Deciem Ordinary

Skincare has always been an area of the beauty arena that I struggle with.  I’ve suffered with eczema all my life and my skin can be quite reactive when it chooses to be.  I’m also quite disillusioned with it. I’ve tried a fair few products and over time I’ve realised you have to take the claims of skincare with a pinch of salt.  Well, not so much a pinch, more a flipping vat in some cases.

Two key things I’ve learnt are:-

1. My pores ain’t going nowhere.  I have enlarged, noticeable pores over my cheeks, RIGHT where they recommend you put your pretty little “pop” of blusher.   These delightful little holes mean I never achieve that truly flawless look as there is always a noticeable texture to my skin.  It is a gathering place for cakey makeup, and anything with a bit of shimmer just sits terribly.  As my skin is also dry, I tend to find my cheeks are completely unforgiving with a lot of foundations (especially thicker, high coverage formulas), often resulting in a cakey /cracked / craters of the moon style situation.  
2.  I am never going to have THAT skin.  You know the type I mean.  The fresh, clear, smooth skin that some girls are just blessed with.  The ones who tell you that drinking water and eating avocadoes is their secret and it’s not, they lie, it’s genes. My skin is dry, it’s rough, it’s bumpy, and when I put foundation on it tends to crack, it separates, it settles.  I’ve never had a fresh flawless face and I’ve resigned myself to the fact that it won’t ever happen.

So. This skincare post comes with a disclaimer.  None of these products gave me THAT skin.  There are no holy grail, visage transforming, wonder products listed below.  They are just products that kept my skin clear of spots, clear of reaction, clear of flakiness / dry patches and let my makeup apply decently.  They just made my skin good. 

Deciem Ordinary
A quick 4-1-1 on Deciem "The Ordinary".  Deciem have become big news in the skincare industry recently, dropping iconic products like Nanoblur, Hydraluron, Hand Chemistry...
I use Hydraluron and Hylamide serum/eye cream and I’m a massive fan of them.  However the products are P-RICEY.  So the guy who owns the brand released “The Ordinary”; a range of products which use key ingredients and nothing else.  No fillers, no fancy butters and herbs, just the key ingredient that is supposed to “work” for a certain skin complaint.  And they are so affordable.  Which in the skincare industry is a niche that needed filling in my opinion.

The products I have tried are:

Hyaluronic Acid 2% +B5
100% Organic Cold-Pressed Rose Hip Seed oil
Buffet
Advanced Retinoid 2%
Natural Moisturising Factors HA

The names are so random to anyone who doesn't carry a PhD in Chemistry - so much so I had to keep checking the bottles to get the right title for this post.  It all adds to the legitimacy of the products but it does also make it a bit of a nightmare in navigation. 

Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5

I’ve read a lot of reviews on this product, comparing it to serums that are hyaluronic acid based.  I’ve historically used both Hydraluron and Vichy’s hydrating serum, and I don’t agree with a lot of the grievances that you can feel the “cheapness” of the Ordinary product.  In my opinion it is the same clear, slightly gloopy liquid that all of the others are.  It does have a bit more stickiness to it, but seeing as I’m after moisture for my skin, I actually enjoy its texture.  I also feel a little goes a lot longer way.  I used to squeeze a small amount of Hydraluron out and I felt like it didn’t spread brilliantly.  In comparison, I feel the Ordinary product has more slip and slide to it.  I put a similar “bulb” of product on my fingers and I feel it covers my face much better.  I don’t feel like my forehead is missing out on the party like I do with Hydraluron.  It’s definitely a “wetter” product but I like that.

 
100% Organic Cold-Pressed Rose Hip Seed oil 

This has been my favourite of the products I’ve tried.  Previous to this, I used the Pai Rosehip oil.  I liked it but I found it to be very thick (and very orange).  Similar to my experience with Hydraluron, I felt the first place I rubbed the Pai oil got a lot more of it than the last place I rubbed it.  The Ordinary one in comparison feels lighter and runnier.  It’s a much more comfortable oil.  When I dropper it onto my fingers it is a bit of a race against time to get it on my face before it dribbles all over the place, but once I’m rubbing it onto my face, I find it spreads around much easier.  I also quite like putting a bit on my beauty blender and patting it over my foundation if it’s particularly thick or drying.  I tried that with the Pai product, but it didn’t sink in quite as well. 

