Clinique Mild Clarifying Lotion - A Review

Hello Lovelies, 

If you've been a regular reader of my blog for a while you'll know I am a bit of a lot of a skin care geek, I love skin care and started to take an interest in it around 4 years ago when my skin was horrendously bad and since then I have had a real passion for skin care products. My skin is extremely dry and dehydrated and one of the steps in my skin care routine that I find really helpful for my skin is using an acid tone after cleansing my skin. For almost 2 years now I have been using the Pixi Glow Tonic (review post here) and before that I used the Clarins brightening toner both of which I love but I recently saw the Clinique Clarifying lotion on line whilst I was par taking in my favourite hobby which is on line window shopping, years ago I tried the clarifying lotion number 2 but found it incredibly drying and to be honest I wasn't keen on it so I haven't ever looked at the other clarifying lotions until now, I did a bit of reading into the mild clarifying lotion and wondered if it could be a possible contender for the acid tone step in my skin care routine. Shortly after finding the clarifying lotion I was kindly given a Debenhams voucher from my lovely friend Emma and her husband Chris for my birthday and I knew immediately what I would spend it on.

Clinique Mild Clarifying Lotion £16.50 

My First Impressions & Thoughts

The Clinique mild clarifying lotion contains salicylic acid, is alcohol free and is suitable for dry/ very dry skins and sensitive skins. I use it by popping some onto a cotton pad and sweeping it all over my face and down my neck. The first time I used it I noticed it left my skin feeling nice and fresh without feeling dry, it left me with lovely smooth, fresh feeling plumped up skin and I was really impressed with it. It is a pale green colour and is somehow thicker in consistency than any other toners I have tried which probably sounds odd but it's hard to explain, it isn't a watery consistency it's thicker but not by any means a lotion it's like a water but a little bit thicker, I apologise as this is probably the most bizarre explanation of a product you've read! There isn't much of a scent to it at all and it applies well, as I said it leaves my skin feeling really fresh and cool and looking awake and vibrant not dull at all, it helps with the removal of dead skin cells and keeps my very dry and dehydrated skin looking lovely and also prepared for the rest of my skin care products. This would be great for those of you who suffer with breakouts as it contains salicylic acid or for those of you who want an acid tone but can't use products containing glycolic acid as most do, it is a lovely product and made my skin feel lovely too.

Overall Thoughts & Would I Re Purchase?

I really like the mild clarifying lotion, I didn't think I would love it as much as the pixi glow tonic but I do and I will definitely be re purchasing it, it left my skin feeling lovely and the results were brilliant as it helped with my dry patches and left my skin feeling fresh and plump and looking bright which is exactly what I want from an acid toner, I am so glad I found the mild clarifying lotion as it is something I wouldn't have ever looked at, so if like me you're a lover of acid toners and haven't yet tried this one I would definitely recommend it, and as I said if you can't use products with glycolic acid in them but love the idea of an acid toner or if you suffer with breakouts this would be brilliant for you. It's a definite winner in my eyes and I'm so glad I discovered it. If you would like to try the Clinique Mild Clarifying Lotion you can find it on line at House Of Fraser (currently on sale for £14.85) Boots, Debenhams and the Clinique website (free gift with a £40 spend) for £16.50. 

Are you a skin care geek like me? Do you like to use acid toners? Have you got any recommendations for me? Please let me know in the comments and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

Thank you for reading, much love as always,

Zoe x

Estee Lauder Double Wear Eye Pencil In Onyx - A Review

 

Hello Lovelies,

I have struggled for what seems like the longest time to find a black eye liner to apply to my top and or bottom water line that will stay in place and not transfer or gather in the corners of my eyes, the struggle is real let me tell you and I know it's hardly a first world problem but it's a definite Zoe problem and it's been driving me mad over the last few months or so and no matter what eye liner I use, it transfers and gathers which drives me mad.

