Review: L'Oreal Skin Perfection Micellar Gel

When it comes to make-up removers I thought I'd tried them all - oils, water based removers, creams, balms, duo-phase removers, micellars... but I can't say I've ever used a gel on my eyes to take off my make-up before - never mind a micellar gel. So, curiosity got the best of me and I had to give this one a go.

If you ever wondered what it feels like to rub gel on your eyelids, it's not a particularly nice feeling. It's cold, squidgy and slimy and though at least it doesn't seem to make my eyes too sticky, it just doesn't feel right if you know what I mean.

Sadly its effectiveness didn't exactly blow me away either and it took quite a bit of effort to get off eye liner and waterproof mascara - unlike my beloved micellar waters that make taking off my make-up an absolute breeze.

Unfortunately, this just didn't work for me at all. It was a bit of a novelty product, but it seems there's a good reason why you don't tend to find make-up remover in gel form. It's just wrong on every level. I think I'll stick to micellar waters from now onwards.

Review: Garnier Clean & Fresh Eye Make-up Remover

When it comes to make-up remover, I like to keep things cheap and cheerful. I get through so much of that stuff it would soon become a very expensive habit and I've found that most drugstore removers work just as well as their high end counterparts, as long as you know where to look.

While my eyes aren't super sensitive, they do get dry from wearing contact lenses a lot of the time, so the main thing for me is that I don't want my beauty products to further aggravate them and cause any stinging. I'm also not a fan of oil based removers that leave a greasy film on my lids and a weird coating on my eyeballs.... urgh, no thanks. Thankfully, this little number from Garnier fits the bill perfectly.

It really does feel light and refreshing on the skin and there is no stinging or burning in my eyes whatsoever. When it comes to removing make-up it performs well as long as you're not wearing copious amounts of eye make-up. After a night out for example I would have to go through several cotton pads to fully get rid of my panda eyes.

I guess when it comes to efficiency, these types of make-up remover are never going to be as good as micellars (and if you're in the market for one, Garnier actually do a cracking one that is pretty much an exact dupe for Bioderma!), but if for any reason you're not a fan of a micellar water and don't wear huge amounts of eye make-up, then this is a pretty good option that certainly won't break the bank.

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.

Review: L'Oreal Skin Perfection Nourishing Cleansing Wipes

Yes, I know. Face wipes are a bit of a naughty beauty purchase. We all know we shouldn't really be using them, but still most of us use them at least from time to time. The way I see it, they're the lesser of two evils: When I'm so tired that I really just want to collapse into bed, I can still just about manage to give my face a quick wipe, which is obviously much better than going to sleep in a full face of make-up.

My go to face wipes are by Simple, but recently I've been experimenting with a few different brands and as I've been getting good results from a lot of other Skin Perfection products I thought I'd give these a little shot.

The first thing I noticed was that these weren't quite as moist as my usual Simple wipes, but they were by no means dry and still did a good job of removing almost all of my make-up in one go. Where these perform better is that they're a lot more gentle and don't leave my skin feeling tight afterwards, but that does come at the cost of not being quite as thorough.

I'd probably recommend these more for people with sensitive skin and I might go back to them on days where my skin is feeling a bit dry.

These retail at £3.49 a pack, but are often on offer, so you should be able to get them a little cheaper!

Review: Simple Kind To Eyes Eye Make-up Remover

There are things that are worth splashing out on. And there are things that you can pick up for a fraction of the price at the drugstore, which do the job just as well, or perhaps even better. Make-up removers, in my humble opinion, belong to the latter category. I've tried products from Lancome, Clinique and Clarins and while I'd rank Lancome the highest out of the bunch, they all left my eyes in varying degrees of greasy to downright burning. While the much hyped up (and rightly so) Bioderma is probably my favourite for removing heavy eye make-up, there are a few drugstore products that do a very effective, but nevertheless gentle job with everyday make-up. This is one of them.

