Olay Eye Brightening CC Cream Review

Olay Eye Brightening CC Cream promises skin perfecting coverage that will also help to fight the 7 signs of aging around the eyes; dullness, fine lines, dark circles, puffiness, uneven tone, provides gentle exfoliation, and a moisture barrier. It contains ingredients such as aloe vera, vitamin B3, B5, and E, as well as green tea. 

The cream is very light and has shimmer throughout which is used to brighten up the eye area. It glides onto the skin and dries completely within a few minutes but will still have a shine to it. On the shelf it may come across as a potential concealer but there is absolutely no colour or concealing once rubbed into the skin, and you will definitely need to use a concealer on top of this.

Total Effects 7-in-1 promises: 
1. Dullness; brightens the eye area
2. Fine Lines; reduces the appearance of eye wrinkles
3. Dark Circles; reduces appearance of dark circles
4. Puffiness; massage to reduce the look of puffiness
5. Uneven Tone; balances and helps even out skin tone
6. Gentle Exfoliation; improves surface skin turnover
7. Moisture Barrier; strengthens skin's natural defences against moisture loss

I have enjoyed using this as a primer and found that it works great as a base for my under eye concealer. It did not sting my eyes, and has the texture of a light eye cream. To get down to business, I didn't notice it correcting any skin tone, nor did I see a reduction in dark circles. It did slightly help with puffiness, especially on the day I was bawling my eyes out the night before (boy problems). #6 promises gentle exfoliation, however I wish more of an explanation were provided to explain how this works! The shimmer in the cream worked well to brighten up the eye area. I wouldn't use this at night, just because I am looking for something a bit healthier for your skin while I get my beauty sleep, and I associate anything CC cream with something that should only be for daytime use. 

Ingredients:

Water/Eau, Glycerin, Petrolatum, Isopropyl Isostearate, Isohexadecane, Niacinamide**, Ppg-15 Stearyl Ether, Stearyl Alcohol, Dimenthicone, Cetyl Alcohol, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract++, Tocopheryl Acetate^, Panthenol***, Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit, Allatoin, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract*, Titanium Dioxide, Mica, Acrylamide/Sodium Acryloyldimethyltaurate Copolymer, Behenyl Alcohol, C13-14 Isoparaffin, Benzyl Alcohol, Stearic Acid, Peg-100 Stearate, Cetearyl Glucoside, Cetearyl Alcohol, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Ethylparaben, Disodium Edta, Silica, Dimethiconol, Iron Oxides, Zinc Oxide, Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate, Laureth-7, Citric Acid, Polyhydroxystearic Acid, Isopropyl Titanium Triisostearate, Oleth-3 Phosphate, Triethoxycaprylylsilane. *Aloe Vera/Aloès, **Vitamin/Vitamine B3, *** Pro-Vitamin/Provitamine B5, ^Vitamin/Vitamine E, ++Green Tea/Thé Vert

Overall, the Olay Eye Brightening CC Cream was enjoyable for me to use, helped slightly with puffiness, and illuminating the under eye. It did not show any noticeable evening of the skin tone, fine line improvement, or exfoliation. It seems to be a bit of a dupe to Estee Lauder's Cooling Eye Illuminator, minus the cooling tip. The packaging is cute but the fact that it is in a tub is a bit of a bummer for sanitary reasons. I think I would purchase it again, because I enjoy the consistency, it's actually addicting for me to use, I don't know why.. oh and it works well under my Smashbox BB Eyes concealer. 

The eye brightening cream comes in a 13ml little jar and is available for $24.99 on Amazon.ca, with a retail price of $22.99, however I think I've seen it for around $21 at Walmart's in Canada.

Disclosure: I am a #BeautyUnited blogger. As part of my affiliation with this group I receive products and special access to P&G events, but the opinions on my blog are always 100% my own.

So...? Fragrance So Sexy Review

So...? Fragrance (also known as So...? With Attitude) has been focused on fragrances for girls and younger women since the 90's. They are easily available at your local drugstore and very reasonably priced. They are a UK brand however, they are available in Canada and I've spotted them at select Walmart's and Shoppers Drug Mart's. Now, I'm not sure if any of you had the same experiences I had when I was younger, but me and my friends used to love and be obsessed with the So...? line back in grade school. I remember seeing one girl with the So...? Sinful and I went out to buy it right away, but of course, as with everything, I've moved on to trying different perfumes since then. So when I was contacted by this company to test out one of their scents, I was curious to see how well it would bring back old memories!

