nu'trir Hydrating Mineral Day Cream

I have been on the hunt for a new day cream for quite some time and this new one by natural Australian skincare brand Nu'trir caught my eye last time I was browsing Priceline, so I thought I would give it a go.

It is quite a gluggy texture with a flesh-toned colour that looks like it will be difficult to spread on the skin and would leave a noticeable colour to your skin. The complete opposite is true though, and this cream thins out beautifully when applied and leaves no visible tint. It might leave your skin the slightest bit more evened out in colour, but nothing really noticeable. Certainly this is not in the realms of a tinted moisturiser.

One thing that I do particularly enjoy about this day cream is that it has a slight mattifying effect. It sinks into the skin really quickly and does not leave a dewy, 'I just moisturised' look. However, it still leaves my skin comfortably hydrated throughout the day. I have found that it is one of the better moisturisers to use under makeup as it helps to delay the oily t-zone to late afternoon at least. I tend to have drier skin, especially on my cheeks and nose, but this provides enough moisture for me throughout the day. Thirstier skin may struggle.

The day cream has quite a heavy lime scent from the natural oils included in the formula. Some mornings, this is a joyous wake up call but other mornings it can be quite heavy and cloying as it takes a little while to fade. If you are sensitive to fragrance or essential oils, this is not the day cream for you. I enjoy switching it in and out of my routine depending on how I am feeling about the scent on that particular day (fussy, I know!).

Ingredients wise, this has olive oil extract, zinc oxide and titanium dioxide as sunscreen agents, jojoba seed oil, vitamin B (panthenol), B3 (niacinamide), E (tocopherol), C (ascorbyl palmitate) and A (retinyl palmitate), green tea extract, aloe vera, eucalyptus, and lime oil amongst others. The prime reason I picked this up in the first place was because it is a moisturiser that contains no silicons!

The packaging of this product is quite stunning. Homewares, makeup, clothing, jewellery and everything else are going through a copper/rose gold phase at the moment, so if nothing else this pot will look gorgeous on your dressing table. It has a big chunky rose gold lid that makes the product feel very luxe. No spatula was included so this is one of those moisturisers that you have to dip your fingers into.

Price: $39.95 (nu'trir website) [$0.80/mL]

Rate: ingredients, packaging, mattifying effect, efficacy, Australian made and owned

Hate: scent

Verdict: I am just not a huge fan of the scent so this would not be a repurchase for me, despite that it is a really lovely moisturiser that helps my makeup to last longer

Latest Buys

Since I started my full time job out of university, I have had a bit of extra cash to spend on my greatest vice - skincare. I reasoned that, seeing as I did not spend the money on the recent Priceline skincare bag, I would spend my money on things that I actually did need. "Need". Two of my recent hauls are featured here.




























The first came about because of a David Jones GWP on Clarins. I did not need much more convincing than that to go and pick up the Everlasting Foundation that I had heard great things about and also a new moisturiser that I definitely did need. The other bits were just a bonus! Clarins is one of my favourite skincare brands and their products are just beautiful. They all smell divine and look so classy standing around on my dressing table.

The second big spend came about when I noticed a post from Amy from Bottled Beauty advertising her blog sale. I was there in a flash! She had so many lovely skincare bits for below half the retail price so I could not help myself. I picked up two pieces from Antipodes and the Go-To Skincare Face Hero serum. I have been dying to try out some of the Go-To Skincare range so this was a perfect way to start.

I have so much new skincare to try out and I cannot wait to get stuck into it all! Let me know if you would like to see any particular reviews on the products featured here and I will put it on the top of my list.

Have a great weekend all!

Footcare

I will admit that whilst taking care of the skin on my face is something that I take great joy and pride in - my night time skincare routine is so relaxing and part of my unwinding process after a big day - taking care of the skin on my feet is something that I tend to neglect. As a result, my poor tootsies are usually very dry and you'll often see the backs of my heels and little toes sporting the telltale blisters from working in an office and wearing high heels.

I thought I'd share some of the products that I have been using lately to keep my feet happy. My recent foot care routine has involved using the Scholl Velvet Smooth Essential Moisture Cream. This is a light, gel-like lotion to provide some easy and much needed TLC to your feet. It has a slight blue tint and smells quite fresh, not the usual overpowering peppermint smell of foot creams. It smooths over the skin on your feet easily (note: without the use of silicons, hallelujah!)




























