Have you ever met those
people who are just lucky? They win
everything: raffles, bets, life, everything.
Well, about 70% of me is one
of those people. I mean, I’m not exactly
winning at life (take a look at the gap between my posts if you need a clue),
but I’m just really good at winning stuff.
For instance, in high
school, I went to a debutante’s ball and won both the ticket raffle and the
flower raffle – I got a super fancy cutlery set and Pick n Pay hamper. Similarly, at my cousin’s debutante’s ball
fundraising event, I took a ticket for me and for Julian (who didn’t make it) –
and I won prizes for both tickets.
This year, so far, I won a
Clinique Pep-Start hamper from Cosmopolitan magazine, a prize from Nyx
Cosmetics is somewhere in the mail and a few weeks ago, I won R532.50 on the
lotto.
I’m not bragging (*cough*),
but I thought what better way to introduce my review of the Clinique Pep-Start
range than by telling you I did not pay for any of the products at all, but I’m
not being paid to write this (I wish).
That’s my Internet disclaimer.
Moving on...
I’ll be honest and say that
despite my loyalty to Clinique, I did not have the urge to run out and buy the
collection straight away. Not because I
didn’t want to try out, but simply because my skin goals are dodging wrinkles,
not necessarily brighter skin. That
being said, I’m not sorry I switched it up.
Since it’s supposed to brighten your skin, I decided to use it only in
the mornings and stick to my normal routine in the evenings.
Pep-Start
2-in-1 Exfoliating Cleanser: Scrub and Glow
Finally, an exfoliant that
can be used daily! As someone on Team
Texture, I battle to find exfoliaters that are gentle enough to use daily
(since it’s a daily problem), but tough enough to get rid of dead skin cells
and other texturising factors.
Since I’ve started using
this exfoliator (from about the beginning of March), I’ve noticed a dramatic
difference in my skin texture along my chin and jawline. It’s still there but it’s noticeably reduced,
and keeps on reducing as I use this product every day.
I also like that it’s a gel
formula with micro-granules, because that means I won’t be getting as greasy
later on in the day. I’ll definitely be
replacing this when I run out.
Pep-Start
Eye Cream
To be honest, I’m kind of
indifferent to this product. I
understand it to be an instantly hydrating and refreshing eye cream so that you
don’t look half-dead when you roll into work on 2 hours of sleep. I can see the value in that, but since I
don’t particularly suffer with bags, it’s really not that earth-shattering for
me. The difference in the skin around my
eyes after application is negligible.
That being said, I can
recommend this to you if you do suffer with bags. I’ll tell you how I know: I’m in the habit of
wiping the last little bit of my eye cream over my lips when I’m done. The applicator (which took me an hour to
figure out how to use) squirts out a tiny amount of product every time you
close it, so I usually just smudge it over my lips and rub it in. I can tell that it does in fact tighten and
refresh the skin around your eyes because the minute I wipe it on my lips, I
can feel a distinct tingling sensation.
Pep-Start
Hydro Blur moisturiser
Judging by the marketing
campaigns, I get the impression that this product was meant to be the flagship
product of the Pep-Start range. It’s meant
to moisturise, mattify and prime your skin in one step, which is the lazy
girl’s dream, amirite? However, it did
take me a while to figure out how to use this product for my skin type.
First off, let me say that I
like the fact that it’s a gel. My skin
type has switched from dry-combination to intensely oily – as it was when I was
a teenager. Moisture Surge moisturiser
is my go-to for winter because it’s not only a gel that is intensely
moisturising, but I don’t get shiny half way through the day. Summer really makes no difference – I’m
greasy after 11am regardless of what I use.
In terms of the mattify
claim, I can attest that it truly does mattify your skin – for the first couple
of hours after application.
Unfortunately, by 11am-ish, I was well and truly shiny on my first day
of testing it out. I’m not mad though,
because I am used to this problem, so a little blotting and I’m good to
go. The biggest stumbling block was how
extremely dry I felt in those first few hours.
My skin was like a wino at 4am after a big night, when your lips curl
into your face you’re so dehydrated. I
absolutely hated the feeling.
Fast forward a month or two and
I’m mixing it with my Superdefense Day cream (with SPF, mind you) and we are
going strong. I feel like it’s almost
mandatory to pair it with the face wash for the best results, which I am
seeing. I can’t say for certain if it’s
the combination or the individual products working on my skin texture.
Lastly, this product claims
to prime your skin for pristine makeup application. It does dry down matte and slightly tacky, so
your foundation does have a good base to stick to. When I’ve had to slap on a face after a day
out or something, I’ve applied this as my primer and it does work fairly
well. I wouldn’t, however, recommend it
as your primer for long days or for big events.
I suppose I should end this
by saying “thank you” to Clinique South Africa and Cosmopolitan Magazine for my
prize – but I’m actually going to thank you, my readers, who probably follow me
on Instagram and had to put up with all the filtered photos I had to post to
win this prize. Some of you even liked
the photos (I’m looking at you, Kelly).
So thanks!
Until next time (not next
week, because I’m super lazy!), wishing you all the love and light in the
universe ♡♡♡
PS. I was so lazy this week (and admittedly sick - feel sorry for me!) that all my images come from www.clinique.com. #sorrynotsorry