Mini-review: Darphin Anti-Fatigue Smoothing Eye Gel & Antipodes Rejoice cream

Again, after yesterday's post I will be featuring another Antipodes product. But to make it a bit rounder I will add the Darphin Anti-Fatigue smoothing eyegel too.

Perhaps not entirely visible on the picture above, but I finished the Darphin Anti-fatigue eye gel completely. In contrast: the tube of Antipodes Rejoice is still half full, and I probably won't be emptying that one either.

Starting with my finished one:

Darphin Anti-Fatigue Smoothing Eye Gel

I think I bought this based on lots of positive reviews. I only have to say that I really liked this as a thin eyecream for in the morning.

 What I liked about it:

It does what it tells you: ok, sort of! I live a healthy lifestyle so I couldn't test it after a night out or when having a hangover, because I almost never have that. Still, my eyes are prone to hang a bit, especially the eyelids, and I feel the cafeïne working and slightly lifting it in the morning. Without any irritations.

As far as the anti-ageing:  oh, I seem to forgot to smile in my life so my eyewrinkles are not as developed as my frown and surprise wrinkles...hahaha. But it seems to be working as well keeping everything tightened and hydrated. Another plus: it's almost scentless.

Let me include a chart/claims from their website:

Meh:

Nothing specifically. Perhaps it could be cheaper or a pump-tube, but I the plastic tube was convinient enough.

Antipodes Rejoice cream: 

So the love for one product of a brand doesn't have to end up in liking all of their products. For the record: I did like it enough to empty half of the tube. If it would be totally craptastic I would have binned it after a couple of uses.

What I liked about it:

The scent is a very soft vanille. It was also rich enough for my skin and it was conforting in period when my skin was not so sensitive

Meh:

The richness of the cream translates in a sort-of semi-balmy texture, but still a cream. Now, approaching wintertime, my skin gets more sensitive and the stickiness of the balm that seems to linger on my skin too long begins to become not so pleasant. 
I also do not like the old-fashioned handcream-type of tube. It is one of those metallic-type tubes.


Availablity


I got the Darphin eyecream from feelunique.com and the Antipodes is available over there too...It seems they updated the tube into a plastic one so that has improved at least

Review: Antipodes Divine Face Oil

In this post I will review one of my latest finished discoveries: the Antipodes Divine Face Oil.

So why go natural or organic?

Natural skincare or organic skincare has become a whole lot better through the years. Lots of effective ingredients in skincare these days are...GASP...actually found in nature...(e.g. here).

So I believe in the power of (some) natural and organic brands and products and find some to be quite effective for sensitive and trying-to-prevent-ageing skin.

Antipodes Divine Face Oil

The Antipodes bottle already has some kind of organic-brand exterior with it's brown bottle and green label. Also, the stamp of approval being organic is one of the main parts of the label.

The  main  ingredients are listed on the front: Orange rind, jasmine petal and pure advocado oil.

Antipodes is proud to be an organic brand and to be certified as such as well.

Clearly, they only use organically produced ingredients:

Avocado Oil, Macadamia Oil, Jojoba Oil, Rosehip Oil, Ylang Ylang Oil, Amyris Balsamiferia Bark Oil, Sandlewood Oil, Jasmine Oil, Orange Oil, Vitamin E, benzyl benzoate, benzyl salicylate, cirtnellol, d-limonene, farnesol, geraniole, isoeugenol, linalool - all components of the essential oils. This skincare product is certified organic by IFOAM. Contains certified organic ingredients. 100% natural & 95% organic.

They do recommend to finish your product within 3 months after opening to guarantee freshness and the effectiveness of their ingredients.

Promises Promises:

Scientifically shown to stimulate Type I collagen in human skin fibroblast cells by up to 51%*.

Give a lift to tired, stressed and sun-damaged skin with this nutrient-rich, certified organic face oil that helps to deliver essential nourishment for fresh, healthy skin. The superior collagen boosting action of avocado oil helps reduce the appearance of lines and age spots, while added rosehip helps avocado oil target scars and wrinkles.

old-fashioned but effective dropper

On the Antipodes website is an elaborate explanation of the properties and the benefits of each ingredients.

Also, they claim it is a light oil that penetrates easily without being too greasy. I have to agree on that note.:

Oil on the skin:

My opinion:

I used this oil for two months and I finished the whole bottle -> that says something about that I liked the product.

Fair enough!

Why did I liked this oil?

I had been using oils before for nighttime care, normally on top of my chosen serum. If you are not used to oils as skincare, it can take some time to get adjusted to it...but never wait too long because it has to suit you- your skincare ritual - and your personality as well.
However, I like how it takes care of dehydrated to somewhat dryer parts of my skin at night. And for the people who claim their skin is oily/combination -> not all oily serums are created equal so there are oils that are super-beneficial for combination to oily skins as well.