Buffet

I’ll be honest, I bought this because on the Deciem website it recommends it in the routine for dry and dehydrated skin.  What it does….I’m not quite sure about.  I put it on after cleansing and toning (and retinol) and before serums and moisturiser.  It has a similar consistency to the hyaluronic acid but slightly lighter and less sticky.  It glides on beautifully, and whilst I don’t understand why I’m using it, I do enjoy using it.  The regime of Buffet, Hyaluronic Acid, then Rosehip oil leaves my skin feeling so plump and comfortable.  Caroline Hirons raves about May Lindstrom’s The Youth Dew (which, FYI, is so expensive it will make your bank balance pack up and go on the run)  and in her “Do you Need It” section, she recommends using Deciem’s Buffet and Rosehip oil as an affordable alternative.  The Youth Dew is a hydrating serum so I guess it falls into that general category.  But either way, I like it on my face!

Advanced Retinoid 2%

I am early on in my journey into retinol.  Hitting 30 last year brought with it a minor panic regarding wrinkles, cellulite, failing to hit life goals and whether my boobs were getting saggy.  As a result I started looking into anti aging skincare (and wearing sports bras to bed) and amongst the sea of brutally honest dermatologists telling me my skin was on its way down (literally, drooping off my face), retinol appeared to emerge as a product to be getting involved in.  But people talk about burning.  And peeling.  And redness.  And I'm thinking geez man, I've spent the last 30 years trying to stop my damn skin peeling off and now I'm going to buy something that makes it happen, and it is going to cost me a bomb!?  Fabulous.
So I forayed into retinol on tip toes, eyes closed, and scared.  I first bought La Roche Posay's Redermic R.  My face didn't burn, or peel, or go red although I did get a tad lazy at rubbing it in one night and woke up with a legitimate sunburn type patch on my cheek - but that was user error than product.  The Ordinary retinol product, in comparison, sounded way more harsh than the LRP, and I was scared to use it.  The consistency is a milky type liquid and I dribble out about a 1cm line of product on my finger, and I can honestly say I do enjoy this product a lot!  It has never burnt my skin or made it sore, and I do feel it has possibly smoothed it out a bit.  The results aren't drastic, hell despite my whining at the start of this world's longest paragraph, I don't really have many wrinkles so there isn't much to go off results wise.  However I am hoping I'm starting a bit of an insurance policy on my skin and helping it for the future.  I think I'll have to up the ante in the future but for now I find this product to be a really useable, gentle, effective introduction to the world of retinol.  It's 2% as well, which is reasonably high for retinol concentration (I think...don't quote me on that)

 Natural Moisturising Factors HA

This is a basic moisturiser.  There is really not an abundance to say about it as it is one bland little product.  But my my, how in love I am with this.  Prior to using this,I had been a devoted user of The Body Shop's hemp face protector.  I bought it in bulk, and I had been loyal to it for years.  But recently they sold out, and the girl in the store wasn't sure they'd be restocking.  I was pumping her for information a bit like some crazed coffee addict who had just been told all the coffee beans in the world had died - she seemed a bit scared.  She mumbled something about have I tried their Vitamin E range (which, FYI, I have and I reacted to) and I left before I embarrassed myself (further).  This story has a happy ending as the product came back into stock but it did make me think I'd better start the hunt for an alternative!  This moisturiser by Deciem doesn't claim to be anything more than just a moisturiser.  But if you're using all their acids and lactics and vitamin C and stuff then really all you need is "just a moisturiser."
It has a lovely consistency where it isn't greasy or too thick but has just enough substance to it to still feel delightful on a tight, dry face.  It smells vaguely like eczema cream, but that's fine with me (I don't think it is unpleasant, just a tad chemical rather than perfumed) and I just love to apply it.  I feel it spreads easily, it sinks in nicely without disappearing too much; makeup applies well over it.  It feels soothing and calming and blankets the skin without feeling like it sits on the skin.  It is basic but that is its beauty in my opinion.  Having had to spend way more on fragrance free, gentle, eczema friendly creams over the years, it's nice to have a budget alternative.  It has got the vibe of a sensitive skin cream but doesn't come with the overinflated sensitive skin price tag.

Caroline made me do it....

When you read the title of this post, you probably did one of three things.  You either chuckled knowingly to yourself, you rolled your eyes... or you went "Caroline who?"

If you were in the latter category then let me enlighten you.  Caroline Hirons is a skincare specialist, and is my latest obsession.  Literally, I am obsessed with a capital "O".  That woman could tell me to rub Crunchy Nut Cornflakes on my face and I'd do it.  You can check out her website here, but it should come with a health warning for your bank balance, because you will end up making purchases, I guarantee!

I think the root of my obsession stems from the fact Caroline is a very different "blogger" to my usual type (I'm not quite sure why I'm talking about bloggers as if they're love interests, but work with me).  My usual bloggers, like Fleur De Force, Zoella, Inthefrow, Beautycrush etc, are all "everyday", very attractive women, who I follow because I want to be like them.  A little shameful, but so true.  It's like having access to the tips and hints of the most popular girl at school.  How she gets her hair shiny, what lipstick she uses, what her perfume is. 

