Astalift Regenerating Night Cream

Who knew those rolls of film can turn to skincare? Leave it to the Japanese to innovate. Fujifilm's latest spin-off -- Astalift skincare -- has been a best-seller in Japan since it launched over two years ago. 

Astalift's star product is the Jelly Aquarysta, a jelly type essence-moisturizer. But I will start with the night cream, since that is the first product I dipped into. 

Astalift Regenerating Night Cream comes in red packaging with embossed gold letterings. The gradation touch of red to gold is very elegant and is a Japanese feature indeed. 

Hello, shiny red cap. 

A lot of mirroring gives it a playful, futuristic look. It is fun and curious to work with each time.

It comes in a small compact 30g jar but it packs a punch.

The light yellow cream is very rich -- a pea-sized amount will suffice. Truly, this lives up to its name of regeneration. It really does give the face a softer appearance and a more youthful glow in the morning. However, it is too rich for my combination skin in this tropical weather. It leaves an irritating film of grease. I wouldn't find this to be a problem for dryer skin-types or habitats of cold climates. If I had 10 thumbs, I would give it 10 for efficacy, not to mention longevity. This lasted me close to five months, a feat as far as 30g's go.  

Almost forgot -- the cover and spatula it comes with. 

Pamphlet. 

Product description.

More.

Ingredients list. 

Clarins HydraQuench Cream-Mask

I have had a great start with Clarins' HydraQuench line, beginning with the cream-gel moisturizer when it was first released. For those with normal skin, it is one of the good moisturizers around (except that it contains alcohol). Since I started my sheet mask routine some years back, it is a weekly maintenance that has become a habit. The HyraQuench Cream-Mask is a wash off type mask that promises to restore the skins' moisture balance. Let's see about that. 

In recognizable Clarins' packaging.

Product description.

Jacques, yet again.

Cream mask in a tube. 

The SA did say the mask is safe to spread over the eye area, and so far I had no reactions doing so. It is supposed to be left for 5 to 10 minutes, and removed with a toner. I wash it off with water instead. My ideal time with this mask is 5 minutes, any more than that will cause my face to react -- not exactly sure why. When I do follow the 5-minute constraint, I am left with soft supple skin. It is worth noting that I use this after I wash with the Clarisonic Mia; I use both products once a week. 

The hole is small enough so the product is easy to control. The cream smells like the rest of the HyraQuench range -- a fresh, plant-based fragrance.

Creamy white product. Overall, this mask provides basic moisturizing properties; I would probably not repurchase because it does not provide other benefits for me, and it being a tricky business not being able to leave it on for too long without a reaction.

Pamphlet. 

Products under the HydraQuench line. 

Inspiration from nature. 

Ingredients list.