Pink Week Review 1: L'Oreal Youth Code

I was getting my camera set up with a few things to post on the blog soon when I noticed a trend - and so Pink Week was born!  This week at The Reasonable Blog we're celebrating beauty-related items that are all shades of blush and bashful. The first post is L'Oreal Youth Code. Let's jump right in!

I needed some new face moisturizer for nighttime, and this line caught my eye at my local drugstore. My skin is mostly dry (especially in these winter months), with some uneven tone, redness, and minor wear and tear. I don't really have age spots or wrinkles, but I don't love the look of my pores and I want to prevent signs of aging as long as possible! So here are the products in the Youth Code line, from left to right:

The Youth Code Texture Perfector Serum Concentrate was the first thing that caught my eye. It's supposed to help with visible pores and fine lines, smoothing and evening out your skin. It's pearlescent in color, applies almost like a gel, and is lightweight with a delightful fragrance. The bottle is glass with a pump that tends to get a little goopy after a while, but it travels well and one pump is all you need for your whole face. This serum is designed to go with the second product:

The Youth Code Texture Perfector Day/Night Cream. This is more like a moisturizer, and I use it only at night after the serum. It's pink, creamy, and like the serum, very lightweight with a luxurious and light fragrance. I find that this moisturizes my face so well, my husband comments on how clean and soft I smell, and my skin is super soft and happy.

Moisturizing my skin is the most important thing during the winter, but using a good cleanser is also important to keep my pores looking their best! For this, I use the Youth Code Foaming Gel Cleanser. It's your basic face cleanser - foams nicely, doesn't dry my skin out, works well. I like to use it with my Clarisonic. Pretty standard.

The final (and newest) component to my Youth Code arsenal is:

Youth Code Texture Perfector Pore Vanisher, a smooth cream-like gel that I actually use like a primer before my foundation. This is actually meant to put on your face in the am or pm, as part of your regular skincare routine. However, because I'm already putting the serum and the cream at night, I prefer to use this during the day after I moisturize (I am still using my all-time favorite, Origins VitaZing) to smooth over my skin before putting on foundation. It works really well! It leans a little on the silicone-y side in feel, but it is creamier and, like the other products, is lightweight and works well with my skin.

But here's the big question - do they work? Are my pores actually smaller? Texture smoother?

My answer: YES! I have noticed considerably smaller looking pores (they were starting to approach the size of craters there for a while before I discovered this line) and my skin is appearing smoother and smoother. I've even been able to pull off no-makeup a bit more often than before. This is a great line. The fragrance is pleasant (fresh, clean, soft, feminine) and non-irritating, it provides great moisturizing for my dry skin, packaging is totally cute, and the products work very well. Two enthusiastic thumbs up! This line is a pricier line of products for the drugstore, but there are always sales and coupons, so I encourage you to do your homework and look for deals.

Have you tried anything from this line? What do you think?

Cheers,

Kelly