Empty Review: Shiseido Bio- Performance Super Restoring Cream

 

I had been loyal to Japanese skin care products before. I do not understand why. I thought Japanese products are better for Asian skin. However as more products I have tried, the more I understand it is not the case. 

Shiseido has different formulas and types for creams. This one is supposed to work as an anti-ageing products. They have reformulated this restoring cream to more 'advanced' one last year. 

The reason why I bought this cream is to prevent ageing. I know it sounds ridiculous for people in their 20s to talk about ageing skin, but who does not want to look forever young? 

I am not sure if it's because I am not the targeted customer, because this cream is supposed to be working on people over 30 years old, I did not feel any miracle from this cream.

It does moisturize well, but except this I do not see any other functions it offers me. When my skin  was in a very bad condition, it actually did not do anything to me. I know we can not expect anything miracle from a jar of cream, but with the price tag of $140 CAD plus tax, I expect more from this. 

It feels like CdP old la creme to me, so if someone wants to try CdP but does not want to splurge $600, definitely give this a try. 

This cream, same as all Shiseido night cream, has some kind of old lady-ish scent. It reminds me of my Grandma's skin care products. 

Will I buy this again? Maybe not. Maybe I will wait until I am 30 and see how it works again.

Cle de Peau La Creme U vs Shiseido Bio-performance Advanced Super Restoring Cream

When I was in my late 10s to early 20s, I always dreamed to have CdP skincare or makeup products. I would save money for a long time to buy one CdP's product and felt so happy the whole day.

The more products I try, the more I understand that the more expensive does not mean the better. Everything depends on marketing and how a company present the products images to other people.

The higher end products does not necessarily mean the best ingredients inside, they may use better ingredients but it does not mean it can work wonders to everybody's skin.
   
   I used creme de lamer and cdp la creme and I do not think they are awesome. They are
   pretty good moisturizers, but it does not mean they can work better than medicines which solve      all types of skin problems.

   A moisturizer from Olay or Loreal Paris can work much better than other more expensive        creams. Paula Begoun has taught us a lot from her books.

  As everybody knows, drugstore cosmetics by Loreal can contain the same ingredients as Lancome's as they are from the same company. Same thing as Cle de Peau and Shiseido, both of them have the same mother-Shiseido.

Therefore, Shiseido has so many products to be the dupe of CdP, and the moisturizer is no exception.

CdP la creme retails at 550 CAD plus tax while Bio-Performance Advanced Super Restoring Cream is at $140 plus tax. The price difference is crazy and huge. Does a $600 moisturizer work better than $100 moisturizer? I am not sure.

The texture of both cream are almost the same. CdP is slightly oily while Shiseido is slightly sticky. If you have very dry skin, you may need to warm your shiseido cream with your finger tips before applying onto your face; with CdP, you can just apply it on without any problem.

Does CdP la cream work wonders? No. The claim is however so big. But when your skin is in a really bad condition, better not to use it at all. It will irritate your skin like nobody's business. Does it hydrates well? Well, when your skin is in normal condition, it's enough. When your skin is super dry, no way. You will end up waste lots of products and still feel dry and itchy on your skin.

The bio-performance advanced super restoring cream seems to have the same problem. It works only when skin is in healthy and normal condition.

Why do I need to spend lots of money on products which only work with my skin on certain conditions? I don't know. For the name? For the packaging? For that you can be bragging to your friends and relatives?  I really do not know.

Review: Shiseido Super Refining Essence

(image from http://www.ca-e.shiseido.com/sc/product/view.asp?S=11304)

I like shiseido's airless pump packaging for serums. It's more sanitary to use.

This essence is categorised as serum. The texture is between liquid serum to cream. It's more towards to light gel cream texture.

The cream feels very emollient on the skin and it's absorbed quickly. I can use it either alone or with cream. When my skin is not dry, I use it alone and it works well for me. Non greasy at all so I use it before my Clarins sunscreen.

It has some ' shiseidoish' floral fragrance in this product. I am not fond of this smell not do not hate it either. Just wish it was fragrance free.

It makes my skin smooth and radiant as it claims. I am not sure if it reduces the wrinkles because I do not have any. It keep my skin hydrated whole night and I wake up with glowy skin.