Caroline is a different vibe.  Firstly, she is older (sorry Caroline), she has kids, she has a husband, and (no offence other bloggers) she has had JOBS.  Real life jobs (one of which was at Space NK, you get the jist).  And she knows her stuff.  She gives me reasons for why I need some products, and why I don't need others.  She's shameless about what she spends on skincare, but she also tells you where not to bother to waste your money.  I feel she sits above the endorsements - she feels established enough in her own career and confident enough in her own advice that she just doesn't need all that. I don't expect her to ever don the cover of Vogue magazine, but I bet a lot of people backstage at fashion week will know her name.  She's like one of those amazing artists who spends years writing crazy good songs for other singers, and you know nothing about them even though they are a huge name in their industry, and then they emerge in their own right into the public conscience and they just have an air of legitimacy.  That's the vibe I get with Caroline.  And with all the heavy marketing, endorsements, clever PR etc...the beauty industry could do with some legitimacy.

And her advice has overhauled my skincare routine.  And I mean overhauled.  Unrecognisable. 

So I wanted to give my take on some of the "Caroline-recommendations" I've bought lately.  So I'd get comfortable, I think it's going to be a long 'un!!!

Merumaya Melting Cleansing Balm

My first foray was with this cleansing balm from Merumaya.  I'd never heard of Merumaya before, but apparently they do lean towards products for sensitive skin.  I suffer with eczema and my face can be super reactive if I use the wrong stuff, so I'm always nervous to use new products.

One thing I can say for starters though is that I didn't react to this at all.  No stinging, no soreness, no eczema.  You rub a small amount of this on a dry face, then emulsify it with a bit of water, then wipe it off with a clean flannel.  (Always a clean flannel.  Caroline makes a comparison with knickers that will make you too ashamed to ever reuse a flannel.  Ever again.)

There wasn't much of a scent to this product, but I liked that.  I did find that after using it, my face felt tight and dry, even though it felt soft to the actual touch.  I was always keen to get on to the next stages of my routine, namely the moisture bit.  Having said this, I didn't find my face was actually any drier from using this.  I used up an entire tube and throughout that time my skin stayed clear and soft.  Did I find it to be glowing?  Not really.  I wouldn't say my skin looked amazing using this, but in fairness to the product, I'm not so sure my skin has the capacity to look amazing.  Unless I start cutting out my takeaways, drinking more water etc etc etc.  One thing was for definite, I had no problems with my skin whilst using this.  No spots, no dryness, no blemishes.

So as cleansing balms go, I found this to be good at what it was meant to do, and totally safe on my sensitive skin.  I bought mine from John Lewis for £15.50 and I'd definitely buy again.

Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm

OK, so first thing's first...the packaging of this appealed to me, and I do find this contributes to how much I like a product.  It's sad but true, and I'm all too much aware of my weakness for nice looking products.  This comes in a jar rather than a tube, and even though it set me back a whopping £22, it's definitely going to blow the Merumaya out of the water with how long it lasts.  You barely use any of this, and the jar is pretty hefty. 

The consistency is like a solid wax which you kind of dig out of the jar and then rub on to your face.  It isn't annoyingly stiff and it melts onto the face really easily without needing to do much in the way of warming it up etc.  So you just rub it in, then once again you wipe it off with a wet flannel.

The first plus point for this is that I didn't react to it.  No stinging or soreness again, no angry lumpy spots, no tiny rashy spots.  Second plus point is that this blasts through my make-up.  I wear quite heavy foundation and this balm literally dissolves it off with so much ease and my face feels so clean after using it.  I enjoy using it, and I enjoy how it leaves my skin feeling, so I find I got into the routine of using it a bit more easily.  The thought of removing my foundation any other way now seems just wrong.

Again, I do get the tight feeling after using it that I got with Merumaya, but it is ever so slightly less noticeable. 

With regard to results, I've been really impressed with my skin since using this.  I think a lot of it is down to the fact I'm finally taking all my face make up off and cleaning my face properly, but either way I have definitely noticed my face is clearer.  Probably more so than I did with Merumaya, but then this is only one step in my new routine so it's not necessarily all down to this product.

**Disclaimer here....I do not use any cleansing product to remove my eye make up, so I cannot comment on its effectiveness at doing this.  I wear way too much mascara not to use a separate eye make up remover! (For information I use Simple's nourishing eye make up remover and have sworn by it for years)**

Hydraluron
This was one of the first ever products I used that had been featured by Caroline and my full review can be found here.