So I had tried their more expensive Joyious oil in the past (review here). The scent of this oil was slightly different: actually more suitable for nighttime snoozing than their refreshing berry of the Joyious oil. I particulary smelled Ylang Ylang and the soothing Jasmine. Both I find relaxing for nightime. So I like the scent a lot.

I used it combined with other serums so I cannot say too much if it was anti-aging - soothing - etc. However, it gave my skin that wonderfully healthy and somewhat plumped texture in the morning. I know I don't get that from a thin serum alone, so it had to be the oil.

Also, I noticed that my excema dissapeared during the time of use. I don't know if it was by very healthy eating and summertime, but it I found it to be soothing on my sensitive skin.

It is also reasonably priced. Scentwise and price-wise I prefer this one over the Joyious oil. It retails for £18.99 for which is a good price for effective skincare. (the Joyous I used before was almost double the price by £36.99).

I bought this serum from Lovelula.com.

Mid weekly Quirkologies

What's up on this wednesday?

1. finishing up my Etude House Silk Scarf Hair mask

I am not going to put a lengthy review on this one. But shortly, I really liked this one. It is incredibly girly with a soft pink colour and sugar rose scent that lingers in the hair. More importantly, it makes the hair better to detangle, shinier and softer (although it isn't too miracle products on the superdry parts, but still kind of good). I think I might repurchase this one. 

2. Fun coloured makeup

There are rules of what colours to wear in Autumn, normally the smokey eyes and rust/earth tones. But there is something bright and funny about somewhat un-seasonly colours. 

Nars Laguna illuminator & Becca Topaz-> bronze battles

A bit late to have a review/comparing battle in Autumn, I know. Still, I have readers around the world living in perinially summery countries, or living in the Southern hemisphere delightfully having their spring now, or just people like me who sometimes feel a bit too pasty...

So here it goes...I will size up two liquid bronzers: my Becca Topaz Shimmer Perfector SPF 25 and the NARS illuminator in Laguna.

NARS illuminator Laguna & Becca skin perfector Topaz

I bought them in the beginning of June this year. I was planning to go for Fraxel CO2 laser treatment for the first time. I also noticed that I wouldn't be allowed to have a tan or even a fake tan for 2 months, so I had to sample in some seriously good products that would avoid me getting 'are you ill?" remarks.

Eventually, my dermatologist disadvised me against Fraxel before summer. I wanted to explain to her that I shun the sun like a superpale redhead wearing floppy heads when needed and safeguarding my skin with Japanese skincare but she thought I would be better of doing in Autumn. That's a different story, but I still have my bronzers that come in handy when I don't want to fake-tan and I still look too ghosty for Dutch aesthetics in winter.

So Becca Topaz and NARS illuminator Laguna:

This time I am not going to say they look like twins. They don't even look related looking at the bottle. Becca is a bronze cooler shade whereas NARS has some orange tones.

This difference is even more noticable when looking at the blobs of product:

No doubt about the fact they differ when applied thickly or by blobs.

left: Becca Topaz - Right: NARS Laguna

Strangely, sometimes really different products have the tendency to go somewhat similar on the skin.

Haven't you noticed that before with some cosmetics products, e.g. BB creams or foundations?

In this case, these two liquid bronzers kind of have a similar effect on my skin, even though they look totally different on first sight.

When you spread them out a little, they already become this morphy bronze.

(sorry for this picture: I always find half-unblended bronzers look a bit dirty on the skin but I wanted to show you 1. the difference that starts to dissapear 2. ALWAYS blend blend blend your liquid bronzer)



left: Becca Topaz - Right: NARS Laguna

 And in totally blended form they look alike:

click on picture for better view of flecks/sparkles/hues

I intentionally skipped some skin underneath to show you I used liquid bronzer on my pasty skin.

Conclusion:

• They are convincing bronzers that look like real bronzy skin. Both NARS and Becca.
• Both NARS and Becca contain some flecks or sparkles. Becca is the least sparkly and most natural
• They are effective in faking a temporary bit of a tan that you can wash of when you want to, HOWEVER, both have some flecks that are noticable in stark sunlight, so they are not super-natural looking like a (fake) tan can do on itself
• Becca has SPF 25 in it, being a bit better against sun-rays
• NARS illuminator is created for body and skin, still they have similar coverage
• Amazing how two totally different shades look so similar in effect
• Becca has a pump-bottle and NARS a flip-open tube. I prefer Becca for it's pump bottle.
• Becca is more expensive but has more in the bottle as well.

