Summer is now officially over, the nights getting longer, the days shorter and the mornings harder. For me nothing is worse than waking up in the dark and finishing work in the dark but c'est la vie. Usually I'm up between 6 and 6.30 so that I have time to get ready for work as well as making sure my daughter is fed, dressed and at school on time. Despite my vigorous nighttime skincare routines involving acids, oils, creams and other various potions I always wake up puffy faced and looking like I haven't slept - I'm not a morning person and neither is my face.
A couple of weeks ago I made a Sephora order and picked up the Clarins Gentle Exfoliator as I'm out of Alpha H Liquid Gold and wanted to change up my acid routine as I have been experiencing more break-outs around my chin, which is unusual but could just be down to the change in weather. Whilst browsing the Clarins section my eye was caught by the words 'Energizing' and 'Wake-Up' in the same title. Seeing as Sephora had an offer of 20% off two products I added to cart. I had been planning to pick up a lipstick but skin comes first.
I received the order on the 16th September, so at the time of writing I've had them for about two weeks. While I haven't completely made my mind about the Gentle Exfoliator (I want to give it another week or so as it's a more active product and I use it every second night) I can definitely give you my impressions of the Wake-Up Booster as it's one that I've used every single morning since I got it.
From the Clarins UK site:
'A radiance boosting gel with a moisturizing action to ensure a soft, smooth look while it's toning benefits refresh and provide a pleasant feeling of well being. The complexion is left looking radiant and healthy'
Clarins, like a lot of older and more high-end skincare brands, are notoriously vague when it comes to the actual ingredients and amounts in their products. On their sites, instead of giving a full ingredients list next to the products in order of amount (when you read skincare/make-up ingredients they are listed from the highest to lowest, for example if you see alcohol or water listed first in the list it means that there is more of them than anything else) they tell you what the 'featured' ingredient/ingredients are. In the case of this product it's White Tea which they say
'is a rare, much sought-after plant grown in China in the Fujian mountains. Drinking it was once considered a route to mortality...'
It goes on to describe the plant and how it is picked, but no more info on what it actually does. Except possibly make you immortal...?!
I have found a few sites online that list the ingredients for example here - but I haven't seen anything that would worry me, and wouldn't expect to in a Clarins product anyway. There is alcohol in the product, but there is alcohol in a lot of products and unless you know you have a sensitivity to it or your skin is seriously dry it shouldn't pose a problem. Other ingredients include Glycerin*, fragrance (again, fine unless you know you have a sensitivity to it), Coffea Robusta (a type of flowering coffee plant) and Camellia Sinensis (a plant whose leaves are used to make tea).
So onto the product itself.
It comes in the recognizable Clarins packaging, a white box with red script (which I threw away, and which may have had a full ingredient list😩) and the product is housed inside the again recognizeable packaging of all Clarins toners - sturdy, simple and classic. The top screws off to reveal the medium-sized hole that you drop the product from. You get 125ml of product which is pretty decent for the price of €21.
Clarins describe this product as a light gel, and it is that. It is quite liquidy, but less so than a traditional toner. Like all Clarins products it smells fresh, and also quite invigorating. I've read that you should pat or bounce this over the face on a cotton pad, but who has time for that at 6.30am?! I squeeze a bit onto a cotton pad as I would with any toner and swipe all over the face and neck after my morning cleanse. Immediately you get a refreshing and slightly cooling sensation, which I love. Afterwards, my face feels refreshed and definitely more awake - it also gives a boost of glow and a nice prepped base for applying the rest of your skincare.
In a nutshell - I really, really like this product and I definitely see it being incorporated into my morning skincare routine on a permanent basis. It's not a highly active product like an acid, a retinol or a Vitamin C - it doesn't claim to fight the signs of ageing, deal with acne or anything drastic but it does do exactly what it says which is wake-up and boost your skin in the morning. I couldn't survive a morning without coffee (and believe me I've tried to the detriment of all those around me) and this stuff is like coffee for my skin. I really look forward to using it every morning, expecially on those where I wake up and my skin feels like putty and my face feels like my skull dissolved overnight - it sounds dramatic and it is, I told you I'm not a morning person😀😥I feel like this sort of pulls my face out of sleep, if that makes sense, and it really does refresh and give a bit of a glow.
So while this isn't a skin saviour, or something that will give astounding results in the long-run, it's just a really lovely addition to any morning skincare routine, especially if you're like me and your face tends to wake up an hour after the rest of you.
Glycerin - an alcohol based ingredient, but a good one. Glycerin is a humectant - this means that it attracts water and also seals in moisture. It should't be an irritant, unless if course you know you have a sensitivity to it, but that's rare.
