Review: Clinique City Block SPF 25

Hello ladies! I've reached 100+ followers! I'm super excited because I never thought I would have this many people reading my blog. When I first started out, I thought I would only have a handful of followers - but never this much. Thank you to everyone who reads this blog and has joined me on my journey of mindless ramblings and the (longer and on going) struggle to find the right beauty products. I'm thinking of hosting a giveaway just to say thanks and am working on the details now. Since this will be my first giveaway, what kind of prizes idea or tips do you girls have for me? Please comment and advise =)

Anyways, I haven't done any reviews lately so....

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Product: Clinique City Block Sheer, with SPF 25 / 40
Size: 40mL
Claims: Sheer, high level broad spectrum UVA/UVB daily sun protection. Lightweight formula helps wick away perspiration and adsorb excess oil so makeup looks fresher, longer. Perfect on bare skin or as an invisible primer.

I first picked up this product about a year ago when I was searching for a good facial sunscreen. I'm really picky when it comes to sunscreen and my ideal sunscreen has to meet 3 criterias:

1) Cannot smell like sunscreen. I really hate that chemical sunscreen smell. I can't stand it on my body, let alone my face.

2) Cannot be greasy. I have combination oily skin already and it just doesn't make sense for me to put more grease on my already greasy face.

3) Cannot be too thick/watery. I hate rubbing sunscreen into my skin for fear that it will leave a white cast on my face if I don't. If it's too watery, it will look too greasy/shiny.

Due to these three criterias my sunscreen needs to fit, my choices are very limited. While I was youtubing Clinique products one day, I came upon this product: Clinique City Block. To sum it up in one sentence: this is a sunscreen with SPF 25/40 and with tinted moisturizer. The difference between this and other tinted moisturizers is that this is first and foremost a sunscreen, then a tinted moisturizer. In fact, this is considered a skincare/sun care product rather than a makeup product.

I have to say that this is one of the better facial sunscreens I've come across. It offers sun protection and has a little bit of color to it - what more can I ask for? There are two versions of this product: one with SPF 25 and one with SPF 40. While I've tried both of these, this review will focus particularly on the SPF 25 version.

Let's review this product against my three criterias outlined above.

Does it smell? Nope.

Does it make face greasy? Nope.

Does it feel thick or watery? Nope.

First and foremost, I just want to point out that on a daily (and by daily I mean, Monday to Friday 9-5 work hours) basis, I can get away with only wearing SPF 25 since I hardly seen any sun. With that out of the way, let's discuss the product. The texture of this product resembles liquid foundation or tinted moisturizer (picture below, left). It's runny, but not watery, and it's not thick. Application is fairly easy since it's really similar to putting on a tinted moisturizer. Just squeeze and apply. Simple as that! It doesn't smell like sunscreen at all. In fact, there's hardly a smell to this product so it's really great for everyday use.

The product also claims to absorb excess oil to allow makeup to look fresher. I think it works OK in controlling oil. It's not fabulous at it because I still need to blot mid day but I do notice that I'm not picking up as much oil as I would if I didn't have this product on.

I think the best part of this product is that there's a bit of color to it (the tint is used to offset the white color in the sunscreen). I'm not sure if you can tell from the picture above but the coverage is very light (lighter than Laura Mercier TM above). Although this product is very sheer, it does even out my skin tone and gives me the "i'm not wearing makeup" look. There's two ways to wear this product: either as a stand alone tinted moisturizer sort of product, or as a primer. I've used it as both and there's certain times when I prefer to use one method over the other. I prefer to apply this product and then follow up with some loose powder when I'm going to work (since I hardly see the sun). When I'm going out, I often times use this as a primer and follow up with a foundation that offers coverage and higher SPF. Color wise, I'm NC 20-25 with yellow undertones and the color match to this product is quite good (a little better than the Laura Mercier TM). In fact, this product has such a strong yellow undertone that I really think it will work for most people with yellow undertones (asians).