At the beginning of the year I saw a review of the Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay In Place Eye Pencil on the blog of one of the bloggers/you tuber/you tubers I trusted the opinion of, they said it was brilliant and fantastic to use on the lower water line as it didn't gather and stayed in place all day and they highly recommended it, so I decided I'd try the pencils out.

What Estee Lauder Say About The Double Wear Pencils

Wears for 12 hours. Sets in seconds.

This long-wearing, water-resistant eye pencil lines and defines with smooth, even colour that looks fresh all day.

The lightweight, creamy formula glides on effortlessly. Rich, stay-true colour won't feather or bleed.

Double-ended pencil has smudger on one end, colour on the other. Sharpens easily with the Estée Lauder Pencil Sharpener.

My First Impressions & Thoughts

My first thought when I opened the box and took the pencil out was "wow it's long" because it is quite a long pencil, I thought this would be a great advantage as the pencil would maybe last longer than others I have tried.

Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay In Place Eye Pencil In Onyx £16.50 

Without the lid

The pencil looked really black, that sounds strange I know because you'd think black would be black wouldn't you? But some blacks are deeper in pigmentation than others and I do always try to find an eye pencil that is a deeper black so I was pleased this looked so black. 

The first time I used the pencil I used it to line my upper lash line using it above my top lashes and smudging it out with a small brush I have, it was ok for this purpose but I was disappointed in the pigmentation, considering it looked so black in the pencil it didn't transfer onto my lid the same and I had to apply 2 coats of the pencil, I have tried applying the pencil to the back of my hand and then to my upper lash line and it does come off a little darker but I still need to apply the pencil twice to get the look I want. I then used the pencil on my lower water line but found despite it's claims it did gather in the inner corners of my eye, I was disappointed in this as the review I trusted claimed it didn't do gather and Estee Lauder also claimed this, I have tried the pencil several times on my water line and it always gathers, maybe not as quickly as other brands I've tried but it still gathers and I couldn't wear the pencil and go out without constantly checking to see if it had gathered and who wants to do that every 5 minutes? Not me! 

Another way I wanted to use the eye pencil was on my upper waterline and since Estee Lauder claimed the pencil doesn't transfer and "stays in place" I thought I'd be onto a winner although it gathered when I used it on my lower water line I thought I'd be ok on my upper one, how wrong could I be? I applied the pencil and so it would "set" I looked up for about 30 seconds as it claims to set in seconds, I continued to apply the rest of my make up and then noticed almost immediately in the mirror that the pencil had transferred onto my lower water line and underneath my lower lash line, completely ruining my eye make up, I was not a happy bunny at all! 

Overall Thoughts & Would I Re Purchase?

I am so very disappointed in this pencil, it really does not do what it says on the tin in this case, it doesn't set at all, it gathers in the inner corners of my eyes, it goes all over the place and ruins my make up if I use it on my upper water line and it isn't very pigmented either and for £16.50 I expected more to be honest, I would not re purchase this is a million years it is awful. To be fair I usually love Estee Lauder products and a couple of their products are my holy grail items but this eye pencil is atrocious to be honest and I wouldn't waste your money. The only redeeming feature is the length of the pencil it is quite long and I think it would last a long time but that unfortunately is the only pro I can find about the pencil. There are 15 shades to choose from and some of them are very beautiful but in all honesty I have been put off by the black one, sorry Estee Lauder but this is a definite no no for me. 

If you would like to try the Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay In Place Eye Pencils you can find them on line at the Estee Lauder website, Boots and House Of Fraser for £16.50. 

Have you had a bad experience with a product from a brand you usually love? Tell me in the comments section it will make me feel better that I'm not alone :) 

Thank you for reading, much love as always, 

Zoe x

Real Techniques Sculpting Brush

Hello Lovelies, 

I own whats fair to say quite a few, well ok then a lot of make up brushes, I'm not loyal to any one brand and have different brands in my collection as I like different brands for different things. One brand I like for my base products is Real Techniques, I love their Expert Face brush (review in this post) and it is my go to brush to apply my foundation and I also love the Miracle Complexion Sponge (review post here) for applying my foundation and concealer.

