Of all the luxury brands out there, I consider Clinique as the brand with the best skincare. Knowing me, being someone heavily relying on dermatological products for my skin, Clinique is one of the store-sold brands that I just really trust. Actually, it’s just almost Clinique that I trust! I just love the Clinique 3-Step System, from the facial wash, to the toner, to the moisturizer, that I am excited to share with you what’s new with Clinique!
This July, Clinique Philippines launches its Pore Refining Solutions Line. This line aims to target oily skinned individuals who also happen to have enlarged pores. Ahhh. I bet alot of you can relate, because this happens to alot of people!
The Clinique Pore Refining Solutions line aims to keep our pores clean, refined ( hence, smaller ), leaving skin looking “refined” and fresh. Whew, some hope! I feel ( from personal experience, of course ) that having enlarged pores is not a good feeling. I feel that oil squirts from my face ( haha! ) and my skin is uneven in texture and it’s not smooth in texture. I was told by my dermatologist that pore refining products are a bit tricky, because only chemical peels or resurfacing can truly refine pores. So I am intrigued what Clinique has to offer to address this concern. Challenge mode, ON!
So, I shall introduce you to each of the Pore Refining Solutions products and give you my honest take on them!
Introducing Clinique’s Pore Refining Solutions Correcting Serum – a new formula that instantly diminishes the appearance of pores while simultaneously helping to strengthen and tighten skin’s surface structure over time. With surprisingly little effort, the visible appearance of pores is reduced by 58% in a mere 2 weeks. A tighter, younger look – guaranteed.
Wonder Ingredients :
Padina Pavonica Extract: activates a natural skin enzyme that helps ensure cells are healthy and fully developed when they reach skin’s surface, preventing rough texture, a weak skin barrier and large pores.
“Smart” Technology: First, Laminaria Saccharina Extract minimizes sebum production. Then Hydrolyzed Soy Proteins and Coconut Acid work to “seek out” areas with excess sebum and balance production so skin is never too oily or too dry. Better sebum balance means less clogged and distended pores and a more youthful appearance.
Salicylic Acid and Acetyl Glucosamine gently clear out dead or dulling skin cells that build up around the edges of pores, keeping pores clear so they don’t stretch out and appear larger than they really are.
and oh, one more. Silicone Polymers. Which I shall explain next!
My take on the Clinique Skin Perfecting Serum :
I was able to analyze these products for a month as I was roadtesting them, and I find the Clinique Skin Perfecting Serum more of a…primer for me! As you all know, I LIVE for primers, because of my uneven skin surface ( a bad combination of scars, and depressed, enlarged pores ). I am absolutely not happy of the result when I apply makeup without a primer because the makeup, may it be liquid or powder, sinks in my scars and pores when I have no primer as my first layer!
Going back, Clinique boasts of its non-comedogenic Silicone Polymers, possibly one of the gentlest kinds. The consistency of the Clinique Skin Perfecting Serum is a really, really thin paste. Even thinner in consistency of regular silicone-based primers like Smashbox’s. I just need one pump, apply it on my cheeks and nose where most pores are concentrated, and as soon as it settles on my skin, I try to glide my fingers on my skin and feel it really smooth – it’s the effect of the Silicone Polymers! It instantly fills in, lightly, the pores to give you a really smooth surface on the skin!
So far, no breakouts, no problems from this product. Mild enough for daily use. I’m just so happy, that when I feel like applying light makeup on a daily basis, I don’t need to whip up my trusty primers. I just need this one – quite a light dose, but definitely instant smoothness on my skin, and a smooth base for makeup!
As for its pore-refining effects, I still haven’t tried it long enough to prove that, but I remain hopeful! But really, the mild-for-everyday primer function of this product is enough for me to repurchase this!
As a leader in the dermatological concerns category, Clinique has developed the perfect solution to help control oil production, while also providing skin the necessary moisture it needs. Introducing Pore Refining Solutions Stay-Matte Hydrator – a moisturizer that instantly mattifies the skin, controls excess sebum and provides oil-free hydration throughout the day.
Wonder Ingredients :
Laminaria Saccharina Extract helps minimize excess sebum production, resulting in less surface oil over time
Alcohol Denatured provides an initial cooling and pore tightening sensation, helping reduce surface oil to leave skin feeling clean and refreshed.
Granlipid is a cocktail of natural ingredients that help rebuild the skin’s moisture. It helps support cells while they mature, which helps the pore wall remain strong.
Hydrogenated Lecithin is a natural ingredient derived from soybeans which helps skin’s moisture.
