with hair care samples and sachets for some reason lately and let me tell you: My hair didn't like it. I'm slowly starting to get it to calm down again, but I don't wanna see another shampoo sachet for a long time!

Ich wurde in letzter Zeit mit Haarpflege-Proben und -Sachets überflutet und eins muss ich klarstellen: Meinen Haaren hat's nicht gefallen. Langsam beruhigen sie sich wieder, aber ich will jetzt eine längere Zeit lang keine Shampoo-Tütchen mehr sehen!


1) Gliss Ultimate Volume Shampoo
 

In order to guarantee some kind of fairness whenever I test a shampoo sachet, I won't use any other product on my hair that day apart from a Dove conditioner (which doesn't do an awful lot anyway). However, after I used this I wasn't too sure what I COULD use in order to rescue my hair, it was that nasty. My hair is naturally quite dry, but this seemed to dry it out even more and it became incredibly rough and frizzy and simply untameable. I shed ridiculous amounts of hair the day after and there was just no way it would hold any shape or style, no matter what I tried. I haven't had such a bad hair day for a long time. Needless to say, I won't be buying the full size of this rubbish.

Um ein gewisses Maß an Fairness zu garnatieren, benutze ich bei jedem Test von einem Shampoo-Tütchen keine weiteren Haaprodukte, bis auf eine Spülung von Dove (die sowieso nicht viel bringt). Nachdem ich aber diese Probe benutzt hatte, wusste ich nicht, ob es überhaupt etwas gab, das mein Haar retten könnte. Meine Haare sind von Natur her recht trocken, aber dieses Shampoo trocknete sie noch mehr aus und sie wurden fizzelig, rau und konnten nicht gebändigt werden. Es fielen Unmengen an Haaren aus und sie weigerten sich, jegliche Form zu behalten, egal was ich auch probierte. So einen schlimmen Bad Hair Day hatte ich schon lange nicht mehr. Wie ihr euch sicher denken könnt, werde ich mein Geld auf gar keinen Fall für eine Flasche von diesem Mist verschwenden.


2) L'Oréal EverPure Shampoo

As this one claims to be free of sulphates I expected it to be a bit difficult to work with, but it actually produced a very lovely creamy lather. My hair felt really weird afterwards - definitely strong and healthy, but also kind of rough without being frizzy. I get the same feeling everytime I use a hair mask from the EverStrong range, so I'm sure it was down to this shampoo. I suppose the roughness could have been smoothed away by applying some hair oil, but I didn't want to use any extra products in order to make the review a fair one (as mentioned above). The day after my hair felt absolutely gorgeous: strong, but smooth, though without that slippery feeling that I've grown quite accustomed to. I'm quite intrigued and I think there might be a purchase looming.

Da dieses Produkt frei von Sulfaten ist, hatte ich Schwierigkeiten bei der Anwendung vorhergesehen. Aber nein, es produzierte einen angenehm cremigen Schaum. Danach fühlten sich meine Haare sehr komisch an - definitiv kräftig und gesund, aber auch irgendwie rau, ohne jedoch frizzelig zu sein. Ich kriege das gleiche Gefühl, wenn ich eine Maske aus der EverStrong-Reihe benutze, also bin ich mir sicher, dass das Shampoo für dieses Gefühl verantwortlich ist. Das Raue hätte man mit ein paar Tropfen Haaröl gut hinbiegen können, aber ich wollte keine anderen Produkte benutzen, damit die Review fair wird (siehe oben). Am Tag nach der Wäsche fühlten sich meine Haare traumhaft an: kräftig, aber weich, wenn auch ohne dieses glitschige Gefühl, das man von Silikonen kriegt und an das ich mich schon ein wenig gewöhnt hatte. Ich finde es interessant und ein Nachkauf steht wahrscheinlich irgendwann bevor.

 3) Nivea Q10 Plus Pore Refining Day Cream SPF 15

Another anti-ageing sample, but this one said it was for combination skin, so hello me. I found the scent to be a little strong for my tastes - not unpleasant, but a bit too "in your face". It also seemed to take forever to sink in, though once it did it didn't feel too rich or overwhelming like a lot of anti-ageing creams do. As it was a tiny sample I can't say anything about long-term effects, but I did notice that it didn't give me that lovely "instant smoothing" effect that some of my past moisturisers have (you know when you apply it and yours skin seems to let out a sigh of relief? No?), so I'll be giving this one a miss.

