I know I said I wouldn’t count reviews as Blogcember posts, but I just have a lot of products I want to talk about and I don’t have the time for double features, unfortunately, so please forgive me if I sprinkle a product review here and there. I started using this product since the first day I got it in the Black Friday Lookfantastic beauty box and I still have some left, so I think that a couple of weeks made me decide that it’s worth writing about.

Packaging:

The full size serum comes in a nice bottle. I have a travel size (9 ml) that comes in a plastic bottle with a pump which makes it very easy to apply. It looks very cute and the orange color really makes me think of oranges.

Texture:

The serum is thick in consistency and it has an orange color. It also smells a little like oranges which I don’t mind, because I feel like I’m applying a fruit cocktail on my face each morning which really give me an energy boost.

Ingredients:

Water/Aqua/Eau, Glycerin, 3-O-Ethyl Ascorbic Acid, Niacinamide, Glycereth-7 Triacetate, Lactic Acid, SD Alcohol 40-B, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Dimethyl Isosorbide, Ascorbic Acid, Collagen Amino Acids, Superoxide Dismutase, Glycine, Carnitine HCl, Ubiquinone, Hexylresorcinol, Emblica Officinalis Fruit Extract, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate, Isoquercetin, Mandelic Acid, Pueraria Lobata Root Extract, Curcuma Longa (Turmeric) Root Extract, Phytic Acid, Citric Acid, Tetrasodium EDTA, Sodium Citrate, Butylene Glycol, Xanthan Gum, Polysorbate 20, T-Butyl Alcohol, Sodium Hydroxide, Polysorbate 80, Denatonium Benzoate, Benzyl Alcohol, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Sorbate, Caramel

3-O-Ethyl Ascorbic Acid is the most effective stabilized form of vitamin C – maintaining its acidic properties to penetrate deep into the skin, working on both the hydro and lipophilic phases of the cell to minimize and prevent the appearance of hyperpigmentation, fine lines, and wrinkles.
Collagen Amino Acids are plant-sourced collagen, which are the building blocks of peptides and proteins.
Energy Complex boosts cellular metabolism and contains antioxidant properties to protect cells and enhance functions at the nucleic level. (excerpt from the Dr. Dennis Gross website)

The serum doesn’t contain any pore-clogging ingredients and it’s safe for acne-prone and oily skin as well.

Price and accessibility:

The good news is that Dr. Dennis Gross is now available at Douglas (they have really brought some cool new brands this year, I think they will become my favorites instead of Sephora). The bad news is that it’s an expensive brand. The full size serum retails on the brand’s website for 78 US dollars and I calculated the value of my travel size at 27.50 euros. Although a small amount lasts for a long time, it’s still expensive considering that I would need at least one bottle a month.

My overall opinion:

The serum feels a little bit sticky on the skin, but the feeling goes away after I apply my moisturizer. Because it has a thick texture, I only need to use a small amount (2-3 pumps at once) and I use it only in the morning for that energy boost and radiant skin effect. Personally, I think it helps to even out the skin tone and I think it was one of the reasons why some dark spots I had on my forehead disappeared faster. I had a breakout on my forehead and I picked on my pimples so I was left with some dark red tiny spots that “healed” faster once I started to use this serum daily. I would say that if you can afford it, this is a great Vitamin C serum and I would recommend it to anyone in search of a great product of this type.

And now, from one serum, let’s skip to another, because the drawer number 11 in the advent calendar also had an interesting surprise.

Tan-Luxe Super Glow SPF Hyaluronic Self-Tan Serum (10 ml)

I never heard of a hyaluronic serum that has self-tanning properties, but I will give it a try. I like anything that has hyaluronic acid in it, so we’ll see. I’m not thrilled that it’s self-tanning, but I’m always happy to receive a new serum in my beauty arsenal. The full size product (30 ml) retails on the Lookfantastic website for 220.35 lei, so the travel size is worth 73.45 lei.

And let’s end the day with another cup of tea. This time, I opened the tea calendar in the morning because I wanted to bring some to work, so that’s probably what I’ll do from now on.

Lemon & Ginger Cupper Tea

Another herbal infusion with a little bit of spice in it, this tea contains lemongrass, ginger, lemon beebrush, liquorice, lemon peel and orange peel. It’s funny just that I thought this is a green tea blend for some reason.

That’s it for today, now I have to get some work done, so see you tomorrow when we’re halfway through the advent calendars.