Karin Herzog "Oxygen Face" Face Cream

Karin Herzog is a well-known Swiss brand which built its reputation by its works with active oxygen. The secret patent on which the whole range is based allows the oxygen to be stabilized into an emulsion, and when applied onto the skin, the oxygen gets gas form and gets injected into the skin.

One of their main products is the Oxygen Face face cream, which is part of the Oxygen cream. It is designed for problematic skin, but it is also fine for normal skin. Oxygen is a natural antiseptic, which makes it great to clean the skin. It also contains salicylic acid, which is a essential ingredient to brighten the skin. The cream is also oil-free, so it can't clog the skin.

Karin Herzog Oxygen Face

It is a little different from a normal face cream. You don't make it melt onto the skin : you apply it, while minimising the contact between the cream and the fingers, to avoid the cream to melt into them. You then wait for it to act, without massaging it.

It can delay a little your beauty routine on the morning, because you have to wait around five to ten minutes before it has completely gone onto the skin, but it is worth it. It really helps balancing the skin. It is also soft enough to be applied on the eyes. 

I find this cream quite efficient. I personally don't use it every day, because it is a little too heavy for a daily use, but on week-ends, when giving the skin a full facial, it is really efficient and nice to use.

It is quite expensive (49 euros), but you really don't need to use a lot of product. I have been using my tube for almost six months now and it is still half full.

Pâte Grise, by Payot

The Pâte Grise – "grey paste" – by Payot is one of these cult beauty products that hardly need any introduction in France, and seems to keep its excellent reputation only through word of mouth generation after generation. I can’t remember having seen any ad for this particular product – ever – and yet it is a cult product unlikely to be dethroned.

Its goal is quite simple : getting rid of spots before they appear. So, when you feel one of these nasty buggers under your skin, you put a good dab of Pâte Grise on it, go to sleep with it, and in the morning, it will have work its magic and the spot will be gone.

It is certainly a wonderful, life-saving product. Simple, isn’t it?

Actually, it is not that simple. Pâte Grise is very efficient, but it is not intended as a remedy against, acne, for instance. For it to keep being useful, it can’t be used every day. It is very useful, but is the skin gets used to it, it won’t keep being that efficient. Moreover, it has to be used at the very beginning of a breakout, not when it is already there. If you use it on a already grown spot, all it will do is either reduce it a little, ot make it grow faster. It helps getting rid of it faster, of course, but if you have a special occasion the next morning... careful.

It can get on your bedsheets, so don’t use fancy ones – although it drycleaning will get rid of it.

Still, even with the extra care you have to take when using it, it is a great product, extremely efficient. It doesn’t dry the skin, which is fantastic, and it gets the job done.

Liquid Gold, by Alpha-H

Liquid Gold is one of the most famous products in the cosmetic industry, brought to you by the Australian brand Alpha-H.
They have a whole range of products made with glycolic acid – the secret of this « liquid gold », but I yet had to talk about the star of the line.

Liquid Gold is a product that presents itself as a serum : you put it on a cotton pad and you apply for the night on your skin, but it differs from a serum in one main aspect : you don’t need to use another product when you have it on. No need for a night cream, or a moisturizer, for it works as all of these.

The glycolic acid which is in Liquid Gold tingles when you apply it – although after several months of use, I have to say that my skin must get used to it, because it doesn’t tingle like it used to, and sometimes not at all. This sensation is normal : the product is very concentrated and it means it is working. During the night, it will keep the skin hydrated, and it quickens the renewal of skin cells. In the morning, the skin is tighter and brighter. Liquid Gold is a very good anti-aging product, it also works very well against acne and acne scars.


Since it is a very concentrated product, you don’t need to apply it every night. Every other night is fine, or even less frequently if you prefer to. The results are flabbergasting both on the long run and after one use.

The only complaint I would have with this product is its price. It is quite expensive and you run out of it rather quickly. I use the 100ml container in two or three months – so, not that quickly, but since it became a crucial part of my beauty routine, I find myself reordering it quite frequently.

"Oh my Cream!" - Cosmetic store in Paris

This article is for Parisians who have trouble finding their favourite cosmetics from abroad outside of the Internet.

I discovered a wonderful little concept store in the rue de Tournon, in Paris. Oh My Cream is an online store created by a French beauty-addict tired of seeing the same old products everywhere. The online store now is a real store and beauty institute. 

