At the end of last year, I got a chance to sample Marie Louise Restoration Clear Gel from Japan. Marie Louise Aberdein, the mother of modern beauty, created the first beauty creme in Japan to become a favorite in the Imperial Court. In 2004, Marie Louise skincare was debuted and sold only in professional spas and salons. Now, it is available online for everybody and I was very honored to try their exfoliating gel.
I have always been fascinated by Japanese skincare since Japanese people have the most beautiful skin in the world. Also, since my skin does not exfoliate itself very well, a little help goes a long way. This exfoliating gel is a novel product to me since it does not use mechanical (tiny exfoliating beads) or chemical (AHAs or BHA) exfoliators.
I pumped once to my finger
It is just a clear gel, there's nothing special about it. Or so I thought. After washing my face, I dispensed 3 pumps to cover it. After that, I massaged the gel gently to my skin. Dead skin started to slough off and mingle together...
...like this!
It was the day my skin felt congested and a lot of dead skin cells came off my face.
The whole process was interesting! The first time I used it, the dead skin cells came out in tiny balls. Once the gel dried, nothing came out anymore and I washed my face one more time to remove the gunk. The direction indicated to use 2-3 times a week but since my skin became sensitive this winter, I use once a week to maintain. After exfoliating, my skin felt smoother and more radiant.
Ingredients: water, glycerin, acrylates/C10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer, dicocodimonium chloride, steartrimonium bromide, butylene glycol, sea salt, sea water, algae extracts, isopropyl alcohol.
Since it contains glycerin, this exfoliating gel is moisturizing. Also, isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) was included to make it vaporize faster. Sea salt, sea water, and algae extracts add a nice touch to this product and they are quite common in Japanese skincare products. It is targeted to all skin types except for sensitive skin. While my skin is still sensitive from the cold weather, I can use it once a week with gentle pressure to my skin. It is very addictive to rub harder once you see the beads forming.
The price is $51 USD for a 100ml bottle, which is not so affordable to some of us. However, a little bit goes a long way and if you use once or twice a week, a bottle does last a long time.
The price is $51 USD for a 100ml bottle, which is not so affordable to some of us. However, a little bit goes a long way and if you use once or twice a week, a bottle does last a long time.
And now, a disclaimer: the above products were sent to me from a kind representative of Marie Louise Cosmetics for reviewing purposes. For more information, please visit Marie Louise Cosmetics website. Click here to read My Makeup Blog disclosure policy.
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Now, I'm not hating on Mary Louise products, since I've never actually tried them myself...
ReplyDelete... but $51 for this is a ripoff. Seriously. I know it looks like a lot of dead skin is sloughing off, but if you look at the ingredients list, acrylates/C10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer is high up on the list. Basically it's a thickener, kinda like Elmer's glue. When you're rubbing your face and stuff is balling up and coming off... it's mostly the product itself. Any exfoliation you're getting from it is mainly from you, the actual physical act of you rubbing away at your skin. I'm sure it's not BAD for your skin, and the glycerin and marine extracts are all fine and dandy... but you could pretty much get the same effect by diluting Elmer's glue with some water, slapping that on your face, and rubbing away.
*shakes head* Sheesh. $51.
Hi May,
ReplyDeleteThe acrylates crosspolymer may cause the skin to slough off but I did a tiny experiment myself to notice if there is any difference in the amount of stuff coming off my face.
When I used it every other day, there was not so much gunk sloughing off at all. I barely saw anything. However, when I waited for about 2 weeks before using this product to exfoliate my face, I saw a lot of stuff coming out. The gunk in the picture was the result of a longer period of time in between. I also used 3 pumps of gel per time for quantity control.
$51 is a bit steep, there's no argument about that but this product is not a phony. I've never tried Elmer's glue on my face and I am sure will not do that so I have no point to control.
I find this to be both fascinating and disgusting at the same time...kinda like studying nose strips.
ReplyDeleteI do love how you and May are so passionate about examining the chemical components of your cosmetics.
I think you guys should open up a blog where people can submit ingredient lists to you and you guys tell us what it means in English and what would replicate the same results.
I've never heard of this brand before but I'm glad to hear it works well, especially considered the price. $51 for an exfoliating gel is insane!
ReplyDeleteHi McNunu,
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean, this restoration clear gel is not a ruse, though. I am also fascinated with nose strips, I used to run around showing people how much stuff was yanked out of my nose. It disgusted my former roommate to no end.
Once upon a time, there was a blog to do that. The writer is a medical doctor and she did a wonderful job explaining things. Most beauty blogs written by docs do that, you only need to dig around :)
Hi Gio,
ReplyDeleteThe price is steep, I do agree. This brand is new and I guess they are trying to advertise for it. A little bit of gel goes a long way, at least to me, since I only use it once every week or two.
This reminds me of the things people sell at the kiosk in the mall that get rids of dead skin... hehe~ Nice review!
ReplyDeleteHi Alyssa,
ReplyDeleteI've never seen anything like that, this is the first product I've seen to do so. I'm glad you like my review :)