I wear contact lenses for several hours almost every day, so my eyes are definitely on the sensitive spectrum and often a little on the dry side. The last thing I need is a make-up remover that leaves me with an oil slick around my eyes, or worse even, dries them out even further leaving me with a red, burning mess.

None of this was an issue with this product. Make-up melted off without having to rub frantically - just soak two cotton pads and gently press them down on each eye for a few seconds and mascara, eye liner and shadow will just melt off. I could even use it on stubborn bits of liner on the inner water line without any irritation. Having said that I tend to avoid waterproof mascara, so I don't know how it would perform on that. With a very heavy smokey eye I found that I'd have to sometimes use two cotton pads per eye to really get everything off, but it's not often that I'll go that heavy on the make-up anyway, so it's not much of an issue. For everyday use, this is right up there with Garnier as my favourite drugstore make-up remover.

And the best bit? At £3.25 for a 125ml bottle it's an absolute bargain!

Love Me Beauty Box October 13

This month's post on my Love Me Beauty Box (formerly known as Beauteco) is a tad late due to the fact that we've not had any internet at home for a while - the cause was two naughty puppies destroying the router, thanks for that, dogs! But on the plus side that means that I've had a chance to try every single one of the products I've received and can give you a little mini review along with a description of each item.

1) Lord and Berry | Smudge Proof Eyeliner

Full size: £7.50

To be honest with you I wasn't overly excited to get another two Lord & Berry products in this month's box, seeing as there had already been two lip products from them two months back which I've probably used twice and then given up on. To be fair that wasn't Lord & Berry's fault; it was just because the colours didn't suit me one bit.

The eye liner that came in this month's box was in the colour "Smoke", which unlike the lip products was a brilliant choice in my opinion. I've got more than enough black eye liners to last me a lifetime, but this is a very pretty off-grey with slight green undertones, which makes a nice alternative to a traditional smokey eye. When I opened my pencil, however, I found this:

For some reason the nib had sunk into the pencil!? But never mind, it was nothing a few quick twists in the sharpener couldn't fix. Unfortunately, however, the dodginess didn't end there. As much as I adore the colour, I found the pencil to be way too hard, which means that it pulls a lot on my eye lids, making smooth and even application almost impossible. And you can forget about using it on the waterline, unless you really insist on poking your eye out with a sharp object.

2) Lord & Berry | Scuba Mascara

Full size: £12

On to the second Lord & Berry product: The waterproof Scuba mascara. Upon first inspection I was sure that I'd quite like this product. The brush is densely packed with bristles and it seemed to be nice and pigmented in the tube. 

Unfortunately that doesn't translate at all to the lashes. For a start, the texture is way too dry - I'm not sure if my tube was simply gone off or if that's just how it comes every time, but it just wouldn't do anything to my lashes. Today I gave it some elbow grease and after five coats (yes, FIVE), I finally managed to get some pigment on my lashes - which resulted in flaking about three hours later and a lot of tears trying to get it off in the evening.

Now, I've got to add to this, that I received an email this morning from Love Me Beauty and Lord & Berry apologising about the poor quality of these two products. It seems that I wasn't the only one left thoroughly unimpressed and apparently this is not representative of Lord & Berry as a brand, so they're adding a lipstick to next month's box as compensation. While that's a nice gesture, this mascara is nevertheless going straight in the bin and I won't be happy if I see any more of their stuff in my beauty box.

3) Balm Balm | Indulge Bath & Shower

Full size: £6 for 5ml

This month's box featured three different scent options of this bath and shower oil and with the one I chose (Menu 3), came the "indulgent" variety. I would definitely say this is a strong, slightly spicy and very rich scent and throughout using it I couldn't really make up my mind about whether or not I like it. The little bottle lasted for three applications, which makes the £6 price tag a tad steep in my opinion. Maybe I've just been using too much, though, who knows? As I tend not to take baths anymore, I used this in the shower, but on its own it just didn't seem to clean my skin at all, so I ended up mixing it with my regular shower gel.