I was a little worried the first time I used it, as I thought that it take a while to absorb and would end up all over my sheets after application just before bed. So I smoothed way too much over my feet, put on some socks, and went to sleep with sticky feeling feet. The next night, I thought I would put its 60 second absorbency claims to the test and tried it without socks. This time I used a more reasonable amount and found that in actual fact, it absorbed quite quickly! Scholl - 1, Bonnie - 0.


The Essential Moisture Cream is a great everyday foot lotion. I have found that my feet are not suffering from the dreaded winter dryness so much when I remember to put this on before bed. I would love to try a thicker cream for night time though, as I just do not have the time to put this on as part of my morning routine and it is a cream aimed at twice daily use because of its lightness. I feel that it doesn't provide quite enough moisture for my feet, so I would prefer something richer.

I have also really enjoyed using the Scholl Party Feet Gel Inserts to reduce soreness from wearing high heels. I find that these help to make wearing heels all day something that is more bearable and actually an enjoyable experience! They are a gel pad with a suede top, which I quite like as there is not that gooey feel that you get when using purely gel pads. They help to stop aching in the balls of your feet and I also find that they help to make your heels fit more snugly as they give your feet a little boost up, so there is less rubbing from your shoes in the first place.

Of course, once you have taken care of the dry skin and blister issues, there is nothing better than a nice pedicure to make those feet feel complete! One of my absolute favourite polishes to wear on my toes is Skyfall from the OPI James Bond collection. It is classy and sophisticated - something a little bit more than your typical red, more of a blood red bordering on burgundy. It is definitely my most reached for pedicure shade.

Price: Essential Moisture Cream $14.99 (Priceline), Gel Inserts $15.69 (Priceline)
Rate: absorbency, scent, efficacy, no silicons, affordable
Hate: cream could be more moisturising
Verdict: if you're looking for some simple and easy ways for foot care, look no further! Would definitely repurchase the gel inserts for all my future high heels too!

Scholl have kindly provided me with some of their products for consideration. I have reviewed the products in my own honest opinion.

Shea Terra Organics Argan Oil & Acacia Honey Facial Wash

The Argan Oil & Acacia Honey Facial Wash is made by the lovely people at Shea Terra Organics, who source their ingredients from Africa and promise cruelty-free products with certified organic and natural ingredients in 100% recyclable packaging. Their products have no artificial fragrance, SLS, or parabens. I have also tried a whipped shea butter from them, reviewed here.

This cleanser is something a little bit different to the usual cleansers. It can either be used as a typical cleanser and massaged into the face to be removed with water, or it can be used as a mask to be left on the face for 5 to 10 minutes. I have mostly used it as a second cleanse to allow the natural ingredients to penetrate my skin, rather than just using it to remove makeup, and I leave it on for a couple of minutes as I am brushing my teeth in the evening. The only thing to be careful of is that this can sting the eyes a bit, so be careful to avoid that area (another reason I would use it as a second cleanse)!

Original texture

This cleanser smells delightful, a rich, raw honey scent. It also looks like honey and was very liquid for the first couple of weeks of use. Once I was about halfway through the bottle, the product thickened up quite significantly and I found it much easier to use as it was not dripping off my face mid-use. I'm not sure if I needed to shake the bottle before use to mix the ingredients so that it was less liquid, or if it just started to thicken up as the weather became colder. You can tell I was a little confused about this one!

Thicker texture

Despite its changing properties, I actually quite enjoyed this cleanser. Once it became thicker, it was easy to leave this on for a couple of minutes whilst I was brushing my teeth and I was left with smooth, soft skin immediately after removal. There was no tightness in my skin and it did not feel dry either. However, removal was a bit of a process! When you leave it on for a little while and it sets, it forms a film on top of your skin which can not be removed with only water! So I found myself cleansing (again!) with a milk cleanser and a warm flannel to help remove the remnants. Yeesh! Otherwise you are left with a tacky film over your skin that is not the greatest feeling.

Ingredients are lovely, as you can imagine, comprising organic sunflower oil, acacia honey, organic argan oil, organic extra virgin olive oil, organic coconut cream oil, water, and salt. A beautiful mix of skin-loving ingredients. The cleanser comes housed in a gorgeous brown glass bottle with a pump, making it super easy to use. The glass bottle worries me slightly though, as I am so scared to drop it! But good to know that it can be recycled. Overall, a lovely and slightly luxurious multipurpose cleanser.

