Clinique 3 Step Challenge

Clinique has issued out a challenge to those of you who are seeking for a simple solution for clean skin.

From 6th July till 17th August, they are giving out samples of their iconic 3-step cleansing system so you can try it for yourself and fall in love with your cleaner, clearer skin.

You will receive a custom-fit (for your skin type) 30ml size of 

• Liquid Facial Soap cleanser 
• Clarifying Lotion exfoliator 
• Dramatically Different Moisturising Lotion 

I was first was introduced to this 3-step cleansing system over a decade ago and I can tell you it is a god-send for anyone with oily skin. If you need intense hydration in this drying weather, you may need to supplement the 3 step with a serum or top up with a richer moisturiser.

So head to your nearest Clinique counters with this coupon now to treat your skin for 2 weeks.

Now, if that free sample isn't enough incentive for you, there are daily 3-step packs giveaways for the next 6 weeks and a chance to win a $1000 Westfield gift card and 2 years supply of the 3-step system via the Clinique facebook page or Iphone App so be sure to check that out cos you gotta be in it to win it!

SOS For Winter Skin

Winter is notorious for cold conditions that dries out the skin. Add to that mix the sudden changes in temperatures as you head from heated indoors environments to plunging outdoors temperatures and you're bound to have a recipe for dry flaky patches and wind burnt chapped lips, all of which are symptoms I'm experiencing lately.

I've been using the following products to combat the windburn and drying effects of constant extreme weather changes in an attempt to restore moisture back into my skin and lips.

Dermalogica Skin Hydrating Booster 30ml*

• Packed full of hyaluronic acid (which is able to hold up to 1000 times its weight in water) and glycerin (a humectant), this gem binds moisture on  skin to keep you hydrated for hours on end.
• Restores moisture balance and revitalises skin and helps reduce and soothe the dry patches on cheeks and those sore runny noses. 
• A clear slightly viscous liquid, it is scented with lavender essential oils that also helps to calm skin from irritations and quickly absorbs to give baby soft skin - no joke!
• Also contains panthenol for tissue repair and algae extracts to restore the moisture balance. 
• You don't have to have parched skin to use this, if you're your skin is feeling tight or dry,  it's enough reason to pick this up and apply before your other normal skincare products to bind in the moisture content and relieve you from dry patches and lines, especially under the eye area. 
• Best used after washing on slightly damp clean skin to lock in all that glorious moisture content and you only need a few drops to get instantly softened skin.

Ingredients listing:

RRP A$100 at selected salons or cheaper online at the Facial Company.

This is a FITE product and its sale will help fund a female entrepreneur in a developing country. To find out more, visit www.joinFITE.org


Clinique Comfort On Call 50ml 

• This heavy duty cream is used to relieve seriously dry skin, and by serious I mean the wind-burnt dry cracked skin type of serious. 
• Given its its richness (a rich body cream texture), I recommend using this creamy balm at night as it's probably too heavy to use during the day, especially if you intend to apply makeup over your skincare products and take a bit of time to fully absorb into skin. If you're outdoors in the extreme weather during the day, then use it during the day as well - just make sure you top it with sun protection. 
• Contains olive fruit oil, shea butter to deeply moisturise, citrus jabara fruit extract to calm and trace amounts of hyaluronic acid to keep the moisture in. 
• Creates a barrier after application to prevent further damage and help to keep skin's moisturised whilst it soothes redness and irritations from extreme weather and reduce flaky skin. 
• Like all other Clinique skincare products, it is fragrance free and relatively scentless, which helps for those who are easily senstised by fragrance in their products (I'm usually not but when skin is irritated, anything can happen). 
• I don't use this every night, only when I find my skin very dry and would use for a few days during that period before converting back to my normal lighter moisturisers. 

Ingredients listing:

RRP A$83 at Clinique counters.

Dermalogica Climate Control Lip Treatment 4.5g

• This little lip balm is a godsend for my perennially dry lips which just cracks during winters. Seriously no amount of  daily exfoliating has stopped my chapping, it has only minimised it. With this lip treatment, I have only minimal exfoliating work to do at night - hallelujah!
• Contains Anti-Ozonate Complex to heal cracked, chapped lips and leaves a protective waxy film that prevents moisture from leaving and harsh extreme conditions from further drying up lips and gives hours of protections before any re-application is needed.
• Although fragrance free and goes on clear, there is a light but distinctive medicinal taste (most likely due to the Alkyl benzonate) to this balm which reminds me of zinc stick. It's not a deal breaker for me and honestly you shouldn't be licking your lips anyway as it dries them out even more so the taste should act as a deterrent for you lip-smacking people out there.
• Also good for bits of rough skin like finger and sore red noses or anywhere that needs soothing and protecting. 

Ingredients listing:

Helianthus Annuus (Hybrid Sunflower) Oil, Bis-Diglyceryl Polyacyladipate-2, Ozokerite, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter) Fruit, Lecithin, Oils Of: Triticum Vulgare (Wheat) Germ, Citrus Aurantium Amara (Bitter Orange), Geranium Maculatum, Carthamus Tinctorius (Safflower) Seed, Superoxide Dismutase, Bisabolol, Extracts Of: Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon), Fumaria Officinalis, Fumaric Acid, Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel, Lavendula Angustifolia (Lavender), Salvia Officinalis (Sage) Leaf, Trifolium Pratense (Clover) Flower, Echinacea Purpurea, Symphytum Officinale, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower, Rubus Idaeus (Raspberry) Fruit, Boron Nitride, Titanium Dioxide, Polyhydroxystearic Acid, Silica, Butylene Glycol

RRP A$19 at selected salons or cheaper online at the Facial Company.

