Caudalie Vinoperfect Night Correcting Cream

I'm actually posting so soon, and feeling pretty diligent! This product ends my trial period with Caudalie. In conjunction with the Caudalie 1st Wrinkle Serum, I decided to get their Vinoperfect Night Correcting Cream. We've all heard over and over again how you have to use a company's line of specific products in order to achieve the best result. (I suspect this is an advertising or marketing ploy sometimes.) While these two products aren't under the same umbrella of result (brightening vs. energizing), Caudalie uses similar ingredients in all their products anyway, so I thought I would still be getting the maximum Caudalie benefits.

You can get this at Sephora or on the Caudalie website. The cream is for all skin types, and costs $68 for 1 oz. All Caudalie products seem to be made in France, but there might be a couple exceptions...I'm not completely sure.

I got this cream to try because it promised to deliver results that seemed too good to be true. The cream is supposed to "diminish dark spots while renewing skin," "tighten pores," and "make your skin more radiant." Instead of containing the usual anti-oxidants from the grapes themselves, this product has "500 ppm titration of pure Viniferine" taken from"grapevine stalks" which supposedly has much more concentrated anti-oxidant effects than the normal anti-oxidant product. I don't understand much of the scientific language, but since the Viniferine is patented, you'd think it means the product is even more amazing.

Some of the ingredients in the Vinoperfect Night Correcting Cream as taken from the Caudalie website are Viniferine in 500 ppm titration (improves radiance, complexion enhancing and anti-oxidant on the upper layers of the skin), grape acid (provides mild exfoliation), olive squalane, shea butter, cassia angustifolia, grape extract & sodium hyaluronate (all are nourishing & moisturizing), camomile extract (soothing), sweet orange, tangerine, orange blossom water, petit grain, galbanum, ylang ylang (provide relaxing scent?)

This cream is supposed to be applied only at night, but I also used this morning and night. I don't think there's any harm in doing that. The cream is a little hard to squeeze out from the tube. It comes out in a very precise, small little stream of cream, so you're not in the danger of squeezing out too much but you might get frustrated trying to get it out when you're almost done with the tube. (Tip: I cut all my tubes open in sections to get the leftover cream out!) The smell isn't as pleasant as I thought it would be...maybe I had a defunct tube, but the scent made me think of medicine with a faint tinge of grapes.

The texture of the cream is very smooth and it melts down very easily when you rub it between your fingers. It has a medium thick consistency--not too thick as far as creams go, so people with dry skin can probably use it during the warmer months. The cream is buildable, you can use a little for a tiny bit of moisture, or a couple additional layers for a more hydrating effect. When I added on more layers though, it did not absorb very well into my skin. Some of you might enjoy that effect though if you want your cream to maximize the efficacy of serums or other products you've used underneath. It actually also has a bit of a tendency to ball up if you rub your face after application or put any other moisturizers on top.

As for results, I'm not sure if this product helped with my pores. I can't tell if it made their appearance any smaller since my skin has been gradually improving lately anyway, but I haven't had any major clogged pores or break out issues. Also, as for brightness and radiance, I think the cream does a so-so job. I've used products that have given me more radiance before, so I don't think this is the product for that. My acne scars don't look any lighter either. It's really a pity because Caudalie always has such great ingredients, but for some reason the two products I've tried just haven't really done much for me, especially with how expensive they cost. Perhaps dry skin types might want to check this out, but as for everyone else, I'm sure a good retinol product like Skinceuticals 0.5 or 1.0 Refining Night Cream will do a better job. I did a review on the 0.5 version in case you're interested in my opinion.

Anyway, I'm going to be going home pretty soon, so let's see if the change in environment causes my skin to completely go crazy again...I will have to change all my products again!

P.S. Join Mayaari's giveaway to win some great products! You blogger ladies are all so generous!

Skinceuticals Refining Night Cream with 0.5% Pure Retinol

Since my terrible comedone outbreak last month, I've been adding retinol to my skincare regimen with the Skinceuticals Retinol 0.5% Refining Night Cream. This product comes in a 30 ml/1 ounce aluminum bottle with a plastic pump, and retails for $46.00.

I always had perfect skin until my late teens, when I started to develop terrible congested skin and cystic acne. My mother took me to a dermatologist regarding my acne problems on my forehead and upper back, and he prescribed me Sulfalac (sulfur soap), Buf Puf (special loofah for the face), some Benzoyl Peroxide cream, Retin-A Micro, and some antibiotics. When I started out using this combination, my skin dried out within 3 days and became incredibly flaky and sensitive, so I had to stop. However, any over-the-counter products weren't strong enough, so I couldn't use those either. (I wish I knew the things I know now then, because maybe I wouldn't have broken out as much.)