It retails at $88 CAD plus tax for 50 ml. As a department store serum the price is quite reasonable. But it works nothing fantastic on my skin, (actually there's no skin care products work that way so far) I think I will find something else works the same way with cheaper price.

Review: SHISEIDO The Skincare HydroNourishing Softener

(photo credit to thebay.com)

I got this in a gwp. It's in average not bad toner. It's hydrating and can be used like light serum when my skin is not dry. It has a nice scent to it. But nothing fancy. It's very similar to lancome tonique confort. This one is more expensive, 140 ml for$44 CAD plus tax while lancome has 200ml for $35 CAD.

Review: SHISEIDO Eudermine Revitalizing Essence

(photo credit to thebay.com)


After trying so many lotions (toners), this is nothing special to me.

It may be a great product in 19th century--Shiseido claimed it to be introduced in 1897.

It is not a revitalising essence to me, it's just pure lotion with hydrating function. It does not dry out my skin, but does not work wonders like other toners that I reviewed in my blog.

It has a scent which I am really fond of. But that is the only thing that I like.

It's on the pricey. The essence toner retails at $78 plus tax for only 125 ml.

Review: SHISEIDO Refining Makeup Primer

(photo from thebay.com)

I got this in a gwp. I must say I am happy to get it free because it does nothing for me.

First, It has no SPF in it. I know the US version has SPF in it. So it cannot be used as sunscreen.

Second, the tint-colour does not match me. It's a Asian brand, and I think it is supposed to have some shades match Asian skin tone, which is usually olive and yellow base. However it appears very pink and red on my face. It does not look natural on me at all.

Third, it's so dry for my skin. I may be able to use it in the summer time. I do not want and I do not need any primer to absorb oil from my face.

The only advantage this primer has is probably the good coverage. It evens out my skin tone ( strangely in a pinkish tone) and covers well the imperfections.

Overall, it's not a product for me. It can be best oily skin with pink skin undertone.

Review: SHISEIDO Revital Cream Science AA Ex

(photo from thebay.com)

This cream retails at $260 CAD plus tax for only 40 ml!!

One of the most expensive creams I have ever had.

It works as it claims--filling skin with rich moisture. It supposed to make you look younger. It's targeted at 30+ customers. I am in my mid- to- late 20s so I do not know if it boost the collagen ( I know we lost it everyday). But it does work wonderful as a moisturising night cream.

I do feel the texture better than bio-performance ones. So do the scent. The packaging is as elegant as most Japanese skin care products.

However I do not think it's worth the money to buy a night cream for such high price.  Benefiance wrinkleresist 24 works the same way and is about 4 times cheaper!

Review: SHISEIDO Future Solution LX Concentrated Balancing Softener

(photo credit to thebay.com)

This softener is more than a softener.

It feels like a light serum. I normally apply it without cotton pads. It's very hydrating. In summer time I do not even need a moisturiser afterwards.

However it has a very strong scent. Though I do not hate this smell, I do not enjoy it either.

It retails at $98 CAD plus tax for 150ml. If you use it as a serum, it cost less than other moisturising serums. However you can find a dupe for it. Shiseido Benefiance nutriperfect softener has the same function, cost a lot less and with less scent.

Shiseido Ultra Sun protection Lotion spf 50

(photo credit to thebay.com)

I wish I could like this sunscreen, because it's so affordable comparing to other higher end sunscreens, it retails at $49 CAD plus tax for 100 ml!

The sunscreen is like it claims, very water resistant. Except being affordable and water resistant, I cannot find other pros in it.

First, the scent is so overpowering that I can still feel it before I remove my makeup at the end of the day. I do not mind some smell in cosmetics when I apply it on my face. But I do not want to feel it whole day. The scent makes me feel sick.

Second, it seems not compatible with any of my powder foundations. I normally do not use makeup base. I apply sunscreen and powder as my everyday base makeup. If I apply any powder foundation right after this sunscreen, the powder foundation becomes cakey and not easy to blend; if I apply powder foundation sometime after apply this sunscreen, it makes my foundation look a lot more thick than it should be.