Shea Terra Organics also do a Rosehip Black Soap for deep cleansing and resurfacing, which is next on my list to try! (let's not mention the Moroccan Argan Oil or the Rosewater Spritz, eee!)

Price: $24.00 (Amorganica) [$0.17/mL]
Rate: ingredients, efficacy, multipurpose, pump packaging, organic, packaging, scent
Hate: texture, need to cleanse afterwards
Verdict: would repurchase purely for use as a mask rather than a cleanser

Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye

Estée Lauder has been around since 1946, formulating advanced high performance skincare and makeup. The company owns a myriad of brands including Clinique, MAC, Bobbi Brown, La Mer, Aveda, Smashbox, AERIN Beauty, GLAMGLOW, BECCA, Too Faced, and most recently has invested in DECIEM, the company behind The Ordinary. Their skincare products are definitely on the pricier end of the spectrum though luckily they frequently release great GWP offers. The Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye (Synchronized Complex II) is the eye cream I have been trialling lately and it has been going great guns for me.

The Advanced Night Repair Eye (Synchronized Complex II) promises to fight all key signs of eye ageing, including fine lines, wrinkles, puffiness, dark circles, dryness, and uneven skin tone.

This is a smooth, gel-like eye cream that I nevertheless find to be quite rich and hydrating for the under eye area. It applies really easily and sinks in quickly, so it is perfect to use both day and night. Because of the cool, gel feel this eye cream is quite soothing to apply, especially on tired, sore eyes after a day of staring at a computer screen. It has a slight chemical scent to it, but this fades quickly once you have applied it.

After a spate of eye creams that have not worked so well for me (see this post), this eye cream has been a bit of a saviour! My eye area is not looking quite so shadowy and I've found that the skin is consistently hydrated and plumped. Still young at 22, I can't say much for its efficacy on wrinkles however the plumping effect has definitely reduced the appearance of lines around my eyes.

This eye cream is on the vastly expensive side at $95.00 for 15ml, however I was a little tricky and managed to get my hands on two sample pots from beauty boxes and the like so I have actually been able to trial 10ml of it. Not bad! It is one of the more effective eye creams I have ever used so I would be quite willing to fork out the dollars for a replacement pot if I do not come across something equally as effective in my trials. Estée Lauder frequently has great GWP's happening, so I would probably wait for one of those.

One unfortunate thing about this eye cream is the packaging. Whilst it appears very luxurious and expensive in its dark brown jar with shiny gold features, dipping your finger in to a pot is a little unhygienic. It looks like the full size comes with a spatula to negate this, but that just seems a bit too fussy for me. Put it in a tube or, better yet, pump packaging.

The formula has silicone base, which is a bit of a downside for me as it can dry out my skin. It does explain this silky smooth gel feel of this eye cream though. Basically, it has a whole lot of smoothing and emollient, or moisturising, ingredients with long, complex names. It also has some mulberry root extract, skullcap root extract, wheatgerm, and jojoba thrown in for good measure.

I also have a sample of the Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair serum to trial so I will let you know how that goes for me soon.

Price: $100.00 (Estée Lauder website) [$6.67/mL]
Rate: efficacy, cool gel feel, ability to use both day and night
Hate: price, packaging, silicon
Verdict: would repurchase (with GWP!)

Oh Deer Sugar (Oh) Turkish Delight Face Mask

Oh Deer Sugar is a gorgeous company based out of Adelaide that prides itself on being a vegan, natural and cruelty-free brand. So far, I've only tried their (Oh) Turkish Delight face mask, but they also do a wicked range of body butters, bath bombs (yes, please!), and body scrubs.

The (Oh) Turkish Delight face mask is a white clay-based mask which is great for improving oily skin and drawing out all manner of impurities. It smells of roses and earthiness with a hit of orange. I could breathe it in it all day.

Because my skin tends to be fairly dry, I don't pull out this mask to use on my skin all that often. When I do use it, I don't let it completely set on my skin as that can exacerbate dryness. However, it is really good at giving your skin that fresh, brand new feeling.

