A little story. The story of a girl who had a pricey little problem, “perfume purchase addiction.” (Or as she called it, “I’m just really scentual.”) But she became frustrated when her new Boy never told her he liked the way she smelled. She used Prada, Armani, Dior, more Prada, more Dior, beautiful foreign perfumes, the list would go on. Her bathroom over-flowered with the beloved bottles, yet, never the words whispered, “You smell so good.”
Then, one day, along came Salma Hayek’s “Nuance” line of skincare and cosmetics. Girl was generously provided some products to review. Boy, surprisingly, loves the scent of the products on her! And they lived happily ever after. The moral here is simple… Salma Hayek Nuance skincare and cosmetics line is ahmazing!
The natural based products, in combination with a goal of helping all women maintain beauty, is a personal passion of the actress. It has been a couple of years in the making and is inspired by Hayek’s grandmother who used plant products to beautify women and in whose footsteps she follows now. It’s exclusively available through CVS.
The beauty of the line: It almost always really does what it claims, it looks far higher priced than it is, and truly, it smells beautiful. This could wrap up my review if you’re in a rush. Go buy it, you’ll likely get your money’s worth and feel like a princess. All at a great price point, plus the package design is so high-end elegant! But there are other nuances to the products, as reviewed by me:
First – Eye Cream. I have the “Smoothing Anti-Aging Eye Cream” and its truly moisturizing and revitalizing.
Does it anti-age the area? Yes and No. Whatever laugh lines I had are not exactly gone, but aren’t getting worse. I use the product twice a day if I have evening plans. Its not really a wrinkle miracle cure (BUT Salma promises that this Renewing and Brightening Facial Serum is). It is a good product that works to plump and stimulate the area as well as some at higher price points, so its really a good choice! Plus it helps lighten dark circles. Bonus!
Next the face lotion I use. “Renewed Radiance Moisturizing Day Cream spf 30”. So rich and luxe. This is the stuff he loves to smell. And I love to wear it. I can really feel the nourishment infusing my face on contact and it lasts all day. I apply lightly since its heavier than I’d typically buy with my combo skin, yet it never makes my t-zone too oily. Radiant, yes, just as it claims. One of the nice features of the entire line, actually is knowing what’s gone into it and why! The detail for this one is irresistable!
“Shea butter, jojoba & sunflower oil provide long-lasting nourishment. Natural licorice extract helps renew brightness and even skin tone. Pomegranate butter & vitamin E help protect against the harmful effects of daily toxins. Mimosa, blue agave, camapu & prickly pear extracts continuously sooth, hydrate and firm skin.” – Yes please!
This “Smooth Start Skin Primer” is very good – particularly at the price point. A little goes a long way, pores are minimized. Your skin appears even and smooth. This product contains silica and relatively few ingredients at all and 3 types of seed extracts but I recommend this primer with the standard reservation: It is designed to block pores. For a 12 hour day, you’re ok, but to avoid pimples make sure and wash off your makeup as soon as you can!
Color: With the same lovely tube packaging, the “Flawless Wear Tinted Moisturizer” is imperfect. It contains no SPF protection. So you do need to wear a sunscreen with it. But that raises other questions. “Do I apply the SPF before the moisturizer or after as usual?” And the other question, “why didn’t they just add spf, so this could be the one-step its supposed to be?” It’s also really thin and light. So I’m tempted to wear it with primer, or not at all, if my skin isn’t perfect! This also raises the zen-like question with no answer, “Do I apply the primer before the moisturizer or after as usual?” But still, I wore it out all Saturday with just blush and mascara, and thought I looked quite fresh all day.
I bought a lipstick from her silky “Color Vibrance” line. The tones are too earthy for me, and there are only a few of them. It was a beautiful color, however, and I promptly gave it away to a happy recipient whom it really flattered! With color its hard to please everyone but she could consider doing it in brights too, please. The lippy is one product design that’s a bit weird actually – the color sample is displayed on the tip of the tube exterior – as though it were designed soley to sit on the shelf and tempt buyers and never be used. Still there are other Nuance lip color options like color quads and the glosses. Without fail, all her other packaging is elegant and clever.
And now, face wash. This and foundation are where I believe your money should go. It’s so creepy when your face wash leaves a film on your face, leaves your makeup behind or doesn’t leave your face fresh. Icky! So I have never minded forking over $30-$40 for great facewash but that won’t be necessary anymore. Because I LOVE the “Oxygen Activated Foaming Facewash”. It is so clean!
My face feels sparkling and soft and pristine when I rinse this away! I could go actually out nude faced. It does not remove eye makeup well, so I am looking forward to trying “Nuance Cucumber & Rosewater Dual Phase Makeup Remover,” (it has chamomile and lavendar too!) You can use this sparingly – one pump is perfect. It has an absolutely lovely fragrance and feels light! You can feel it get cold as it cleans in your pores. I will likely buy this product but I’d like to also try Salma’s personal favorite, the “Wild Lime Exfoliating Facial Gel”and the “Chamomile Facial Cream Cleanser”. These names! They’ve really got me.
On to the body. They sent me the incredibly exotic sounding and smelling “Dark Cacao & Coffee Firming Cream”. I wonder with every use, what it would taste like in a waffle cone.
Its not very moisturizing, just a bit. But that’s not its purpose. You do feel that it improves the appearance or texture of skin. It’s firming yes – it’s slight but it’s true. *I don’t always use this daily but you’re supposed to. It’s currently on special for $10.49 from CVS. This price is truly exceptional for a product with excellent consumer reviews and claiming to firm. Firming without diet and exercise on sale for $10?
I notice actually that all the products are on sale now. I hope that the brand is doing well; it really deserves to succeed and we deserve quality! The research, passion and ethics that have gone into this line are really respectable, and it’s not tested on animals… so good.
Hair: I have more research to do on the hair products they sent me. A volumizing shampoo I have reservations about, the conditioner and the volumizing foam, I will keep working with these till I’m sure. Stand-by on that but note the beautiful packaging and oh, the fragrance…
Actually I haven’t bought a perfume in a couple months. Nuance really appeals to my feminine, sensual side; it all feels magical, it smells divine and it’s visually beautiful. Somehow, I’m still resisting taste-testing it. With it’s comprehensive and considered selection of color and skincare, we’re very lucky Salma Hayek had the passion and inspiration to create this excellent quality beauty line at such an accessible price! Let’s keep this product on the shelves, Ladies! Here’s video of Salma discussing her inspiration. You can see she’s proud of her work, and that’s a good thing for us girls!! Salma Hayek Introduces her line, Nuance!