Today reader Christine shares how an oil-based product finally soothed her highly sensitive, naturally oily skin.
Oil for oily skin??
Lately, I’ve been intrigued by the idea of using oil on my skin… It’s a scary thought, after all, since I already have oily skin.
I joined the cleansing oil band wagon after a recent discovery, and I’m thoroughly enjoying it to say the least. 🙂
I made my new discovery a few weeks ago after suffering a terrible breakout. I’d picked at my skin out of desperation, going the whole 9-yards…steaming, extracting, exfoliating — you name it, I did it!
I decided to venture out to the mall to search for something to gently calm my sensitive skin. Without having anything particular in mind, I aimlessly wandered around Macy’s just browsing the skin products.
Clarins to the rescue!
That’s when I came across the Clarins counter and their sensitive skin section. Though their day and night creams sounded great, I was more interested in their Skin Beauty Repair Concentrate. At $59 USD for 0.5 oz, it was quite a hefty price.
The bottle says: “Apply to face or to sensitive areas, using light, sweeping movements.”
On Clarins’ website they state: “An emergency S.O.S. skin care treatment for sensitive skin. Immediately calms irritated skin, decongests and reduces a red appearance. Its ultra-soothing formula contains 90% plant extracts to help restore weakened tissues.”
For the record, my skin was in bad condition prior to giving Skin Beauty Repair a try.
Overall, my cheeks were on the red side, with healing bumps and hyper pigmentation. I had some dry flakes going on here and there, but my skin didn’t feel tight or anything. The night I purchased the product, I eagerly rushed home to give it a try.
One pump was enough for both my cheeks and the sides of my nose. The texture is light: it is an oil but doesn’t feel thick or heavy like olive or cleansing oils. And it’s slightly on the watery side, with a minty-peppermint kind of smell (soothing and light).
When I applied it on my cheeks, I felt the coolness instantly. Within seconds, it absorbed into my skin, which looked moisturized, but not like I’d put oil on it.
Optionally, I could have applied moisturizer after the oil, but I didn’t want to overdo it on my first night. The oil itself felt like enough to keep my skin hydrated.
The verdict
Within 30 minutes, the redness on my skin was completely gone, as were the flakes, and the bumps looked smaller (although they hadn’t completely disappeared).
By the next morning, my skin felt plump, moisturized, soothed, and most importantly…very calm.
I wouldn’t recommend using this every night, since it is an OIL, but I suppose if you have drier, more mature skin, it would be okay.
For me, I use it when I NEED to, like when my skin’s being extra sensitive and hormonal. Most nights, I just stick to my regular night cream and that’s it.
NOTE: The saleslady told me that Skin Beauty Repair even helps with skin sensitivities like bug bites, surgical scars, burns, rashes, and even cuts.
After using it three nights in a row, my skin was nearly back to normal. With proper moisturizing and concealing in the mornings, my skin didn’t look too shabby! Though it’s on the pricey side, I’d say it’s a good product to have around, just in case.
Nothing’s perfect
My biggest gripe is that the bottle itself is glass, so be careful should you decide to travel with it. Also, it comes with a pump, but the pump sucks! It’s hard to squirt just half a pump with it, and the product gets everywhere. What a waste! I end up unscrewing the top and accessing the product that way, which eliminates the waste. It’s too valuable (and expensive) to do otherwise.
This stuff’s great for skin emergencies, on your face or not. Check it out if you suffer from rosacea or eczema, too. And don’t be scared that it’s an oil! 🙂
The Breakdown
- You may like Skin Beauty Repair if your skin gets easily irritated or has been irritated lately, and you’re looking for something to help calm it down.
- $59 USD for 0.5 fl.oz.
- Great for skin concerns like bumps from congested skin, cuts, scars, redness, flakiness, hyper pigmentation and overall irritation.
This guest post was written by Christine, a graduate student who studies literature and dreams of becoming a college professor. She likes many Asian brands but mostly enjoys NARS, MAC, Shu Uemura and Make Up For Ever. Her guilty pleasures include chocolate covered strawberries and buying cheap yet cute flats at Target!
