little white truths

Last year Adore Beauty ran a promotion whereby if you bought two Clarins products (one being a skincare item), you received your pick of one of three gifts.

When I saw that I could score a kit containing Clarins' fabled Beauty Flash Balm - which is an HG product of mine and one that I'd been meaning to repurchase for ages - and, on top of that, my skincare choice could be the Clarins Radiance Plus Glow Booster (which I'd been desperate to try), I was sold.

I picked this particular kit because it also contains a night cream and I haven't had a dedicated night cream on hand for ages, plus I was happy with the extra goodies in the set so it was a good deal all round!

Here's what the gift contains:

Not a bad little set! What I thought I'd do is 'unbox' the gift now and include links to any products I've already reviewed, then I'll review whatever's left as I start using everything, and to sum up I'll do a round-up post on the set as a whole - that way you'll know whether these kits are as good value as they look, just in case you want to get one next time!

Clarins Extra Firming Body Cream

I thought I may have reviewed this before because I know I've used it in the past, but looks like I haven't so I'm looking forward to giving it a good test run and letting you know my thoughts.

Apparently this should give me firm skin and a more youthful body: skin is immediately smoothed and, day after day, regains its youthful firmness and tone. It's moisturising and nourishing to boot, and promises to restore the skin's youthful density and elasticity.

Tall claims if I ever heard them, for an expensive body cream that costs $75 for the full size! I'm suspicious, I must say, but I'm looking forward to seeing how it fares.

Clarins Cleansing Milk with Alpine Herbs

I've reviewed this here and I don't need to read that review to remember what I didn't like about this product: it doesn't clean well and it comes with some pretty ridiculous instructions about how to use it (something about creating a suction effect with your hands to get the product to work).

It's meant to be a soothing, gentle cleanser but I suspect I'm not the only one who finds it ineffective and annoying to use. In any event, I'll use up this little bottle and hope that it doesn't take me too long to do so - otherwise I'll go nuts ; )

Clarins Toning Lotion with Chamomile

I haven't tried this one before and I do need a travel-sized toner so I'm pleased with the inclusion. It's apparently an alcohol-free, plant based lotion that's designed to refresh dry or normal skin and gently complete the perfect cleansing program.

I've had a quick look online and it's had some great reviews, so fingers crossed that I like it better than the cleansing milk! We're going away for a couple of days this weekend so I might take it with me and start using it then.

Clarins Beauty Flash Balm

Full review here. This is an HG product of mine and it probably doesn't need much introduction because I suspect that most people will have heard about it, even if they haven't tried it themselves. It's one of those amazing cult products that does exactly what it says it will do and seems to work wonders for a variety of different skin types.

If you haven't tried this, I urge you to grab a sample. It really does wake up the face and add some healthy radiance, and it's a great product to put under or over makeup. I like it best for applying over makeup before I go out because it takes a few years off my face and just makes me look better overall.

Clarins Super Restorative Night Cream

I haven't had a dedicated night cream for ages, in part because I keep winding up with day creams in sub boxes and so I've been re-purposing the ones without sunscreen for night use to avoid a purchase, so it will be nice to crack open a dedicated night cream and use that for a while.

This one is meant to work while you sleep to promote skin density and an even skintone, and it apparently delivers intensive replenishment to skin weakened by hormonal changes linked to the ageing process. That all sounds good and I can't wait to use it.

Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector in No 03 Nude Shimmer 

I've reviewed this here. I do like these glosses but not as much as everyone else seems to: I wonder whether that's because I'd seen so much hype about them before finally trying one that I was expecting to be blown away and no product would have lived up to my expectations.

Still, glosses never go astray for a dry-lipped lass like myself so this will definitely get used. I'll let you know if I can learn to love the product as much as everyone else does this time around!

In sum

This looks like a great value little kit and I can't wait to try everything. It's already a winning kit in my books because not only was it a freebie, but it also contains a sizeable tube of my HG Beauty Flash Balm. Woot woot!

Let me know if you've tried any of these products and what you think of them if so.