Botanics of Australia (BOA) Intense Moisturiser with Lilly Pilly 225g*

BOA is an Aussie skincare and haircare brand that I've recently been introduced to. Interestingly, although the products are made in Australia with local signature ingredients, it is only marketed to and sold to international overseas consumers (weird how they think locals wouldn't love to use these local products too!). The good news is it's available online for purchase locally, is well priced with a good product range and from the products I've tried so far, are fabulous and value for money.

• This moisturiser is a whipped cream texture and is between the richness of body butter being lighter and softer but richer than body lotions. It has a delightful warm sandalwood fragrance and feels luxurious when it melts upon touching the skin. 
• My favourite part is that it's non-greasy and fast absorbing - it has a similar texture and feel to the L'Occitane Rich Renewal Cream that I love and comes in a nice big jar that is easy to scoop out the product to apply copious amounts of all over the body.
• Contains grape seed oil, Cocoa butter and Shea butter for intense moisturisation with lilly pilly, an Australia native fruit  that is packed full of vitamin C and fruit acids to assist with skin firming.  

Ingredients listing:

RRP A$17.95 or  cheaper online at FashionAddict.

Do you change your skincare regime for the seasons? 
What products are you currently using?

Products marked * were provided for consideration. All other products were purchased by myself.

5 Eye Creams You Need to Know About

Our eyes may be the windows to our soul but they are also is the first area to show the early signs of aging and fatigue with dark circles, puffiness, fine lines, and wrinkles.

While nothing beats a sound 10 hour sleep and sun protection to help prevent these problems, there are some great products on out there to help you keep your peepers looking fresh and rectify the tell-tales signs of tiredness and premature aging.

1. Dermalogica Intensive Eye Repair 15ml 
Winter dries out my oily combo skin and I'm currently experiencing a bout of dry patches across my face and the skin under the eye area is rather dehydrated.

Enter this little gem from Dermalogica, an ultra rich gel but not heavy or greasy on skin, it instantly hydrates skin to eliminate fine lines and crepiness and keeps the skin moisturised throughout the day.

Contains a cocktail of antioxidant-rich ingredients like cucumber extract, arnica and wild yam extract, vitamin A, B5, C, E to fight free radicals as well as help repair prematurely aging skin. It also primes skin to help makeup sit on skin better rather than sink into the fine lines.

This is a FITE product so its sale will help fund a female entrepreneur in a developing country. To find out more, visit www.joinFITE.org

RRP A$71 at selected salons and at the FacialCompany.

2. Olay Regenerist Anti-aging Roller 6ml*

Click the end of this anti-aging pen to dispense the product out and then massage it into the under eye skin area with 3 precision massaging rollers. You will be greeted with instant coolness against your skin from the metal rollers whilst the massaging action improves blood circulation around the eye area and allows the caffeine and vitamin E infused serum to be delivered deeper into the skin to reduces eye puffiness. Before you know it, you'll be de-puffed and looking wide awake. 

It also has dimethicone to fill in lines and smooth over wrinkles to give a more youthful under eye area appearance.

RRP A$49.99 at supermarkets, Priceline and most pharmacies.

3. Kiehl's Ultimate White Darkness Diminishing Activated Eye Treatment 15ml* 
Now that you've sorted out the hydration and puffiness, attack the dark circles with this potent eye cream that will gradually fade darkness with vitamin C, plum fruit extract and glucoside. You will have to be persistent with this cream as it won't give you results overnight but you will get that brigthened translucent under-eye skin in 3 weeks time. It also gives very excellent hydration to dry, tired eyes.

RRP A$62 at Kiehl's counters or Kiehl's Online.

4. Elizabeth Arden Prevage Anti-aging Eye Serum 15ml
The holy grail of all eye creams. That is all.
Oh alright, I'll elaborate. I love this eye serum because when I wake up in mornings after using it the night before, I have next to no sign of puffiness in sight. My dark circles are lighter, the skin in my under eye area is firmer, hydrated and fine lines are barely visible - all thanks to the 0.5% idebenone formula that my skin is such a fan of. If I didn't have a mortgage, I'd be hauling this by the truckload to use forever.

RRP A$165 at Elizabeth Arden counters

5. Peter Thomas Roth Power K Eye Rescue 15g
Given my very bad dark circles, I'm always trying to find quick fixes for them and this was one of those purchase I wish I hadn't made.  Lured by the promise of vitamin K (at 5% concentration which this clearly isn't, it's proven to fade dark circles and help treat bruises) and flanked with a stellar line up ingredients such as vitamin c, green tea, kojic acid, arnica and CQ10, this rich gel was too hard to resist.

I admit I enjoy bursting the CQ10 micro-capsule when rubbing the gel into my under eye skin and although it is a good eye gel in all other aspects, it just didn't do the one thing I wanted it for - reduce dark circles.
For the price, I want to see results pronto but  after 1 whole week of use, my skin just didn't respond. I didn't see improvements in darkness nor was it any better at reducing puffiness than the Olay eye serum so yes I'll be holding a grudge against Mr. Thomas Roth for this particular eye treatment.

Personally, I would choose the others eye serums before forking out such an exorbitant amount that didn't deliver more than its budget-friendly counterparts.

RRP A$125 at Kit Cosmetics counters or Mecca Cosmetica.


Out of the five, you all know which is my favourite but a close second is the Dermalogica Intensive Rich repair for it super hydrating properties whilst the Kiehl's Darkness Diminishing Activated eye treatment is slowly winning me over as I start to see results of lighter dark circles.

Do you use eye creams on a daily basis? What are your favourite eye creams?

Products marked * were provided for consideration. All other products were purchased by me.