Garnier Miracle Sleeping Cream

Those are some big claims to backup there, aren't they? I have an uneven relationship with Garnier. For example, the BB Cream I loved initially but it lost its gloss quickly but the Ultralift 2 in 1 Serum I loved. As I love trying new products, this patchy experience was not enough to put me off.

The 50mL of product comes in a lightweight but very attractive pearlescent blue container. Obviously, the container is rather a lot bigger than it need be. On opening, you're greeted with a white interior and a pale peachy coloured cream. The scent is really strong - if you are not big on strongly scented products, you can stop reading now. I like to think I'm reasonably tolerant of scent but this was too much for me. The scent is rather over the top rose and confectionery - it makes you think of very sweet things.

The cream is really very thick. Do you know - it reminded me of panna cotta or a set custard - something dessert like! A very firm fruit flavoured yoghurt. Despite this very weird texture, it comes out easily and you only need a tiny bit - so plus points there. It smooths over the skin easily and it also absorbed easily. So until this point, if it weren't for the scent I'd be considering it a bit of a winner.

However ... I used it for a couple of days (and it was the only change in the beauty routine) and I came out in a couple of spots. I'm not normally spotty so I stopped using it and my skin eventually calmed down. At this point, I was prepared to give the cream the benefit of the doubt so I let my skin return to normal and allowed any potential hormonal interference get out of the way and tried again.

Exactly the same thing. I'm writing this nursing a spot on my chin, two on my temple and one by my nose. This is definitely not normal for me and given two instances, I'm going to have to chalk it up to the cream.

This is disappointing because I don't normally find new products affect me in this way and this product is super cheap (RRP $20, but you can find it a lot cheaper) but feels luxurious and seems to a pretty good job (minus that scent, obviously). While using it my skin certainly felt soft and hydrated but I'm not prepared to tolerate spots for that!

Available from Chemist Warehouse (& perhaps elsewhere).  RRP $20.

Garnier.

Source: prize.

L'Oreal Base Magique

A week or so ago I had a make up class with the lovely Laura of Ego Brows and Beauty. I'm pretty rubbish/minimal with make up so (despite owning a small ton of product) I asked her to focus on eye make up.

The great thing about spending an hour with a make up artist is all the suggestions and product recommendations and suggestions. One thing that Laura suggested was that, as I am currently using a compact foundation I revisit some of the primers I've found difficult to use with liquid foundation.

The first one out the drawer was a tiny sample of Base Magique. Like most of these products its main ingredient is a silicone: cyclohexasiloxane (followed by a couple of variations on dimethicone). This is what gives it its very soft feel and means not only does it have some emollient qualities, it also fills in fine wrinkles and plumps up your skin.

While I'm not a fan of how these products feel, I never have a problem with how they look on my skin. The problem hits when I apply makeup.

Unfortunately, in this case the solid foundation (applied with a sponge) was not happy. The primer came away from my skin - if you looked hard enough it almost looked like I was peeling! And I still ended up with the slight spottiness of pores being emphasised.

I'm glad I only had a sample and had not spent $30 on this. The remainder I gave to a friend!

Would I buy this? No. Not for me.

L'Oreal.

Widely available. $30.