welcome to Friday morning my darlings. As we all think about the list of things we need to get done before we can mark an official end to the week, let’s take a look back at some of the skincare that was used this week. While I will list out the products I used daily, this month i am also using the Juice Beauty Bamboo Pore Refining (2 min) mask twice a week (Mondays and Wednesdays). I will post a review separately after four full weeks of use, but I just wanted to mention that it is currently in use (this was week one). And now on with the Daytime skincare list.

Cleanser: Elemis Balancing Lime Blossom Cleanser (link will actually take you to my full review)

Essence: 111Skin Antioxidant Energizing Essence

Toner: Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Toner

Serum: Serumkind Purple Cabbage Drops

Eye cream: Glam Glow Bright Eyes

Moisturizer: Comfort Zone Hydramemory Cream Gel 24 hour double hydration cream gel

The Daytime Line up

The Elemis Cleanser I have used for a while. The link will actually take you to my full review. I absolutely adore this cleanser. And to be honest I would happily just continue to just use this cleanser. I did notice that I have a stock pile of sample sized cleansers though so what I might do is continue using this in the morning and then start rolling in some of the other sample sizes to try out in the evening. That way if any of them don’t perform as well as I would like I still have the Elemis there as back up. It is something I will look into later today. I think that might be a good way to try out some products with minimal concern.

The 111skin Essence is back and it is actually starting to look like the level is moving on the bottle. Since only one small drop is really needed with each application it felt like I was using it and magically the level stayed the same. I did take a week off, partially because I did want to test out the efficacy of the essence. The purpose of an essence is to prep the skin so it can more readily accept other skincare. It is essentially like a turbo boost for your skincare. So I wanted to see if i could tell a difference when I didn’t use the essence compared to when I did. And to be honest, I was happier with my other skincare when I was using the essence than when I skipped it. To me, that means that the essence is doing it’s job. Plus the scent of it is realty nice. It makes everything feel as though it is part of a high end spa. To be honest other than calling it ‘the scent of a high end spa’ I’m not entirely sure how to describe the scent other than slightly floral but not overwhelmingly floral. It smells like an expensive spa.

The Glow Recipe toner does not. It smells like watermelon juice mixed with stale water. As far as toners go it performs well and I’m sure the PHAs and BHAs are doing good things for my skin, but I just can’t take the scent. I have about a week’s worth of product left so I will be finishing this toner up this week, rolling it out of use and never repurchasing it again. There are many other Glow Recipe Products I love, this just isn’t one of them.

I do love the Glam Glow Bright Eyes Eye Cream though. This is not the first time I have used this eye cream and it won’t be the last. For a while it kept popping up on IPSY add ons and I kept picking up the little sample sized pots of it. It is what i am currently using. The small pots are adorable looking, but the also last a really long time. While it is good enough that I would be willing to spring for a full size, the small sample sizes last so long that I am perfectly happy using the sample size. In fact as this sample size was opened and rolled into my line up this week, I may see just how long one of the sample sizes lasts me. The trick is remembering which was the first week of use by the time I reach the end of the little pot of cream. I may take a second nw and put it on my calendar.

I am still on the fence about the Serum Kind Purple Cabbage drops. It is only the second week of use and I do like the way it feels on the skin, but I can’t say that i am seeing anything really note worthy. It is supposed to be calming and nourishing so perhaps I need to look a little harder to figure out exactly what i should be looking for. I do like the thickness of the serum and the fact that it does absorb fairly quickly. It does leave ,my skin feeling slightly sticky though which I’m not too fond of. Applying the moisturizer right after counteracts that so it isn’t a big deal, but it still isn’t my favorite feeling.

Because my moisturizer was too heavy for day time use, I decided to roll in another sample to try and use that up as my day cream. this week I went with the Comfort Zone Hydramemory cream gel. It is a light weight cream (white cream as opposed to clear gel). It absorbed into my skin very quickly and easily and was perfect for day time use. It would be far too light for night time use though. If I did use it at night I would have to roll in a sleeping mask. Since I am using it only during the day I have about another week’s worth of use out of this sample sixed tube. while I am likening it as a day cream it has a strange plastic-y floral sort of scent that i don’t find all that appealing. the scent isn’t strong enough for me to not want to use, it is just a strange scent for a moisturizer to have. it kind of smells like those fake plastic flowers that sometimes have a faux floral scent to go with them. When I was little I remember a store in town selling them but I haven’t seen them in a long time. And I kind of hope no one makes them any more. But it is that sort of scent. Odd but not bad. And not enough moisture for night time use, but great during the day.

The Night Time Line Up

Cleanser: Elemis Balancing Lime Blossom Cleanser (link will actually take you to my full review)

Essence: 111Skin Antioxidant Energizing Essence

Toner: Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Toner

Serum: Serumkind Purple Cabbage Drops

Eye cream: Glam Glow Bright Eyes

Moisturizer: Kate Somerville Exfolikate Glow Moisturizer

Makeup Remover: Vitabrid C12 Daily C Balancing Cleansing Balm

Lips: Laniege Lip Mask in Berry

A lot of the products listed at night are also listed in the day time so I won’t bore you with a repeat of their performance here and just refer you to the above paragraphs. Next week I am going to start rolling in a few new products so there will be a greater difference between night and day.

This week not so much.

The vitabrid cleansing balm I am really liking. It does a great job of removing makeup with out a lot of harsh scrubbing on the skin and it rinses off clean with no oily residue left behind. Removing makeup and leaving when the job is done is kind of top marks for a cleansing balm in my book. I am happy to continue using this until it is empty. I also have a couple of other Vitabrid products waiting in the wings that this makes me excited to try so that’s also a plus.

The Kate Somerville is an excellent moisturizer. The lemon scent to it is slightly industrial but not overpowering and it makes my skin feel so good that i am willing to ignore the scent. Plus it isn’t really a strong scent. The amount of hydration is perfect for me in the winter and at night. it was too much during the day (so I rolled in a different moisturizer for day cream) and I don’t think I could get away with using this moisturizer in the summer. It is possible it could still be a night cream in the summer, but I think it might be too heavy for my skin even then. My skin is in that weird category called “normal” and in the summer it leans towards oily and in the winter it leans towards dry. It never actually makes it to either oily or dry, but it rides those lines pretty tightly. Right now, this is the perfect night time moisturizer for me so I will happily use it. And while I would repurchase it, I would repurchase it in November, not June.

And then we wrap up with the Laneige Lip mask. In the winter it takes just one hour long walk for my lips to go from hydrated and fine to desert dry and chapped. At the moment I am using this nightly so that the dryness never lasts. It has meant that my walks may leave my lips slightly chapped but by the next morning the chapping is gone and the dry and chapped don’t ever reach the painful stage. I am a huge fan. It is a great product and one jar will last for a long time. And the little spatula that comes with it is honestly adorable. I want to try so many flavors of this lip mask.

So that my darlings was the skincare line up this week. Next week I’ll be shaking things up a little so the day and night time look a little bit different and I can continue to use up some of my sample sizes. Some of the samples will make the cut and be listed on the products to be ordered in the full size and others will simply be used and cleared out to provide space for other products. I’m sure it will be a skincare adventure. I hope the rest of your Friday is fabulous. I’ll check back in with you later when we get to the Friday Face mask. Until then, have a great one.