Thursday 17 April 2014

My First Impressions Of Kiehls Skincare

Hello Lovelies, 

Over the years my skin has been the bane of my life, I have very dry and dehydrated eczema prone and very sensitive skin, I've always struggled but around 3 years ago my skin became extremely dry/dehydrated, I couldn't wear make up as it looked so bad, my skin was flaky and looked so horrible and I was at my wits end, I didn't know what to do, after turning to google for help I came across Caroline Hirons blog, after reading post after post I emailed Caroline and asked if she could give me some advice, she was amazing and really helped me and after speaking to Caroline I realised that my medical condition combined with the various medications I take was having a terrible effect on my skin. I started to use a regular routine and my skin had never looked better. 

I started to become very interested in skin care and soon discovered which products suited my skin and what certain ingredients were for and what to avoid, and I am now after a few years of researching skin care I am what I would consider a bit of a skin care geek to be honest with you. 

But unfortunately this doesn't mean my skin care woes are over, far from it, unfortunately my medical condition has worsened meaning I take extra medication now and some different ones too, and recently I have had 2 very bad allergic reactions in as many weeks and my skin has been left extremely dry and sore, and is now what I would describe as the worst it has ever been. 

When Claire, a lovely lady at Kiehls offered to send me some samples of their products to try and see if they could help my skin I jumped at the chance, I was happy to give anything a try and see if it could help with my disastrous skin. 


My little bag of Kiehls* goodies 

I received a lovely little clear bag from Claire with the Kiehls logo on and inside were various sample sized products, they were - 

Kiehls Ultra Facial Cleanser
Kiehls Ultra Facial Toner
Kiehls Ultra Facial Cream
Kiehls Ultra Facial Hydrating Overnight Masque

There were enough samples for me to try the products for just over a week. I used all the products twice a day apart from the masque which I used twice a week and the toner which I used once a day in the morning, using my Pixi Glow Tonic in the evening. 

Kiehls Ultra Facial Cleanser ~ 

I used the cleanser in the same way as I use all my cleansers at first, by applying it to dry skin and removing it with a face cloth which I had run under hand hot water, this didn't seem to work so I changed the way I used it and used it as a face wash.  I really didn't like the cleanser, it has a very soapy feel to it, almost like the hand wash we have on our sink for our hands, it didn't feel nice at all and I couldn't use it in the same way I use all my other cleansers it felt horrible and like I was smearing liquid soap all round my face. When I used the cleanser as a face wash, rubbing it round my face and then lathering it up and rinsing it off, my face felt tight and rather squeaky, I really didn't like it at all, and I especially didn't like that the cleanser contained parabens. 

Kiehls Ultra Facial Toner ~

I used the toner once a day in the exact same way I use all my toners, by applying it to a cotton pad and sweeping it over my face. The toner felt cooling I suppose but it didn't feel special or seem to do anything at all to my skin, my skin again felt a little tight after using it. Again this product contains parabens, an ingredient I always try to avoid. 

Kiehls Ultra Facial Cream ~ 

I applied the cream twice a day in the morning and evening,  the cream applied well and rubbed in effortlessly. I did like this moisturiser, it felt nice, it absorbed easily into my skin and my skin felt soft afterwards and I didn't have any dry patches. My make up applied well after using the moisturiser too,  the texture of the moisturiser is quite light which I liked, unfortunately this product also contained parabens. 

Kiehls Ultra Facial Hydrating Overnight Masque ~ 

I applied the masque twice a week, I applied it all over my face and left it for 10 minutes then removed the excess and left the remaining masque on my skin overnight as directed by Kiehls. The masque sank into my skin overnight and my skin felt lovely, I can't say I woke up with an amazing complexion as I don't sleep so I was awake throughout the night anyway, so in the morning I cleansed my face as normal, my skin was noticeably soft though and did look lovely. I really liked the masque and would definitely try that again, my skin felt soft and looked much better for using it, I didn't have any dry patches at all. I was very impressed with the masque and it didn't contain any parabens which is a plus for me. 

My Overall Thoughts ~

I absolutely hated the cleanser and to be honest I wasn't impressed with the toner either so would definitely not buy either of those products, the cleanser was soapy and I never use any kind of foaming cleansers as I really dislike them. The toner wasn't for me either, it did feel quite cooling when applied but I didn't see any noticeable differences to my skin and have used other toners I prefer much more. I also really didn't like that both the products contained parabens, this is something I always avoid when buying skin care products, so won't be purchasing either of these I'm afraid. 

I did quite like the moisturiser and it did feel nice on my skin and the price of this isn't too bad either at £28.50 for 50ml so slightly cheaper than the Darphin moisturiser I have used for the past few years, the parabens in the product again put me off buying it though, if this isn't something that bothers you, I would recommend the moisturiser, it applies well, sinks into the skin well and left my skin feeling plump and smooth, my make up applied well on top too. The only down side was the parabens. 

I LOVE the masque, this was my favourite product of them all and I would definitely re purchase this, it retails at £28.00 for 125ml which isn't too bad at all and best of all, theres no parabens either, I really liked the way my skin felt after using the masque, it is lovely and I highly recommend it, I am currently using the Aveda hydrating masque as my hydrating masque of choice but I did like this more, it felt nicer to apply and my skin felt nicer too, so once I have used the Aveda up I shall be buying this one. 

To be honest I was a little disappointed, I really wanted to love the Kiehls products, I have read so many great things about the brand I really wanted it to work out for me, but I suppose at least I did have one favourite product in the masque and the fact that I loved that so much made up for me not liking the other products so much, like I said I did like the moisturiser just not the parabens that are in it.

I'm grateful to Claire and to Kiehls for the opportunity to try the products and for helping me to find such a fantastic over night masque, I just wish I'd loved the other products too. I suppose you can't win them all. 

If you would like to try any of the products mentioned above, you can find them here

Have you tried anything from the Kiehls range? Do you have a favourite product? If you have any skin care recommendations for dry/dehydrated skin I'd love to know, I am struggling at the moment. 

Please feel free to leave me any comments or questions in the comments section below, I always reply to all the comments and questions I receive and will get back to you as soon as possible. 

Thanks for reading, much love as always, 

Zoe x



*Gifted product








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