Clinique Moisture Surge Overnight Mask | HG Status

So I'm bad at keeping up on blogs, what can I say?

What I CAN say is that I have a much needed review of the Clinique Moisture Surge Overnight Mask which I bought on Boxing Day 2013 and I'm still using it. I'm not even joking, this shit is for real, y'all. Plus it's not even like I use it once a week, I use it almost everyday.

Clinique deems this to be an "overnight mask" as the title suggests but it's really just a glorified moisturiser and boy is it glorious. For a long time I felt like I was doing reviews on things that I really didn't like but this time we've struck gold!

I don't have dry skin but I do believe my skin gets dehydrated fairly often and Clinique's Overnight Mask is a real life saver. I use this almost exclusively at night before I go to sleep and depending on what my skin feels like is how I determine how much of this I use. On regular days I'll use your average amount of moisturiser although in this case a little really does go a long way (hence why I'm still using the same tube almost 1.5 YEARS LATER!).
                                             

I sort of bought this product on a whim and after researching it (the "mask" definition confused me at first), not only does it have nearly 5 star reviews across the board and works for all skin types, I also discovered a little trick for when your skin is having an exceptional "blah" day. Well, perhaps its not a great trick but ANYWAY after you use the moisturiser like you normally would - give it a second to sink in - and then go in with a second layer patted over top. Normally doing something like this just leaves my face feeling gross but not with this stuff. It's like it works double-duty and the next morning my face feels like it just got the softest collagen injections known to man.

Like I said, I've been using this for well over a year and I wanted to mention that I've been using it consistently throughout the change of seasons and haven't noticed any differences as far as dryness or over-saturation goes. I feel like this is important because I HATE having to buy things depending on the season, I have to do this with my foundations and it annoys me to no end. But in the case of the Clinque Moisture Surge Overnight Mask, it really is a perfect all-rounder. 

Just to cover our basics, the size I have is 3.4 oz (which I believe is the biggest size?), is oil-free and retails for $39.00 on Sephora. At the same time I also bought the Clinique Take the Day Off Cleansing Balm which is also amazing.

So with all that said I give this product a definite 10/10. We've hit the holy grail, people!

Clinique Take the Day Off Cleansing Balm | Review

Sometimes you just need to take your skin care back to basics, you know? I feel like most of the skin care products I use on a regular basis are either really strong and harsh, really fragranced or really abrasive. Most of those products are OK to use on an as-needed basis but their directions will encourage you to use them everyday, sometimes twice a day!

After Christmas my skin was going crazy. It's usually on the oiler side of things (a burden in the summertime but a blessing in the the colder months) but it became dry and irritated and was breaking out and no my usual arsenal wasn't making the cut.

I remembered that when I was in high school I used to use Clinique's Dramatically Different moisturizer, which a lot of us are familiar with I'm sure; with its bright yellow colour and boxy packaging. While looking back on it, I probably needed something a little more moisturizing although the thing that I remember most is appreciating how gentle it was.

So on Boxing Day I did I quick buy and dash at The Bay (yes, I was one of the crazy people who went to the mall on Boxing Day but my husband was circling the parking lot waiting for me!) and picked up a couple things from Clinique. One of them being their Take the Day Off Cleansing Balm.

I'd been hearing a lot about these "cleansing balms"; a couple of brands do them and they'd always piqued my interest. But the whole idea of using a "balm" on my face sort of freaked me out and made me wonder, how good of a cleanser could they really be? Well the answer is: AMAZING!

First of all, Clinique's cleansing balm comes in a huge pot and you hardly need to use any at all so it'll last forever. Also, it's totally fragrance-free, not one iota of scent can be found in this product.

You're meant to massage a pea sized amount (and I seriously mean a pea sized amount - and not even a big pea) onto your dry skin and it literally melts away any make up, including mascara. I normally take off my eye make-up with Bioderma but I tested it without having taken off my eye make-up first and while it took an extra 20 seconds, the Take the Day Off balm definitely did its job.

The entire process is really enjoyable and to be honest I actually look forward to taking off my make-at night just because I get to use the Clinque balm. After washing it all away (it doesn't leave a trace of any stickiness or gross film) your skin feels really moisturized and like you've added something good into it. In short, it's just awesome. The price isn't too cringe-worthy, I think I paid $35.00 for it and because I know it'll last a long time and I am definitely forking over another $35.00 to have this in my life when it eventually runs out.

I've been using it for over a month now and I haven't had any issues with irritation. Normally I would have had at least one break out by now and other than a random blemish here or there I'm seriously impressed. So if you were considering picking up this product I would say - don't think - run and buy it.

Rating: Clinique Take the Day Off Cleansing Balm 10/10 (I think that's the best rating I've even given!)