Availability/Price:

Becca Topaz is available on the BECCA website <here>  for 50ml/1.7 fl oz $41.00.
NARS illuminator is widely available, eg on HQhair <here> 30 ml/ 1.0 fl oz  for £21.50 or KissandmakeupNY <here> for $29.00 or various Sephoras throughout the world (not the Netherlands, yet)

mini-review Lierac Cohérence night cream

Today I will review a rather large sample size of the Lierac Cohérence night cream.

I received this cream with a whole sample size kit from lookfantastic.com: it was a deal when you bought 2 Lierac products.  

My sample was rather generous: 15 ml. So I had the opportunity to test it for a month in order to give it a proper review.

About the brand:

First, Lierac is a French brand. If you put French and skincare into one phrase it often gets a lot of attention. Well, because French women are known to be stylish without trying too hard. Or they call that the Je ne sais quoi...

Still, I am a bit more pragmatic over these things, because I won't believe in the hype just because it is French. For the record: I really like  La Roche Posay suncare, but I wasn't too enthousiastic about Embryolisse. 

What Lierac has to say about their brand themselves:

LIERAC Laboratories’ philosophy is to use the extraordinary power of nature and plants to deliver a specific solution and precise answer to every skin requirement. 

LIERAC Laboratories are partners of Eco-Emballages and participate in European program to eliminate and recycle all components of their packaging. Join us in our eco-friendly approach by sorting your recyclable waste materials (glass, plastic, paper, etc...) for selective collection.

 

All of it sounds environmentally friendly and almost like an organic brand. However, it is still quite synthetic on a couple of fields.

The Lierac website's claim: 

This luxurious pink-tinted cream is enriched with a complex of magnesium and potassium hyaluronate for specific night-time relaxing action.  It contains 4% COHÉRENCE™ vectors to help reactivate the production of type III collagen – the specific collagen of younger skin.  You wake up to more rested facial features and a refreshed complexion.  Night after night, the skin appears as if “lifted”, feeling tauter and firmer, and looking visibly smoother.  The facial oval appears gradually redesigned. 

Nothing but impressive. 

The ingredients:

Type III collagen accelerating vectors:  4%;  micro-emulsion of vitamins C, B5, B6, E;  potassium hyaluronate;  magnesium;  ultra-repair protective base.

 I am quite sure these cannot be the only ingredients but these were listed on their website.  I mean, even products for overreactive skins (that need as little ingredients as possible) have more ingredients. And the scents I am smelling isn't listed either. 

But I'll guess they mention the high-profile anti-agers only for their public.

The cream is light pink in colour:

You really need a tiny bit for enough product to cover your face and neck:

Scent:

It has a soft powdery scent, which I find similar to its soft lilac colour. The scent is somewhat synthetic but feminine and not too obtrusive. However, I think that if your skin is more sensitive or has a sensitive period it might be a bit hindering.

texture:

I think it is creamlike, rather thick and stays sticky for quite a while. I personally do not mind, because my skin can be dehydrated but I wouldn't recommend it to combination to oily skins. On the other hand, very dry skins might opt for a balm-texture, although for hydratation I think a cream is normally more efficient.

Anti-Ageing:

As mentioned before, I had a trial size and have only used this one for a month. I am not sure it did something effective on the field of anti-ageing. Sometimes you hit a product (for example the Nude Cosmetics serum) that you can really see working when you use this, and this cream wasn't so effective. It didn't do any harm either.

However, I always advocate to have your anti-aging products in pump-dispensers or in serum form. Why? because the active ingredients that have to work for you stay fresh longer in a pump or drop-bottle display. I do buy cream-pots, but only if they target for hydratation/moisture or are products that are for sensitive skins. The content of a pot is exposed to air and light in a higher extend than a drop-bottle content or sealed pump-bottle, so the active ingredients will lose their powers sooner.

Price and availability:

I got my sample for free with lookfantastic.com. so it is relatively easy available for online shoppers. People in France and Belgium even have bigger access to Lierac, but some Dutch pharmacies seem to sell it as well. The price is rather expensive on lookfantastic, that is £49.00.

Conclusion:

It was a lovely cream, but I would not repurchase. It smells a bit too synthetic and I don't think the ingredients target my need for rejuvination at night.

Most importantly, I didn't wake up with a fresh and plumped skin the next morning. I find this to be the dealbreaker: a night-treatment is the most important time to target your skin-goals because the skin is at rest.

I could see the difference on days I used another nightcream: Often I alternated with Jurlique Purely White Skin Brightening Night Treatment,  which gave me better result the morning after: I woke up much fresher and more plumped. I have to review that nightcream soon because I really like the whole experience of using that nightcream, and Jurlique has a more holistic feel (and scent) too. Plus, it really rocks at targetting pigmentation-spots.

Review: By Terry Rose de Rose Sheer liquid Blush 3 Amber Rose vs Inglot AMC Face & Body Illuminator 64

It's no secret that I like blush creating products, neither that I have a lot of them. To have a product that comes close to a favourite, or even a product that seems to be used for more that the half of it, is pretty rare.