The SPF 40 version is actually a little different than the SPF 25 version I just reviewed. SPF 40 is thicker in consistency (due to the higher SPF) and is more white in color. I used to only use SPF 40 when I know I'm going to be outside a lot and would usually follow up with a TM and then some powder. In my opinion, I think the SPF 40 version resembles more of a conventional sunscreen (thicker, a little more greasy) than SPF 25. For these reasons, I've stopped using the SPF 40 version and now use my Shiseido sunscreen if I need higher protection (at least that's not as thick and greasy).

Overall: SPF 25: 4.5/5
Repurchase: SPF 25: Yes

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It's Thursday...I can't wait for the weekend to come!! I hope the weather will be nice because I'm going IKEA shopping for a dresser so I can organize my clothes. I recently cleaned out my closet and I have clothes everywhere, everywhere I tell ya! Anyways, please leave me a comment regarding my giveaway! I would really like to get this up and running this weekend! Thanks everyone. Until next time, stay pretty ^.^ !!

Sephora Haul & Rants

I took advantage of the V.I.B 20% off offer at Sephora this past weekend to stock up on some essential everyday items! Yay for sales! As you can tell from the picture above, I didn't do too much damage to the precious wallet and the most expensive item is that bronzer brush I picked up. Since I'm starting to use mineral makeup again (hence, the Bare Minerals products), I needed another kabuki-ish brush to apply my makeup and with the 20% off this wasn't that pricey - so why not!

Anyways, my two rants! First, you see that picture up there, well, it's missing a NARS lip gloss in Dolce Vita. The stupid SA at Sephora forgot to put the lipgloss I paid for into my bag! I immediately called Sephora when I realized my freaking $30+ lip gloss was missing and the gay guy on the other end thought I was some freaking little kid trying to scam my way to a free a lip gloss. Thankfully, he walked around the cash area and found MY lip gloss! I had to make an extra trip to Sephora during work today (lol) to go pick it up. UGH. The SA (a totally different one) who served me today was very nice and apologetic about the whole ordeal, ok fine. However, that stupid gay guy just really pissed me off. DUDE, I spend so much money at Sephora every freaking year and he thought I was trying to scam them. In addition to THAT, the stupid SA who forgot to give me MY lip gloss also refused to give me the clutch with 8 samples! Apparently, according to HER, it's store policy that the 20% cannot be combined with the clutch+samples. I didn't think too much about it until my friend shopped at another Sephora a few hours later and she got the 20% + clutch deal! I understand if Sephora won't combine offers, I really do, but if that's the case, then all the Sephora stores needs to follow these stipulations. Honestly, I don't think this is something that Sephora is really enforcing. I think it's because the dumb SA was too lazy to punch in another code and just wanted to get off her shift or something! I already went online and filed a complaint regarding these two incidents so now I'm just waiting to hear back from corporate office.

I know working in customer service is shitty because I've been there, but I would never deny a customer any promotions or accuse them of trying to scam their way to get a free product. That's just very unprofessional!

Alright, rant over.

Taking a walk down Dawson's creek...

Does anyone remember this show? PLEASE tell me someone does! If not, then that just means I'm really old! haha. My bf, being the super sweet guy he is, picked up season 5 and 6 of Dawson's Creek for me. Now I have all 6 seasons on DVD! I'm so excited because it's kind of like reliving my childhood. Oh, the sweet teenage angst years. I loved Dawson when I was younger, but now that I'm watching it again, I find Pacey so much more lovable!

Beauty related posts coming soon...

Wonder BOY

This is a little boy and he loves the Wonder Girls.

Caveman Update (just word vomit)

I just want to start off reminding everyone that today is Remembrance day here in Canada. Canadians wear poppies (shown above) for a few weeks prior to Nov 11 to honour the veterans who fought in the war. People will donate money to pick up one of these poppies and the poppy money stays within the community and pays for the medical equipment and long timer care facilities for the veterans who are in need of financial assistance. Have you picked up your poppy today?

Coincidentally, Nov 11th is also a bank and government holiday. Since I work for a bank, I get today off!

