First Impressions With Dermalogica

Wow, it has been ages since I did any sort of beauty post, but today I have one all about my first impressions of Dermalogica. A brand I’d heard plenty about but I’d never tried myself until I was offered the chance.

My main reason for accepting the chance to try out Dermalogica is because if i’m brutally honest, my skin is a bloody mess and has been since last August. While I was in the states in the middle of summer, something strange happened to my skin, it went from being sensitive dry to sensitive oily. I have never ever had oily skin but for some reason when I arrived back from my trip I noticed my forehead and chin regularly shiny, then I got all those horrible bumps that aren’t quite black heads but stay under the skin for months before finally becoming white heads. It’s apparently a form of acne, again something I have never suffered with. I have tried so many products and nothing was working on my skin, so rather than having the odd horrible hormone related spot once a month, I’m being plagued constantly and it’s really starting to get me down and affect my confidence. I was really hoping that finally Dermalogica would have the answer to my problems.

Firstly the Dermalogica Clear Start Break Out Kit* RRP £23.75. I chose this in particular because it contains a full skincare kit for break out skin, which is currently what I’m dealing with. Inside there is foaming wash, a toner, a matte moisturiser, a daytime treatment and a nighttime treatment. Starting with the cleanser, which is also available in the full size version, although it states that this is foaming, it is very minimal compared to other cleansers I’ve tried. On the bottle it says it deep cleans and purifies the skin without stripping the natural oils. It smells heavily of tea tree oil which isn’t something I mind and it definitely leaves your skin feeling clean. It’s not the best cleanser at removing make up and I find that I need to go over with some micellar water but it doesn’t dry my skin out or irritate it. I do find it to be a very average higher end cleanser, I wouldn’t not buy it again but I probably wouldn’t recommend it either.. Next is the item I feel is my favourite in the kit, the toner, which is also available in full size. Toner that comes in a spray bottle form is my new favourite thing, you spray it on your skin and leave it to absorb. This one left my skin feeling refreshed and revived, much like Caudalie Beauty Elixir but without the strong smell and this obviously works like a toner. I don’t think I’ll ever go back to using one you need to apply with a face pad. I have to be honest, I have barely tried the matte moisturiser (full size is here) although I know I should since it contains 15spf which is now a must in all my moisturisers however due to the fact my break outs are on the oily areas of my skin I have simply been using the daytime treatment and nighttime treatment (respectively) instead with a combination skin moisturiser on my cheeks. I feel like once I eventually get on top of my break out prone skin this will get a lot more use. And as mentioned above, I have been giving the two tubes of treatment creams a lot more use, both are available full size (overnight and daytime) and I cannot recommend them enough. Although my skin is still regularly breaking out, they are reducing the size and redness of each area meaning I can effectively cover it with make up.

As this kit didn’t include a face mask which I feel is vital to my skincare routine, I went with the Dermalogica Skin Refining Masque*. At the moment I’m only using it once a week, but I feel like from today I’m going to double that as the morning after I use it, I do actually see in the texture of my skin. It also smells wonderful and is a pleasure to lie with it for 10 minutes on my face. It doesn’t dry like some face masks which for me is a huge benefit as I hate that caked on feeling. The texture is quite smooth, I half expected it to be grainy but it’s not. It’s also relatively light compared to some other masks that claim to do the same thing, it’s not heavy like a clay mask is. I love how instantly after I’ve used it my skin feels much less oily (another feeling I hate). I’m hoping with using it more than once a week will really benefit and help clear my skin up.

All the items are available here on Pure Beauty. I cannot fault the service and my package arrived filled with other samples of various Dermalogica products I’m yet to try. At the moment you can get £5 off your first order.

I have only been trialling the products for two weeks so fingers crossed with some perseverance I’ll see a dramatic change soon. Unfortunately I can’t say any of the products have helped me in my quest for break out free skin, anyone else have any recommendations?