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!

Sample Summary #8

1) Clinique, Repairwear Uplifting Cream

Full size: £50 for 50ml

I love it when brands give you proper sized samples of their products that you can squeeze more than one and a half applications out of. Even more so when they’re tailored to my skin type. Hello, combination skin, that’s me! I have to admit that for a cream that’s aimed at combination skin, this was very thick and quite rich, though. And my usual tactic of using it as a night cream couldn’t be applied, as it’s a cream with SPF, so it would only be wasted on a night.

Apart from that it’s a lovely moisturiser which keeps my face nice and hydrated. The richness can be balanced out with the use of the right products, but it’s not something I’m raring to go out and buy.

2) La Sultane De Saba, Body Lotion With Argan Oil

Full size: £26.50 for 200ml

I knew I wouldn’t like this as soon as I saw it in my Birchbox and reality hasn’t been far off my expectations. The oriental scent of this body lotion is just not up my street at all. To top it off it comes out sticky and runny, though to be fair once I let the lotion absorb into my skin properly it made it wonderfully soft.

Nevertheless, I have no time for body lotions that make me dance about naked in the bathroom in the hopes that it will sink in sometime today. And try to squeeze out thick body lotion out of a tiny tub made of hard plastic while your hands are all greasy and oily. The sample went flying, bounced off every single wall leaving behind a sticky trail of destruction, before being thrown in the bin. So much for that.

3) RMK, Cleansing Balm

Full size: £29 for 100g

Can a beauty product ever be life changing? I believe this one can. Before this sample, I’d never tried a cleansing balm before, but boy am I smitten. The delicious rose scent sends me off into a heavenly dream land, the texture melts on my skin like silk and removes every last little scrap of dirt and make-up. I actually WANT to clean my skin, even after a late (/early) night out, which is something that’s never happened before.

Oh and my skin absolutely loves this. So much so that I can even skip the foundation most days. I’ve still got a few other cleansers on the go right now, but once they run out, this is a definite, DEFINITE repurchase.

4) Sanctuary, 30 Day Thermal Clay Mask

Full size: £27.50 for 75ml and 50ml respectively

The sachet size of this sample is fairly deceiving. I expected one or two applications out of these, but ended up with five. Not bad. The two-step process had me applying a serum all over my face first and then topping it off with the clay mask.

The mask heated up on my skin, which was a very pleasant sensation and came off easily and without any off the mess associated with clay masks. As for the dramatic skin transformation promised on the description card, I honestly have to say I didn’t see any of it. Yeah, my skin felt nice after it, but no better or worse than after just washing my face in the evenings. Maybe it would work better for other skin types, but for me it was something I’ll leave on the shelf.

5) Yu-Be, Moisturizing Skin Cream

Full size: £19.50 for 70g

Looks like we’re a bit Birchbox heavy with the sample reviews this time around, eh? I used this cream as a lip balm first, as I loved the instant hit of moisture that it gives, without leaving any sticky feeling, so that I could still apply lipstick over the top without sacrificing colour intensity. Turns out that it didn’t work that well in the long term, as after a week or so, it started giving my lips a scary white cast which made me look positively dead. I also found that my lips got sort of addicted to it and I had to slather it on more and more, or else they would dry out very fast.

Nevertheless, this cream really did come into its own when I caught a nasty cold and my entire nose went red, scaly and irritated. Heaven, I tell you, heaven! It soothed my chapped skin instantly without running or greasing my face up like some other creams do. There was no stinging or burning and it just felt like a god send. Would I repurchase? Maybe for the winter months, to calm skin that’s so dry it’s painful or when I tend to get the sniffles a lot more often. For the summer, however, I think I’ll just stick to regular moisturiser and lip balm.

Sample Summary #7

1) Clinique Repairwear Laser Focus Foundation (Shade 03)

Full size: £27.50 for 30ml

I’m used to foundation samples you get in magazines not fitting my skin tone, but this one looked ridiculously out of place. (Apologies, I did take a swatch picture, but unfortunately the file became corrupted) With Clinique, the problem isn’t just the colour of this sachet. I tried several times to buy a Clinique foundation, but none of their shades ever fit my light skin. Not only are they bright orange on application, they also have a tendency to oxidise during the day and become even darker and more unnatural-looking.

Nevermind, I picked a day where I knew I wouldn’t be leaving the house and covered myself in this orange goo, making sure to take it all the way down to my chest. The coverage is quite heavy with strong pigmentation, which made it a right pain to blend. You’d have to find a shade that exactly matches your skin tone in order to avoid this problem. It’s a shame then, that this turned out to be an excellent foundation. It felt incredibly lightweight on the skin considering the high level of coverage it gave and stayed put all day without transferring onto my clothes. It evened out my skin tone without completely hiding my skin’s structure and even the oxidisation problem I mentioned earlier wasn’t so bad. But it was still orange. If only Clinique could sort out their shade selection, this would be my new go-to high coverage foundation.

