Review: Cellnique Derma Brightening Complex

This is the third and last Cellnique product I received from them earlier this year. This is overall a very effective product that helped to even out my skintone. If I had to choose a favourite out of the three, I would have to say the Soothing & Hydrating Lotion, just because it helped to calm down my skin, but this one is also really great. Honestly I loved (and still love) all of the Cellnique products I’ve tried. I highly recommend this brand to you! You can read my reviews of other Cellnique products here.

What it claims (from Cellnique.com): Formulated with liposamal Willow Bark Extract and Vitamin C, this strongly-effective yet gentle formulation works excellent on skin discoloration, dull and uneven skin tone, restores skin’s luminous glow without provoking any skin irritation or peeling. Unprecedented clarity radiates from within.

Price: $45USD for 30mL from Cellnique.com

Usage: I used this gel as the second last step of my nightly skincare routine, after Cellnique’s Soothing & Hydrating Lotion and before the Intensive Hydrating Oasis Gel. I use three drops of this on my face and neck.

The good: This is a very good brightening serum that will not dry out your skin! Most brightening serums I’ve tried tends to dry out my already-sensitive skin, making it flaky and uncomfortable, but this does not. It also does a good job at gently brightening my skin without being overly harsh. It contains various acids to gently exfoliate your skin and get rid of dark spots. The result is brighter, more even-looking skin. It also absorbs easily and my skin is smoother as well.

• Brightens
• Lightens dark spots
• Does not dry out the skin (unlike most brightening products)
• Absorbs easily
• Skin is smoother and looks more even

The bad: There is a strong, herbal smell to it, but I don’t mind it very much. I would also have preferred if it is in a glass bottle instead of plastic, as I feel the glass will help to better preserve the active ingredients in this serum. The price may also be a little high for some people.

• Strong smell
• Plastic bottle
• Little availability, can only be purchased on their official website
• Slightly on the expensive side.

Overall: This is a highly effective product to help gently exfoliate and rid your skin of dark spots without drying out the skin. The dropper dispenser format is hygienic and easy to use without wasting product. I would recommend this to anyone who has acne scars that they want to get rid of, or just want to brighten the skin.

• Product: 18/20
• Packaging: 3.5/5
• Value: 4/5
• Ease of Use: 4/5
• Overall: 29.5/35 | 84% | A
• Repurchase? Very likely

Read on for ingredients:

My Favourite Product of 2009: Diorsnow White Reveal Essence ❤

I don’t think I’ve ever found a whitening essence that actually worked in such a short amount of time, but I think I’ve finally found one.

The Diorsnow White Reveal Essence is the most expensive product I’ve ever purchased for myself at $130CAD+tax ($145.60) for 50mL, that is pretty much $3 per mL. I used this product for about 3 months before doing this review.

I use this after cleansing and toning my skin. The serum is a near translucent gooey gel that applies very easily and absorbs very quickly. The immediate result is very smooth skin, which makes applying moisturizer easily. I moisturized with H20+ Face Oasis Moisturizing Gel which has no whitening properties.

I noticed effects after about a week of use. I am very “picky” so I have a lot of acne scars on my skin, but after a week of using this, I could notice a very distinct difference: most of the scars had visibly lightened.

After about a month of use, my skin became brighter and more even. Because I made the mistake of only applying this to my face and not my neck (because it was so expensive! Didn’t want to “waste” it on my neck, lol), after two months of use, my face had evidently become lighter than my neck. Oops. After I started to use this on my neck as well, it became a lot more even; thank goodness.

Anyways, I really recommend this to everyone who is looking for brighter/whiter skin. Even though it is expensive, it is very effective and I feel its worth every dollar. Its better to spend lots of money on one product that works than waste money on products that don’t work.

Just a warning though, this product does have a distinct fragrance that lasts for a little while. I normally like scents in my skincare products so I thought it was quite relaxing, but not everyone is a fan.

You can buy this at all Holt Renfrew locations and select the Bay locations. In the states, I believe Saks in NYC carries this line (it costs $115 in the states). It is an Asia-exclusive line so it may be harder to find if you don’t live near a city that has an abundance of Asian people. You can also find it on StrawberryNet.

My score? (lost a heart for being so expensive) ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤

Review: O’slee Rosehip Whitening Mask

Yesterday I wrote that I received the O’slee Rosehip Whitening Mask from my Cosme-Depurchase. I tried out the mask immediately that night after my shower. I’ve included some before and after pics… please beware! LOL.

Before pic, you can see that my skin is breaking out a lot more than usual these days, likely from school stress. My lips are also becoming super chapped because when I get nervous, I like to lick them which is a big nono. The main problems that I have are dehydration, acne-prone, inflamed skin especially where acne used to be, and discolouration, including sun spots and just generally sallow-looking skin. This was from after applying toner with a cotton pad.

Crazy scary mask pic! The main problem that I found with this mask is that it is really wide, and not really cut that well. It doesn’t stick very well to my skin, leaving lots of room for gaps of air to come in between the mask and my face, which dries out the mask faster and it doesn’t really do anything for my skin in that area. The mask is very wet, ie. there is tons of serum. There was enough serum in that pack to roughly be able to moisturize my whole body.

