Product Review: Salma Hayek Nuance Cooling Eye Gel and More

I've got a couple of new products standing by that I've tried. I tried a new eye gel that I find very comparable to my Olay product, a straightening balm that flattened my hair (dislike!), and a skin-lightening lotion with a lot of promise. I love trying new products. Does anyone want to hire me to be a beauty product tester? :)

1. Salma Hayek Nuance Cooling Eye Gel

I got this product during a fabulous sale at CVS, and have been trying it out for the last couple of weeks. I usually use Olay's Age Defying Revitalizing Eye Gel in the morning, but I've been using this in it's place. I've been using Olay's eye gel since I was 21, so I do have some high standards. I use an eye gel in the morning (to reduce any puffiness) and an anti-aging cream at night for moisturizing. I'm pleased with this product. The applicator is a roller, I love the feeling of rolling on a cool gel in the morning. This absorbs into the skin fast and keeps my eyes moisturized during the day (this is a big plus for me, I hate when makeup settles into dry lines around the eyes). I wouldn't say it's better than the Olay gel, because to be honest, I haven't noticed any differences. It's nice to know that there's another option if I can't find the Olay on sale. I will note that this product is normally pretty expensive when it's not on sale, so this would need to be a good price for me to buy it again. The verdict? If I can get this cheaper than Olay's eye gel, I will probably end up buying more. Otherwise, I'm sticking to the tried and true.

2. Garnier Sleek and Shine Blow Dry Perfector Straightening Balm

Such a long name for this product. I was excited to try this product, I'm always on the lookout for products that protect against heat. I use a straightener almost every day, it's pretty much a requirement for me to use something to protect against the heat. My fave I've tried is Tresemme's Heat Tamer Protective Spray, but it's not always on sale. I picked this up instead to give it a try. This is a serious dislike for me. I knew I was in trouble when I put a little bit in my hand, and rubbed my hands together. It felt thick. Thick usually equates to weighing my hair down, for me. Sure enough, I was right. After applying this and blowdrying, I put my hair up in my large velcro rollers for 30 minutes. When I took out the rollers, my volume lasted... maybe, an hour. Same thing happened the next day, and the day after. Thinking it may have been the weather, I used it one more time before blowdrying. I had 3 more days of flat hair. Sigh. I loathe flat hair. I have a round face, and I need a head-full of fluffy hair to thin out my cheeks. It's not a good look for me to have hair pasted against my face. The verdict? If you have very thick hair, this may be the product for you. I have a lot of hair, but it's on the finer side so I can't be using something like this without ending up with flat hair. If you have fine hair, this is not the product for you. I won't be buying this again.

3. Proactiv Skin Lightening Lotion

I was rooting around in my closet about a month ago when I found an unopened box. Curious, I tore into it. I found about a year's worth of Proactiv products as well as some one-off Proactiv products, such as this one. I was stoked! I don't know why I forgot about this box, but I was eager to try this product out. I've been using it for a month now with excellent results. I've never had really bad acne, but I still suffer from occasional breakouts that have left some dark marks on my skin. I hate those spots! I've been applying this lotion to my spots twice a day, once before my morning moisturizer and once before my nightly moisturizer. While none of the marks are gone, they are definitely lighter. This product also hasn't been clogging my pores, another big problem for me. It's hard to add facial products to my arsenal since a lot of products clog my pores. I'm loving that this is lightening some of my spots. Due to the hot, humid weather here and the fact that I've been sporting BB cream lately instead of foundation, my skin needs to look its best. No layers of makeup to hide under! The verdict? I will probably end up getting some more. I just found out today that you can buy Proactiv products on www.QVC.com without having to sign-up for a Proactiv account. I'm also stoked about this! I'm not sure when I will have to buy more though, because I only to have to put a tiny smidge on my spots and this is a really large tube. It may take me quite awhile to go through this tube. I don't see any problem with that though :)