That is what I have with my beloved By Terry Rose de Rose sheer liquid Blush in Amber Rose 3.

By Terry Rose de Rose Sheer Liquid Blush: quite used up

Until recently I haven't been able to find something alike. Well, there are some powder blushes that give a somewhat similar effect, but I never saw anything that could be in the running for a dupe.

He he, seeing my title you must know what's next: I saw something that could be a dupe.

So I did when I went to Inglot.

Inglot AMC face/body Illuminator in 64 = By Terry Rose de Rose in Rose Amber 3 ??

Lookswise, looking at the content they look really matchy. I didn't bring my By Terry to the Inglot shop because I had no idea they would have a similar product, but at home I realised they look really twin-like!

First, I do not have any pictures of the By Terry box anymore. Still, By Terry is a high-quality product and the glass bottle still looks rather mint after 1 1/2 year of Birkie useage...that should count as double the years as a person who is really careful with her products ;)

Inglot, on the other hand, comes in a plastic bottle. Somewhat less chic but better proof against tiles.

They contain the same amount of fluid blush, 15 ml.

So far they look really similar. So I decided to take out some of both liquid blush and display them on a tissue. First, By Terry always has too much blush coming out, so you have to pump a quarter of it to get the right amount, something I barely have mastered (and sometimes not) after one and a half year.

Inglot is easier to dispense and to manage the amount that comes out. Enough for blushy cheeks.

But the colour looks still really similar from this distance:

Both are burnished rose colours or perhaps rosy bronzes, whatever you prefer, and have a hint of metallic flecks inside. They are not intrusive on the face, though. They give the face a glowy/highlighty blush.

Still, They already differ when having a close up on the tissue. So here is the same picture, only bigger:

By Terry Rose Amber looks a bit more rose tinted, whereas Inglot AMC 64 tends to have a tad more orange tones.

On the skin:

So, I already noticed that the By Terry was more Rose and cool and the Inglot had more Orange and warm tones. On the skin you can see this more obviously:

Unblended:

When slightly sheered out they look like twins again:

Only to see that By Terry has a higher coverage and Inglot is sheerer. That makes sense because By Terry claims it is a blush product only and Inglot claims to be a face and body illuminator. Body products are normally more sheer than the face-ones and illuminators are normally sheerer than blush products.

By Terry also looks more metallic on the skin, something better to be seen on the next picture:

Metallic-ness:

Let's make a short comparing note:

Scent:
By Terry has a delicious and somewhat luxurious rose scent to its blush that doesn't irritate my nose or skin.
Inglot has a florally fruity scent, quite soft but also more on the synthetic side.

Texture:
By Terry provides more coverage and has more metallic part in it.
Inglot is a sheerer version and not so metallic.
Right now I prefer the coverage of Inglot, as I always have to sheer out By Terry a lot (and apply some sheer powder over it to tone it down), otherwise I look a bit too blushed-up. Inglot has the perfect sheerness for me.
But still, this is personal and if you prefer your blush to be more noticable (because of your skintone or effect you want) you would prefer By Terry

Price:
By Terry is the more expensive one for € 38 euros.
Inglot retails for € 18


Colour:
Discussed often in this post and show on various pictures. They look like twins or dupes, but on a close encount they differ in tone, for By Terry being more a rose and deeper tinted and Inglot a slightly oranged rose. 
By Terry is also more metallic, which will highlight imperfections a bit more if you have them. Inglot is glowy with a slight metallic tint to it.

Luxury feel:
By Terry is a bit more luxurious with the glass bottle and delicious rose scent. But Inglot is still classy and the classy bottle makes it safer to drop on the floor


Total Conclusion:
Not dupes but really close sisters on the skin. They have this similar effect that, in my opinion, only a liquid blush can bring about. I really like liquid blush for that reason, even over a creamy blush, because you can blend it so easily. Both products blend easy, and Inglot perhaps a bit easier because it is more sheer.

If you want some more feedback on liquid blush and see By Terry in action, go to makeup guru Lisa Eldridge for more viewtastic information: here!

Mid Weekly Quirkologies

1. The delightful Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's

It must be one of the most iconic films in times. Still, admittingly, I have never seen it before.

I know about Ms Hepburn perfect outfits and the beginning of the cult around the LBD (an acronym almost every girl knows) and the perfect little updo. With her flat to lower heels and chic appearance she embodies sensuality and not the overt flash-in-your-face sexuality.
I think the film is about her rise to sophistication? Right? She isn't the Uptown princess to begin with.

I really like to see this classic soon :D, also for makeup-inspiration of that lovely little bit of eyeliner-flick.

2. I don't really have to go deeper upon that quote. Sometimes it is good to have a mind on your own :D