Hmm, yea. I wouldn’t like a glass bottle either especially with an oil-based product. The oil seems like it would be extra slippery on the bottle 🙂 Otherwise, the product itself sounds pretty nice.
I picked this up about a week ago at Nordstrom’s. I have pretty sensitive combo skin and found this to be extremely soothing. I’ve used it almost every night and wake up looking fresh – with calmed skin! The $59 price tag is a bit steep, but I suppose if you’re only using it occasionaly, it could go a long way.
I was nodding my head thinking, “I need to go out and try this product” over and over again until I got to this sentence:
“$59 USD for 0.5 fl.oz.”
FIFTY-NINE DOLLARS? For 1/2 an ounce? Seriously? There’s no way–miracle cream or not–that I’m forking over that much money for that dinky little thing. I can buy almost 7 bottles of OPI nail polish at full price ($8.50) and nearly 12 bottles of OPI at Trans Design, Inc. online store (at $4.99 a bottle) and they have the same amount of ounces! Would I rather buy 11.8 bottles of OPI or one teeny tiny miracle oil? I’m taking the 11.8 bottles of OPI.
I’m with you Kate and Zena! It’s way too much money for something so small, unless I know it worked for me.
If the full bottle is 1/2 oz I bet the samples are teeeny!
The best product I have found for soothing and cleansing my skin is Erno Laszlo’s Active Phelytil Oil and sea mud soap. Wet your skin, just a little of the oil all over face, take sea mud soap bar and rub it gently over your skin (yes, the oil is still there), then rinse really well. Your skin will be moist AND clean. This product has been around forever – you get good prices from the Erno Laszlo web site and on ebay. Nordstrom carries it, but it’s VERY pricey there.
Sarahc, OPI’s mini-bottles are 1/8 ounce. I stink at math but I think that’s about 3/4 tinier (half of 1/2 is 1/4 and half of 1/4 is 1/8, that I know). Basically, imagine a bottle of OPI, shrink it in half, then shrink the half again by half.
The Clarins doesn’t come in sample size, from the looks of it on their website. You get full size or no size. Unless it’s the Holy Grail itself, I’m not dishing out that kind of money. My prescription-strength hydrocortisone and Aveeno work nicely for my hyper-sensitive skin.
I have very sensitive skin too and easily get irritated for no apparent reason. I probably will skip this product as it contains lavender which is said to irritate skin. 🙂
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I’m glad to see more and more people trying oils! I actually don’t understand why people are so afraid of them… Vegetable oils come in a HUGE range of textures and viscosities, plus, butters such as cocoa and shea are almost molecularly identical – they’re just solid at room temperature. I actually mix my own daily moisturizer out of olive squalane and jojoba oil.
My skin was an absolute mess a little over a year ago, and I finally got fed up with buying products that did nothing for my dehydrated, oil-slick skin. I went on the internet to do research and found a couple great resources on Etsy. It took my skin about 2 months to do a TOTAL 180 – no more oil slick, no more flaking, blackheads, etc and my skin is sooooooo soft.
I HIGHLY recommend olive squalane in particular – it’s so light, yet so moisturizing. It’s chemically identical to shark liver oil and has been called “nature’s face lift.” =)
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I LOVE these two oil-based products:
1. DHC Deep Cleansing Oil doubles as makeup remover as well for general cleansing.
2. Ocean Actives Topical Deep Water Squalane Skin Moisturizer is great when I need a bit extra to get rid of flaky/drier areas. This stuff rocks! A little bit goes a long way. Feels ‘greasy’ put on, but it absorbs quickly and melds into skin. Doesn’t feel greasy, but makes my skin feel and look great. Doesn’t make me break out.
I have had problems with my sensitive skin for years…and have tried every brand under the sun. After having a terrible reaction to yet another well known product, I decided to give Clarins a chance as it claimed to work on sensitive skin. This serum is magic! My skin absolutely loves and I saw and felt a difference the following morning. Redness gone and surprisingly a deep wrinkle looks less deep. Love it! highly recommend!!!