Beauty Review: Guerlain Substantific Neck Decollete Treatment Spf 10

Promise:
Helps to stimulate the skin’s natural activity, the skin is intensely redensified, regains its natural consistency, plumped from within
Leaves skin looking more even and radiant, prevents the appearance of pigmentation marks

Product Profile in Short:
Non oily, richly textured neck and décolleté treatment enhances and smoothes these delicate areas



Close-up on Active Ingredients:
Active Ingredients:
Octinoxate (ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate) 7.5%
oxybenzone (benzophenone-3) 2.5%
Octisalate (ethylhexyl salicylate) 1.0%,
avobenzone (butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane) 0.5%

Other ingredients:
aqua
c12-15 alkyl benzoate
Isohexadecanebutylene glycol
Hydrogenated coco-glycerides
Glycerine
Steareth -21
Stearyl alcohol
Glyceryl stearate
Cera alba (beeswax)
Aluminum starch octenylsuccinate
Polyacrilamide
Octyldodecanol
Oryzanol
Parfum
Cetearyl alcohol
Methylparaben
….
All the active ingredients mentioned at the beginning are compounds used to block UVA and UVB rays. I like the fact that this décolleté cream has SPF, I wish it was a bit higher than just 10 though.

Experience:
Texture: very thick, not oily
Fragrance: no fragrance

The first thing I notice about Substantific Neck and Décolleté Treatment is the thick texture. It has a luxurious feel to it but I find it too thick and not so easy to massage into skin. So I try applying this cream on the skin still damp from the shower and it works. Substantific Neck and Décolleté Treatment feels very rich but not oily and gets fast absorbed by the skin. The fragrance is sweet and quite pronounced, be prepared! After application the skin feels very soft and moisturized. However after a month of use I didn’t see such dramatic changes in décolleté area as I did when I used Clarins Advanced Extra-Firming Neck Cream. It didn’t start to look smoother… it did look and felt moisturized but that is it.

Price Tag:
100-120$

Bottom Line:
Nice product, but maybe you need to use more than one jar to see anti-aging results

Beauty Shopping: Dior Eye Shadows and Estee Lauder's Bronze Goddess

I just cannot help myself when I see makeup in golden shades... So when my eye caught Dior's eye shadow from their summer 2010 collection Golden Spotlight 616 I could not resist... I just had to have it... It took me 1 minute to think... or not to think it over and I bought it right away... Beautiful... beautiful eye shadow with a wet intense sparkling effect... aaaahhh I love it!

I also decided to get something that will give my skin a more intense color than Shiseido's bronzing daily moisturizer . Since I trust Estee Lauder with my sensitive skin and their quality has never failed me, I decided to give Bronze Goddes Self-Tanning Milk for Body a try. I know I still owe a review for Shiseido's bronzing moisturizer still... sigh... no time but I will do my best!

Beauty Review: Arbonne Re 9 Advanced Line

Usually I don’t do samples reviews. I have so many full size products waiting for reviews that I have no time to test and write about sample sized products. But this time I made an exclusion. I was contacted by Kellie, Arbonne Consultant. She sounded very excited about the new Arbonne line called Re 9 Advanced and wanted to know my opinion about it. in addition , I have heard soooo much about Arbonne, I was very very curious to finally try it out. 

Well let me start by telling you that I was pretty impressed. When you see results in a matter of couple days you cannot but be pretty impressed. But let’s take it step by step. Here are the products I tested:

Smoothing Facial Cleanser
Regenerating Toner
Intensive Renewal Serum
Corrective Eye Cream
Restorative Day Cream SPF 20
Restorative Night Cream

A couple quick words about each product:
Smoothing Facial Cleanser – light consistency, you need a bit to cleanse the whole face, but too much, could make your skin feel a bit dry
Regenerating Toner – pleasant refreshing fluid
Intensive Renewal Serum – light consistency, non oily, quickly absorbs into the skin
Restorative Day Cream SPF 20 – light creamy texture, quickly absorbs, immediately makes skin soft and smooth
Restorative Night Cream – having quite thick texture, it surprisingly absorbs in no time at all and feels very comfortable on the skin. Amazing!
Corrective Eye Cream – medium thick texture, absorbs quickly, moisturizes skin very well and seems to help reduce puffiness - Yay!