2) Biotherm Blue Therapy Serum

Full size: £38.00 for 30ml

I will admit right from the outset that I am a big Biotherm fan. Their products have never let me down in that they just always work with my skin and tend to get the very best out of it.

So it was with quite a bit of excitement that I tried this new serum which can be applied day and night. However, what came out of the tube did cause a short moment of panic. This is a sparkle serum. Yes, that’s right. It sparkles. And glitters. It reminded me of those glitter gels you used to get as a child to cover your skin and hair with for fancy dress occasions - anyone else remember them?

Thank goodness the obvious shimmer somehow completely disappeared on my skin and did not turn me into an extra from Twilight. As far as application goes it’s definitely in line with some of the nicer serums I’ve tried. Lightweight, but nourishing, it sinks in quickly and doesn’t leave my skin sticky in the slightest.

It was after the second or third application that I began to notice a different on my face. I’m sorry if this sounds ridiculous, but my skin felt somehow... bouncier? I really wish I had a better way of explaining this, because it’s not like my skin was sallow and wrinkly before, but in a way it became plumper, tauter and more resistant to whatever it is I throw at it. I imagine this would make it absolutely brilliant for more mature skin, but even as it stands now, I’ll be quite gutted once my sample runs out!

3) Armani Code Pour Femme Shower Gel

Full size: £29.50 for 200ml

As far as things that come with perfume go, I much prefer shower gels to the disgraceful body lotions I’ve complained about many a time. Granted, the scent ain’t going to last a long time on the skin either way, but at least it can make for an uplifting and, dare I say it, sensual experience under the shower.Unfortunately, this wasn’t my scent at all. It’s really rather woody and musky which is far from my personal preference when it comes to fragrance, but it lathered up nicely, a little went a long way and it did get me clean in the end. Even if you're a fan of the scent I would still consider this a massive waste of money. Actually, charging almost £30 for a tube of shower gel that does absolutely nothing differently than a product you'd get from Poundland makes me rather angry. It's a nice add on if it comes for free in a gift set, but on its own there's just nothing about it that would justify the price tag.

4) Just Cavalli Perfumed Shower Gel

Full size: £20.00 for 150ml

Another perfumed bath thingy... seems like I literally get showered in the stuff (geddit? Showered! Fnar fnar fnar...). This is one I really, really like. Unfortunately, my already very sparse scent describing skills completely fail me when it comes to this one. It just seems like a very young scent, something that makes me want to go out and have fun. It’s sweet, but not overly so and it layers beautifully with my Soap and Glory body butter, creating a delicious, comforting yet at the same time energising scent.Several hints have been dropped to the boyfriend about how much I like the scent and how I just got through another one of my perfumes...
Again, on its own I find the price tag completely unjustifiable, but if I got a tube of this in a gift set I'd be more than happy to use it up.

Clinique All About Eyes Review

I have briefly raved about this a few times and it's also made it into my favourites post from April, so it's about time I did a full review on this eye cream. The reason I haven't done that yet is because I've actually been inundated with samples of this and now is the first time I had to go to a shop and buy a full size!

Ich habe schon mehrmals kurz hiervon geschwärmt und sogar in meinem April-Favoriten Post davon gesprochen, also ist es endlich mal an der Zeit für eine volle Review dieser Augencreme. Der Grund, aus dem ich noch nie einen Post hierüber veröffentlicht habe, ist, dass ich so viele Pröbchen hatte und jetzt erst in ein Geschäft gehen musste, um mir die volle Größe zu kaufen.

Before I tried this I was actually fairly sceptical about eye creams. They seemed like a bit of a waste of money, especially considering I don't have to worry about wrinkles yet. My only concern were those horrible dark circles that wouldn't go away no matter how much sleep I got. Surely the only cream that could remedy those would be a concealer? Wrong!

Vor dem Ausprobieren dieser Creme war ich Augencremes gegenüber recht skeptisch eingestellt. Sie schienen mir etwas wie Geldverschwendung, vor allem da ich mir über Fältchen noch keine Sorgen machen musste. Mein einziges Problem waren diese fürchterlichen dunklen Ringe unter den Augen, die einfach nicht weg wollten, egal wie viel ich schlief. Sicher konnte da doch lediglich Concealer helfen? Falsch gedacht!

Granted, this doesn't get rid of all dark circles and puffiness. It's not so miraculous that I could forgo concealer entirely, so don't expect any miracles. But it helps. And of all the eye creams I've tried so far, this is the only one that actually makes a difference. So as long as I apply this morning and night and make sure I drink loads of water, the concealing part of my make-up routine becomes a whole lot easier and quicker.

