L'Oreal Hydra Genius For Normal to Oily Skin Review

I'm a big fan of matte skin so I was thrilled when a sample of L'Oreal's Hydra Genius for Normal to Oily Skin showed up in my April Topbox. With claims like "Excess shine is reduced" and "Skin looks mattified and fresh," this sounds like the perfect product for me. I wanted to use it right away but I knew that if I tried it out in April, I'd be wasting my sample. So instead I held on to it until July, the sweaty month.

"Inspired by Korean technology," L'Oreal states that this moisturizer is, "...a boost of water for the skin, continuously refreshing it with hydration."  I only had enough product to use this product each morning for a little less than a week so I can't comment on the company's claim that, "Skin feels softer and more supple. After 4 weeks."

But I can comment on the texture. L'Oreal claims that, "This formula is air light and glides on easily for quick absorption, leaving skin feeling refreshed and mattified." And yeah, it really did absorb like, well, air. It also left my skin looking really matte. Maybe a little too matte.

L'Oreal Color Radiance Review

Another month, another new shampoo/conditioner/leave-in treatment to test out. This time around the line is L'Oreal's Colour Radiance. While it consists of six products, I tried out the shampoo, the conditioner and a leave-in cream that's called Instant Miracle. These three products were supplied to me free of charge by Influenster, a product testing site.

Now, I need to also state that I only used all three product together so I can't comment on say, the individual cleaning power of the shampoo. But I can tell you that together, the three items worked nicely to give me strong, shiny hair.

A few days prior to receiving these products, I touched up my roots with an at-home touch-up kit. While I realize that's not quite the same as getting a fresh colour, I do think that my touch-up job does allow me to assess this line's impact on coloured hair.

L'Oreal Fibralogy Shampoo & Conditioner

A few weeks ago I was at Shoppers Drugmart, picking up a few items during one of those promo events where if you buy $50 worth of stuff, you get a bunch of bonus Optimum points. I thought I'd grabbed enough to hit that $50-before-taxes target but nope, due to some items being on sale, I was under by close to $20. Not wanting to miss out on my bonus points, I looked around to see what else I could pick up. Just a few feet away from the till was my answer: L'Oreal's new Fibralogy line on sale.

According to L'Oreal, "Fibralogy thickens hair wash after wash and expands the diameter of the hair fibre for voluptuous looking hair!" It does this thanks to its use of something called "filloxane" that "penetrates and diffuses in the hair fibre." This ingredient "remains in the fibre and increases application after application. Hair becomes progressively thicker."

L’Oreal Mythic Oil

This is going to be a short review because there isn’t much to say to say about L'Oreal's Mythic Oil, which I received in my August Topbox, other than it works. L’Oreal says that this oil, “leaves hair looking shiny, feeling nourished and supple” and I completely agree. After just one use my hair glistened.

Made with “a special blend of avocado and grape seed oil,” this formula is indeed “lightweight” and doesn’t leave hair greasy or heavy, even if you pile it on. This product doesn’t do much to fight frizz but then L’Oreal doesn’t make any claims about that. Instead, its focus is on shine and shine is what this oil delivers.

While I primarily used it on towel-dried hair, before I used a blow dryer or let my hair air dry, there were a few times when I applied a small amount to my dry hair. L’Oreal says to do this “as a finishing touch” and it was a great suggestion, as it was a quick and easy way to perk up my hair before I went out at night.

At $20-something a bottle, this product isn’t cheap but it should last a long time, since you don’t need a lot to get a lot of shine.

Would I buy this product: I might. However, there are so many great hair oils out there nowadays that it really comes down to what’s on sale when I need one.

Should you buy this product: Yes! It’s easy to use, it works and one bottle should last you for months.

L'Oreal RevitaLift Miracle Blur

According to L’Oreal, RevitaLift Miracle Blur is a brand new type of beauty product: “It’s NOT a moisturiser  NOT a foundation, MORE than a primer; it’s the first of-its-kind Instant Skin Smoother” explains this item’s web page.