One of the ways I do really like to use this mask is as a heavy duty cleanser when I'm showering. It gets rid of all traces of everything on your skin and allows for a really good massage because of its thick, heavy consistency. Just make sure to rinse well, otherwise you'll be left with little white clay streaks on your face. I always follow up with a lighter cleanser afterwards to make sure all traces of clay are gone from my skin.

The ingredients in (Oh) Turkish Delight are all natural, all fantastic. Orange oil, rosewater oil, strawberry oil, lemon oil, avocado oil, and grape seed oil are all nourishing and beautiful for the skin. I have nothing to complain about here! One thing to note is that there are no preservatives included, so this mask needs to be used fairly quickly (within 4 weeks).

I would definitely recommend this face mask for those with oilier skin. I've noticed on their website that they also do a (Oh) Zesty Mojito face mask with almond oil and red clay for hydration that seems more up my alley, so there is something for everyone!

Price: $18.50 (Oh Deer Sugar website) [$0.19/mL]
Rate: scent, ingredients, texture, packaging, Australian made and owned
Hate: nothing!
Verdict: would not repurchase as it is unsuited to my skin type

Antipodes Anti-Ageing Minis

Antipodes is a New Zealand brand focused on natural and organic skincare with scientific backing, to provide a product based in nature with great results. These are the first two products that I have tried from Antipodes and it is such a great introduction to the brand. I picked up this super cute little set in the Priceline 40% off skincare sale (it only ended up costing $12, bargain!). It includes the Joyous Protein-Rich Night Replenish Serum and the Avocado Pear Nourishing Night Cream.

The Joyous Protein-Rich Night Replenish Serum promises to repair dry and damaged skin and freshen the complexion. The Avocado Pear Nourishing Night Cream promises to prevent the signs of ageing along with soothing and mositurising the skin. It also promises to neutralise free radical damage.

The night cream smells AB-SO-LUTE-LY incredible, all herbal and fresh and slightly pear-sweet (turns out this is a combination of ylang ylang, jasmine and sandalwood, hah). I love applying this at night as it is so calming to the senses. The Joyous serum is so silky and delicious and smells clean with a slight tang of blackcurrant.

After cleansing and layering up on toner, I pat 2-3 drops of the Joyous serum all over my face, neck and décolletage, followed by a pea-sized amount of the night cream. The night cream is ultra-rich but easily spreads all over your skin. In the morning, I wake up with hydrated, smooth and plump skin that is (dare I say it?) soft to the touch. The night cream can feel a little greasy when you first put it on as it does not immediately sink in to the skin. For someone like me with dry skin, I relish the heavy feeling but for anyone with more of a combination skin type, this might be a bit much!

Over the five weeks that I have been using this pair nightly, I find my skin to be much smoother and clearer in general and, if anything, breakouts have been reduced and are healing quicker. I also haven't had any issues with dry, flaky skin, except the typical patch on the tip of my nose. Does anyone else have that problem?

Both products feature some wicked, skin-loving ingredients. The Joyous serum includes blackcurrant oil, goji berry extract, raspberry seed oil, hibiscus flower extract, Reishi mushroom extract, natural berry fragrance, essential oil components...and that's it! How's that for minimal ingredients? The Avocado Pear night cream has a shea butter base and includes vegetable-derived squalene (for hydration), avocado oil, manuka honey, macadamia nut oil, calendula oil, coconut oil, grapeseed extract, and vitamin E amongst others.

I am really keen to try out more from the Antipodes brand, what an amazing skincare range! I also might have noticed that they have a small makeup range when browsing their website...uh oh.

Price: $19.95 (Adore Beauty website - this particular set doesn't seem to be available from Priceline any more, but the full sizes are) [$1.00/mL] (the minis are a cheaper way to buy the serum, but you are better buying the night cream full size on a per mL basis)
Rate: scent, luxurious, ingredients, calming, improvement in skin appearance
Hate: relatively expensive for full-size purchase
Verdict: would definitely repurchase both (hopefully in full size)

Shea Terra Organics Mango Whipped Shea Butter

This is such a delicious little hand and body treatment that I received from the lovely people at Amorganica. There are several scents available and I have the mango scent. Now, I'm not really a fan of artificial mango flavours in food and only like it fresh, so I wasn't sure if I would enjoy this cream. But oh my lord, is it an amazing scent! I can only describe it as mouth-watering! Fresh and juicy and sweet. Just like a mango.

