Charlotte Tilbury Instant Magic Facial Dry Sheet Mask - my thoughts

I love a good face mask, I don't mind the faff or the mess or time consumingness of the whole ritual of it all. 

I wanted to try the new Charlotte Tilbury Sheet Mask because, well, it's Charlotte Tilbury innit? I have yet to try a product of hers that I have not liked.

Much as I love a good face mask, I am a sheet mask virgin so whilst I realise that the CT sheet mask is different from the majority of face masks because it is dry, I have no experience of trying one - actually that is a damn lie because as I type this I realise that I had an Erno Lazlo Sensitive Hydrogel Mask in the Harvey Nichols GWP bag last autumn, a delightfully slippy oozey deeply hydrating sheet mask which I happily applied several times over the Christmas period - see below bottom right

This mask is entirely different, the polar opposite of Erno Lazlo mask. It is made of a thickish fabric which has a stretch. It feels dry, like fabric feels dry, not paper dry, but not damp in anyway, no moisture. So one attaches it to one's face, massages the skin through the mask, and again there is no feeling that one is releasing anything, but I suppose the skin does slightly become attracted to the mask, no sticking mind, just an attraction! And then one sits back and waits, or gets on with whatever one was doing before, or going to do, for 15 minutes.

I don't really know what I was expecting, but my skin felt moisturised, toned, rested, it looked plumper, creases were lessened, it looked rested.

I tried it 3 times in total as advised, maybe I could have got another go out of it but for me it would have been pushing it.l I tried it last thing at night and first thing in the morning, each time after cleansing my face. It was most successful as a pre-makeup mask.

Now it is £18 for a single mask, or £60 for 4 masks, so either way it is £6 per use (single mask) or £5 per use (4 masks) based on getting 3 uses. For me that is a good price. I am happy and will be buying the set. More information from Charlotte Tilbury.

The Ordinary AHA 30% + BHA 2% Peeling Solution - first thoughts

So I purchased this and it arrived yesterday and I tried it last night - that is a very civilised explanation of a  frenzied "got to get my makeup off and get this stuff onto my face" which was coupled with a slight anxiety about whether my face would fall off in the process.

You see since the beginning of October really, my wimpy 50 year old skin has thrown in the towel and decided that it really cannot cope with cooler weather, I have had flaking red patches of skin on the base of my neck and on my eyelid, weirdly not bilateral nor on the same side, and my lips are permanently peeling and sore. Whilst I have always felt that my skin can be reactive, I would never have labelled it as sensitive, but everything that I put on it other than the heavy duty Avene Cold Cream left me itchy and red. I have every sympathy with those cursed with chronic sensitive skin - it really is the pits.

Thankfully it seems to have largely resolved although the peeling lips remain whatever I use, so I did apply this with trepidation.

The packaging describes this as "10-Minute Exfoliating Facial"  and The Ordinary advise that it is for regular acid users - ie don't go from never using any form of acid toner to using this one. And only leave on the skin for 10 minutes, no longer.

Now I have used acid toners, from Clarins, to Clinique, to Pixi Glow Tonic, to P60 (the "v" version) although I have lessened my use over the past few months. My skin is generally prone to redness and thread veins so again maybe contraindications but I didn't care, I was going in.

Interestingly it is a rich beetroot red. It seems ironic to me that one applies a beetroot red coloured product to one's face which may cause one's face to turn beetroot red - it is a bit like the Omorovicza Thermal Cleansing Balm, which is a grimey grey/black shade, with the function of removing the grey/black grime of the day. Now neither of these products have anything in their ingredients list that I can see suggesting artificial colouring has been added but I don't know, happy coincidence or careful construction? Eitherway it is "interesting" shall we say? On further reading The Ordinary website states "This formula contains a studied Tasmanian Pepperberry derivative to help reduce irritation associated with acid use. This derivative is of plant origin and varies in colour seasonally and this colour variation may be apparent in the formula from time to time". So that explains its hue..

So what was the result of my gung-ho approach to my skincare yesterday evening. Well, it applies very easily although there are no instructions as to how much one applies. The texture is like a slightly oily serum, thicker that water, no real smell. And it does tingle, not sting or burn on my skin but yes a tingle. It is very difficult to describe the difference between the tingle of something doing something and the sting of something which your is not liking. This did not cause anything overt on application.

Whilst on the skin, apart from the tingle, there was no tightness and no uncomfortable "I need to get this off my skin now" feeling.

It removed easily with tepid water as directed. And what was the result? Well if I am honest there was no immediate difference in the appearance in my skin, nothing, my pores remained in all their glory, my blackheads were, well black, my thread veins remained. Okay, I thought, it is my first application, I have only spent £6.30. 

But, application of my other lotions and potions were, I don't know how to describe it, easier? And in the morning my skin seemed thinner, but in a good way, a sort of plumped out thin, if that makes sense, firmer maybe?

I don't know, it is a "watch this space" sort of product, at least my face didn't fall off.