little white truths

Dermalogica Sheer Tint Light SPF 20

This apparently provides a light coverage while protecting your skin with broad spectrum SPF 20. It contains hyaluronic acid and walnut seed extract, to help improve skin texture and reduce the appearance of fine dehydration lines.

This is as sheer as you might imagine a tint to be, to the point where it does absolutely nothing in terms of coverage (at least for me). Perhaps if you were very fair it might do something, but I'm yet to come across one of these tints that does anything for evening out my complexion so I don't really see the point of them.

It has a sweet scent that I'm not sure how I feel about, plus it takes some work to rub in and leaves behind a residue and a tacky finish. Not a fan. I reckon you go for either a sunscreen or a tinted moisturiser/BB cream: these tint products don't make sense to me.

Dermalogica Redness Relief Primer SPF 15

This is a redness-reducing, broad spectrum primer for sensitised skin. It should neutralise, relieve and defend against inflammation and redness.

I really liked this, and I wasn't expecting to so it was a nice surprise. It's a green product with a powdery texture, but when you apply it to the skin, it sheers out so you don't look like a martian.

It's smoothing and feels nice on, and while I don't think it did a hell of a lot for redness, it was still a nice primer and I like that it contains sunscreen. I probably wouldn't buy it but I did enjoy it.

The shampoo is described as a gentle, effective formula that transforms into a luxurious lather, cleansing away all impurities. The conditioner is described as a lightweight product that melts into hair fibres for deep, durable nutrition and frizz control.

The shampoo was rubbish and I needed to do three washes to get my hair close to clean. Indeed, normally I go through twice as much conditioner as shampoo - but in this case the reverse was true. It did smell lovely, but not lovely enough to warrant the $44 AUD price-tag.

The conditioner was decent. It smelled nice and it left my hair feeling beautifully nourished and healthy. Mind you, it also left a coating on my hair so it reduced the time between washes, and my hair looked a little dull after use due to the coating.

Together these didn't work that well because the shampoo didn't clean properly, but when I used the second dose of conditioner with another product, I liked it better. I wouldn't recommend either though, especially considering how expensive they are.

The foundation is described as a 24-hour powder foundation with a flawless, matte finish. It should be budge-proof, sweat-proof and smudge-proof.

The primer is described as a hydrating, water-based primer that’s specially designed for long-wear foundations. It’s infused with nourishing ingredients (including vitamin B5, aloe vera, jojoba and shea butter) and should help long-wear foundations glide evenly onto skin for a poreless, soft finish.

The primer has a super sweet scent that I wasn't a fan of, but it is very hydrating so I liked how it felt on the skin. I agree that it has a smoothing effect and it also did feel nourishing, so it was quite a nice product for my dry skin.

I was expecting to hate the foundation because I don't like full coverage and I don't like a matte finish, but it wasn't too awful and it didn't look like a mask (although granted, I didn't build it up to full coverage). Yes it was too much coverage for me and I prefer a dewy finish, but it did look like skin and it also wore well throughout the day. I'll be doing a swatches and first impressions post on this, so stay tuned for that if you're interested.

It says on the sample card that you can mix the primer and foundation for a sheerer coverage, so I did that three times and I really liked the effect. The combination was dewy, felt hydrating and it just looked like skin. It also didn't sit in pores or emphasise texture, and while I wouldn't go out and buy both products to use as one, I was happy enough to use these two sample cards.