Skin Care

Clinique 3-Step Skin Care Samples

Swathy · March 18, 2013 · 2 Comments

Clinique 3-Step Skin Care Product Review

Well, you must have already been aware of the amazing 3-Step Clinique skin care routine. I got their samples very recently and I used them for a week now. Since the turn-around time was very less, please consider this as a preview instead 🙂

I was definitely excited about using their products because I have heard all the amazing things about the Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion. So, finally, I got a chance to use it and how did it fare for my skin? Ok, let me start with the face wash. Before I start, please consider that the products I received were for dry-combination skin.

Clinique Liquid Facial Soap Mild (1st Step)

The product is transparent and is gel-like in consistency. I don’t remember reading the ingredient list so can not say if it has SLS but I think it is soap free. Anyways, it lathers really well. But, somehow I felt it has alcohol because it smells of it sometimes! But, the product is really gentle on skin and cleanses well. I do not remember it drying my skin.

Clinique Clarifying Lotion Clarifiante 2 (2nd Step)

The toner is supposed to clean the skin, remove the makeup residue and the dead skin cells. It smells strongly of alcohol. And, stings the eyes real bad! I am using it very regularly after the face wash. It cleans the skin well as it is supposed to. It also controls the oil production and the best part is it leaves a cooling sensation which stays for like 10-15 minutes which feels really awesome in these hot summers.

excuse the extremely dry skin!!

Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion (3rd Step)

The product is very light and non-greasy and literally disappears into the skin. But, since it is for dry-combination skin, I guess it wasn’t enough for my skin! Sometimes, I did feel dry after using it. But for the most part, especially in the morning, it suited me perfectly. The MVO sunscreen glided on the moisturizer easily and my skin did not feel dry AT ALL which it sometimes does because of the Zinc Oxide in the sunscreen. And, the oil on my skin was almost non-existent!

Overall Experience with Clinique 3-Step Skin Care
Since my skin is not exactly troublesome, I would not say I saw drastic difference. But, when I started using these products, for the first two days, I saw my skin behave really well. But, later, somehow it returned back to normal or may be I just got used to the change. I am not able to decide which one is the case with me! But, yup, if you are willing to shell money, I would definitely recommend the kit. And, I think it would be of more help to the oily skin people. But, damn the expense (the regular kit is around 4k!).

Sleep and Skin {Skin Care}

Swathy · February 24, 2013 · 5 Comments

So, having girl colleagues and girl friends can actually be awesome! Oh, I do have many girlfriends but none in Hyderabad so I used to miss the gossip part. Now, I am getting that in extra-servings. That’s getting a little irritating but I am digressing.

So, one day we were just talking about dull skin and not so good sleeping routine. So, my colleague told me that why the skin glows after a really good refreshing sleep. The blood circulation improves in the scalp and the face during the cleansing process which makes the skin glow.

Now, if you did not have proper sleep, the circulation is not good and the face goes dull. Anyways, that is also the reason why hair grows well when you have proper sleep routine. Ok, there is another theory which I want to share with you.

Have you ever wondered why sometimes you wake up feeling refreshed and sometimes you feel so sleepy, both after having the same amount of sleep? That is due to the 90-minute cycle of sleep. So, the body goes through all phases of sleep every 90 minutes. And, you need minimum of 4 of these 90-minute cycles (4 hours) for a restful sleep.

If you wake up between this 90 minute cycle anytime, your head feels groggy and heavy. If you had a restful sleep, that was because you completed the 90 minute cycle, that may be 5, 6 or 7 in number. For example, if I am getting up at 7:00 and sleeping at 10, I got 9 hours of sleep which is 6 cycles of 90 minutes.

So, if you get 4 or 5 or 6 or 7 or any number of cycles of sleep, you will wake up refreshed but if your sleep breaks between this 90 minutes, you would not be refreshed and you would have a sleep hangover almost all day. Also, it is necessary that you should not oversleep either.

So, having a set routine of sleep helps the body maintain itself. What do you think?

Have you tried Aloe Vera? {Skin Care}

Swathy · February 20, 2013 · 48 Comments

Yup, I know you would have already used it. I have also been recommending aloe vera since ages. But, today, I am going to talk about my friend’s routine with aloe vera which she is very diligent about.

She is from Delhi and surprisingly she did not find aloe vera plant in Hyderabad. Really, right? Nah, aloe vera is easily available here but she or rather we were too lazy to buy a plant and nurture it.

Also, keeping an aloe vera plant among girls can dry it faster than a rose plant in a desert 😀 Well, obvious, no? Granted that aloe vera plant is quite adaptable but still you get my point! Anyways, coming back to my friend, she got lotsssss of aloevera leaves from home and keeps them stored in the fridge.

And, almost every evening or once in three days (I don’t know the frequency), she takes a small piece of the leaf and rubs the entire gel on her face for like 30 minutes or so while watching television.

And, then, she rolls off all the extra pieces or small sticky things present in the leaf which cling to the skin and lets the gel get absorbed entirely. And, she sleeps just like that without washing it off.

Results? S attests to the fact that this is one of the reasons why her oily skin turned normal. She is prone to pimples but fortunately its frequency has decreased. And, as I said, she does this very very diligently!!

So, for all the oily beauties, try this and you might get lucky! Also, for all skin types, aloe vera improves hydration of the skin and makes the skin glowing and really supple!! This is one of the great skin care tips for summer as well.

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pH level and Citrus Fruits

My Skin Care Routine