Aside from smelling amazing and basically being in danger of being eaten, this cream actually does a pretty decent job at hydrating my skin! I like to keep it on my bedside table and apply as a hand and elbow cream at night before I go to sleep. It is quite thick and has an almost solid butter-like texture but once it has warmed up a little on your skin, it is very easy to spread and massage into your hands.

A little goes a long way! It absorbs quite quickly and doesn't leave a greasy residue - perfect for when I apply it and want to sit up and read for a little while (no oily pages for my books!). When I use it regularly, my hands are softer and my nails and cuticles are so much healthier, to the point where I've even braved painting them again after a six week break because of how much they were splitting and peeling.

These creams contain 30% organic shea butter (wow!) so they are quite long-lasting once applied as the shea butter forms a sort of water-proof barrier on your skin. Other ingredients include spring water, natural emulsifying wax, mango extract (mmm!), and natural preservatives. I love products with such minimal ingredients - I feel much safer using a product where I know what each ingredient is! The cute little jar packaging also looks great on my bedside table, and I'm not too bothered about hygiene from dipping in and out of the jar because the product is only going on my hands.

There are a few other scents available in the range, including pink guavas and pomegranates, white chocolate, gingered pumpkin, and rooiboos and berries. They all sound just as delicious, and I see myself purchasing a few more for handbag and office purposes.

Price: $8.00 (Amorganica) [$0.28/mL]
Rate: scent, efficacy, ingredients, ease of use, packaging
Hate: nothing!
Verdict: would repurchase (if I ever run out!)

* Product was gifted to me by Amorganica as an inclusion in an order I made, but this has not influenced my opinion on the product and I have given as truthful a review as possible

Kosmea Apple Of My Eye Cream

Kosmea is an Australian brand with a focus on natural skincare and the use of certified organic rosehip oil. This is the first product I have tried from Kosmea and unfortunately it was a bit of a disappointment for me. I really love the story behind the Kosmea brand with the foundation of all the products in rosehip oil and to create "skincare as nature intended". Their rosehip oil, by the way, is absolutely fabulous and one of the best I have tried.

The Apple of My Eye Cream promises to combat signs of ageing and leave skin brighter. It promises to brighten dark circles and smooth the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

Sadly, this eye cream just didn't work out for me. At first, it was great! It is light and easy to smooth around the eye area, absorbing quickly into the skin so it is perfectly fine to use under makeup. It helped to keep the skin around my eyes hydrated and I was looking bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in the first couple of weeks with day and night use.

However, after about eight weeks of use, I found that there was a bit of rough skin appearing under one of my eyes. I also noticed that the eye cream has started to sting when I applied it. I stopped using it right away and gave my skin a couple of days to rest. Within about three days, the rough skin had cleared up so I'm certain it was caused by this eye cream. Sad.

It is one of the better packaged eye creams that I've come across - awesome push down pump applicator and a tall, skinny tube that is easy to find and store in the mess of my skincare products (so much better than the tiny little glass or plastic jars that eye creams usually come in). So hygienic. Thank you, Kosmea. I also love the creamy, yellow colour (it reminds me of the inside of an apple).

The eye cream has a water base and includes organic rosehip oil, ceteareth-20 (a fatty alcohol derived from coconut oil to aid in skin absorbtion), cetearyl alcohol and stearic acid (emulsifiers which, in combination, prevent the water and oil from separating), cetyl esters (to aid in thickening), glycerin (an humectant to aid with hydration), shea butter, glyceryl stearate (another moisturising inclusion), apple cell culture (so-called PhytoCellTec apple stem cells to help combat ageing skin), rosewood oil, soybean oil, carrot root extract, organic white tea extract, beta-carotene (a source of vitamin A), xanthum gum (binder and stabiliser for the formula), potassium sorbate (a preservative, commonly used in food), natural fragrance, and essential oil components.

All sounds pretty good right? I'm not really sure what it was that caused my skin to react like it did, but I will keep an eye (hah) on the ingredients of my future eye creams to see if there are similarities if I get another reaction. My suspicion is the ceteareth-20 may have caused the reaction, as some studies show it is unwise to use on sensitive or damaged skin. I would still recommend this eye cream, as it has a lovely formula, but maybe not so much for sensitive skin types.

