Superdrug Skincare: Optimum Phytosurvive Moisturiser and Serum review

Superdrug’s own brand skincare is always worth a look in my opinion -sadly they are discontinuing their great Vitamin E hot cloth cleanser which is properly great for the price and a convincing Cleanse and Polish dupe, so stock up if you see any on the aisles. Their Radiance 2-in1 serum and Moisturiser was a surprising find, their Overnight Glycolic peel pretty good for the money, and they’ve finally brought back their Simply Pure Hydrating Serum, which at £2.69 works almost as well as Vichy’s Aqualia which is about eight times the price.

serum and moisturiser

So I thought I would give these a go as they were at half price (£6.50 rather than £12.99 and currently on BOGOF) and I was suckered in by the 40+ age bracket blurb.

The claim is that the formulation “strengthens skin’s resistance to daily external aggressors and improves cellular longevity in order to delay the ageing process.”  It increases skin hydration (hyaluronic acid, urea, glycerin) and contains something called ‘Moistboost’ which sounds absolutely filthy, but apparently is a slow release complex that keeps skin hydrated for up to 5 days (HOW???)

Moisturiser (L) and Serum (R)

They both come in serious looking chunky clinical grey packaging and are both pump action, which is an immediate tick from me.

The Serum

 The Serum is a light, slightly foamy textured watery feeling gel. One pump goes a surprisingly long way and does both face and neck.

Spread out but not rubbed in.

I’ve been impressed by the serum; it sinks in very quickly to a matte but not drying finish and my skin feels supple and hydrated and ready for moisturiser immediately. Some serums that are hyaluronic-rich feel like they are actually sucking the life out of my skin even before I’ve managed to get moisturiser on top (go to the back of the class, Hydraluron…) so I was pleased that this didn’t have the same effect. My skin looks more matte and even toned when I apply this, and yes, my skin does feel comfortable all day long without any oily breakouts or patchiness of my base. Does it make my skin look younger? No, but it makes it look perfectly acceptable.

The only downside for me was the smell. Fragrance in products is a bit hit and miss at the best of times; if I love it I really love it, but a smell I don’t like can properly put me off a product. Possibly it’s the PhytoSnowAlgae (No, I don’t know either), but to me it has quite an unpleasant whiff like cheap Vitamin E cream which takes a while to dissipate.

The moisturiser

To my mind the moisturiser isn’t the best I’ve ever used. It’s quite silicone heavy, which usually doesn’t bother me but does make this feel a little like it’s just “sitting” on my skin, rather than sinking in. So far I have only used it in conjunction with the serum, so maybe it would do better on top of a more ‘brightening’ type treatment.

It’s a white, medium consistency cream which doesn’t smell as much as the serum, thankfully.

Spread out but not rubbed in

It doesn’t make my skin oily, it doesn’t break me out and my skin feels comfortable when I’m wearing it. But I’m a bit ‘meh’ about it. I can’t get excited about applying it for some reason, even though it performs just as well as some much more spendy moisturisers that I own. It just doesn’t feel luxe enough (not sure what I was expecting for the price!) and possibly because I’m using it in tandem with the serum, I’m associating the nasty honk with it.

Overall: Superdrug are always worth keeping an eye on for some surprisingly good low-spend products. On balance I think I’ll go back to the Simply Pure serum when I’ve used this up rather than repurchase -and that’s purely down to the fragrance issue.

What do you think? Have you used these? Is my nose just super sensitive???

Superdrug Optimum Phytosurvive Serum and Day cream cost £12.99 (but are almost constantly on offer) and are available HERE

Info: Purchase

Make Up Revolution The One Blush Stick : NARS Orgasm Dupe

So, last week I basically thundered through Superdrug with my arms wheeling in order to get my hands on the few remaining items from this brand that hadn’t been opened and smeared across the faces of feral schoolchildren during half term. I practically stiff-armed a very nice lady who was eyeballing the last of these into a display of TENA Lady panty liners*

* Not really. I just snarled; ” Back off, Bitch”**

**I totally didn’t. I was very British about the whole thing. (I said “After you!” merrily whilst simultaneously praying she didn’t go for the same thing I wanted.)

So Far so Good

First up, I would just like to say that it looks like they have TOTALLY stolen been influenced by REVLON’s font. Be that as it may: first impressions are of okay packaging, grown up, smart, looks like it knows what it’s doing. The fact that they have called it The One (as opposed to, Oh, I don’t know, I’m blue sky thinking here… the Multiple perhaps?) makes me think that this is a very sassy tongue-in-cheek brand.

The Tubes

I went for Rush and Matte Rush, which under the strip lighting in Superdrug, looked very familiar, especially Rush…

Left: “Rush”
Right: “Matte Rush”

Rush looks like a pretty spot on dupe of NARS Orgasm to me -it has that sheeny rose-gold glimmer that is so recognisable.

From the top. Left: “Rush”, Right: “Matte Rush”

In the spirit of full disclosure here I feel I should say that I’m not a massive fan of the NARS Multiples. I have Maui, and I’m relatively ‘meh’ about it.  I do love me a cream blush, but for my money the Multiples don’t have enough grip or staying power, being rather siliconey. That said- NARS powder blushers are second to none in terms of colour payoff and staying power. I know, right? WEIRD.

Swatched

So, we have Rush on the left and Matte Rush on the right. They swatched nicely on my hand and Rush has a fairly vibrant shimmer in that it’s quite glow-y** but the glitter is very finely milled so it’s not too RuPaul.  Matte Rush is a very strong coral indeed. The nearest colour I can think of that I have used recently is Becca’s Guava Beach Tint, although that is much more subtle.

**technical term.

Blended out

 You can see from the blendout that Matte Rush has much more pigment. A little goes a LONG way with this one, as I found when I wore it on my face. It was a little too overpowering for me -possibly when I have more of a tan it won’t look so alarming, but on darker and olive skintones this colour would really pop. I needed to really work it in with a stippling brush to avoid looking a bit mad.

Rush blended out well, but on my cheeks looked a bit thin -it didn’t look much more than a generic shimmery highlighter on me with none of the nuance that I find Orgasm has. I dug out my (powder) Orgasm for comparative purposes (below):

Left: Rush, Right: Orgasm powder blush

There is a bit of shadow I couldn’t avoid in this picture hanging over the Orgasm swatch, but I think it gives you the idea, even though it’s not like for like as one is a powder and one is a cream.

Rush is a Coral/Gold which would be ideal for cooler or neutral toned skin, and Orgasm has a Pinky/bronzy/gold that works on all skin types (miraculously) but looks superb on warmer skins.

If you’ve been dicking about wondering if the hype over NARS Orgasm is merited, you could do worse than give Rush a go before doling out the sponds on the big boys, as the overall effect once on is pretty similar.

Make Up Revolution The One Blush Sticks are £5 (!!) in 4 colours and 2 formulations and can be found HERE, or in Superdrug, if you sharpen your elbows and are prepared to trample teenagers into the mud to get your hands on it.

What you need to know: Purchase.