First Impressions: Clinique Mild Clarifying Lotion
Once I finished up the MyChelle Pumpkin Cream, nothing I used after that seemed to hydrate my face quite as well. Then last weekend, my face decided to be a jerk and started getting really itchy again. I have a few theories on why it happened (in no particular order): spring allergies, the laundry detergent used at the hotel we were staying at, using a new face cleanser, using a different moisturiser, re-trying Meaningful Beauty's Creme de Serum, using Life Brand's Clear Action acne medication (5% benzoyl peroxide), a combination of the above, or my face just likes freaking out randomly to piss me off.
Very quickly after the itching started, the flaking began. It was mostly around the mouth and chin area, though my cheeks itched as well. Also, my face had ugly red splotches all over. Nothing I tried seemed to calm the redness and flaking for more than a few hours. FInally, I gave up and on Friday, I bought a BHA-type exfoliator. I'm no skincare expert, so all I can tell you is that salicylic acid (the BHA exfoliator) apparently helps, uh, exfoliate the skin. Shocking, I know. And yes, because I still have that the Bay gift card from my birthday "adventures", I used it to buy Clinique's Mild Clarifying Lotion. I'm never going to actually use that gift card on something frivolous, am I?
Not going to lie, I was a bit apprehensive of using this toner-like product. I just went back to dusty archives from the ancient times of when I still roamed the earth as grand lizard ruler with tiny arms because I know I've written about Clinique's toners before and whaddaya know, I purchased my first Clinique skincare products with a gift card from The Bay. A gift card I received when I had to exchange a birthday present because I was allergic to it. Alas, 'twas a very lovely watch. (No, it was not a gift from my dad that time.) Hello, history, nice seeing you again.
That first time I used Clinique turned me off from that brand for a very, very long time. Almost nine years, in fact. At that time, I didn't know that most of Clinique's toners contained alcohol, a terrible thing to use on your skin. They had suckered me into using their three-step regime, which I ended up having to return because it dried out my skin something crazy. 'Cause, you know, alcohol. Let this be a warning to us all: do not use the Clinique toners with alcohol. Which is most of them.
Except the Mild Clarifying Lotion. That one's safe. Though it apparently doesn't have as much salicylic acid as it could have if you have acne-prone skin. Which I do, but I'm just trying to get rid of the dry, flaky patches first. I started using this Friday night and today, my skin feels much better. The dryness and red splotches are nearly all gone. There is a lot less flaking too. I wasn't expecting it to work quite this quickly so I'm rather impressed. Tentatively, I recommend this for those with combination to dry skin looking for a mild exfoliator to help with dry spots. We'll see in the coming days how this plays out.
On a different note, I bought Kat Von D's Ladybird eyeshadow palette when I was in Michigan. In my defense... I don't have one. I just really, really, really wanted the matte orangey Cleopatra shade and none of the Sephoras up here seem to sell the Ladybird palette anymore. You can see super great swatches on Temptalia. I just realised that I have a lot more KVD palettes than any other brand. This is not because of any great love for the woman; I barely know anything about her and really couldn't care less. I'm just drawn to the colour ranges of her palettes. A lot of them really suit my light complexion and dark eyes/hair. Anyway, I couldn't help but want to incorporate the Cleopatra shade into my next look. I think it's a really nice one, though perhaps not necessarily on me because it's so warm. As I was doing it (flying by the seat of my pants, by the way, like most of my eyeshadow looks), I realised that it was looking autumn-like. I wanted something more summer-appropriate, so I put green on the lower lash line and I really feel it brightens up the look considerably. A bright teal there would probably look even more fantastic. Using deep plum instead would likely bring the look back into autumn territory. I should add that the Sally Girl eyeshadow in Brick continues to perform admirably and blends like a dream. Sure, I'd prefer if it was a bit more pigmented, but for something so cheap, I'm not complaining.
Most of lid except outer corner: Kat Von D Cleopatra (matte brownish orange)
Crease: Sally Girl Brick (shimmering mid-toned rust)
Outer V: KVD Night of the Hunter (matte, dark hunter green)
Inner corner and inner third of lower lashline: KVD Empathy (shimmering periwinkle blue)
Outer two thirds of lower lashline: KVD Nerd (mid-toned green with silver glitter)
Browbone: KVD Vespertine (matte pale peach)
Upper liner: KVD Autograph pencil in Immortal Love (matte, warm dark brown)
Waterline: Clio Gelpresso waterproof gel pencil in Beige Shine (shimmering pale beige)
I accidentally wrote "Cleo Gelpresso" and Chrome immediately yelled at me to change it to "Clio" and now I'm even more scared of Google.
