First impression: Estee Lauder Advanced Eye Night Repair

The only place I am concerned about signs of ageing is my eyes. Maybe because I have actually started to notice fine lines developing. The worst thing is I’ve always found it hard to incorporate an eye cream into my routine.

The Estee Lauder Advanced Eye Night Repair is meant to help reduce fine lines, wrinkles, puffiness, dark circles, dryness and uneven skintone.

What I didn’t realise before writing this post was that the serum is suitable for use during the night and day. I took the name quite literally and didn’t even bother to read the instructions. So for the last week I have only been using this at night and was actually looking for a cream that I could use during the day — a nice bonus for my wallet.

There is something very luxurious about using this product, and for the price you would expect it to be! The product comes in a cute pot with a dip applicator, which you use to remove the product and wash after each use to keep everything hygienic.

The product has the consistency of a serum, and is much thicker than anything I have used on my eyes before. A small amount goes a long way and because I have been using it at night, the time it takes to absorb hasn’t been an issue.

So far I have noticed a reduction in my crows feet, the lines look softer and overall my eye area feels smooth and hydrated. I’m not sure how much of this is the placebo effect, because I didn’t take any before pictures, but before I write my final review I plan on taking some photographs to compare.

I picked this up in a set with the Advanced Night Repair serum but alone this would normally cost £37 for 15ml. Until I’ve tested this a little longer it’s going to be hard to comment if it is worth the money.

If you’ve tried this I would love to know if I can expect good things in the next few weeks.

Bare Minerals Pure Transformation Night Treatment - Part 2

Over a month ago I purchased the Bare Minerals Pure Transformation Night Treatment and did an introductory review about why I purchased it and its claims, here.

I hadn’t even realised that it had been a month since I started using the treatment. I found that it easily slipped into my routine and have not missed a night of use. Following cleansing and moisturising, I apply the makeup ‘1 layer’ to one half of my face at a time, and then 1 layer all over rather than the 2-3 layers all over as advised. It ends up being a fairly heavy layer of makeup, which I just buffed in, particularly over the areas I wanted to target the most (nose, cheeks and chin).

The medium shade worked perfectly for my skin tone and looked fairly natural. I never had comments from family having noticed I was wearing anything. I have to say, the product did satisfy my vanity by concealing somewhat and making that first look in the mirror in the morning a bit less scary! It was a bit strange to wash my face in the morning though, and see so much makeup coming off. Contrary to the claims made by the bare minerals team, this does rub off on your pillow, but luckily also washes off easily.

The first few nights I was convinced that my skin felt itchy immediately after putting it on, but I didn’t feel this over the course of the month. In fact I could barely tell that I was wearing it. Originally I took some scary close up images of my skin, open, blocked pores fully visible and hoped that I could at the end of the review period I could show some lovely images of my reduced pores, but alas this isn’t the case and I don’t wish to scare anyone! Some days I felt as though my pores did appear reduced, but the close up images really speak for themselves and I know this was all in my head!

One thing I did like though, is that any nights where is looked like a potential spot was forming, in the morning I noticed that it had reduced, and never developed completely. I know that there are mineral spot treatments out there, for example ELF have one in their mineral range which they sell for £6. Since this was the only real benefit I saw, I think I know what I will buy for this. I have read some reviews where the product has broken people out, seeing the opposite effects I don’t know why this would be.

My skin is not as dry as it use to be since using this, I don’t know if that is a result of increased cell turnover as the product claims? In fact, particularly on my forehead it can feel a little greasy, I have been travelling into central London more though, so I suspect it may be to do with the dirty air!

I never cleaned the brush, on the bare escentuals night, we were told that since you were applying it to clean skin it was unnecessary. Since my skin never broke out or felt itchy, I didn’t feel the need to.

I think it is safe to say I won’t be repurchasing this, and equally I won’t be trying out the cleanser and moisturisers. If this product is meant to contain the highest active concentration of ’soil’ then I doubt using the products containing less, in combination, will show any difference. After the months trial, I had some nights where I did not apply the treatment just to see, if my skin would then look any different not it, but again I didn’t see any effects.

Since bare minerals are always stating that their makeup is good enough to sleep it, if I wanted to be that vain, surely I should just apply that and save myself the extra cash?

Bare Minerals Pure Transformation Night Treatment part 1

Last night, I went to the Bare Escentuals make-up masterclass hosted by make-up artist SJ. It was a lovely event, the staff were extremely welcoming and friendly and I found myself surrounded by a store full of BE superfans. Only recently did I post about my favourite mineral foundation, (which is not BE), so feeling quite shameful, I had to say that I was not a bare minerals user but that my sister is, and loves it (which is true).

BE is a brand I want to love, but I just can’t agree with the hype. None the less, the class was very good, a typical promotional event, with as many product plugs as could be given, but I understand that. I did pick up a few extra makeup tips to try, for example, using lip liner after gloss, which although sounds odd looked very pretty. We were then assigned an ambassador between 2 and given our ‘make-unders’. For the third time, I was colour matched, and again a completely new shade to previous times, but I think on this occasion, having come home and had a chance to look at my face in different lighting that I now have the correct shade. I was told that this shade is new, so maybe I should forgive the previous matching attempts.

This was the makeup look achieved. Looking at it now the eyes are a little dark and I personally would have blended out more! I do really like the eyeshadow and blush used, and I like the fact that these are sold in good value kits which are matched for skin tone.

Having reserved our places for the master-class for £15, we were able to redeem this against any purchases. I was most intrigued by the new skin care range, which I have just found online is actually a revamped range! This includes two cleansers, two moisturisers and an overnight make-up treatment. Another lady attending asked why no toner was included, and it was said that it is not needed with the routine because of the properties of the cleansers. It didn’t sit well with me though that they said ‘we may create a toner since we know people like using it’, so you don’t actually think that a toner is needed with your routine, but you will happily let me buy one?

I did purchase the overnight treatment, but with a huge amount of doubt. Firstly, it is made out of active-soil, a blend of 73 minerals (if I remember correctly) which BE have put together. The product makes a number of claims, that it will shrink pores, yes you read correctly, not reduce the appearance, but actually shrink pores (you don’t need to ask me why I purchased!) It also claims that it will increase cell turnover, thereby evening out skin tone and improving blemishes. All sounds great. Then came the part that really bothered me. I asked how does it work? I can’t remember word for word what was said but something like this, 'positive energy from the soil-complex (minerals) is transferred into the skin promoting the mother cells to replenish’ ‘as skin ages the cells become more negative, this helps in transferring positive energy to the cells’ ‘plants grow from positive energy from the soil'. I must admit I was pretty shocked to hear this and restrained myself from commenting. I must point out that no where on the packaging, or on the skincare leaflet is there mention of the product working by 'positive energy’ nor actually the claims made by the make-up artist this evening with relation to actually shrinking pores rather than just reducing the appearance. Apparently, there is convincing scientific evidence of pore shrinkage, however, they could not show this since the subjects have not agreed for the images to seen, but maybe in the future.

The thing is, after all this negativity, I still purchased, purely from being completely intrigued by it. It is expensive, but having read mixed reviews, being sceptical now, I can only be pleasantly surprised. I do believe that a concentrated mineral treatment could have beneficial skin effects.

As I mentioned this does act as a night make-up, and being a medium skin tone, I was given the medium shade to use. The studies have reported changes in 8 weeks of use, so beginning last night and without changing any aspects of my skin care if I don’t have to, I will be carrying out my own study for you. I have taken close up pictures of my skin in the hope that in 8 weeks time or less I will see an improvement.

I would love to hear from anyone with a positive experience of this product, maybe save the negative until after my trial!