L’Oreal : Beauty and Fashion Tech

L’Oreal Revitalift UV Cream with Mexoryl, SPF 15

I was quite happy to see the new L’Oreal sunscreen, L’Oreal Dermo-Expertise Revitalift UV, Daily Moisturizing Cream with Sunscreen, because I have been waiting for a sunscreen with Mexoryl to become easily available at the drugstores.

With that said, I do have a little quibble with L’Oreal’s advertising. They have been portraying the sunscreen as “just approved” by the FDA and “finally available.” Well, guess what? It was approved over a year ago and has been available in the United States for some time in my favorite sunblock, Lancome UV Expert, and in La Roche-Posay Anthelios, both of which happen to be a L’Oreal companies. Sketchy advertising honestly bugs me and this is good stuff that doesn’t need the exaggerated newness factor.

OK, so now that I got my little advertising rant out of the way, I do recommend this sunscreen. With the help of Mexoryl as an ingredient, it provides full spectrum protection. It is moisturizing and absorbs well, but unlike its predecessors, it is pretty easy to find in any local drugstore. Further, it is a bit cheaper than the others.

I still prefer the Lancome branded version because it includes a physical blocker as well as Mexoryl. When I reported on the sunscreen database, one of the concerns I found about Mexoryl was that like many chemical blockers, it is not entirely stable in sunlight. So I tend to like a physical blocker mixed with my chemical blockers. Since the Lancome version has that, it is my first choice. But it is nice to see yet another, and a bit more accessible, alternative.

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Small Correction to Yesterday’s Self Tanning Post.

If you read my L’Oreal self tanner review yesterday, please take note of the update a the bottom, which I will also include here.

I had used both the L’Oreal self tanning gelee and lotion, and finding them quite similar in use and effectiveness, meant to review just the shimmery one in order to conserve space. But I realized last night that I had accidentally attributed the shimmer to the gelee, when it is the lotion that has the really noticeable shimmer. I have updated the review now to include both the gelee and the lotion.

I apologize for any confusion or inconvenience. They both are very similar and great products, but the tinted lotion is the one with the really noticable shimmer.

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L’Oreal Self Tanners and Corrector: Sublime Bronze Gelee, Self Tanning Spray, and Sublime Bronze Corrector and Perfector

Awhile back I posted about my displeasure with Aveeno Continuous Radience Self Tanner and my preference for Neutrogena Build a Tan. I mentioned there that I was going to try a L’Oreal self tanner and I have since tried both a spray and gel from L’Oreal and I really liked both of them. I also tried their corrector for mistakes, which I thought was OK.

L’Oreal Sublime Bronze Self-Tanning Gelee is a gel based self tanning lotion. L’Oreal Sublime Bronze Self-Tanning Lotion is a very similar product, which although labled as a lotion, I found to be more gel like in consistency. Both products come in tinted and untinted varieties, and I tried the tinted versions in medium. The tint was light and had a very natural tone to it. To my surprise, the lotion also had a sparkly shimmer in it, which of course was not so natural looking, but was quite subtle, and I happened to like it quite a bit. I also liked using a tinted product because it allowed me to see where I might be missing a spot and helped assure that I rubbed things in evenly. In addition, I thought the gelee in particular spread more evenly than a lotion normally does. The tints and shimmers washed off with my shower the next morning after use and I was left with a very nice light-medium fake tan. There were no problems with streaking and the overall color continued to look good for several days. I was very happy with these products and highly recommend either of them.

I was also quite pleased with L’Oreal Sublime Bronze Self-Tanning Spray. The spray, which works from any angle, goes on easily and is the best streak free self tan I have ever had. The first time I used it, I did mess up and put too much on my feet. I then compounded the problem by failing to wipe off the excess. That created a few minor streaks which were entirely my fault. The important part of that story though is that I am shocked that for how much I messed things up there, the streaks were extremely mild. With just about any other product they would have been horrid. So that itself says something for this product. On the rest of me, the tone was beautiful, even, and natural looking, with fairly long lasting results. When I used the product a second time, properly protecting my feet and only lightly applying there, everything was perfect.

I think that a spray really is the way to go for the most even fake tan and I really love the L’Oreal one. My one complaint about the L’Oreal spray though is that it is rather oily. Be careful about spraying it so that it hits vinyl or tile flooring. It makes the floor really, really slick! It also claims to dry in five minutes, but it is easy to spray a bit too thick, and even with a thin mist, it leaves behind a baby oil feeling on the skin for hours after. It wasn’t bad enough to make me worried about putting on clothes and such, nor did it or will it deter me from using the product repeatedly. But to the extent the label leads people to believe there will be absolutely no residue after five minutes, it is misleading.