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My Caveman regime update! Today is day 7 of the Caveman regiment. My skin is definitely better than how it was 7 days ago as all my blemishes from 7 days ago have completely vanished and I'm only left with some marks. Since my skin seems to have stabilized, I went to the derm so he can give me a better diagnosis as to what's happening with my skin - he attributes them to two things: stress or hormones. Well whatever it is, I want it gone. He prescribed me two topical creams to use and today is the first day I will use them. Of course, I'll keep everyone updated and I'll go into more details on the two creams (clindasol and retin-A) in future posts.

In this post, I just want to talk a little bit more about the Caveman regime and what it actually is. I want to point out that my skin is not horrible, it's just not as good as it used to be and I want it to be as good as it was. Ok, so back to the regime. The regime is basically a way to give your skin the rest it deserves. The 'original' regime calls for a complete product recall - you're not to use anything but water to wash your face and a gentle scrub for dead skin (preferably a microfiber wash cloth). I still use my cleanser but no toner, moisturizer etc for 7 days (i still use eye cream though). At night, I cover my face in a thin layer of baby powder (haha I know, I look like one of those Chinese opera singers lol). At first, your skin will feel dry, but it will regulate itself and by day 7, you will have relatively normal (not combination, dry etc) skin. This is the regime I've used on and off for the last 10 years (especially after periods where my skin has taken on a beating and needs a break) and it continues to work. At first I was afraid it wouldn't work on me anymore and that the dryness would trigger my eczema, but my fears were laid to rest every morning I looked in the mirror.

I don't think this regime cures everything though. It's just a good break from skin care products and I find that my skin reacts better to whatever products I put on it afterwards (be it whitening, brightening, pore tightening etc). So if you feel your skin is looking dull, tired etc and no products seems to help it, try going all naturale for a few days and your skin will thank you for it.

Until next time, stay pretty ^.^ !!

Caveman

Last week I blogged about how I was fighting my flu-ish symptoms and felt better and ready to post. Unfortunately, after I blogged about that, my flu symptoms reappeared again so I spent the entire week trying to fight that off. It sucks, but it seems to be under control now. I hope my readers haven't ditched me yet :(

I had planned to blog about my recent (October) hauls and reviews, but decided that I'm going to hold off on that now because I'm actually doing the caveman regime (again). I'm doing this regime because I've been breaking out in new cystic (red, swollen kinds that don't come to a head) the entire October. I'm not sure whether this havoc is caused by the flu (symptoms) or whether by products overdose. Whatever the case, I decided to go caveman to give my skin a huge break.

For those of you that don't know what the caveman regime is, you can read more about it here: Caveman Regime. This regime is basically a no products regime. Yes, you read right - NO SKINCARE PRODUCTS. No nothing! All you do is use water to wash your face and then let it be. The point of this is to bring your skin to a pH balance - something that products don't do. Now now, I know this is beyond extreme for most of us girls who have been using products for a long time so I actually have my own variation of this regime that I use and it helps to bring my skin back to equilibrium. Although I've been on this regime many times in the past (and it has worked), I don't want to go into details yet because I've only been on this regime for 2 days ever since I've been diagnosed with eczema prone/sensitive skin 6 months ago. I'm not sure how my skin would react to it this time around. I'll definitely post updates once I've done this for a week. Has anyone ever done this regime before?

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So while I was feeling sick, I just went to work and came home to paint my nails (lol, silly excuse to not study). I'm currently in love with this color (571 Wild Lilac) from Gosh. It's such a pretty purple!! SDM also had various Nicole by Opi nail polishes on sale so I picked up the Imagine If.. sparkly nail polish. I didn't take a picture of it but I put a layer of the Imagine If.. over the purple and it was gorgeous! My favourite colors at the moment!

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Anyways, I'm off to the library to study with the bf (on a Sunday...sad) since he's doing an IT tech course for work. Caveman Regime update later this week!! Until next time, stay pretty ^.^ !!

Fighting the Flu-ish...maybe?

I'm still here!!! I've just neglected blogging because .....

I felt like I was getting sick so all week I've been popping Cold FX and Vitamin C pills, working out to boost metabolism/immune system and sleeping super early. Today I'm finally feeling better so time for me to start blogging again! I feel like I missed so much stuff on there :(
Stay tuned because I have so much to talk about!!