After using the Re 9 Advanced line for 2 days I could already see good results: skin looked fresher and firmer, complexion was brighter. Also I noticed that my eye puffiness was much reduced. However I had some sensitivity issues... I would get this burning sensation on my skin. As Kellie explained, what I was feeling was Vitamin C working on my skin. I agree, it could be the Vitamin C to blame for the burning sensation, however this could mean that people with sensitive skin won’t tolerate soem of the produst in Re 9 Advanced very well. Otherwise my impression of Arbonne products from this experience is very very good! 

Disclaimer: Author of this blog received samples of the products for a review.

Neutrogena Healthy Defense Daily Moisturizer SPF 50Neutrogena Healthy Defense Daily Moisturizer SPF 50

sensitive skin 100% naturally-sourced ingredients, gentle, non-greasy, fragrance-free. 

Beauty Radar: Sunscreens For Sensitive Skin

So what's on my beauty radar this month?

I am always looking for a sun screen specially developed for sensitive skin. Or even better a moisturizer for sensitive skin with high (at least 30) sun screen built into it. The latter seems to be extremely rare… However, here are a couple products protecting sensitive skin from the damaging sun rays that I recently came across

Beauty Shopping: Shopping in Brussels, Belgium

Traveling on business and for pleasure to Brussels a week ago I was looking forward to doing some shopping! Our hotel was right next to Grand Place so I did not get to shop at the world famous Avenue Louise...sigh... No time for long taxi rides…In fact in the end I am not even sure what the name of the street I was shopping at was … there were numerous brand names Zara, Sisley, Pimpkie, well known sores like H&M, C&A, Hema and of course beauty stores like internationally known ICI Paris XL plus some local beauty supply stores. The latter ones often have effective but unavailable in other countries products... one can discover some treasures there.

Actually I was looking for some brands not available where I am currently living like Payot and La Mer. But funny enough they were not available in Brussels either. I was told that La Mer can be purchased in Waterloo… out of all places…
So I ended up buying some products for the skin around the eyes:
Shiseido Benefiance Pure Retinol Instant Treatment Eye Mask (instant treatment that is actually mostly for wrinkles and circles but I love the smoothing effect on the skin and it does help to reduce puffiness)
Hydra Patch by Phabel Paris with plant extracts (it promises to re-moisturize and reduce fine lines, these are pads based on gel, I am not a big fan of those though some do give a good effect)
Puffy Eye Reducer Pads by L’Action Cosmetique (those are pads soaked in moisturizing ingredients, they come in a shape of a leaf which is cute, but they leave an unpleasant sticky residue on your skin – huge minus!)
Out of the products mentioned above I will write a full review on Shiseido’s masks, they are really worth it…



Brussels is a fun place! Unfortunately not enough time and opportunities to explore the city but had a chance to enjoy mussels, Belgium fries, waffles and of course world famous Belgina chocolates!

Beauty Talk: Skin Care By Age: 20s - Laying The Foundation

Just as everything in our life skin care should be age appropriate. Skin needs differ at various stages of our life. In your twenties it is mostly about prevention measures and controlling breakouts, in your 30s it is often about sensitivity, in forties, you deal with lines, sun spots, skin dullness and in 50s you face loss of firmness. I have researched skin care and skin issues by age before but decided to revisit this subject to remind myself some things I should be doing now and what I should look out for in the future.