Price: $44.95 (Kosmea website) [$3.00/mL]
Rate: packaging, ingredients, lightness of formula, initial results
Hate: unfortunate reaction to it
Verdict: would not repurchase because of my skins reaction :(

Skincare

I like to subscribe to the Caroline Hirons method of skincare. Admittedly, it makes my skincare routine a helluva lot longer than it was a year or two ago, but the results for my skin make it 100% worth it. I thought I would take some time to explain my morning and evening skincare routines, which are more or less based on Caroline's, so that my reviews make a lot more sense in what I am actually looking for in a product.

Typical morning line-up

Morning:

1. Cleanser! I like to use a creamy, milky cleanser in the mornings that is light but will still get rid of any built-up sweat and gunk from overnight.
2. Hydrating toner to start the hydration process for my skin.
3. Eye cream. I apply this before serum so that it actually absorbs into the eye area.
4. Serum. I don't like to use an oil-based serum in the morning if I am going to be wearing makeup during the day as I find it doesn't sit as well on my skin. If I am staying home and not wearing makeup...bring on the oil! My skin can use all the extra hydration it can get.
5. Moisturiser. Because my skin is almost always dehydrated, I like to use a thick, creamy (not quite night cream level) moisturiser that will last the whole day.
6. SPF. Every day. It's Australia, you just cannot get away with not using an SPF.

Typical evening routine

Evening:

1. Double cleanse. My New Year's resolution is to try to do this as soon as I get home from work instead of letting my makeup sit on my skin until I'm ready to go to bed. More time for my skincare to do its work! My double cleansing method involves an oil-based makeup remover to get rid of eye makeup and the top layer of foundation and then a cream or oil-based (non-foaming) cleanser to massage the rest of the makeup and grime off my skin. Remove with a warm flannel.
2. Exfoliating acid toner. I use a mild exfoliating toner on a cotton pad swiped all over my face to keep my skin fresh rather than a traditional, manual scrubby exfoliator. Once in the evening is enough - using it in the morning as well can cause problems in my skin. I find chemical/acid exfoliating works much better for my skin, but if I'm out of my acid toner I will use a manual exfoliator two to three times a week.
3. Hydrating toner, as for the morning routine.
4. Eye cream.
5. Serum. Here I will layer a few treatments if my skin needs it. Water-based serums first and oil-based serums last.
6. Night cream. A nourishing layer of night cream or facial oil depending on how my skin is going. And, done!

Chemical vs. manual exfoliation products

There you go. Yes, it's a good few layers of skincare morning and night but the change in my skin since I've adopted a good routine is incredible. It's all worth it - even the boy has seen a lot of improvement in his skin after adding a few extra steps to his skincare routine as well ;) Again, all credit to Caroline Hirons for the basis of these routines and skincare tips. She's a genius and has definitely revolutionised the way I take care of my skin.

Nuxe Rêve de Miel Ultra-Nourishing Lip Balm

Ah, the fabulous Nuxe Rêve de Miel... I was lucky enough to win one of these gorgeous little glass jars filled to the brim with golden, magical balm from the very generous Sophie of Born to Buy. And I love it just as much as I thought I would!

I always apply a lip balm as the last thing I do before I go to sleep and I have a little container filled with lip balms of all sorts on my bedside table. But this one is my favourite. It is thick, luxurious, and has the most wonderful scent of honey and grapefruit that I find really soothing. Its name literally means 'dream of honey'. Doesn't that just make you smile?

Sorry for the out of focus photo, yeesh

I find this balm to be very effective at making my lips soft and smooth the next morning. It tends to sort out any dry or peeling lip issues that I might have too. Even after a full night, there is a slight film on your lips after using this balm, which to me just shows how effective it is if it lasts all night! Because the first thing I do in the morning is wash my face, this isn't an issue at all for me but might feel a bit uncomfortable for some people. It's also great underneath lip products, as a thin layer provides a sort of matte film that lasts and lasts.

As much as a glass jar isn't the most convenient, safe or hygienic packaging, it's so darn classy that I'll forgive it for that. I love how this looks on my bedside table, especially because of my soft spot for the French language.

Nuxe claims this lip balm has 80% natural ingredients and no parabens. Included are beeswax (explains the thick, tacky texture), vegetable oil, sweet almond oil, shea butter, honey, grapefruit peel oil, soybean oil, vitamin E (tocopherol) and lemon peel oil. Annoyingly for me, it does contain some silicon in the form of dimethicone, which my skin never reacts well to in moisturisers and primers. One cool ingredient is ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate (stay with me), a sunscreen agent that protects from UVB rays, so this baby is good for daytime too!