Very quickly after the itching started, the flaking began. It was mostly around the mouth and chin area, though my cheeks itched as well. Also, my face had ugly red splotches all over. Nothing I tried seemed to calm the redness and flaking for more than a few hours. FInally, I gave up and on Friday, I bought a BHA-type exfoliator. I'm no skincare expert, so all I can tell you is that salicylic acid (the BHA exfoliator) apparently helps, uh, exfoliate the skin. Shocking, I know. And yes, because I still have that the Bay gift card from my birthday "adventures", I used it to buy Clinique's Mild Clarifying Lotion. I'm never going to actually use that gift card on something frivolous, am I?
Not going to lie, I was a bit apprehensive of using this toner-like product. I just went back to dusty archives from the ancient times of when I still roamed the earth as grand lizard ruler with tiny arms because I know I've written about Clinique's toners before and whaddaya know, I purchased my first Clinique skincare products with a gift card from The Bay. A gift card I received when I had to exchange a birthday present because I was allergic to it. Alas, 'twas a very lovely watch. (No, it was not a gift from my dad that time.) Hello, history, nice seeing you again.
That first time I used Clinique turned me off from that brand for a very, very long time. Almost nine years, in fact. At that time, I didn't know that most of Clinique's toners contained alcohol, a terrible thing to use on your skin. They had suckered me into using their three-step regime, which I ended up having to return because it dried out my skin something crazy. 'Cause, you know, alcohol. Let this be a warning to us all: do not use the Clinique toners with alcohol. Which is most of them.
Except the Mild Clarifying Lotion. That one's safe. Though it apparently doesn't have as much salicylic acid as it could have if you have acne-prone skin. Which I do, but I'm just trying to get rid of the dry, flaky patches first. I started using this Friday night and today, my skin feels much better. The dryness and red splotches are nearly all gone. There is a lot less flaking too. I wasn't expecting it to work quite this quickly so I'm rather impressed. Tentatively, I recommend this for those with combination to dry skin looking for a mild exfoliator to help with dry spots. We'll see in the coming days how this plays out.
On a different note, I bought Kat Von D's Ladybird eyeshadow palette when I was in Michigan. In my defense... I don't have one. I just really, really, really wanted the matte orangey Cleopatra shade and none of the Sephoras up here seem to sell the Ladybird palette anymore. You can see super great swatches on Temptalia. I just realised that I have a lot more KVD palettes than any other brand. This is not because of any great love for the woman; I barely know anything about her and really couldn't care less. I'm just drawn to the colour ranges of her palettes. A lot of them really suit my light complexion and dark eyes/hair. Anyway, I couldn't help but want to incorporate the Cleopatra shade into my next look. I think it's a really nice one, though perhaps not necessarily on me because it's so warm. As I was doing it (flying by the seat of my pants, by the way, like most of my eyeshadow looks), I realised that it was looking autumn-like. I wanted something more summer-appropriate, so I put green on the lower lash line and I really feel it brightens up the look considerably. A bright teal there would probably look even more fantastic. Using deep plum instead would likely bring the look back into autumn territory. I should add that the Sally Girl eyeshadow in Brick continues to perform admirably and blends like a dream. Sure, I'd prefer if it was a bit more pigmented, but for something so cheap, I'm not complaining.
Most of lid except outer corner: Kat Von D Cleopatra (matte brownish orange)
Crease: Sally Girl Brick (shimmering mid-toned rust)
Outer V: KVD Night of the Hunter (matte, dark hunter green)
Inner corner and inner third of lower lashline: KVD Empathy (shimmering periwinkle blue)
Outer two thirds of lower lashline: KVD Nerd (mid-toned green with silver glitter)
Browbone: KVD Vespertine (matte pale peach)
Upper liner: KVD Autograph pencil in Immortal Love (matte, warm dark brown)
Waterline: Clio Gelpresso waterproof gel pencil in Beige Shine (shimmering pale beige)
I accidentally wrote "Cleo Gelpresso" and Chrome immediately yelled at me to change it to "Clio" and now I'm even more scared of Google.