Review: Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair

Hello people,

So today I've decided to review one of my favourite skincare products ever, the Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair. I've used it on and off since I was 26-27, but have been more consistently over the last couple of years.

What is the Advanced Night Repair? 

It's a night repairing serum that reduces and prevents signs of ageing, like lines, wrinkles and dullness. Hydrates and smooths the skin, giving it a healthy, fresh and youthful look.

It uses Estée Lauder's ChronoluxCB technology to enhance the skin's natural cell repair and protection. It also contains Hyaluronic Acid, to attract and lock in moisture into the skin, helping with dryness and dehydration. Non acnegenic, it's a fragrance and oil free formula that won't clog the pores, suitable for all skin types.

Advanced Night Repair is available in four sizes: 20ml, 30ml, 50ml and 75ml. The prices go from 35€ (30£) up to 135€ (115£), depending on your location.

How to use?

It can be used mornings and evenings, on clean skin, before the moisturiser, applying a drop on each fingertip of both hands and rubbing them together, then massaging them on the skin, moving from the centre outwards.

My opinion

First of all, I love that it comes in so many sizes. No matter how much I like a product I also enjoy to try new things, soI usually go for the smaller sizes. Not only they don't bankrupt my account, but it also avoids products going bad or being wasted. One of the aspects that I have some mixed feelings about is the fact that it comes with a dropper instead of a pump. This exposes the product to air and bacteria but on the other hand, makes it easier to control the dosage that goes into the skin.

Usually I ignore part of the instructions and only use it in the evenings. If you decide to use it during the day, don't forget your sunscreen. I put four drops on my face (forehead, each cheek and chin). This is a very thick serum, which I first thought would be a problem, but it actually spreads very easily and the skin absorbs it in a matter of seconds without any weird residues, stickiness or oily feeling. It's just very comfortable. The smell is nothing to right home about, but it's soft and goes away once the product dries, so I'm not really complaining.

I love how good it immediately feels. As soon as I apply it, I can feel some extra freshness and a few seconds later my skin feels so smooth, I have to stop myself from touching it every ten seconds.

My skin is usually dehydrated combo and I never felt like it made it oily, in spite of the hyaluronic acid. It also doesn't give me a big hydration boost, but keeps it hydrated enough throughout the night, no dry patches or redness, so I count it as a win (specially if compared with other serums). When I wake up the skin feels silky and rested (I always joke and say it's the caffeine in the ingredients list).

In my opinion this serum biggest weapon is the long term results and here I have nothing but praise! I have some fine lines around my mouth and nose and the ANR worked small miracles on them when I first started using it. And I don't think they got more pronounced over the past two years.

Another aspect that I always notice after a few days of uninterrupted use is how beautiful the skin looks. Bright, even and healthy. It brings an amazing glow. 

Final thoughts 

Over the past two years this serum became a usual presence in my night routine and unless I have some sudden skin change or they change the formula, I doubt it will go anywhere. I don't use it every single night and sometimes I stop for a few months but it always returns, in spite of the hefty price. But I have such good results that it's actually worth it. 

Have you ever tried the Advanced Night Repair? 

Let me know your thoughts about it down in the comments.

Review: Youth to the People Superfood Cleanser

Hello guys!

Today I'm bringing you the review of the Superfood Cleanser from Youth to the People. I got the travel size when I went to Italy back in March and, while I was waiting for my train from Florence to Milan, I decided to enter Sephora. They already had the Super Ingredients Box (we only got it this month here in Portugal) and of course I couldn't resist bringing it home with me.

I was so curious to try any of the Youth to the People products that I started using the cleanser the very next morning!

🌸 What is the Superfood Cleanser 🌸

It's a face cleanser gel for daily use with cold-pressed antioxidants like kale, spinach and green tea. It removes makeup, prevents clogged pores and balances skin's PH without drying it. It is suitable for dry, combination, oily and normal skin and helps preventing oiliness, fine lines, wrinkles, dullness and uneven tones.

It's sulfate-free, alcohol-free, cruelty free and vegan.

Superfood Cleanser is available in three sizes: 30 ml, 59ml and 239ml

🌸 How to use 🌸

It is used twice daily: mornings and evenings. Use two pumps and rub them into a lather with wet hands, then apply to wet face and massage it for thirty seconds before rinsing it. To remove makeup add more water gradually during the massage.

🌸 Ingredients 🌸

Water, Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Panthenol (Vitamin B5),Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E), Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Butylene Glycol, Brassica Oleracea(Kale) Leaf Extract, Spinacia Oleracea (Spinach) Leaf Extract, Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea)Leaf Extract, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract, Medicago Sativa (Alfalfa) Extract,Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe Vera) Leaf Extract, Natural Fragrance, Lecithin, HydroxypropylMethylcellulose, Phenoxyethanol, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate, Chlorophyll.

Kale: contains phytonutrients, Vitamin C, E and K, strengthens the skin and makes it glow
Spinach: it has cooling properties that soothes the skin 

Green Tea: anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory to clear the skin.

🌸 My opinion 🌸

The very first thing that I loved about the Superfood Cleanser was the container. Even the travel size comes in a glass, clear bottle. But I would have changed the plastic lid (which I actually broke closing the bottle) for a pump, just like the full-size has.

One small detail that I loved about this and I believe that all skincare products should have, is the actual expiration date besides the shelf life after opening. This is something that helps us consumers be sure that our products haven't been laying around for years and may not be as efficient as they once were.

I have to admit I was a little sceptical about the ingredients list. I'm not a stranger of Vitamin E cleansers and I do like the ascorbic acid specially to prevent the first signs of ageing. I've used plenty of cleansers with green tea and aloe vera, they're both amazing to sooth the skin from any kind of irritation. But I never used anything with kale or spinach. And while I don't mind them in my soup or salad, I wasn't sure I wanted them in my skincare.

My first concern about this cleanser was the smell. Even though I don't have sensitive skin, I noticed that this had a natural fragrance, so I was kind of worried that I would go around smelling like spinach, or worse... kale! Fortunately, as soon as I opened the bottle all I could find was a soft herbal scent.

The cleanser is a transparent, very liquid gel. It is thinner than anything I've used before, except maybe for oils, almost watery-like. It feels very lightweight when massaged into the skin. And this is where that pump would be a great help. It's not easy to 'guess' how much is enough and even harder to prevent spilling half the bottle into our hands.

While the gel is being massaged into the skin it feels very gentle but I wouldn't use it as my makeup remover because I feel that it's not enough, specially if I'm using a lot of makeup. Now if I use it as my second cleanser that's where its strengths are. It removes all traces of leftover makeup, dirt, grime, even excessive oils. But it doesn't make me feel like the skin is deeply clean or fresh and unlike what it claims, it makes it feel slightly dry. Not to the point that it becomes an issue, but as soon as I rinse it off, I feel like I need my moisturiser as soon as possible, even if it never caused any kind or irritation or even redness, which I definitely like about it. It's not easy to find a cleanser that doesn't cause me immediate redness and so far I never saw any.

For me, I think this would be an okay morning cleanser, to remove traces of skincare and excessive oils formed overnight, but while I love that this is sulfate and alcohol free, cruelty free and vegan, I'm not sure I will repurchase it at least on a regular basis. For the same price there are other products out there that don't cause me the small issues this one does, mainly the slight dryness. I have combination skin, it can be oily around my nose and chin area but very dry in my forehead, around my eyes and cheeks and this cleanser makes these later areas feel even drier so I think this would work better with normal or oilier skin types.

Have you ever tried the Youth to the People products?

What about this face cleanser?

Let me know in the comments what your favourite face cleanser is.