Product Review: Clinique Gift Spring 2011 - Not a bad choice for a sensitive skin!

by Inna Grinblat of GlamorizedSkin

In today's post, I will review products from Clinique Gift Offer with Purchase for Spring 2011.

This brand caught my attention because of the personal issue I have stumbled upon recently and I want to share my experience with our readers. Ever since puberty, I had breakouts and acne. I have oily/combination skin type and it took me a while to figure out the proper way to take care of my skin so that it looks and feels healthy. Once I figured out the proper routine for my skin type, my skin would react only if I put too much benzoyl peroxide (disinfectant) or salicylic acid (exfoliant) on it. Even then, it would get red or peel a little, but overall I could use any product I wanted and my skin would not react to it. I have never had, what many of my girl friends and acquaintances had and have - skin sensitivity. However, several months ago all of this changed. The skin on my face, as well as, on my whole body suddenly did not like anything it came in contact with. I had to change my laundry detergent, hand soaps, hand lotions, body lotions, shampoos, body wash, and etc. Basically, I had to change the way I was thinking when I would purchase any of those products - no fragrance, no preservatives or irritants. The worst part was that my favorite make up products would irritate the skin on my face with the most effect on the skin around my eyes. I am a make up artist and I love to play with make up and come up with different looks. I have many eyeshadows, eye liners, powders, blushes, and many other things and it took me some time to figure out which products I am sensitive to. I also had to find new products for sensitive skin. From my extensive research on make up products and brands that are designed for sensitive skin, two stood out the most: Clinique and Almay. I already wrote a review of Almay eyeshadow, and we will be reviewing more products of this brand in the near future. Let's focus on Clinique now.

This spring, Clinique was offering a gift with a purchase, which included a Medium Pink Floral Print Fabric Cosmetic Bag, a Small Floral Print Fabric Cosmetic Bag, Lash doubling Mascara in Black, Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion, Take the Day Off Eye Makeup Remover, Compact Shadow Duo and Soft-Pressed Blush, Different Lipstick & Long Last Glosswear Duo. Two choices of color combinations were available: mauve and pink. I will refer to them as plum and coral throughout the article because I believe they describe the colors more accurately. I believe that all of these products are of a very good quality and are safe to use by all of us with sensitive skin. However, the blush brush that comes with the set it horrible and should be thrown out. It does not provide an even application and the bristles are very coarse and unpleasant to the skin. Let's look at each product individually:

Lash Doubling Mascara
This is a good mascara that is recommended for every day use because, although, it does increase the thickness and length of your lashes, it does not give you tremendous drama such as Maybelline New York Volum’ Express Turbo Boost Mascara 7X. It goes on smooth and does not clump or smear. 

Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion
This lotion has been a portion of the Clinique's 3 Step System for a very long time. Although it does have moisturizing ingredients, it lacks antioxidants or any other "state-of-the-art" ingredients such as some of other Clinique moisturizers have (The Cosmetics Cop website and books provide more information on state-of-the-art products and ingredients). You may use this lotion on your hands and feet as it has mineral and sesame oils, which will moisturize your dry to very dry skin. However, I would not recommend using it on your face, because there are other, more beneficial and less expensive products out there.

Take the Day Off Eye Make Makeup Remover
This is a good, silicone and water, make up remover that removes not only regular make up but also stubborn, waterproof mascara and liners as well as long lasting lipsticks. There are many makeup removers out there, but the best one I came in contact with so far is Lancome Bi-Facil, Double-Action Eye Makeup Remover and I am happy to say that Clinique is on the same level of quality with Lancome when in comes to make up removers. 

Color Surge Eye Shadow Duo
There were two choices of the Gift that you could choose - plum colors or coral colors. The plum colors gift had Twilight Mauve/Brandied Plum duo and the coral colors gift had Rosewine duo. Each color combination is on the opposite sides of the color spectrum. The plum eyeshadows have very cool undertone and the coral eyeshadows have very warm, subtle undertone. However, all the colors should look fairly well on any skin tone. 

Soft Pressed Powder Blush
The plum colors gift had a reddish-pink blush, Smoldering Plum, that does not match the cool shade of the eyeshadows in the set because it has a very warm undertone. However, it is a very nice color and would work with most skin tones. Be aware that it has a lot of pigment and the color will look intense if it is not applied carefully. As I always recommend, start with small amount and layer to increase intensity. The color color gift had a light peachy blush, Pink Blush. This is a light color that will look very natural on a fair skin. However, if you have olive skin (or darker) or you are very tanned, most likely it will not show up on your skin.

Lipstick

Each gift set had very nice lipstick colors. However, both are a little extreme in terms of colors. For example, the coral gift set had Think Bronze lipstick, that is a deep shade of orange. It would look good with a very bright/fresh make up for a walk at the beach. The plum gift set had a completely different, deep plum color, Shy, which would look vulgar during the day but a good option for an elegant evening.

Long Lasting Glosswear SPF 15
In both cases, the lipgloss matches well with the lipstick in the set. Therefore, if you decide to buy both in a full  product size the guess work is done for you. The coral gift set has a very sheer, peach color, Air Kiss. The plum gift set has a plum color gloss, Mystic. This lipgloss can be worn on its own and stays on longer than regular lipglosses. However, when it's combined with a lipstick it looses its long wear properties and you will find you need repeated application of both products.

Lastly, I wanted to say that although the offer has ended, we can still buy these products in full size form at any department store that sells Clinique. I fully intend to do so once I run out of anything because these products work so well on my newly sensitive skin. I hope you found this review beneficial and I welcome your questions as always.


Photographs Source: www.amazon.com; www.simonelovesmakeup.com