Siegesbeckia Orientalis Extract helps support skin helping to make the pores appear smaller and tighter.
Acetyl Glucosamine is a skin exfoliating technology of amino-sugar that helps keep pores clear of dead surface skin cells, so pores appear smaller and tighter
My take on Clinique Pore Refining Solutions Stay-Matte Hydrator :
What a tricky situation – the pores are passageways of oil productions, and the bigger the pores, the more oil is produced and is released there. Ack. But how do you stop that? Dry it up!!! But then, there’s another issue of “hydration.” Skin needs to be in balance – hydrated, and not too dry. If skin feels too dry, it will signal an emergency signals to the oil glands to produce more. Imagine that catastrophic happening in your skin? ahhh!!
So what you need to know – the skin needs more refined pores, needs to control oil production and YET stay hydrated. That’s called balance. The Clinique Pore Refining Solutions Stay-Matte Hydrator aims to do that, by controlling oil on your skin surface, subdueing your oily skin, but also hydrates it in such a way that skin is soft, and supple. How wonderful, right?
In my personal experience, this has got to be the lightest moisturizer I’ve ever tried. The consistency is almost watery, and is instantly absorbed in the skin. This is perfect for moisturizer-phobic people. I swear this is worth a try. I like this way better than the other Clinique moisturizers ( the Dramatically Different Gel/ Lotion ), because this is wayyy lighter.
As for the oil controlling properties, I find this moderate. Which is okay with me. To be totally honest, I prefer moderate-performing oil control products than really amazing, efficient ones. Ask me why? I once tried a product that kept my skin oil-free the entire day, but at the end of the day, I found bumps on my skin. Now I know where the oil went – they all bunched up on my pores! That’s creepy right. So I really find this product a really good one, as it gives you that fresh, non-greasy feeling on the skin, and helps control oil moderately. And oh, my skin felt soft when I used this! Really nice.
and last but not the least…
MY FAVORITE!! How it works?
On contact, specialized cross-linked silicone polymers drape the skin in an invisible, breathable film that fills in and smoothes out the pore surface providing immediate oil absorbing benefits, leaving skin with a flawless matte finish. Sophisticated spherical optical diffusers and soft focus materials help diffuse light to minimize the look of imperfections while Vitamin E and Stearyl Glycyrrhetinate provide necessary antioxidant and anti-inflammatory protection.
Let me just say that this is a MUST HAVE for anyone who has problems with pores. Don’t want to address them on a daily basis? Fine! But my gosh, if you are applying your makeup, make sure you have this!
I have already told you the scenario when you apply makeup DIRECTLY without applying a primer, right? Any makeup, from liquid to powder, will SINK into your pores, and as you produce oil, you’ll oil up, and your makeup goes down with you. It will oxidize, and I don’t like what will happen next. This is, at least, for really oily skin. Disastrous. That is why I really love to apply a silicone-based primer prior to applying foundation on my skin to have that “barrier” against oiling up, that “barrier” to prevent the skin’s natural oils and makeup from directly mixing.
As compared to the Clinique Pore Refining Solutions Correcting Serum, this is the thicker, pastier version. Very much like “cement,” in my opinion! ( No, don’t get turned off with my term, this is a WONDER product, I promise! ) This is great for those who have depressed pores and minor, shallow depressed scars ( you can fill it in with this product! ). It will fill in and compensate for all the uneven-ness of the surface of the skin, and as you apply liquid foundation on it and set it, bam, just amazing. The effect is flawless, poreless looking skin! Like you never had skin problems.
I give this line a big thumbs up, like I’ve never did before. I really love these three products that I just reviewed and I am more than willing to repurchase these products once my supplies run out!
Just one truth that I’d like to share with you before I end this entry :
It’s not JUST the foundation, be it liquid, or not, that determines your face, and your makeup’s destiny. It IS the skin care that you put underneath. Makeup will oxidize if you just apply it on bare face, so prep your skin with the needed skin care products ( moisturizer, serum, and pore filler, for those who have large pores ) to prevent foundation darkening, foundation sinking in your pores, highlighting your lines, and sliding off your skin.
I highly recommend this for those who have problems with oily skin, and much more, dilated pores. I’m a happy happy girl with these three products!
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I have been using the pre refining serum and the stay matte hydrator for more than a month and has been the only products that has kept my oil at bay, at the end of the day i am left with a shine that’s just makes me look dewy. I’m super oily so this is a very BIG improvement.
I also took pictures before i started using the products and took another after a month and my pores have visibly shrunk!
How much is each?