And oh my, this is scented heavily. I did not only emerge out of the shower smelling of this oil, without any lotion or even perfume standing the slightest chance in overpowering the scent - it actually left the whole flat smelling like "Indulge" all day long! Maybe I really have been using too much of this.... Nevertheless, now that it's gone I wouldn't say it's anything I'd consider repurchasing.

4) Weleda | Millet Nourishing Shampoo

Full size: £8.95 for 190ml / Sample value: £0.85

I haven't had a chance to sample too many Weleda products yet, so I was quite happy to see this brand featured in this month's box. This shampoo smells absolutely divine - it's got a fresh and citrussy scent but without that hint of detergent that you can get in a lot of citrus scented beauty products. 

Unfortunately, this was another dud for me. There was practically no lather when I used this on my hair and while I accept that this is common amongst "natural" shampoos that aren't full of SLS, it's still something that bothered me quite a bit. Even worse was the fact that it just didn't get my hair clean at all. I actually had an urge to apply dry shampoo straight after blow drying my hair, that's how heavy and greasy it felt.

5) Amie Skincare | Bright Eyes

Full size: £4.95 for 125ml

This is the only product that offered any real choice this month, as you could choose between this, a moisturiser or two packs of face mask. I decided to go with the make-up remover, as I was running low and didn't really fancy any of the other products. It might not be an overly exciting product, but it's been doing a good job at removing my make-up without irritating my eyes or leaving a sticky film on them. As it's oil free however, it will barely scratch the surface of waterproof make-up (such as the scuba mascara that came in the same box), so you'd need a separate product for that. Even though Amie has been featured in a previous box I don't mind seeing them again as I really love the face scrub that I received in an earlier box.

6) Mitchell and Peach | Body Cream

Full size: £36 for 180ml / Sample value: £10

I got an extra product in this month's box which isn't mentioned anywhere on the menu, so I'm assuming that this is part of Love Me Beauty's special offer that gets you a bonus product for every three months you've been subscribed. A great idea in my opinion! Who doesn't love a little extra surprise thrown in? The cream smells has a lovely and quite sophisticated floral, slightly woody scent. Unlike most body lotions that I always complain about it's not too thin and moisturises my skin very well. A huge thumbs down however for whoever designed the packaging of this sample - it doesn't squeeze and the cream is too thick to just run out of the top, so I can see at least half of this lovely sample going to waste just because there's no way for me to get it out. What a shame!

Total value: £31.30 (£41.30 with bonus sample)

Sadly, I have to say that this month's box was my least favourite out of all of the ones I've received. This is partly down to three products being repeat brands and partly down to four the items turning out to be complete duds for me. Getting four full sized products is still really amazing for any beauty box company and I've really enjoyed my little bonus sample this month. Maybe it's just that I've gotten so used to Love Me Beauty / Beauteco supplying me with products that I absolutely adore month after month - after all most of my last monthly favourites posts lately have featured at least one item from each box! You can't always be on to a winner, so I'm still happy with Love Me Beauty as a concept and I'm looking forward to hopefully discovering some new gems in next month's box. But please, pretty pretty please, no more Lord & Berry products!

Monthly Favourites: January 13

I haven't been very good with posting monthly favourites so far - mainly because I just don't get through enough products to think of any month after month! But I will try to be better about it this year, as I've found loads of fantastic products just from reading these posts on other people's blogs and I hope I can do the same for you!

1) Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette

I have to admit I was a bit weary about the hype surrounding both the Naked Palettes. In all honesty, how good can a bunch of brown eye shadows be? However, I found myself talking about it so much, that eventually I got it as a present (wooooo!) and even though it was no revelation of awesomeness at first, I realised that I've put pretty much all of my other eye shadows aside and now I'm only using this! It's just a really great selection of colours which will allow you to create a multitude of looks, the shadows are soft, very pigmented and last all day with a good primer. What's not to love?