So the best way to use this sunscreen, is to apply it alone on the body instead of face (or neck).

I really wish to like this sunscreen, because it has bigger size than other (department store) sunscreens. But it always makes problem for me when I apply it on my face. Otherwise it has such good value and sometimes I can get bonus with buying it.

Review: Shiseido Benefiance WrinkleResist24 intensive eye contour cream

(photo credit to thebay.com)

I like this eye cream! It's more than an eye cream. I not only use it on my undereye area, but also on my lips and whole face.

The cream has very thick consistency, yet not greasy. It absorbs quickly. Since it's a little bit sticky, I use it as the last step of my skin care routine.

It says this is best for women around 40, but it works wonders for my mid-late 20s dry skin.

The sticky and thick consistency of the cream reminds me of cle de peau's intensive wrinkle cream (not sure about it's whole name, but it was a cream with airless pump.) It works better than cle de peau's cream. This eye cream can be the best dupe for cle de peau--inface, the whole line can be the dupe for cle de peau's older generation skin care lines.

The cream is not cheap, 15 ml retails at $65 CAD plus tax!

Review: Shiseido The Makeup Perfect Smoothing Compact Foundation

It seems that this item had been discontinued here in Canada in 2012. But it is still available on the US website. The US version has Spf 15 in it while Canadian version has none.

I feel the smoothing compact foundation is the mixture of Clinique almost powder makeup and Dior flawless compact. It has the glitter in the pan like Clinique and the same buttery and creamy texture as Dior.

Among all the shades, Shade O20 seems to be the best match to my skin tone while I20 looks a little bit darker and more pink than O20. Both shades look a little bit darker than my skin tone when first applied on. Nonetheless, this illusion does not last long. After an hour or so, the powder beautifully melts into my skin, and both shades look very natural on my face.

The smoothing compact has as high coverage as Cle de Peau’s powder foundation. It actually performs very similar to (maybe even better than) Cle de Peau. It does not dry my skin and the lasting power is superb. In my view, it’s a hydrating powder for normal to dry skin.

The finish is matte in the first few hours, after 4 hours of applying, my skin looks glowy (but not oily at all) as if I have highlighted my skin.

The refill cost around $38 CAD plus tax. The price is almost one-third cheaper than CdP. If you prefer the finish of CdP’s powder foundation and do not want to spend that much, the smoothing compact could be a dupe for it—they are born to the same mother Shiseido, after all.

Review: Shiseido sun protection compact powder foundation spf 35

This is probably by far the powder foundation with the highest protection available here in Canada. I know Physicians Formula has a powder foundation with spf 50, but sadly I have never seen it here in any drugstore.

The sun protection powder foundation seems to be as long as Shiseido’s sun screen in history. It has the same scent as Shiseido's sun screen which I dislike-- It makes me dizzy when I apply it in the sleepy morning.  Fortunately the smell does not stay long in the pan.

The shades look very dark on the display, but ones you put it on the face it’s another story. SP20 and SP30 both work for my Asian NC 20 skin tone. The color match is not as horrible as its rival sister-Cle de Peau’s powder foundation.

The powder is smooth and creamy when you touch it. There’s no powders flying everywhere or fallout when I dip the brushes into the powder, which is a big plus. One of the powder foundation I experience with the most powder fallout when I dip the brush into the pan is its another rival sister—Shiseido sheer matifying powder compact.

In terms of the coverage, it can go from medium to fall. It easily covers up my menstrual acnes and dark circles. The finish is not natural. If you are looking for some nude finish this is definitely not your choice.

The powder foundation probably has the best staying powder.  I wore it to walk and run under sun in very hot summer time, the foundation did not transform at all. What I needed was a little blotting on my t-zone.

There are 12 grams in the pan, which is a big value. Most of the powder foundations have only 10 grams. The refill retails at $35 CAD plus tax. I am not fan of the blue case design, so I put into empty Clinique almost powder makeup case. As you can see from the picture below that the case is slightly larger than the refill, but it stays well so far.

 

All in all, if you are trying to find a big sized powder foundation with high coverage, high UVA/UVBprotection, high staying power, good texture with the reasonable price as a department store brand, this is yours!