Clarins Beauty Flash Balm Review

  Hello my lovelies!  I'd heard about Clarins Beauty Flash Balm in magazines, beauty blogs, etc – along with Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream, aka the ‘smell from hell’ (if you are a hardcore beauty addict like me.. you know what I mean!)-  and it seems to be one of those products which beauty gurus are always rambling on about not being able to live without. Strange enough, the Pixiwoos have never mentioned it, or at least I haven’t heard anything about it. Has any of you maybe?  Up until recently, I never really got round to buying it; this changed when I saw Lisa Eldridge raving about it in one of her videos. I was hooked! Well, it did seem a bit expensive, and I wasn't altogether clear what it was supposed to do but according to Clarins, it is “ideal for a quick pick me up before an evening out or whenever you want to erase signs of fatigue”. Kind of an emergency repair kit for your face…and quite an indulgence if I may add!

 Clarins says: 

- promotes immediate and long-lasting radiance   
- firms and helps minimise fine lines
- smoothes and softens skin 
- strengthens and refines the contours of the face; skin regains firmness and suppleness 
- make-up looks exceptionally radiant

- can be used as a moisturiser/mask/primer


  The balm comes in a squeezy tube.  The stuff itself is a peachy coloured cream with a pleasant, light fragrance.  I personally find it very addictive! The instructions advise you to "apply without rubbing a very thin layer all over the face, including the eye area (am I the only one that finds this a bit weird?) and then apply make-up immediately". It absorbs incredibly well, and leaves skin feeling soft, smooth and cushioned.  Also, it doesn’t leave any oil residue onto the skin at all. It's very nice as a make-up base too.  I did notice that make-up went on more smoothly but it didn’t really seem to last any longer than usual; actually when not wearing make-up, there was a more visible improvement in the appearance and texture of my skin. I found it to be glowy…ok this might be just wishful thinking but I honestly think it makes my skin look radiant, a bit like having applied some MAC strobe cream on your face...but better!  It does seem to increase firmness and even out skin tone. My cheeks seemed to be less pigmented than usual. The product worked so well in this regard that I didn’t feel the need for a full coverage foundation, a tinted moisturiser would suffice. 

  Beauty Flash Balm is recommended once or twice a week. Otherwise, it might stop being that effective. Still, this is a statement quite debatable.  In many reviews I’ve read recently around the blogosphere, numerous people would mention how much they love this product and that they use it as their everyday moisturiser.  I’m not sure how this would end up after 3 months of use.  I think skin would be so much adjusted to it that it would stop being so amazingly effective. I would really be interested in reading how it all went for people that have used this everyday though.

  Finally, the product contains algae extracts, which are supposed to provide a pick me up benefit; olive, which has a toning action; rice and witch hazel, which has astringent and anti-free radical properties and comes in a tube of 50 ml.  It might be a bit expensive but for those of you that want a radiance boost before a night out, as miracle workers in a tube go, this is pretty good and will certainly deliver!

Here it is in all its glory..

                                                

A little teaser from my next blog post: Estee Lauder Summer Melon and Portofino lipsticks