When I purchased the miracle complexion sponge I also bought the Sculpting Brush, it does also come as part of a set with the setting brush and a fan brush but I already own the setting brush and have fan brushes so I went for the sculpting brush on its own. 

Real Techniques Sculpting Brush £9.99

Out of the packaging

The brush is a dense angled brush made from synthetic fibres, the head of the brush is quite wide if that makes sense. The handle is pink metal with a black rubber base which is flat so you can stand the brush up if desired. 

My Thoughts

I own both the MAC Sculpt powder and Sculpt cream contour products and have used the brush with both the powder and cream and I am sorry to say I hated it, the brush is too wide and leaves a really wide line of product and it is terrible for blending, it really isn't good at all as a contour brush, it is just too wide and too dense to blend out product. The "line" of product it leaves is wide because of the width of the brush and it's terrible for blending, the brush is far to dense to blend out the contour powder or cream and I was left with a big wide patch of contour that looked horrendous. I really didn't like the brush at all and I showed the brush to my daughter who is a professional make up artist and she was shocked at how wide and dense the brush was, she said it wouldn't be good for blending and the application would be too wide and she is right, I just wish I'd shown her the brush before I used it! 

I have used the brush for applying my foundation and it does apply my foundation well but in a very similar way to the way it applies when I use the expert face brush, I'd say the application is a little more sheer but it does apply in a very similar way, the sculpting brush does remind me of an angled and slightly wider version of the expert face brush.

Overall Thoughts & Would I Recommend & Re Purchase? 

I am so disappointed in the sculpting brush, as I said I have a couple of other brushes from the brand and I use those all the time as well as the miracle complexion sponge but this was a huge disappointment for me and I wish I hadn't bought it to be honest, it was a waste of money. I will make use of it by using it for foundation but I wouldn't recommend it at all and I would say if you have the expert face brush to turn it on it's side and use that for contour as it might not be ideal but in my opinion it would work better than this and you can use it for foundation too. I think you may have already gathered that I won't be re purchasing another sculpting brush, overall a huge disappointment from a brand I usually like. 

If you would like to try the Real Techniques Sculpting brush, you can find it online at Superdrug, Feel Unique and Boots for £9.99 but the best price I found it for was on the Look Fantastic website where it is £8.49, they currently have a 15% discount on all RT products. 

Have you ever bought something you had high hopes for and it wasn't so good when you used it? Let me know in the comments. 

Thank you for reading, much love as always,

Zoe x

NOTD - Pink To Make The Boys Wink

Hello Lovelies, 

Today I have a NOTD post and if you read my post about the nailbox you'll have seen that I got a gorgeous Essie polish in my box, the polish was Status Symbol which happens to be one of my favourite Essie polishes ever, it's gorgeous! 

Essie Status Symbol*

Two Coats

Status Symbol is a beautiful fuchsia pink shade and a perfect shade for the spring and summer months but does look lovely all year round and makes a great toe colour as well as fingers. 

I used two coats of status symbol and then applied 1 coat of my holy grail top coat, the Orly glosser top coat. My nails lasted 6 days before chipping and even then it was a tiny chip on the edge of one nail and at the time of writing this post I've had the polish on my nails for 8 days with only the tiny chip I got on day 6 so not bad going at all, however I do think my Orly glosser top coat helps my polish last, so that combined with Essie lasting a good while on my nails I'm onto a winner. 

I love pink it's my favourite colour and pinks and corals are my go to spring and summer colours for nail polish, status symbol looks lovely and I've received many compliments on my nails over the last week of wearing it, so if like me you like pink you'll love status symbol.  

If you'd like to try Essie Status Symbol you can find it online at Boots and Superdrug for £7.99.

Have you tried status symbol? Whats your favourite Essie polish? Let me know in the comments.

Thank you for reading, much love as always, 

Zoe x