BEAUTY biotherm

USED UP #1

09:02Alice Grace


To really get a sense of what I think about a product, I think it's vital to truly test it out and give it a proper once over. So many products come and go with barely any getting finished, being pushed to the side in favour of something new. When products become empty, you know you have fully road tested them and your opinions are certain. Here's what I've finished off recently.



Unfortunately, the Estee Lauder Idealist Pore Minimizing Skin Refinisher did not live up to the high expectations that I had for it after falling in love with the brand's Advanced Night Repair Serum. Despite Estee Lauder's abundance of claims about this skin refinisher, it didn't deliver. Yes, it smoothed out my skin and made my pores disappear, but when I put my moisturiser over the top of it, as it instructs, this benefit was wasted. I find pore-smoothing effects to be more beneficial in primers used on top of moisturiser. My skin lacked the added luminosity promised when I used this and, if anything, my skin seemed too matte. Even though it did make my skin feel smooth and silky, it still felt dry and as though there was a layer of residue sitting on top of it. No moisture had actually penetrated my skin. I wouldn't repurchase this, especially at £40 for just 30ml of product, as the immediate effects were minimal and it didn't provide any long-term benefits either. The only saving grace is the beautiful packaging, although the bottle should be glass for a more luxurious feel.


The Biotherm Source Therapie Skin Perfection Catalyzing Serum is another that I've finished recently, and this one didn't impress me much, either. This serum feels so velvety on the skin, smoothing it out and helping to diminish the look of visible pores. The skin is slightly moisturised with use, not masked, as the texture is so light and fresh. It claims to perfect you skin, with lasting results, but I found that it only really had an immediate effect when applied and didn't do much for the skin long term. It didn't make my skin more even or radiant over time, which I was hoping. I love how the serum has a pump, giving you just the right amount of product and, thanks to the transparent glass bottle, you can see how much serum you have left. This 30ml bottle cost £29, but it wasn't worth a purchase. Sorry, Biotherm.


The V05 Moisture Soak Elixir is a hair care hero. Without all the fuss of the older version (when you had to actually heat the product up before applying it), you still achieve silky smooth hair. You apply this oil treatment before you shampoo and condition and, as soon as it's rinsed out, you can tell how well the oil has penetrated the hair. It leaves me with really glossy locks that I can't help but run my fingers through all day. Any frizz is tamed, you get an abundance of shine, and it helps to banish any barnet blues. As the bottle states, it actually is a miracle product and delivers on its claims, even better than some higher-end hair treatments I've tried. At only £4.29, it's a complete steal, and I make sure I'm stocked up on this at all times for whenever my tresses require a moisture boost. As long as VO5 make it, I will buy it!


MAC's Studio Sculpt Concealer is unlike any other I've tried - the formula is so unique. Sitting somewhere between a gel and a cream, the texture can feel sticky and quite wet at first, but it makes it a dream to apply and blend. It provides great coverage both under the eyes and on top of any blemishes, although I do have to set it with a light dusting of powder to prevent any creasing and to ensure it lasts all day. A single pot lasts an exceptionally long time, so the £12 price tag seems fair to me. Another bonus that comes with buying any MAC products is that they can be used in MAC's Back-2-Mac scheme (swapping a number of empty MAC products for one of their lipsticks!). I do think I'll be trying out some other concealers before repurchasing this, but I would happily use this again. 


I have literally scraped the barrel with the Origins Eye Doctor Eye Cream. The creamy gel is so refreshing on the eyes and sinks into the skin in an instant, leaving you with a smooth, rehydrated eye area. The formula is so hydrating without being too heavy, and my eyes feel so soothed and calmed after use. I have found that Origin's Ginzing Eye Cream can make my eyes sting slightly, and so I steer well clear of that. This one, however, gave me no problems at all. I'm not too concerned about ageing around my eyes just yet, but I do always like to think that prevention is better than cure, so any products that plump and hydrate my eye area are a winner for me. This pot has lasted about five months, I think, which is very good going. The price (£26 for 15ml) can seem quite hefty at first, but I do think that it's worth it considering how long a pot lasts, and I will be buying it again.


Please excuse the mutilated packaging of this cult product (I like to cut the tube in half so that I'm using up every last drop!). Recently, I've returned to the Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser to remove my makeup in the evenings, after abandoning it a month or so ago in favour of some new products I wanted to get to grips with. Whilst I find this product does cleanse my skin well and leaves it without the dreaded tightness that some cleansers can, I don't really ever see any improvement in my skin after using it. I also hate the strong herby smell of it. I find that the 100ml pump packaging doesn't last very long, so I've always bought the 200ml tube, but the pump bottle is mess-free and more hygienic. If you also buy the tube and don't cut it in half to rescue the leftover product inside once it no longer squeezes out, you may not realise you're wasting a lot of product! I do think Liz Earle's Cleanse & Polish is priced fairly at £12.75 for 100ml, especially as so many people swear by it, but it just isn't a product I can get on board with. I do love cleansing with a cream cleanser and muslin cloth after using a cleansing balm/oil in the evenings, but there are other cleansers that I would reach for before selecting this one again.
Which products have you used recently, and would you repurchase them?

AGB X

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