You can find a lot of brands that you can't find in France otherwise, like Alpha-H, Tata Harper, Aurelia, Ren... 

It is really cosy and welcoming, and the people are very nice. I have bought some products there and was always very well received and advised. 

It is really great to find your essentials in a shop when you are tired of ordering them online, and to discover new ones.

Find them at 3 rue de Tournon, 75006 Paris, or here, or on Facebook.

Alpha-H Liquid Gold Perfecting Mask

I love the Australian brand Alpha-H. Although it is not the most glamorous brand with their white  and no-nonsense packaging, their products are very efficient and do everything they promised.

They Liquid Gold line is especially efficient. I will review the Liquid Gold in due time, but this mask is really great on its own. 

Liquid Gold Smoothing and Perfecting Mask with Lavender

This mask is designed to clarify and brighten the skin. It also makes for a quick chemical exfoliant. The lavender helps to soothes the skin. As with all of their products, it is very concentrated. This mask is concentrated in glycolic acid (one of the AHAs acids), so you feel a mild tingling sensation when you apply it. Ten minutes one the skin are also enough.

I find that it really helps for a quick efficient treatment when you need to unify and brighten your skin on the spot. It really does the trick. It is also a good treatment on the long run, and you don't need that much product for every use so you don't run out of product very quickly. As for all the AHAs products, they are good against imperfections, adult acne and aging.

It really is a good reliable mask. 

It costs 46£ for a 100ml bottle.

Bath experience with Aromatherapy Associates

I discovered Aromatherapy Associates a few months ago thanks to Cult Beauty. They sent me a sample of their Relax Deep Bath and Shower Oil. I loved it and couldn't wait to try it again. I ordered the full-size bottle recently and I have used it enough so I can review it. 

I have tried quite a lot of bath products which are supposed to help decompress, so I am a little jaded and skeptical, but this one...  oh, this one is just perfect.

This is a very powerful blend of oils like vetivert, sandalwood and camomile that you put in your bath or on your body. It really is incredible. I am a little skeptical towards aromatherapy in general, but this one is just so efficient and so glamorous. It is absolutely beautiful, the smell is gorgeous and stays quite long on you. 

It really helps to destress and makes for a fabulous bath experience. You just want to stay there forever and to go to sleep immediately after. 

It doesn't hurt that the bottle is cute. It is certainly a little pricey for a bath oil, but it stays a long time. A 55ml bottle costs 39£ (around 45 €).

Armoatherapy Associates are just great with their nurturing, high-quality and self-indulgent products. They have other products that I would like to try eventually, the Revive Morning or the Inner Strength Bath Oil, which is supposed to uplift and boost your spirit. Right now I mostly need help relaxing, but if it is as good as the Relax Deep, I will certainly give it a go some time. 

CC Cream by Erborian

After the trend of BB Creams last year, we now have a new type of cream to replace our old-fashioned foundations : the CC Creams.

The difference between these two products are their target. BB Creams were created in Asia, especially in South Korea, where cosmetic surgery is very frequent. To hide the scarring, or to put make-up on a very sensitive skin after the surgery, cosmetic surgeons created a very respectful and efficient kind of foundation. A BB Cream is supposed to be quite thick when you first apply it, and then it melts onto the skin.
CC Creams are a bit different. They offer less coverage, but are more targeted. They generally have a higher SPF and they are more appropriate to the different needs of different skins.

As one of the first BB Cream on the European market was Erborian's, I tried their CC Cream first.

I have been a little disappointed with their BB Cream, which I found very efficient but comedogenic, so I was a little afraid to use their CC Cream.

Fortunately, it is very respecful of the skin. It really lets the skin breathe. It doesn't cover the skin as well as a BB Cream, but it is very unifying, it gives the skin a nice glowy look and it looks very natural. And since we are now in summer, the high SPF is certainly appreciated.

I really use it a lot now, and it looks like it is very well tolerated by the skin.
It is a great product that Erborian created. Of course, one of the main downside of this brand is the price. It costs 35 euros for a 45 ml tube. It is expensive for a CC Cream, and it doesn't last that long. By comparison, the L'Oréal CC Cream is at 14,50 euros for the same countenance. Their BB Cream was really great, so I still have to test their CC Cream, which is really good from what I have heard.

To be continued...