Saving face!

When it comes to my face- or rather, looking after my face- I am the worst. I often leave my make up on when I go to sleep simply because I'm too tired to take it off, or if I do take it off I just use a babywipe (I can feel all the beauty bloggers screaming at me right now). I do use a moisturising strobe balm underneath my foundation which keeps my face quite soft but that's honestly about it. I don't really have many major skin issues, so skin care just isn't something that I think about. 

So when my friend Chloe, who is the account manager of Clinique at the Aylesbury Boots store invited me to come down and find out about their different skin care products I thought, 'why not?'. 

Well, I'm not lying when I say that girl has changed my life. For real. 

I have never used Clinique products, and obviously never had a facial or skin care routine, so I had absolutely no idea what to expect and let Chloe have complete free reign with my skin and my face. I find it quite hard to find products that I enjoy using on my skin, but Chloe assured me that Clinique products are as good as perfect- they test them on something crazy like 800 people, 7 times over! If one person has a bad reaction, they don't put it on the market. So yes, the products are practically perfect!

The first thing she did was ask me about any problem areas I felt I had, such as dry skin, enlarged pores, redness and so on. She used a little nifty device to make note of the issues I told her about. 

I told her that my biggest problem was getting little patches of dry skin in my T-zone and my horrific pores on my nose that I just can't seem to do anything about. From the description of my own skin, Chloe was able to work out in just a few minutes the exact products I would need for my skin. This included three bottles of product and a rather daunting looking brush...

She started with the scary looking brush. Clinique like to teach their clients how to use products before they buy them, so rather than just using the brush on my face Chloe instructed me how to use it and made me do it myself. The brush vibrates for 30 seconds and you just gently rub it over your face. I felt very revived afterwards! It's a little steep in cost at £79 but it lasts forever and you can use it all of the time, even in the shower! So it's definitely a worthwhile investment. 

Once I'd brushed my face over with this little device, it was time for the products! Chloe started with the facial soap, which was massaged into my face to cleanse it. It went on really smoothly and didn't feel too heavy or sticky on my skin which was a nice sensation on my face- I hate when products feel really heavy on my skin, it's so uncomfortable! 

The second thing she used on my face was the Clarifying Lotion, a product that acts as a liquid exfoliator. She explained to me that the problem I was having with my pores is that they were probably just clogged up with dirt (bleeee!) and needed a good cleanse. I sat there thinking "there's no way this will work, I've cleansed my pores before and nothing happened". But oh my gosh I could not have been more impressed. Chloe used literally the smallest amount of product on a pad that she wiped over my nose, and then she showed me what came off...

Okay so first of all how gross is that!?! But once you get over the inital gross-ness of it, how amazing is that? She wiped a teeny tiny amount of liquid over my nose and with absolutely no pain, no drama, no stinging, nothing, it pulled all of that out of my pores! I looked in the mirror and could see a difference in my nose straight away! I have honestly never been so impressed with a product and genuinely couldn't believe my eyes!

The third thing was the Dramatically Different lotion, which was bright yellow! This cream was so light on my skin and rubbed it so easily. It's used to keep your skin looking vibrant and keeps the natural glow from within to make your skin look healthier. You can put it on underneath other products too and it improves how they stay on your skin! Chloe did a patch test on my neck of a product, one with Dramatically Different lotion underneath and one without and there was a noticeable difference, both in how easily the product was applied to the skin and also how it felt on my skin afterwards!

Following this three step skin care routine, Chloe knew I wanted to work on sorting my pores out, so introduced me to the Pore Refining concealer, a product that makes your pores virtually invisible! It was hard to pick up on camera the dramatic difference that it made but we gave it a go... it made my nose feel incredibly soft too! (You'll have to excuse the dryness on my nose...this is part of the problem we are trying to eradicate!

Left side is with the pore concealer, right side is without!

It's safe to say I was impressed with this skin care routine, and was desperate to find out how much it would cost me to buy these products and continue with the routine at home. Well, it's safe to say they aren't the most cost effective products in the world, and altogether would come to about £70...however, the products last for two years and, as Chloe pointed out to me, everyone see's your face every day! It's important to use only the best products on it! 

While I sadly can't afford the full size products right now, Chloe showed me that there was a great alternative, of all three of the skin care products in a smaller size for just £20- so this is definitely something I'll be investing in! However, Chloe was also kind enough to give me some samples of the products she'd used on my face to tide me over until payday, which is great!

I was also then told about an amazing deal that Clinique has on offer right now! If you buy any skincare product, as long as one of them is foundation, you get some incredible free gifts! Take a look at all of these...

Incredible, right? Not only is the makeup bag a decent size and super cute in design, it's jam packed with Clinique goodies, including a gorgeous lipstick and highlighter! As previously mentioned, I hadn't ever used Clinique products before, but after having a play around with all of these products it's safe to say that I'm fully converted into a Clinique fan! Not to mention I am now correctly looking after my face, 21 years later...

If this post wasn't enough to convert you into a Clinique fan too, then maybe this offer will. Head over to the Clinique counter in Boots in Aylesbury and quote the code "LFFGClinique" to receive a free foundation sample! (If you feel a bit weird about saying that outloud, you can also show them this part of the blog post!) So what are you waiting for? Pop into Boots Aylesbury and spoil yourself to something from Cliniques brilliant range of products!

Thank you again to Chloe for inviting me in to get sorted out- she was absolutely amazing and I was so beyond impressed with her service, her advice and just how lovely she was! She's definitely a credit to Clinique and has made a new customer out of me!

Love from,
Florence Grace