Zugegeben, die Creme wird dunkle Ringe und Schwellungen nicht vollkommen los. Sie ist nicht dermaßen magisch, dass ich auf Concealer ganz verzichten könnte, also erwartet keine Wunder. Aber sie hilft. Und von all den Augencremes, die ich bisher ausprobiert habe, ist sie die einzige, die eine sichtbare Verbesserung hervorruft. So lange ich sie morgens und abends auftrage und reichlich Wasser trinke, geht das mit dem Abdecken viel schneller und einfacher.

Clinique All About Eyes is a lightweight gel-cream hybrid which is best applied with the ring finger in a tapping motion all around the eyes and on the lids. Upon application I can feel my skin freshen up and tighten straight away which is a blissful feeling, particularly in the mornings. It sinks in very quickly, so you can apply make-up almost straight away without having to worry about it sliding around due to a greasy base.

Clinique All About Eyes ist ein leichtes Creme-Gel-Hybrid, welches man am besten mit dem Ringfinger in die Haut rund um die Augen und aufs Lid aufklopft. Sobald es aufgetragen wird, merke ich sofort wie meine Haut sich erfrischt und zusammenzieht. Das fühlt sich himmlisch an, vor allem am müden Morgen. Es zieht sehr schnell ein und man kann von daher fast sofort Make-up drüber auftragen, ohne sich um eine von der Creme hinterlassene Fettschicht Sorgen machen zu müssen.

The packaging is a sturdy plastic pot which more than fulfills its purpose and is fairly pretty to look at, though some people may not like having to dip their finger in cream each time. As with all pots you'll be scraping cream off the bottom of the lid for a while if you decide to take it on travels.
The scent isn't particularly pleasant unfortunately - a kind of sweet medicinal smell, though you'll only smell it if you sniff it on purpose and not upon application.

Die Verpackung besteht aus einem soliden Plastiktiegel, der seine Rolle mehr als erfüllt und nebenbei noch ganz hübsch aussieht. Einigen mag es jedoch nicht gefallen, dass man jedes Mal seinen Finger in die Creme tauchen muss. Wie bei allen Tiegeln muss man immer reichlich Creme von der Unterseite des Deckels kratzen, sollte man ihn mit auf Reisen nehmen.
Der Geruch ist leider nicht besonders angenehm - er ist süß und recht pharmazeutisch, doch glücklicherweise merkt man davon nur was, wenn man gezielt an der Creme schnuppert. Beim bloßen Auftrag rieche ich nichts. 

The thing about Clinique that I feel I have to mention is that they're not the gentlest of cosmetic brands and for a lot of people the chemicals used in their products are just too harsh. I raved and raved about this cream and recommended it to my mum, but when she tried it she got an allergic reaction all around her eyes!
So, generally speaking, I think this is a fabulous product and I would really recommend it, but not without caution. I'd say if you want to try it, go to a Clinique counter and ask for a little sample to take home with you (they ought to have loads, considering how long I survived on just sample pots of this!), so you can try it before you buy.

Das Problem mit Clinique, auf das ich unbedingt aufmerksam machen muss, ist dass es nicht unbedingt die sanfteste Kosmetikfirma ist und für Viele sind die in ihren Produkten enthaltenen Chemikalien einfach viel zu aggressiv. Ich habe von dieser Creme geschwärmt und geschwärmt und meiner Mutter immer wieder empfohlen, doch als sie sie ausprobierte kriegte sie einen allergischen Ausschlag rund ums Auge!
Im Grunde finde ich, dass es sich hier um ein wunderbares Produkt handelt und ich würde es wirklich gerne empfehlen, aber nicht ganz ohne Warnung. Wenn ihr die Creme ausprobieren wollt, dann würde ich euch empfehlen, zu einem Clinique-Stand zu gehen und euch eine Probe hiervon geben zu lassen. (Es muss Tonnen davon geben, wenn man bedenkt wie lange ich Pröbchen hiervon benutzt habe!) So könnt ihr sie zunächst mal ausprobieren ohne dabei im schlimmsten Fall Geld verschwendet zu haben. 


Clinique have also brought out a rich version of this and a serum which comes as a stick rather than in a pot. I'm tempted to try them, but I know that this one works and wouldn't want to waste money on other versions in case they're not as good! If you've tried any of them, please let me know in the comments about how you got on!

Clinique haben hiervon auch eine reichhaltige Version und ein Serum in Stiftformat herausgebracht. Es reizt mich schon, die auszuprobieren, aber ich weiß, dass diese Creme funktioniert und es wäre schade, mein Geld für eine andere Version auszugeben, wenn die nicht so toll ist. Wenn ihr Erfahrungen mit den anderen Produkten gemacht habt, dann lasst es mich doch bitte in den Kommentaren wissen, wie sie euch gefallen haben!


Clinique All About Eyes retails at £23 for a 15ml pot or £39 for a 30ml pot.

Clinique All About Eyes kostet 35€ für einen 15ml Tiegel.