I certainly agree that this transparent, paste-like product is nothing like a moisturiser or foundation but the “more than a primer” part? Well, according to L’Oreal this product will, “Blur the look of your lines, pores and wrinkles…” and is “…an instant skin smoother with a perfecting velvety-matte finish!” That sounds like a primer to me.

But who cares, what this product is, the big question is, does it work? Well, sort of, but not in the way L’Oreal describes. I found that while this primer didn't “blur” or erase my flaws, it certainly did minimize them by completely, and instantly, taming shine.  

L’Oreal Youth Code BB Cream Illuminator

I love the idea of BB creams; they’re easy to apply, easy to wear and supposedly do a million and one things. L’Oreal’s latest BB cream, this one released as part of the Youth Code line, is no different. It claims that it will give you the instant results of a “flawless and luminous look” and the long term benefits of “More even looking skin tone.”

My sample size was too small to test out that last claim but I can firmly say that this product didn’t deliver fully on the first claim. It actually did make my skin look more luminous, I will give it that, but it certainly didn't make it look flawless.

L’Oreal MagicSmooth Soufflé Foundation

 I like how this foundation feels on my fingers and… yep, that’s about it. L’Oreal describes this product as having a “revolutionary soufflé texture” and while “revolutionary” is a bit much (it’s foundation!), I do agree that this product has a very light and airy texture that you don't generally feel in the world of foundation.

Unfortunately, I found that this foundation had a nasty tendency to ball up when I was applying it to my skin. At first I thought that it wasn't getting along with my Smashbox primer but nope, the same thing happened even when I applied this product directly onto clean, bare skin.

L’Oreal Magic Perfecting Base Face Primer

*The following is a mini-review because I only had a small amount of this product to try out*

According to L’Oreal, this is the world’s number one selling primer and I can kind of see why: It’s affordable (generally under $15), accessible (you can find it in any drugstore that sells L’Oreal), easy to apply (unlike some other primers, this one does ball, or causing balling if you put too much of it on) and it sort of works.

L’Oreal Voluminous False Fibre Lashes

According to its packaging, this mascara uses “volumizing fibres” to create a “false lashes effect”. I didn’t know they made “daytime” false lashes because daytime lashes, lashes that are pretty but don’t have any really wow factor, are exactly what this mascara gives you.

This mascara is supposed to give me lashes that, “… appear fuller, longer, sculpted and curled at every angle” and I can’t argue with that claim, this product does do all of that. It just doesn’t do it at the very dramatic, “false lashes” level. And really, for a daytime look, that’s fine; I actually prefer that my day makeup looks like it could be natural.

L’Oreal Youth Code Day-Night Moisturizer

L’Oreal proudly boosts that Youth Code, its “youth regenerating skincare” line, is the result of “10 years of gene research”. Given all that time (and I’m sure a lot of money), it’s really, really disappointing to see the utterly unremarkable results of the Day-Night cream, which I recently tested out.

Before I go any further, I should point out that I’m younger that Youth Code’s main demographic (I’m under 30). However, my forehead is already showing lines (thanks porcelain skin!) and really, any good moisturizer, regardless of what niche it’s targeted at, should create the same end result: healthy, smooth skin.

L’Oreal Total Repair 5 Shampoo For Damaged Hair

Last week, while brushing my hair after waking up, I noticed that it was really shiny, almost as shiny as when I do a 20-minute treatment with John Frieda Luminous Colour Glaze.

But I hadn’t done that in weeks so I started going back through my hair care routine, trying to figure out what had changed. Then I remembered that the week before I had started using L’Oreal Total Repair 5 Shampoo for Damaged Hair.

This is a new product and it caught my eye because it claims that it, “Helps restore 5 visible signs of replenished hair without weighing it down”. And what are those five signs? They are: Strength, density, vitality, shine and silky touch.

L’Oreal’s Root Rescue

While Pureology shampoo and conditioner might be great at preserving hair colour, it can’t save what’s not there so this past weekend, I found myself touching up my roots.

Up until then, I’ve always used Clairol’s Nice’N Easy Root Touch-up for this job. It’s a great product and my only issue with it is that sometimes it’s hard to find my particular shade (I guess it’s popular). So I had no intentions not to use it this time but, when I walked into Shopper’s something new and shiny (and on sale) caught my eye: L’Oreal’s Root Rescue.