After pic. What I love most about this mask is that every last drop absorbs into your skin and doesn’t just stay on the surface. It absorbs relatively quickly too, and doesn’t require much massaging. The serum is very light, making it easy to spread and massage back into your skin. It is very hydrating, but not heavy or oily in any way. I haven’t really noticed any whitening properties yet, but like previously said, the whitening/brightening process really takes a long time to accomplish. However, the spots do look like they have lightened a little, and the inflamed parts are not as inflamed. There is a little light rose scent, which is very subtle and something I prefer over something too overpowering.
Overall, this is a nice relaxing mask to have. I didn’t put moisturizer on afterwards, but my skin stayed supple and hydrated, which I was really happy about. It was very light, and all of the serum absorbed into the skin. I would definitely recommend this mask for everyone, unless you have super duper dry skin. The hydration level is just perfect for me, and the light scent is an added bonus as well. At $8USD for a pack of 5, including international shipping, it is really worth its while. Right now at Cosme-De they are running a promotion where if you buy any O’slee product, you get a pair of eye masks free, the more you buy the more you get. It’s a really good deal! I definitely do hope to see whitening/brightening effects soon.

P.S. I received two more packages in the mail, I will be sharing the contents of them either later tonight or tomorrow. I’m still at the library studying for my test tomorrow *sigh*

Byebye Summer, and welcome to the Season for Snow White

Summer of 2009 is officially over (or has been over for a couple of weeks now). For your skin, this means its time to hydrate and protect itself from the bitter weather, and to repair itself from sun damage and excess buildup of melanoma (pigments in the skin). This winter, I will be doing a series of entries that focus on taking better care of your skin and preventing future damage. I call this:

“Snow White” has two meanings for me personally, one is that it is very cold outside but sometimes it can get quite warm inside, which means you need to adapt your skin to being able to withstand those extreme temperatures. The other is that with the abundance of sunlight in the summer, your skin will likely become tanned, which is why in the winter, for me at least, you need to 1) repair any sun damage, and 2) go back to having milky white skin.

Skin whitening, or skin brightening is a huge part of my skincare regime. There is a lot of controversy surrounding skin brightening in general, which I am not going to talk too much about. The main reason skin whitening is so important to me is that I want to have smooth, even, milky skin that has bits of pink especially in the cheek area. A good example of this kind of skin is Cyndi Wang, who is a Taiwanese singer and actress. This is my ultimate goal. With skin like this, who needs makeup?

However, which skin whitening, the main issue is hydration and moisture. Skin whitening is basically using chemicals such as glycolic acid, or other whitening ingredients such as Arbutin, to slowly peel off the upper layers of the skin. It is like constant exfoliation but just works faster and is a little bit stronger (although there is less iritation depending on what you use). Because there is that constant peeling of the upper skin layer, your skin will easily become sensitive and dehydrated, especially in the winter months. Therefore there is a need to regularly use products such as hydrating serums or moisturizing creams.

Currently, I am not going to lie, I have crappy skin. The reason is that I am in school, which means I sleep at 4-5 AM every day and wake up around 11. Also, once every two weeks or so, I don’t sleep at all for an entire night. And then I eat on average one meal, max 2 meals a day. So… you can see why my skin is crappy.

But you should not follow my example! In the summer (April – August) when I have a pretty set work schedule (8:30-4:30), I go to bed relatively early and wake up early, I eat 3 meals a day and I get my full 8 hours of sleep (normally). In the summer, that is when I repair my skin of all of the school damage such as acne, acne scars, fine lines, discolouration, etc. But now that I am in school, I can focus only on preventing those things from sprouting, which currently is quite effective.

My current night-time skincare regime:

1. Wash off day-cream with Shu Uemura oil cleanser
2. Cleanse with Clinique Liquid Facial Soap every other day, and MAC Volcanic Ash Exfoliator on the days I don’t use Clinique
3. Use MAC Volcanic Ash Thermal Mask once every 3-4 days which I am in the shower
4. Tone with Kose Meddicated Sekkisei or Biotherm Biosource Clarifying Lotion
5. Depending on how my skin feels that day, I use Biotherm Aquasource Superserum (if I need more hydration), Diorsnow White Reveal Essence (skin feels normal), Dior Capture Totale Night Time Soft Peal (skin feels normal). I usually rotate between the three in a white, Dior Capture Totale is used 1-2 a week, Biotherm Aquasource is used 1-2 times a week (at night) and Diorsnow is used the rest of the time
6. Hydrate my skin with H2O+ Face Oasis
7. Apply lip balm, usually Vichy Nutrilogie Lips or Burt’s Bees

My currently day-time regime is really simple:

1. Wash face with water; yes just water. When you sleep your body goes through damage control and your skin will secrete its own protective oils. This is quite precious and good for repairing your skin, so I don’t want to strip it off using a harsh cleanser.
2. Depending on the weather outside, I may or may not use Biotherm Aquasource Superserum. I don’t want to overhydrate my skin because that will cause congestion and breakouts as well.
3. Moisturize with Biotherm Age Fitness Lotion SPF 15. This is the preventative day care part, not only does it have sunscreen in it, it prevents and repairs the first signs of aging, including big pores!

This regime has done a good job at preventing more damage, but at the same time I have really noticed that my skin a lot brighter and smoother, probably due to the Diorsnow White Reveal Essence. Funny thing is that my face is actually brighter than the rest of my body, which is why lately I have been vigorously exfoliating and applying brightening body lotion.

Overall, you should be really paying close attention to your skin. This is why I have so many depending ons in the lists above because I apply products to suit my skin’s needs. You should also not follow my bad example; get a proper night’s sleep, drink lots of fluids, and eat all of your meals, and if possible, exercise regularly. A normal lifestyle will help you trememdously with the skin that you so desperately want.

I will be doing a reviews of the products mentioned above in the upcoming weeks.