Good evening!! Yesterday I had a Clinique school, which just means all the Clinique consultants on the East Coast of Canada (which encompasses Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, PEI & Newfoundland in this case) get together to learn about any new products as well as have our ‘key points of difference’ pounded into our heads. It’s an interesting thing, working for Clinique as well as being very invested in cosmetics as a whole. In general, I find the online community to be very hard on Clinique, and deem our products unreliable and ineffective – however, on counter, we are hands down the busiest line in every department store I’ve worked in, and have more diehard, loyal clients than you would believe. Now, this isn’t a post to tout the fabulousness of Clinique; while I have some products I think are total standouts (Turnaround Concentrate, Moisture Surge, High Impact Mascara, and Superdefense/Super Rescue to name a few), and they treat their employees super well, I am not faithful in any sense to the brand and am always trying out other lines and products. However, I thought since I am *in the know* so to speak, I’d share with you what you can expect from the counter in the coming months!
First off, we’ve got an additional new size (50mL as opposed to 30mL) of our Even Better Clinical Dark Spot Corrector. This means you save $12 if you’re a fan of the product, and is handy for those who find it harder to get to the counter regularly. The corrector is designed to improve the overall brightness in the skin and lighten dark spots (from scarring as well as from sun damage). Essentially, a Vitamin C derivative slows down the melanin production in the skin, yeast extract breaks it down, and glucosamine and salicylic acid sloughs it off. Antioxidants are thrown in there too to prevent further dark spots from emerging. Kinda cool stuff!
Next, we’ve got a new Bottom Lash Mascara. This one I’m not so sure about – seems gimmicky to me but I have yet to try it out. It’s exactly as the name implies, a mascara to be used for the lower lashes to define and enhance with the ease of an itty bitty brush which allows for better precision. It has the same formula as our big seller, Lash Power, which only comes off with warm water but otherwise stays put for 24 hours through tears, sweat, swimming, you name it. Meh. One of those things that might work great but do we really need a separate mascara for the bottom lashes? We’ll see. I’ll try it out and get back to you!
Third, a new way to wear lip balm – the Chubby Stick Moisturizing Lip Color Balm. The name of this one just kinda makes me chuckle ~dirty mind~ …Sorry! Anyway…this is a sheer lipstick/balm combo which hydrates with jojoba oil and shea & mango butters, as well as nourishes with Vitamin E. I wore it for a bit tonight and it feels like a lightweight lipstick going on but is the same texture as a balm with a touch of shine. Not too shabby. Super easy to apply and even though it looks like a pencil, it’s actually twist up, so that makes me happy. Eight shades to choose from (this one’s called Graped-Up). A neat idea, in any case!
So far everything I’ve mentioned (with accompanying pictures I posted), Clinique was awesome
enough to give me a free full-sized product of my own ! I don’t really have dark spots so I don’t know how I’ll use the corrector, but I do get acne scars and could use a bit of brightening, so I’ll find a way. I also received a Redness Solutions Instant Relief Mineral Pressed Powder, which calms and treats redness – I don’t have an issue their either, and never have, so I’ll have to do something creative with that product. I don’t have enough readers yet for a giveaway haha…perhaps I’ll save it for a rainy day 
Another new product to soon hit the Clinique counters is a reformulated and repackaged Moisture Surge Tinted Moisturizer SPF 15. As a huge fan of Moisture Surge, I’m fairly interested in this product (we’re supposed to receive our own bottle in the mail in the next few months). They’ve added more shades, which was what prevented me from trying the old version, and it feels amazing when we tried it out. It’s sweat and humidity resistant, contains humectants to bind water to the skin, and has physical & chemical sunscreens to block out UVA and UVB rays. Because of this new and improved version, they’re getting rid of a customer favorite, Almost Makeup SPF 15 (the liquid). Sooo not looking forward to that shit storm. People do not like change, in my experience. Especially when you mess with their cosmetics!!
Lastly…we’ve got a new product to tackle an ever-present skin issue – pores. The Pore Refining Solutions Correcting Serum is designed to balance oil production and promote cell renewal to keep pores clear using salicylic acid and acetyl glucosamine. It also helps to support the skin’s collagen which keeps pores tighter, has light-diffusing properties to blur the appearance of pores, and contains powders to mattify. Phew! I personally do have small-to-medium sized pores and probably could benefit from this product; however, I don’t think it’ll be one I pick up. In keeping with a somewhat streamlined routine, it’s just one item to add to the list. Of course, if they send me a free one, well then, that’s a whole other story!
After all that, if anyone has any questions about what I’ve noted, or just general Clinique questions at all, feel free to ask! I’ve been working with Clinique since 2004, so I (hope I) know a bit about the products!
Just out of curiosity, are you for or against Clinique? Or somewhere in between? Or have never tried…?
#1 by Beauty Reductionista on January 27, 2011 - 10:00 pm
I love Clinique makeup but I’m neutral on their skincare products. Just not wowed by it but not hating it either.
My one beef with Clinique is that they charge extra for the pump for the large facial moisturizer bottle. I don’t get this charge extra for the pump business. Clarification please?
And needless to say, freebies are awesome.
This is so cool – now I know who to go to with the questions!
#2 by toyarosie on January 28, 2011 - 5:04 pm
That’s interesting about the pump…I guess I just sort of went with it and never really though about the extra $2 (I’ve never had to purchase the Dramatically Different on my own! For shame). I would hazard to guess it’s just another one of those things brands do to get more money out of you, sadly. I always suggest to the client that if they already have the pump to just transfer it onto a non-pump bottle when they buy. No need to keep buying the pump once you’ve got it!!
#3 by Beauty Reductionista on February 1, 2011 - 6:50 pm
I know that NARS does it with their foundation bottles as well. Personally I think it’s terrible service/ploy to earn a few extra bucks off people who are already investing a substantial amount for their products. Recycling the pump is fine, but my sister got a Clinique lotion for the first time the other day and we were surprised that she had to pay for the pump.