Product Reviews

Product: Chanel Sublimage Eye Cream
Price: $175 (!) for 0.5 oz jar (!!)
Use: A top-notch eye cream
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: B-

I wish I’d known how outrageously expensive Chanel’s Sublimage Eye Cream was before I dipped my paws into the wee sample jar (0.13 oz). For two weeks I’d been gleefully applying it morning and night, impressed by its ability to reduce the appearance of my ever-present dark circles. I was ready to crown it as the stuff of eye cream fantasy when I found out the price.

Brace yourself.

It’s $175! Holy credit card debt, ya’ll!

What a shame, too, because I love this cream. Sublimage moisturizes remarkably well, doesn’t irritate the sensitive skin around my eyes, reduces puffiness and decreases the appearance of my dark circles. Those are the benefits I noticed, but Chanel also claims the cream targets wrinkles, fine lines and helps restore skin’s natural firmness. It’s thick and rich yet absorbs surprisingly well, and I think it smells faintly of vanilla ice cream, yum.

If I were blessed with the power of rhyme (I’m not), I’d write a rap about it and ask Timbaland to make a banging remix that I could dance to all day long. I love this stuff that much. I love it even more than my previous eye cream crush, MAC Moisturelush ($30, 0.5 oz jar), and that’s saying a lot. I feel Chanel’s Sublimage moisturizes as well as (or better than) MAC Moisturelush does but soaks in faster and requires less work to apply.
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This week your girl tested (aka played with) three of the products from Dove’s new Go Fresh line. You may have heard about Go Fresh while watching The Hills. In one of last night’s episode’s, Alicia Keys co-stars with two other women in an extended-length commercial — what Dove calls a micro-series.

The Three Go Fresh Fragrances

• Refresh: water lily and fresh mint
• Cool Moisture: cucumber and green tea
• Energize: grapefruit and lemongrass

Far and away, Energize took the cake as my favorite of the Go Fresh fragrances. Dove describes it as “grapefruit and lemongrass.” I could have sworn I picked up more orange, lemon, baby powder and soap, but still — it’s a wonderful scent.

In the interest of beauty science, I road tested three of the Go Fresh family products in the Energize scent last night before and after dance class — Ultimate Clear Invisible Solid deodorant, Beauty Body Wash and the Body Mist. In hindsight, it may not have been a great idea to nighttime test a so-called energizing product, but I expected to be up late anyway (TV time).

Was your friendly neighborhood beauty addict, in fact, energized by Energize?
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L’Occitane’s new Ultra Comforting Cleansing Milk doesn’t remove all of my makeup, but it’s one of the most moisturizing cleansers I’ve used in a while.

It’s no-rinse, so you can use it with or without water, and leaves a soothing, moisturizing film. I have sensitive skin, and some moisturizing cleansers I’ve used in the past left my face dry, stripped and tight. L’Occitane got the moisturization part of Cleansing Milk right because after using it my face feels incredibly moisturized and soft to the touch.

Now for the catch: it doesn’t remove all of my foundation and powder, and at $22 for a 6.7oz. bottle, it’s expensive. Because it’s not a great makeup remover, I only use it in the mornings.

I think it’s a better moisturizing cleanser than Cetaphil, but Cetaphil has it beat as far as price (an 8oz. jar of Cetaphil runs about $8) and its ability to remove makeup.

Ultra Comforting Cleansing Milk is one of four products in the Shea & Cotton skin care line, which was formulated by L’Occitane to minimize the risk of allergic reactions for folks with sensitive skin. The products contain minimal ingredients and no perfumes, alcohol, artificial colors or preservatives. L’Occitane also says they’re packaged in a special way to minimize contamination.
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