Review - Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturising Lotion+

Last year I tried out the Clinque Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel and really liked it. Back then my skin was transitioning from oily to dry, and after a while I wasn’t able to use it because it wasn’t hydrating enough. I moved on to other moisturisers and kind of forgot about it. Then a few weeks ago when I used up the last of the moisturiser I was using I decided to give the Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion+ a go.

It’s a very light consistency, quite unlike most other lotions I’ve tried recently. I like this because it’s easier to apply makeup over a light moisturiser than a thick one. Actually the consistency isn’t too different from the gel, it’s only slightly thicker. It spreads easily and does give a decent amount of hydration. It doesn’t have a terrible scent, it just smells like normal Clinique products. Honestly, that’s the most I can really say for it though. I haven’t noticed it doing all that much for my skin. It hasn’t irritated it or anything, but it also hasn’t improved it in any way.

It’s really just kind of blah. Sure it hydrates somewhat, but you expect something called ‘Dramatically Different’ to do something a bit more than just simple hydration. Especially for the price. The small 50ml tube costs $29. I’ve used other moisturisers that have hydrated and done other things like brighten and smooth. The Aveeno Daily Moisturiser, for example, was one I found to be more effective than this one and it’s $20 for more than double the product.

When I had oily skin and was using the Gel formula of this product I noticed a great difference in my skin. It got less oily through the day and makeup lasted longer. Apart from the fact that it’s a lotion, I don’t know why this one is so much less impressive. I was hoping that this one would counteract the dry patchiness I sometimes get around my chin throughout the day, but it really hasn’t changed it at all.

This isn’t a terrible product by any stretch, but it’s not one I’ll repurchase. If it did a bit more I’d feel differently, but mild hydration isn’t enough to tempt me. There are definitely better products out there.

Review: UD Ultra Nourishing Lip Gloss - Walk of Shame

I have bought a few Urban Decay products recently and this gloss was the first (not including the Naked Basics, which I purchased last year). It was $30 from Mecca Maxima and I picked it up on UD’s opening day at my local store. I gave a few thoughts on it in the feature I did a couple of weeks ago on the opening day, but I thought I’d jump on here and give it a proper review. I’m also planning a new series of posts with a one-brand focus and one of those brands will be UD so stay tuned for that too!

This is by far the most I have ever spent on a lipgloss. Usually I stick to the drugstore brands, but it was UD’s opening day and I couldn’t help myself. It called to me. I have the shade Walk of Shame and it’s just a nice nude pink. It does have a little shine to it, but the shimmer is so fine you can barely notice it, which I like. I can’t stand when glittery glosses are all chunky and you just feel like you coated your lips in shimmer. The packaging is sleek with its shiny gold exterior and peek of the shade at the bottom. I love how the ‘Naked’ part is actually cut out of the gold part too. It just looks so cool and luxurious.

I cannot tell a lie. This stuff stinks to high heaven. It smells more strongly of paint than the foundation does. When I swatched this next to the foundation I just thought it was the Naked Skin making my hand smell. I get the gloss home and realise that it’s the culprit, not the foundation. The foundation actually becomes fairly odourless once it sets. With the gloss though it really wouldn’t have hurt UD to just pop a hint of vanilla or something in the formula to make it smell yummy. Pretty much every other gloss I’ve ever owned has smelled yummy, I thought I could expect that from UD too!

 

Despite the terrible stench it’s actually a fantastic gloss. It’s long-lasting, moisturising and simply beautiful on the lips. It works alone, on top of lipstick or even just on top of tint or lip pencil. Walk of Shame is a classy shade, in spite of the name, and it was the best shade to try as my first gloss from them.

The question then becomes will it be the last. Quite possibly. Although it’s gorgeous on the lips, part of me can’t get past the smell. It stinks so badly and I just truly believe that glosses should smell good enough to eat. You are putting them on your lips after all.

Review: Jurassic World

I finally got the chance to see Jurassic World on Friday with my cousin Wendy. We were both pretty excited, being big Jurassic Park fans. I was also a little worried about it, especially when I think about how the third one disappointed me. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate the third one, but I wouldn't miss it if they had never made it. So this movie had me really hoping that they would make up for the third movie. It didn't disappoint at all.

The story picks up 20 odd years after the events of the first movie. The park has been opened for a while. It was rebranded as Jurassic World and gets 20,000 people through the gates a day. In order to maintain numbers the scientists at the park cook up a hybrid dinosaur in their lab. It quickly becomes obvious that this was a huge mistake because the dinosaur they created is highly intelligent and vicious. It breaks loose in the park and wreaks havoc. Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howards star in the movie as park employees trying to bring the dinosaur down and save the day. Bryce Dallas Howard plays park executive Claire, who originally oversaw the creation of the dinosaur and who is desperately trying to track down her nephews amongst the chaos. Chris Pratt plays Owen, the Velociraptor wrangler. He has trained the Velociraptors to view him as their alpha. Owen teams up with Claire to track down her nephews and bring down the dinosaur.

Right off the bat the movie’s storyline is far better than that of the third movie. The third movie’s storyline was fairly weak and it relied too heavily on making the big bad dino scary. The storyline in Jurassic World is strong and the scariness of the big bad is more an added bonus than the saving grace. I especially loved that this movie didn’t rely on the T-Rex and Velociraptors to be antagonists. They took these dinosaurs in a different direction and gave them protagonist-type roles. It was a refreshing change from the other movies. I think if they had of followed suit with the other three movies with those dinos it would’ve been old and uninteresting.

Despite the fresh take on the dinosaur storyline this movie took, it still managed to retain the classic style that the first two movies had. The banter, dino interaction and filming style all seemed to reinvigorate that 90’s style that I and many others loved so much. The creators of the movie clearly had a lot of respect for the original movie and made sure they didn’t bastardise it in any way. I will admit that it still isn’t as good as the first two, but it comes pretty damn close. It’s a bit slow at the beginning of the movie, but it picks up quickly and is pretty much non-stop for the rest of the time. I don’t think they could’ve have got any closer to the original movie quality-wise as they did.

All-in-all this movie was everything I was hoping it would be. It completely made up for the third movie and I’m so happy that everyone who worked on it seemed to carry a great respect for the original movie because it’s what made the movie so enjoyable. Huge thumbs up from a loyal Jurassic Park fan!