Price: $19.99 (Priceline)
Rate: effective, luxurious, ingredients, name, sun protection
Hate: glass jar packaging (but not a lot of hate), silicon
Verdict: would repurchase again, and again

Lancôme Visionnaire Advanced Skin Corrector [LR 2412 4%]

I never thought I would see the day when I thought forking out $97 for a serum for my face was a rational thing to do. Well, the day has come. And let's just say that every single dollar was worth it!

Yep, Lancôme Visionnaire is the love of my skincare life right now. I was able to try out a sample from The Parcel by Marie Claire and that 7mL was enough to convince me that I needed more in my life. So a full size 30mL turquoise bottle of this lovely, pump-packaged serum was soon taking pride of place on my dressing table.

I'm not sure how it does it, but this serum manages to smooth, brighten and soften my skin. Within a week of starting to use it, I saw less breakouts and overall my skin looked healthier, more hydrated. I've been using every morning and night for about two to three months now and I've not noticed any radical changes over time - just that fantastically smooth and plump skin that it created originally. However, I'm sure if I stopped using it, the difference would be noticeable!

With my full size purchase, I managed to buy the older serum rather than the second generation which is more concentrated in its main ingredient LR 2412 (derived from the jasmine plant). I would have preferred the second generation serum - there is not so much of a noticeable scent and I think I would see better results.

The instructions say to use three pumps day and night, but I am only using one pump. I can't bear to see it disappear so quickly! It is easy to smooth over your face with a lovely silky texture (hmm, silicon...) and sinks in very quickly so that you can apply moisturiser or night cream over the top. Like I mentioned, there is a bit of a scent to it that I'm not sure how to describe - a little chemically but not in a bad way!

The only downside to the serum (besides the price) is the amount of alcohol contained in it. I'm not sure if this is doing good or bad things for my acne, because alcohol can be inflammatory despite the other benefits of the serum. It also contains silicons, which explains the silky texture, and are unfortunately my skins number one hate (though I haven't noticed any drying out from using the serum).

So there is good and bad to this serum, despite the great results I've seen using it!

Price: $97.00 (Myer or David Jones) [$3.23/mL]
Rate: effective, easy to use, great pump packaging, sinks in quickly
Hate: price, amount of alcohol in formula, silicon
Verdict: may repurchase sometime in the future if I don't find something better (in terms of ingredients, not performance)

Burt's Bees Sensitive Night Cream

I have always loved Burt's Bees products, especially their lip balms, and the gorgeous retro-style packaging. Their products always have a homely feel. Whenever I'm running low on Burt's Bees, I will jump on one of their Grab Bag promotions, which include a big range of products at a discounted price. They actually have two of these running on their Australian site at the moment which you can check out here.

I received their Sensitive Night Cream in a Grab Bag I purchased in winter and have been using it ever since. It's not a very thick cream, fragrance free and absorbs into the skin really quickly. One thing that I did love about this night cream was that it never caused any redness in my skin straight after application, which tends to be a common occurrence with other products.

My skin tends to be really dry and can be flakey with the changes between seasons. I prefer to use a much thicker night cream to keep my skin nourished and avoid any dryness, so whilst this night cream is really gentle and nourishing, it isn't the best suited to my skin type. I would definitely recommend it to anyone with oily skin or for someone looking for a lighter option over summer.

A downside to this night cream is the packaging. Given the runny texture of the cream (more of a lotion), I would have liked to see it in pump packaging. So much more hygienic and you always distribute the exact right amount. Although, the glass jar does look very classy sitting on my dressing table.

In terms of ingredients, this night cream has a really lovely base of natural ingredients including sunflower seed oil, cotton flower extract, aloe vera, and shea butter. It doesn't contain SLS, mineral oil or synthetic fragrance (winning!) but it does have small amounts of phenoxyethanol (a synthetic preservative) that can be toxic in high concentrations, though I'm not worried about the amount in this, just something to be aware of.

Price: $29.95 (Burt's Bees website) [$0.60/g]
Rate: fragrance free, gentle, natural ingredients
Hate: thin texture, glass jar packaging
Verdict: would not repurchase, as it does not suit my skin type