Let’s start with the 20s. Here is when you can lay a great foundation for your skin’s beauty and health. You don’t have to do much nor invest a lot into skin care. Just follow a regular skin care routine correct for your skin type, i.e. cleanse and moisturize daily, exfoliate as often as advisable for your skin type. Don’t forget to protect your skin from the destroying UV rays. You will be so glad when you are in your late 40s and you don’t have any sun spots unlike your sun damage oblivious friends of the same age.
Here are a couple more tips:
• Get into good beauty habits from early on

Wear sunscreen protecting your skin from UVA and UVB
• Though temptation is great, do not use solariums : nice sun tan for a month comes alongside prematurely aged (i.e wrinkled) skin.
• Do not sleep in your makeup no matter how wild and late the night is.
• Drink plenty of water, keep to a healthy diet, and please, exercise – staying fit has done so much good for my skin!
• Do not overuse or abuse skin care products, use products appropriate for your age – you don’t want to start intensive anti-aging treatments now – what will you do when you are in your 50s?
• When fighting acne, do not be too aggressive on your skin. Too much cleansing and peelings will only aggravate the problem
• And one last thing: Trust me, you look GREAT! (even with a couple pimples!) Enjoy your young firm skin and fresh bright complexion!

To be continued...

Beauty Review: Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess Self-Tanning Milk for Body vs Shiseido Daily Bronze Moisturizing Emulsion

Recently I’ve been using these two bronzers to give some summery color to my pale skin :-) Here are my impressions.

Promise:
Shiseido Bronze Emulsion “promotes a gradual natural bronze color and dramatic silkiness with daily use”
Estee Lauder Self Tanning Milk “dries quickly, leaves a radiant glow”, “even golden color starting in under an hour”


Packaging:
Shiseido Daily Bronze Moisturizing Emulsion comes in a pump which is super convenient. While Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess Bronzer is packaged in a bottle with a screw on cap. Pump seemed much more convenient, hygienic and practical to me. I could see with time that Bronze Goddes Tanner was starting to oxidize and turn a bit brown. With Shiseido’s Bronzing Milk you can easily control the amount you want to get out by pressing it all the way down or just lightly pressing down the pump or for a bigger amount pushing it several times. It’s excellent!


Close-Up on Ingredients:
It was interesting to compare ingredient lists of the two self tanners. I remember sales girl advertising Shiseido's bronzer as having some anti-oxidant properties. I found no anti-oxidant ingredients on the list. In fact, it’s a very short ingredients list. I do see several humectants and emollients though, such as glycerin, butylene glycol, and dimethicone. There are no natural extracts and all the ingredients are just artificially created chemicals. In Bronze Goddess Bronzing Milk, on the other hand, I see a lot of natural ingredients, some truly surprising! For example it contains such exotic extracts as Spike Moss Extract, Rosemary Extract Hops Extract, Grape Seed Extract, Pomegranate Juice extract, Apricot Fruit Extract; waxes like Narcissus Poeticus Flower Wax Jasmine Flower Wax; stone powders Sunstone Powder, Amber Powder; oils Kukiu Oil, Olive Fruit Oil…
I was not going to write about ingredients in this review but when I compared the two lists I was so surprised at the huge difference and contrast that I decided to point it out… So actually Bronze Goddess Self-Tanner has a lot of anti-ageing, anti-oxidant natural ingredients. Pretty impressing!

Experience:
Texture: I liked textures of both products. None was oily or sticky. Estee Lauder Bronzer is lighter and more liquid. Shiseido’s Self Tannin Moisturizer has a more creamy texture to it which is still very light.

Fragrance: As you know self-tanners can stink but these two are stink free! Both have pleasant light fragrance to it. Bronze Goddess just as the description says has this beachy scent that your skin gets only in the sun…

*Shiseido’s Daily Bronzing Moisturizer is an axcellent product to achieve just a touch of color. It’s also a plus that you can use it on your face as well. It didn’t break me out or gave me any allergic reaction. In fact this product was dermatologically tested.

Streaks: I never got any streaks with Shiseido Tanning Emulsion.

Color: The color looked very natural. I even got a compliment from my husband after applying it for several days to my face he said I looked fresh and rested (reminding you – I have a baby who keeps me up at night!)
* Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess Self-Tanning Milk for Body I would use if you really want and need to see the color. One thing I didn’t like so much was that after application my skin felt hot as if a bit burning…

Streaks: Once it gave me streaks but probably I just didn’t apply it properly. What you need to do is to blend it well and fast. It also absorbs into dry skin on the knees and elbows so make sure to apply moisturizer on these parts to make your tan more even.