Now if you’re thinking this is going to turn into a hair colouring disaster story, you’re wrong. Root Rescue’s end results are great and I’m very happy with the shiny, natural colour it gave me, colour that blends seamlessly with my existing highlights. Getting to those results though was a bit of pain.

L’Oreal Studio Secrets Color Smokes Eye Shadow

A few weeks ago there was a death in my makeup family. One of my favourite eye shadows, a sparkly-but-not-too-sparkly white, was dropped onto my concrete bathroom floor. Despite a noble attempt on my part to save the shadow, it had busted into too many little pieces.

Of course, that particular colour had been discontinued but thankfully I was able to find a replacement white that not only matched the orginal shade in its versatility (this colour is perfect for both day and night wear) but also brought into my makeup family three other, equally great colours.

And this amazing product is L’Oreal Studio Secrets Color Smokes Eyeshadow in #936 Blackened Smokes. Besides the white, there is a black, a mid-tone grey and a lighter grey, all with just the right amount of shine to them. Skip the black and the other three colous are perfect to wear to work. Then come night time, up the drama by lining your lids with the black.

Besides having great colours, this product also has a great texture. You can really pile this stuff on and it won’t feel like you have anything on your eye lids. It also goes on easily and blends quite nicely.

Like most powdered shadows, it will start migrating to your eyelid crease  after a few hours so do wear it over a primer to keep it in place. But it doesn’t flake and as long as you avoid rubbing your eyes, you won’t end up with eye shadown all over your face.

Another nice feature of this product is that it comes with intructions on the back that detail what colour to place wear to get a great look.

There aren’t a lot of makeup items out there that I would consider must-have but I think this product makes it onto that exclusive list. It’s a great, versatile colour set that is quite user-friendly. And at around $10-$12,  it’s also easy on your wallet.

This product does some in several other colour combos and you can see them all listed here.

Would I buy this again: Yes
Should you buy it: Yes

L’Oreal Sale

*Contest Still On* Just a reminder that today is the last day to enter Beauty Crazed’s Pur Mineral prize pack contest. To enter, you just have to answer this trivia question: What is The Shopping Channel’s Showstopped of the day?

Alright, now on to today’s blog. Instead of reviewing a product I want to tell you about this amazing sale I went to on Saturday. It was put on by L’Oreal Canada and was basically a very well-organized warehouse-like sale that had products by L’Oreal, Biotherm, Vichy, Garmier, Matrix, Maybelline and over half a dozen brands at up to 90 percent off.

Wondering why you’ve never heard of this event before? Then it’s because you, like me, don’t have direct access to tickets for it. This is a ticketed event but you can’t buy tickets (at least not from L’Oreal) for it. Instead, L’Oreal gives out tickets to major employers and unions who then somehow distribute them to their employees.

I only had a ticket because my cousin was able to get one from her employer. She had been before with her mother, who would from time-to-time get them from her union, and according to my cousin, this year’s sale was just as good as in previous years.

We went on the last weekend of this 10-day event so I thought it would be picked over but nope, there was still lots to choose from and while most of it wasn’t at 90 percent off, I would say that the majority of items were on sale for 40 percent or more.

For example, I saw a L’Oreal eye shadow set that I’d bought two weeks ago at Shoppers for around $13, on sale for $4.50. There was a quite of selection of high quality hair products, stuff that goes for at least $18 in a salon on sale for $8 and then there was the perfume set.

My cousin was busy buying Christmas gifts and if you know what scents someone likes, this is definitely the place to buy perfume sets since they were going for at least 50 percent off.

There was also a ton of high-end anti-aging products on sale as well as lip sticks, foundations, moisturizers, I could go on and on.

Considering the selection, I have to say that I showed amazing restraint and came while below the $700 purchasing limit (though there were some people there who I think were cutting it close).

Apparently these sales are held at least twice a year and I’m hoping I can get a ticket to the next one. Yeah, it was up in an industrial park in North York and yes, it was a bit crowded but these were both small inconveniences considering the great deals that were to be had. I have heard that some people do sell their tickets online. Hmmm...