After messing things up with my feet, I was glad that I also bought the L’Oreal Sublime Bronze Self Tanning Perfector and Corrector. The corrector comes packaged in individual use packets and is a scrub like lotion. I used it on the streaks I created on my feet with pretty good success. I got to those early though and they were pretty mild. As soon as I saw that things were getting dark there, I scrubbed and it generally worked. But when I tried this product on another occasion on a spot that had been allowed to develop for a day, it really didn’t do a whole lot. So I think this product is useful if you can get to the problem early. But if you wait, then I’m not sure that it is any better than using an everyday scrub on the area to help it wear off quicker.

Update: I used both the gelee and lotion, and finding them quite similar in use and effectiveness, meant to review just the shimmery one in order to conserve space. But I realized last night that I had accidentally attributed the shimmer to the Gelee, when it is the lotion that has the really noticeable shimmer. I have updated the review now to include both the Gelee and the Lotion.

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Review: L’Oreal Bare Natural Mineral Blush

Awhile back I tried L’Oreal’s Bare Naturale Mineral Makeup. They now have put out a blush as well. As with the makeup, the L’Oreal mineral blush is not yet on their web site, something that annoys me slightly. L’Oreal and Cover Girl both seem to be companies that are pretty lax about updating their sites with new product information.

With that little complaint over, I will say that I quite like the blush. I picked up the color “pinched pink,” which although the name would suggest a light baby pink, is actually a more mauve toned pink. The pigment in the blush is very good. Even though I am pretty confident, but not certain, that the L’Oreal products contain fillers such as bismuth, the color payoff is pretty darn good. On my very fair skin a tiny bit went a long way. I actually think that I wouldn’t be able to use any of the darker shades without extreme caution. The powder blended very well and had good staying power as well. So I give it a high rating.

I found the blush at Walgreens. The link shows the color choices. I have not yet seen it at Target.

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Drugstore Mineral Powder Foundation: Neutrogena Mineral Sheers and Loreal Bare Naturale

I am really liking mineral makeup lately. Although I have used some of the more expensive brands, I recently picked up a couple of other brands, Neutrogena Mineral Sheers and Loreal Bare Naturale. The Loreal product is new and not yet on the Loreal web site. I will update this post with a link when I have one.

As a whole, a good mineral foundation will provide good coverage, yet will not sink into wrinkles or pores. Something to keep in mind with mineral foundations is that they do not always work well on people who have dry skin. I have seen plenty of reviews of various mineral foundations from people with dry skin who really disliked just about any mineral foundation. However, I have been quite dry this winter and still had success using mineral powder foundation after applying moisturizer as long as I had exfoliated and was not flaky. Because I have areas of hyperpigmentation, I also have used mineral makeup over my regular foundation in the areas where I want extra coverage. I then use liquid foundation or the mineral foundation alone on the rest of my face. That helps keep the makeup fairly sheer where I don’t need it so much.

The Neutrogena product works for me only as a finishing powder. It is called “sheer” for a reason. This stuff is really light in terms of coverage. I hesitate to call it a mineral foundation at all. There just isn’t any real coverage from it. It does, however, work well as a nice overall powder, and I have been quite happy with it in that function. I do have a complaint about the delivery system on it though. The brush is attached to a rectangular tube containing the powder. To dispense it, a plastic piece is slid down and the case must be tapped to get powder onto the brush. I found that I had to tap it hard and often to get a sufficient amount. I would prefer a design that simply allowed me to dip my brush into the powder.

I am quite hooked on the new Loreal product. Unlike the Neutrogena powder, Bare Naturale provides good coverage. It also skips the over-creative dispensing system for something more practical - simply unscrew the brush from the cap of the powder and dip it in. Further, the brush that comes with the powder is good enough that I have not felt the need to use my own brush. That is pretty rare for me. I have had no issues with the powder caking up or settling into lines, and when added over a bit of liquid foundation, it covers my ares of discoloration very well. It is cheaper than most of the best rated brands, yet from my experience, it is every bit as good. I highly recommend the product.

Just last night I also saw an ad for Loreal Bare Naturale Mineral Blush. I will have to keep an eye out for that in the store as well.

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