My bottle is near empty, the last few drops of serum rest still at the bottom, quite like the last sip of tea at the bottom of a lone tea cup in my kitchen sink. It's habitual, the tea thing. The last drops of skincare product, on the other hand, is a harbinger of either 'Need More' or 'Never Again'.‘I’ll try it over my Mamonde Rose Water Toner today.’, I thought to myself many weeks ago, while standing under the hot shower. It had been raining, and I made the water January-weather hot. My body wash smelled so good, like Blueberries dipped in cotton candy spring water, and I reminded myself to have some Blueberry Greek Yogurt later. Blueberry became my #1 flavour overnight, overshadowing all the other fruit flavours. *Deleted Squid Games on Netflix Top 10 analogy here, because I couldn't get through even 1 episode - yet*
'I wonder what Kakudu Plum tastes like... like the plums that grew in the backyard of my childhood home? Nah... 'kakudu' just doesn't sound like something sweet to me. I'm thinking... somewhat bitter-sour, like amla (gooseberry). It also sounds like something with a hard shell - like coconut, something you can knock on & it'd make a ka-ku-du type of sound...'
Before my face dried completely, it had been rose water-toned with a cotton pad. The glass dropper felt cold like a shard of ice against my face as I dragged it like a feather across half my face & squeezed little drops of Lakmé Vitamin C+ Serum. Only half my face, because I wanted to compare - and I do this as a consumer, not a f------ critic.
Then I just stood there & stared at the one half of my face in the mirror. Waiting....waiting for a (
miracle)different outcome : filtered-looking pores, invisible blackheads, that plush reflective skin, that stark yang-like difference, that 'something' in a skincare product that makes you glow like you're about set to go on Instagram Reels and sync your expert skincare advice & tips with some bhangra type dance moves (hip thrust & pointing, yo). You're using all the ABC's now, after all - AHA, BHA, Vit C. You're on the righteous path of being the Baba Ramdev of skincare.
(Description from website)
Water, 3-0-Ethyl Ascorbic Acid, Propanediol, Pentylene Glycol, Sodium Acrylates Copolymer, Phenoxyethenol, Lecithin, Vitamin E Acetate, Fragrance, Glycerine, Sodium Gluconate, PEG-4 Laurate, PEG-4 Dilaurate, Iodopropynyl, Butylcarbamate, Polyethylene Glycol, Terminalia Ferdinandiana Fruit Extract, Limonene, Linalool, Geraniol, Citronellol, Citral.
*After googling all the ingredients one-by-one, I came to know last 5 are related to fragrance only, and words like Limonene & Citral don't mean Vitamin C add-ons, as one might think.
My Skin Type:
My skin type right now is combination-dry. T-zone is oily and sides of my face normal to dry.First Impression:
The scent of it. That's what stood out. It was very familiar. It was something I never liked, but I couldn't remember straight away. It's Lemongrass, my least favourite scent in the whole world - after butter. When I read Kakadu Plums, I expected the scent to be something else - more fruity?Lakmé had a cucumber & lemongrass range before which I really liked. But in this serum, the lemongrass smells more household (I also wanna say industrial). However, it's not that strong & doesn't last, so it doesn't bother me so much.Application-wise, it felt nice & watery & not sticky at all. Some serums with glycerine tend to have that stickiness that doesn't go away (Hello, Garnier!)
Final Thoughts:
When I use a skin care product, I want to feel it on my skin, I want to feel like my skin is being fed, in a way. You know, that bouncy & hydrated texture. This serum, sadly, couldn't do that. After 15 minutes or so, my skin starts to feel tight & almost paper-like. The same feeling I get after using a clay mask. I have to apply a moisturizer or a facial oil over it. It is, by far, the most drying serum I've ever used. Sometimes, I feel like it sucks the plumpness, or collagen, from my skin. The sides of my cheeks always feel rough in the mornings when I have this serum on during the night. A serum, of course, is essentially a product you apply under a moisturizer & it doesn't really need to have a spine of its own, so one could use that point as a defense, however weak it may be.While I typed this, I'd applied it over my Son & Park Beauty Water, and my skin felt smooth & it looked rather glowy. That's because S&P Beauty Water is dope & it's like the garlic of my skincare routine, it goes with almost everything.Very oily-skinned people might appreciate it for the dry/matte texture it provides, that is if they're not planning to wear a foundation afterwards, because I think it's most likely too drying to be a base for liquid makeup.Every uneventful, anti-climactic close inspection of my skin after applying this serum prompted me to just stop using it, but like a book & movie, you gotta read & watch it till the end to give a fair feedback on it......For me, my skin feels better without Lakmé Vitamin C+ Serum. It didn't change/improve anything about my skin, nor did it nourish it. For it to be able to do even the bare minimum, it needs another hydrating product underneath for support. The only good thing about it is the temporary cool/soothing sensation it gives my skin right after cleansing.
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You cover a wide range of topics even in your beauty posts and they are all so interesting to read. I admire the way you write.
ReplyDeleteYour photos and the things you show are all so beautiful. 👌
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