2) Aussie 3 Minute Miracle

My hair has now been through a grand total of three bleaching sessions and unfortunately they have all taken their toll on my tresses. Trust Aussie to bring my hair back from almost certain death. It moisturises, repairs and just seems to undo all the damage I have caused through dying and heat styling. I cannot recommend this enough for anybody who has dry, brittle and/or damaged hair. I've already repurchased it twice and once this bottle is empty I'm getting another one. I'll write a full review on it soon.

3) Makebelieve Enhance Sunbeam Bronzer*

I've been reaching for this loads in the past few weeks, as my winter complexion is even ghostlier than usual. This bronzer gives a beautiful flush of colour and as it's not too shimmery it's the perfect contouring powder - I swear it makes my cheekbones as sharp as razorblades. What I love the most, however, is that it just settles to such a marvellously natural finish on my skin - no obvious bronzer or contour marks there at all. You can read a full review on this one here.

4) Simple Kind To Skin Cleansing Wipes

I can't believe I never wrote a blog post on these wipes. I think I may have mentioned them once in a Youtube video (haha, yeah....), but that's about it. Truth be told, I don't even remember how many times I've repurchased these. Let's be honest, sometimes you just haven't got the time or the energy (or you're just really, really drunk) to do a full skincare routine before bed, but the least you can do is take off your make-up. Nobody likes messy pillows and crusty eye lashes. I've tried a few other wipes from time to time, but none come close to these. They stay soft and moist forever, get all the crap off my face without being drying and most of all make sure I don't get breakouts caused by my laziness.

*PR Sample

What are your favourites for the month?

Bioderma Créaline H2O - Worth the hype?

Here's what Blogger hypes do to you: When I was passing through France about two months ago and stopped by a supermarket I didn't run in to grab any wine, delicious pastries or cheese (even though I am a huge fan of all of those, particularly the pastries). Nope, I headed straight to the Pharmacie, as the only thing I could think of was that I desperately needed to get myself "a bottle of Bioderma". Imagine how excited I was when I saw there were double packs on offer!

Hier ist, was Blogger-Hypes mit einem anstellen können: Als ich vor etwa zwei Monaten durch Frankreich fuhr und kurz bei einem Supermarkt anhielt, ging ich nicht etwa Wein, köstliche Kuchen oder Käse kaufen (obwohl ich all diese Dinge sehr gerne mag, vor allem die Kuchen). Nein, ich bin direkt in die Pharmacie gelaufen, denn das Einzige, woran ich denken konnte, war, dass ich mir unbedingt "eine Flasche Bioderma" kaufen musste. Stellt euch jetzt meine Freude vor, als ich sah, dass es sie im Sonderangebot im Doppelpack gab!

 

Naturally, my expectations were ridiculously high when I finally got to use this. There's not much to say about the packaging: plastic bottles that do what they're supposed to. They're a bit on the large side, so if you want to take this travelling I'd recommend filling a bit into a smaller bottle to avoid lugging a whole one of these around.

Natürlich waren meine Erwartungen astronomisch, als ich es endlich ausprobierte. Zum Thema Verpackung kann ich nicht viel sagen: Plastikflaschen, die ihren Sinn und Zweck erfüllen. Sie sind ein bisschen groß, also würde ich schon empfehlen, sich vor dem Verreisen etwas in eine kleinere Flasche abzufüllen, um nicht so viel herumzuschleppen.

 

The first time I used this I kind of expected it to magically melt off all of my make-up within seconds. And then I realised it didn't and became disappointed. It was only after while that it occurred to me that maybe I should rethink my expectations. So far I'd been using Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish, which took a fair time, but also meant there was no need for a separate make-up remover, as it could safely be used on eyes and removed every last scrap of make-up.