So Fragrance, So Sexy scent description (from website):

Top Notes: Mandarin, Blackcurrant

Heart Notes: Rose, Jasmine

Base Notes: Sandalwood, Musk

The So...? Sexy Eau De Toilette is 30ml or 1 fl.oz and small enough to carry in a regular or large sized purse if you wanted to. It was hard to choose a scent through the computer but I chose the So Sexy because of the base note musk. I love my Rihanna Rebelle perfume which is a musky scent and a bit different, so I decided to try something that would hopefully be similar. This is comparable, but much sweeter and less spicy. It is bearable for me to wear all day, doesn't get annoying, and I find it very subtle. It has more of a mature scent, so if you are looking for something fruity, this scent isn't it, but it does smell sexy to me and I much prefer it because it makes me feel mature.

The So...? Sexy Body Fragrance contains 75ml or 2.5 fl.oz. I like that the body spray is a bit easier to travel with because it is lighter and not in a glass container. I don't really use body sprays for the body.. I typically spray them over my clothes. The scent doesn't seem to be any different from the perfume and I guess it is just a better alternative for on-the-go, or for when you would like a much lighter scent. 

I'm glad I gave a product from the So...? Fragrance line a go because I haven't had am impression of their products since grade school. I do think that many of their scents are directed towards younger girls and teens, however, this is a different scent that might attract a bit of an older crowd, or someone who is looking for a mature scent.

So...? Fragrance Eau De Toilette is available in a 30ml size for $9.99. The Body Fragrance is available in 75ml for $4.99. They can be found at select Walmarts and Shoppers Drug Marts in Canada, Brunet and Uniprix in Quebec.

These products were received for consideration. All opinions stated are my own and are not influenced by any affiliates.

PS. Sorry for the lack of posts for August. Busy with end of the semester, and other regular life problems for the typical girl. >.< I hope to begin posting more often, and getting caught up on reviews!

Skin Envy Hair Removal Strips & Soothing Cream Review

I've been a little MIA lately because guess what.. I'm finally graduating college! Well.. I hope.. I mean.. the reason I haven't been able to post is because I am finishing up 3 final classes, and passing/failing these classes will determine whether I am able to move onto university for September as a direct entry student! (Not exciting..just stressful.. don't know why I added the exclamation mark). 

I have a quick review on two skincare products that go hand in hand, by a company called Skin Envy (By ProFactor). Their products are centered around the removal of body hair and aftercare. Most of the women I know use shaving as their main method of hair removal, but I typically wax or epilate. I do this in hopes of the hairs growing back slower, less thicker... and hopefully one day they won't grow back at all! I think waxing is a great method of hair removal, as long as it is done right, as the proper aftercare is done.

Skin Envy's Sugar & Beeswax Strips for Face & Bikini come in a package of 16 strips (well there are 8, double sided = 16..). For the price of $7.99, I find this to be quite expensive (2 strips = $1), but I do see that face and bikini wax strips are often priced highly (why is that? they are so small). I use small strips like these for areas such as the moustache, fingers, around belly button. I tried warming them up in between my hands, but realized they didn't need much warming, they were basically ready to go! The strips were very sticky and I found them to be decently effective, although I do think I've used more effective strips. I could cut 1/3 of a strip, and use both sides for all of my fingers (knuckle area). I was able to get almost all the hairs, but wish I had been able to get them all the first shot! I was pretty impressed at how sticky they had stayed after using the same strip a few more times. The box also comes with 3 finishing wipes, but I usually just stockpile these and only use them if I'm waxing a large area.

The Skin Envy Soothing Cream is a cream with 2% lidocaine hydrochloride (a topical anesthetic) that is meant for use after the waxing process to soothe the skin. It is said to "provide temporary relief of pain & itching associated with minor burns, cuts & skin irritation". I don't find this a necessary step unless the pain really bothers you. It does provide me with instant relief of any stinging I was experiencing, but I wish this provided other skincare benefits. It does have quince seed extract & vitamin E to moisturize the skin. I have also used it on an area where I have major itchiness, and it worked to relieve the itch similar to my hydrocortisone cream. However, I'd only recommend this if you are very sensitive to pain or experience itching and want fast relief.. but I do feel like there are many more cheaper products that will do the trick such as aloe vera.

Both products are fragrance and paraben free. The Sugar & Beeswax Strips for Face & Bikini are available for $7.99 (16 strips), and the Soothing Cream is priced at $8.99. They are both available online for purchase at FarleyCo or are also available at Lawton Drugs & Walmart stores.

This product was received for consideration. All opinions stated are my own and are not influenced by any affiliates.