Color: In terms of the natural color. It looked to me less natural than the color I got from Shiseido’s Bronzing Emulsion. But I do not remember how my suntanned skin looks :-) I have not suntanned in years :-)

Price Tag:
Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess Self-Tanning Milk for Body – 26-27 USD
Shiseido Daily Bronze Moisturizing Emulsion – 36 USD

Bottom Line:
I would definitely get Shiseido’s Bronze Moisturizing Emulsion for daily use again. But for a more intensive tan I may try to look for a middle ground in terms of naturally looking color and intensity between the daily bronzer by Shiseido and Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess Self-Tanning Milk.

such kehta hai diwana dil

Recently I have been drawn like a magnet to Dior makeup. Just about a month ago I invested into a limited edition gold eye shadow. And now I got a palette of 5 shadows. I have been eyeing this palette for a long long time. I wanted a good palette for doing a smoky gray-silver-black eye. What I was looking for is a combination of shades that would allow me to vary intensity of the smoky eye makeup. Dior All-In-One Artistry Palette 008 Smoky Design has 5 shades from white to dark (liner dark black).



Before making the final decision I made sure I consider all of my options and asked the sales assistant to put next to each other various smoky eye palettes to see which I like most. Between Chanel, Lancome, Estee Lauder and Dior, the latter came out the winner.


Promise a review soon!

Beauty Find: Reusable Revolution - Eco-Friendly Cosmetic Solutions

Recently we had relatives visiting with us for a week and that was not only fun but very educational! I learnt a lot about healthy vegetarian diet, meditation and what it really means to be eco-friendly… One of the new concepts I learnt is the "reusable" approach to things you use in your daily life. Not only can you apply it to your shopping bag but you can take one step further and start using reusable face cotton rounds and wiping tissues! Do you ever think how many of those makeup cotton rounds we use daily, weekly… monthly… I personally don’t even pay attention to how many I go through. But it appears there are reusable cotton rounds to remove makeup from your eyes and face available. They are made from high-quality ecological cotton and are soooo super-soft and smooth. Here, I got a link for you http://betterforgrownups.com/ However, am not sure about the shipping policy and if they are available in Europe…

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Beauty Radar: Poof! Fighting Eye Puffiness!

Here are a couple eye care products I came across recently that attracted my attention. They all target the problem of eye puffiness! I think they look very interesting and would like to try them out:


Kiehl’s Facial Fuel Eye De-Puffer - Contains caffeine and hibiscus and promises to revive tired eyes.


Clinique All About Eyes Serum comes in a tube with a roller ball. Promises to increase blood circulation and reduce puffiness.


The Baggage Lost Puff Reducing Eye Gel by Dr.Denese. It contains almond, aloe, grapeseed extracts as well as the de-puffing caffeine. I actually had a chance to test this one. I’ll post about it next.

Let me know if you have tried any of these and what you think!

Beauty Preview: Dr. Denese Skin Care Products

This is what I love about beauty blogging… You get to discover amazing brands, products and lines that probably you would have never tried… I was contacted by Dr Denese promotional team and asked if I would like to test one of their products… I looked at thewebsite and saw among many other interesting products theBaggage Lost Puff Reducing Eye Gel 
You can imagine how curious I got… I mean, any brand that has a special product for under eye bags and eye puffiness is on my must-try list! I definitely think this problem is overlooked by skin care brands. There should be more special products developed to help deal with it. 

Here is a bit of background on Dr Denese. Born in Hungary, Dr Denese started creating skin care products as early as 9 ears of age. She has been involved in skin care and anti-aging research all her life. Currently, having world class medical education and extensive experience, Dr Denese develops a variety of products for a wide range of skin care and skin aging issues. Dr Denese says what makes her products different from others is that she uses high concentrations of advanced active ingredients clinically proven to work.