Noch eine Anti-Ageing-Probe, doch auf dieser hier stand, dass sie für Mischhaut ist, also hallo ich. Ich empfand den Geruch als etwas zu stark - nicht unangenehm, aber ein bisschen penetrant. Es dauerte auch ewig, bis die Creme einzog. Als es dann aber so weit war, fühlte sie sich nicht zu reichhaltig oder überwältigend an, wie viele andere Anti-Falten-Cremes. Da es ein winziges Pröbchen war, kann ich keine Aussagen zum Langzeit-Effekt machen, aber es fiel mir schon auf, das sie mir nicht diesen Sofort-Weichmacher-Effekt gab, wie einige andere Cremes. (Ihr wisst schon, wenn man Creme aufträgt und die Haut vor Vergnügen aufstöhnt? Nein?) Einen Nachkauf lasse ich deswegen lieber bleiben.

 4) Garnier Fructis Hot Volume 48H Shampoo

The claims on this product are interesting to say the least. Apparently you wash your hair with it, then blow dry it and the heat activates some kind of magical ingredient that gives incredible volume which lasts for two days. I think everyone knows Fructis shampoos - they're just basically your bog standard shampoo, nothing special, but decent for a small price. That's exactly how it felt when I washed my hair with it: Normal, regular shampoo. But you know what? I think the volume thing might actually work. My hair WAS more volumised afterwards and my hair style seemed to last much longer, too. I've purchased the full size of this together with the corresponding conditioner, so I'll be able to give a more detailed review, soon.

Die Behauptungen auf diesem Produkt sind ja mal sehr interessant. Anscheinend soll man sich damit die Haare waschen, sie dann föhnen und durch die Hitze wird irgendeine Zauberzutat aktiviert, die unglaubliches Volumen schenkt, das dann zwei Tage hält. Ich glaube, jeder kennt Fructis Shampoos - sie sind ja eigentlich so ein Standardshampoo, nichts besonderes, aber in Ordnung für einen kleinen Preis. Und genauso fühlte es sich beim Benutzen auch an: Stinknormales Shampoo. Aber wisst ihr was? Ich glaube, diese Volumensache funktioniert tatsächlich. Mein Haar WAR nämlich voluminöser nach dem Föhnen und schien auch seine Form länger beizubehalten. Ich habe mir jetzt mal eine ganze Flasche hiervon gekauft, zusammen mit der entsprechenden Spülung. Demnach werde ich euch bald eine vollständigere Bewertung liefern können.

 5) C:EHKO Intensive Care Mask

This is the first Glossybox sample I got through this month and I was really looking forward to it. The packaging was nice, the company's promo shots looked great and it was a niche brand I'd never heard of. The sample size looked generous at first, but I only managed to get two applications out of it. Both times it left my hair with a really nasty film and despite rinsing for what felt like forever I still had an urge to treat my hair with dry shampoo immediately after washing. Despite the big fat film on top of my hair it didn't actually improve its structure, so it was dry underneath and became kind of crispy. Basically, it made my hair look and feel as if I'd had a crazy hairspray and backcombing orgy. No repurchase here, either.

Das ist die erste Glossybox-Probe, die ich diesen Monat fertig bekommen habe und ich hatte mich schon richtig auf dieses Produkt gefreut. Die Verpackung ist hübsch, die Promobilder der Firma sehen toll aus und es ist eine Nischenmarke, von der ich noch nie gehört hatte. Die 50ml schienen erst ganz großzügig, doch sie reichten im Endeffekt nur für zwei Anwendungen. Beide Male hinterließ die Maske einen fiesen Fettfilm. Trotz ewigem Ausspülen hatte ich immer noch das Bedürfnis, meine Haare gleich nach dem Waschen mit Trockenshampoo einzusprühen. Auch mit dicker Fettschicht auf dem Haar tat es nichts, um die Struktur zu verbessern, also waren meine Haare drunter immer noch trocken und wurden irgendwie knusprig. Im Grunde sahen meine Haare danach aus (und fühlten sich auch so an), als hätte ich eine wilde Haarspray- und Toupier-Orgie hinter mir. Also auch kein Nachkaufprodukt

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.