Even though I didn't like my former experience with Retin-A Micro, which contains retinol, when I read up about this Skinceuticals cream, I definitely wanted to give retinol another shot. Retinol does have the side effect of drying out the skin, but the positives far outweigh the negatives--it helps stimulate cell regeneration and collagen production by penetrating deeply into the skin layers. This makes it great for reducing fine lines and wrinkles. Furthermore, it relieves congested skin (i.e. acne, blackheads, whiteheads), diminishes pore size, corrects blemishes, and reduces age spots and blotchiness.

Skinceuticals Retinol 0.5 contains, like its name says, 0.5% pure retinol. It's different than other retinol products because it contains the most cutting edge formula to adjust to your skin's moisture levels and deliver the retinol accordingly. (The website says it also "stabilizes" to your skin--I'm not quite sure what that means, so if there are any dermatologists or med students out there, please tell me!) Skinceuticals also makes a Retinol 1.0 which contains 1% pure retinol, but since my skin dries out easily and has been really sensitive lately, I wanted to start out with this. I've read that you can build your skin's tolerance to retinol, so eventually I may start using the 1.0%.

I think everyone can benefit from adding retinol into their routine, but the frequency of use should definitely be varied depending on your skintype. Skinceuticals recommends people who've never used retinol products before to start by using twice a week. I think twice a week is fine for people who have oily skin. If you have dry to combination skin, I definitely suggest starting with once a week, and only applying to areas that are problematic or congested. If your skin does not start to dry out, then move up to twice a week...and slowly keep increasing the frequency. How often you want to use it is up to you; I personally do not like to use retinol daily because I want to keep my skin from becoming tolerant to it as long as possible. Also, retinol weakens your skin's outer skin layers and makes it more vulnerable to UV rays/sunlight, so I prefer to use it when I know I won't be going out into the sun the next day.

The directions say that you should apply this to cleansed and toned skin, and then wait at least 30 minutes before applying moisturizer over it. I think it's important to distinguish the difference between this product as opposed to a serum--serums work better with moisturizers over them, but I believe this works best alone. Adding a moisturizer on top would basically help protect and soothe your skin because of the retinol's drying effect. Also, this is called a "refining night cream," but don't let that mislead you, because it is not thick, or is it intended to moisturize, even though it contains some emollients. Because I have combination/normal skin, I normally don't apply moisturizer over this the occassions I do use it, but I don't notice any instant drying or burning sensation. For a product with such a high concentration in retinol, it really applies smoothly and nicely, almost as if it were a primer. One pump is good for my forehead, and a second pump is good for my nose, upper lip, and chin. If I want to apply it to my cheeks, I'll split the third pump evenly between them. That brings me to the one thing I dislike about this product; the pump feels fragile and is very hard to control, and I can't just dispense a little bit. But maybe my bottle is defective, I don't know.

Comparing the Skinceuticals 0.5% to Retin-A, the Skinceuticals goes on much more smoothly, and has a nice matte, silky finish, and becomes virtually indiscernable on my skin. I did not like the Retin-A because when it dried, it left these white flakey, grainy marks on my face as if my face had fallen into a pot of grinded rice bits. (Does that analogy make sense?) Not very attractive, especially for those of you with husbands/wives/etc. It also was way too drying in general. When I apply the Skinceuticals 0.5%, it sinks immediately into my skin, and I can see it actually shrinking my pores and flattening out my congested comedones. When I wake up in the morning, my skin looks calmer and more evened out. Also, Retin-A is a prescription retinol product, and Skinceuticals is over the counter.

Overall, this is a great corrective skincare product and I highly recommend it to anyone concerned about age prevention, pore size, blemishes, or acne! Don't be dissuaded by the price, because this will last you an extremely long time--a year or more, maybe.

Ingredients:
Water, Cyclomethicone, Cyclopentasiloxane (and) Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Dimethicone (and) Dimethiconol (and) Laureth-4 (and) Laureth-23, Hydrogenated Lecithin (and) Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter) (and) Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride (and) Ceramide 2 (and) Ceramide 3 (and) Phytosphingosine (and) Cholesterol, Hypericum Perforatum Extract (and) Propylene Glycol, Allyl Methacrylate Crosspolymer (and) Polysorbate 20 (and) Retinol (and) BHT, Sodium Polyacrylate, Dimethicone PEG-7 Isostearate, Glycerin, Polyacrylamide (and) C13-14 Isoparaffin (and) Laureth-7, Bisabolol, Rosa Canina Leaf Extract (and) Silybum Marianum Fruit Extract (and) Possiflora Incarnata Flower Extract (and) Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Leaf Extract (and) Citric Acid, Methylisothiazolinone, Tetrasodium EDTA.