Pixi Glow Tonic

Ahh, possibly one of my favourite finds of the whole Caroline experience!!  This is an exfoliating acid toner.  The first time I read those words, they horrified me.  Exfoliating using ACID?!  Quite frankly...what?  My skin is super dry and sensitive so the thought of putting acid on my face?  Grab some smelling salts, I just passed out.

But this is where Caroline is good.  She explains why I need it.  And I need it because I've always hated hated hated scrubby exfoliators, and yet as I suffer from dry skin then I should be exfoliating like a mad woman to get rid of my layers of flaky dead skin cells.  So this was the answer - use a more gentle (yes, seriously) exfoliating toner.

This cost me £18 from the Pixi website, and it uses glycolic acid to exfoliate your skin.  It is also alcohol free, which I've learnt from Caroline is super important for us dry girlies.  It's a watery dark orange liquid that you just pop on a cotton pad and wipe over your face.  I only use this at night as several people say over use is a bad idea, and I can honestly say I haven't had a flaky skin attack once since using it.  My skin feels smoother, it looks clearer, and I've had noticeably less spots (mine are usually caused by a build up of dead skin in your pores...mmm yummy).  If I ever got to the point where I had to cut my regime down for financial reasons, this would be the one thing to stay.  I love it, I love what it is designed to do, and I think my skin really benefits from it.  I've gone through 4 bottles and I'm about to purchase another one.  Caroline does talk a LOT about the P50 and Liquid Gold exfoliating toners, but at the moment my bank balance doesn't really allow me to dabble with those higher end products.  Having said that, I'm not overly fussed, as I think the Pixi tonic is working just fine for me right now.  Maybe when I hit 30 next year and freak out then I may up my product range, but for now I'm still in my 20's damnit!  Clinging on...!

Hylamide Sub-Q Eyes Advanced Serum

This is a more recent purchase, and it was a very nervous one, as my eyes are the most reactive part of my face and I've had some bad experiences with eye creams in the past (Origins literally made my eyes peel off).  This has such clinical, serious packaging (it's from the same guy who brought us Hydraluron) that I was scared to use it.  And at £27 a bottle, it was a scary prospect for my bank balance too!  Having said that, I've felt dissatisfied with my eye cream situation for a while now, as I was using Kiehl's Creamy Avocado but that has no anti-aging properties whatsoever, so I felt I was punting a lot of money on something that wasn't doing a whole lot of good.

This is a strange consistency.  It's a milky, thick liquid and it comes with a dropper.  You only need a little bit of this, and the first time I used it, it really did sting.  I was panicking a bit, and did expect to wake up the next morning looking like a mole in daylight, but I'm SO glad I stuck with it.  The stinging stopped after a couple of days of use (morning and night) and since then I've been really happy with it.

I enjoy the feel of it - it has a nourishing, oily type undertone to it which feels nice on the eyes.  I have inherited heavy hooded eyes from my mother so I wasn't expecting this to give me an instant eyelift, but I did notice my eyes seemed softer and less dry and make up sat a lot happier on my lids and under eye area.  Caroline does say there is no such thing as a miracle worker (sob!) when it comes to eye cream, and you just need to keep the eye area nourished - and I do feel this does do this really well.  Will it hold back my 30 year old panic next year?  I'm not 100% convinced.  But I think that's more to do with my own issues rather than the effectiveness of the product!!

Organic Surge Overnight Sensation Face Cream

I struggled to get my hands on this, and ended up paying about £12 from a random website to get it.  I have always sworn by my beloved Body Shop Hemp Face Protector for my moisturiser, but felt I needed to mix it up at night and go with something a bit more "night-appropriate".  Caroline doesn't rave about this product, but it was in her "budget" theme that she ran for a week or so, and she had pretty good things to say about it.

The cream is very thick (still feels like a lotion, it's not like a wax or greasy type consistency) and has a strong lavender scent.  Strong scents freak me out as fragrance to me equals sore skin, but I haven't had any irritation from this at all.  It feels very thick and nourishing when on the skin, and I do enjoy using it.  My main issue with this is that I can't really pick apart whether it is doing my skin any good.  I've started using such an involved routine over the past few months, that it could be the wonder product making the whole routine work, or it could just be a bog standard product being carried by the rest of the regime.  I think when it runs out I will have a hunt around for an alternative, although Caroline does say it's the serum you use (i.e. Hydraluron) that is more important than the moisturiser you put on top.  And I do feel bad as I feel I'm giving this a mediocre review, which I'm not sure it 100% deserves.  But sometimes a product just doesn't blow you away.  I'd probably come back to this if my skin flared, or it got very dry or sore in winter, but at the moment I'm still eagle-eyeing for something new.  Sorry Organic Surge!!