Have a great Thursday evening everyone, it's almost Friday - so close!
A x
Find me on Facebook
Instagram
Twitter
and Gmail at doyouevencleanse@gmail.com for enquiries and requests💕
A couple of weeks ago I made a Sephora order and picked up the Clarins Gentle Exfoliator as I'm out of Alpha H Liquid Gold and wanted to change up my acid routine as I have been experiencing more break-outs around my chin, which is unusual but could just be down to the change in weather. Whilst browsing the Clarins section my eye was caught by the words 'Energizing' and 'Wake-Up' in the same title. Seeing as Sephora had an offer of 20% off two products I added to cart. I had been planning to pick up a lipstick but skin comes first.
I received the order on the 16th September, so at the time of writing I've had them for about two weeks. While I haven't completely made my mind about the Gentle Exfoliator (I want to give it another week or so as it's a more active product and I use it every second night) I can definitely give you my impressions of the Wake-Up Booster as it's one that I've used every single morning since I got it.
From the Clarins UK site:
'A radiance boosting gel with a moisturizing action to ensure a soft, smooth look while it's toning benefits refresh and provide a pleasant feeling of well being. The complexion is left looking radiant and healthy'
Clarins, like a lot of older and more high-end skincare brands, are notoriously vague when it comes to the actual ingredients and amounts in their products. On their sites, instead of giving a full ingredients list next to the products in order of amount (when you read skincare/make-up ingredients they are listed from the highest to lowest, for example if you see alcohol or water listed first in the list it means that there is more of them than anything else) they tell you what the 'featured' ingredient/ingredients are. In the case of this product it's White Tea which they say
'is a rare, much sought-after plant grown in China in the Fujian mountains. Drinking it was once considered a route to mortality...'
It goes on to describe the plant and how it is picked, but no more info on what it actually does. Except possibly make you immortal...?!
I have found a few sites online that list the ingredients for example here - but I haven't seen anything that would worry me, and wouldn't expect to in a Clarins product anyway. There is alcohol in the product, but there is alcohol in a lot of products and unless you know you have a sensitivity to it or your skin is seriously dry it shouldn't pose a problem. Other ingredients include Glycerin*, fragrance (again, fine unless you know you have a sensitivity to it), Coffea Robusta (a type of flowering coffee plant) and Camellia Sinensis (a plant whose leaves are used to make tea).
So onto the product itself.
It comes in the recognizable Clarins packaging, a white box with red script (which I threw away, and which may have had a full ingredient list😩) and the product is housed inside the again recognizeable packaging of all Clarins toners - sturdy, simple and classic. The top screws off to reveal the medium-sized hole that you drop the product from. You get 125ml of product which is pretty decent for the price of €21.
Clarins describe this product as a light gel, and it is that. It is quite liquidy, but less so than a traditional toner. Like all Clarins products it smells fresh, and also quite invigorating. I've read that you should pat or bounce this over the face on a cotton pad, but who has time for that at 6.30am?! I squeeze a bit onto a cotton pad as I would with any toner and swipe all over the face and neck after my morning cleanse. Immediately you get a refreshing and slightly cooling sensation, which I love. Afterwards, my face feels refreshed and definitely more awake - it also gives a boost of glow and a nice prepped base for applying the rest of your skincare.
In a nutshell - I really, really like this product and I definitely see it being incorporated into my morning skincare routine on a permanent basis. It's not a highly active product like an acid, a retinol or a Vitamin C - it doesn't claim to fight the signs of ageing, deal with acne or anything drastic but it does do exactly what it says which is wake-up and boost your skin in the morning. I couldn't survive a morning without coffee (and believe me I've tried to the detriment of all those around me) and this stuff is like coffee for my skin. I really look forward to using it every morning, expecially on those where I wake up and my skin feels like putty and my face feels like my skull dissolved overnight - it sounds dramatic and it is, I told you I'm not a morning person😀😥I feel like this sort of pulls my face out of sleep, if that makes sense, and it really does refresh and give a bit of a glow.
So while this isn't a skin saviour, or something that will give astounding results in the long-run, it's just a really lovely addition to any morning skincare routine, especially if you're like me and your face tends to wake up an hour after the rest of you.
Glycerin - an alcohol based ingredient, but a good one. Glycerin is a humectant - this means that it attracts water and also seals in moisture. It should't be an irritant, unless if course you know you have a sensitivity to it, but that's rare.
Have a great Thursday evening everyone, it's almost Friday - so close!
A x
Find me on Facebook
and Gmail at doyouevencleanse@gmail.com for enquiries and requests💕
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