 Beim ersten Benutzen erwartete ich irgendwie, dass mein Make-up innerhalb von Sekunden auf magische Art und Weise von meiner Haut schmilzt. Dann merkte ich, dass das nicht geschah und war enttäuscht. Erst nach einer Weile merkte ich, dass ich wahrscheinlich mine Erwartungen etwas überdenken sollte. Bislang benutzte ich immer Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish, welcher zwar etwas zeitaufwendig war, aber auch bedeutete, dass ich keinen separaten Make-up-Entferner brauchte, da er auch im Augenbereich benutzt werden konnte und jegliches Make-up restlos entfernte.

I have now found a replacement cleanser (which is amazing, I'll post about it soon, promise!), which can't be used on the eye area and seeing as I had these two gigantic bottles laying around I decided to give them another go. What I do now is soak two cotton pads with it, press them on my eyes for about 30 seconds and then wipe off my make-up. It usually takes three swipes - two over my lid and one on the lower lashline - and then all of my eye make-up is gone. Afterwards, there is no stinging or oily residue.

Ich habe jetzt einen Ersatz-Cleanser gefunden (der unglaublich gut ist, ich stelle ihn euch bald vor, versprochen!), der aber nicht im Augenbereich benutzt werden kann und da ich diese zwei Riesenflaschen herumliegen hatte, beschloss ich, einen neuen Anlauf zu starten. Mittlerweile tränke ich zwei Wattepads mit der Flüssigkeit, presse sie etwa 30 Sekunden auf die Augen und wische dann das Make-up weg. Es braucht zumeist drei Züge - zwei auf dem Lid und einer am unteren Wimpernkranz - bis all mein Make-up weg ist. Danach gibt es keinerlei Stechen in den Augen, oder ölige Rückstände.

Is it better than Cleanse & Polish? Well, no. It's not quite as thorough and adds an extra step into my nightly skincare routine, but on the other hand I refuse to pay extortionate prices for postage and packaging every other month for the Liz Earle product. I used to live a 5 minute drive away from a John Lewis, so availability was never a problem, but now that I've moved, I'd rather use something I can get hold of easily.
Is it better than any other make-up remover I've tried? Yes. Without a doubt, and that includes drugstore and high-end removers. The good news is, Bioderma are now sold in German pharmacies, too, so now trip to France necessary for me! I've used about 10% of one bottle so far, so it's going to last me absolutely ages, as well.

Ist es besser als Cleanse & Polish? Nun... nein. Es ist nicht ganz so gründlich und ist auch ein extra Schritt in meiner abendlichen Hautpflege-Routine. Andererseits weigere ich mich auch, alle zwei Monate überirdische Summen für Verpackung und Versand zu bezahlen, um das Liz Earle Produkt zu benutzen. Früher wohnte ich fünf Fahrminuten von einem John Lewis entfernt, somit war Erhältlichkeit nie ein Problem, doch nach meinem Umzug würde ich doch lieber etwas benutzen, das ich leicht kriegen kann.
Ist es besser als andere Make-up-Entferner? Ja. Definitiv - und ich meine sowohl teure Parfümerieprodukte, als auch billige aus der Drogerie. Die gute Nachricht ist, dass Bioderma jetzt auch in deutschen Apotheken verkauft wird, also muss ich beim nächsten Mal nicht wieder nach Frankreich! Bislang habe ich etwa 10% einer Flasche benutzt, also werden die beiden Packungen ewig reichen. 

 

Is it worth the hype? Yes, and no, depending on what you're expecting. If you happen to be able to pick up a bottle, then I'd say go for it, as it's a good product that will serve you well and last for a long time. But if you don't feel like paying extra to have it imported from abroad, then don't you worry - there are good and solid alternatives available.

Ist es den Hype wert? Ja und nein - das hängt von euren Erwartungen ab. Wenn ihr zufällig an einer Flasche vorbeikommt, dann würde ich es schon empfehlen, denn es ist ein gutes Produkt, das auch eine lange Zeit reichen wird. Ich würde jetzt aber kein Extrageld dafür zahlen, es mir liefern oder importieren zu lassen. Da gibt es nämlich reichlich gute Alternativen.