Recently went out to pick up and try out the "Turnaround Revitalizing Serum" by Clinique and it came with this surprise grab-bag of goodies. I've been using them for a couple weeks now so I thought I'd let you know what I like, don't like, would recommend and repurchase, any dupes I've found, and so forth.
To go with the serum, the grab bag had a tester of the "Turnaround Overnight Revitalizing Moisturizer". This I have unfortunately also fallen hard for. It works really well with the serum as well as on it's own. I use it morning and night. It soaks into the skin beautifully and doesn't leave your face feeling greasy or covered in product. It is very lightweight. It is $46.00 for a 1.7 oz jar.
The two work really well together and to be honest I don't know which one I would recommend most if you wanted to only buy one.
The next product I was most excited to try was the "Rinse off Foaming Cleanser". I have heard good things about this product and had very high hopes as I am always looking for a good cleanser. Sadly, I have developed a love-hate relationship with this product.
I love the way it makes my skin look. It looks radiant and glowing. How it feels however is a different story. My first problem is that for a "foaming" cleanser, it sure doesn't foam. At all. Then when you rinse it off, it leaves my face feeling like there is still residue on it. The soap-scum feeling is how I would describe it. When I use it, I often use one of my First Aid Beauty Exfoliating Pads afterwards to make my face feel completely clean. Since the point of a cleanser is to clean your face I'm going to label this product a dud for me. If you are interested in trying it, it is $25.00 a tube. The grab bag also had a tester size of the "Rinse off Eye Make-up Solvent". It works very well taking off all make-up, not just eye products. It comes off very quickly and with only a few wipes. My pet peeve with this is that it leaves my face feeling ridiculously greasy. Even if I wash my face after, I can still feel the oiliness of the product. This is most likely just a mental thing on my part but it also means I will not be adding this product to my collection. It works as well as any drugstore product does, but at $23, there are definitely more cost efficient alternatives.
The last three items are the perfume, lipgloss, and mascara. The perfume is a nice tester size. It's not an overwhelming scent, but I would categorize it as a more sophisticated smell (read, a scent for those age fifty plus). I am not a fan of lipgloss at all, mainly because I cannot stand the stickiness, so I knew right away I would not be repurchasing this product. It is a sweet pink-nude colour and I'm sure could add some nice shine to a nude lip if that is what you are looking for.
The mascara took a few days to grow on me. I am SUPER picky about my mascaras and this particular one didn't seem to do anything for me. After a few more tries I will now say, it is not the best on its own but it is great for adding volume and de-clumping lashes after you have put a coat of a different mascara on. I'm going to make use of it while it lasts but there are several other mascaras I would recommend first before suggesting this one.
So out of the seven products that were in my grab bag, the only two I would recommend or repurchase were the two I went out to purchase in the first place; the "Turnaround Revitalizing" Serum and Moisturizer. Despite this, it was still fun to test out some new products. Let me know in the comments if you have any favourite Clinique products or if you have tried any of the above with different results!
-OJ
