Cult Product Reviews – Clarins' Beauty Flash Balm

It occured to me recently that there’s a bunch of products out there that I’ve been meaning to try for years because of their cult status, but I’ve never gotten around to it – either because I’m waiting to use up what I already have in that category, or I’m have a cheapskate moment when I go to buy said product and end up going for a cheaper alternative.

Purely in the interest of providing you with quality posts, I’m going to review each and every product I can think of that has achieved cult status – from fake tan, to mascara to products that defy categorisation. If there’s any in particular that you’d love a real warts-and-all review of, feel free to drop me a line and I’ll add it to the list!

But to begin:

Clarins’ Beauty Flash Balm is one of those perennial products that always seems to crop up every time there’s a ‘best of beauty’ award thing going around, or a makeup artist, celebrity or other suitable type is rattling off their ‘must-haves’. As such, it tends to be the product that you don’t even notice anymore… like pop-up advertising on websites, you’ve probably grown immune to the impact so many votes should give this little gem.

I think I started using Beauty Flash Balm when I was working in the industry – about eight years ago. Clarins had the next counter over from mine, so it was hard not to finally get around to trying it. Like Natasha Huges from the Beauty Beat over at Fairfax, I’ve used it, on and off, pretty much every day since then. A tube runs out, I forget to buy more and then it usually takes a post or some sort of epiphany like seeing it in a duty free store at an excellent price to remind me just how great it is.

Beauty Flash Balm, for those who’ve been trying to work it out for years, basically does three different things:

1) It makes your makeup stay on longer, so you don’t need to blot and powder yourself to within an inch of your life (or worse yet, use long-stay makeup).

2) Brightens your complexion, making you look generally more radiant and less like you’re short on sleep / hungover / sick / whatever your current ailment may be

3) Tightens and smooths your skin, effectively priming it for makeup application… and if you’re not wearing any, it just makes your skin look better

It is however, very much a cosmetic effect. I once read a review on Beauty Flash Balm by the founder of Ultraceuticals (Dr. Geoffrey Heber) who confirmed this, explaining that the results wouldn’t be visible after you washed it off (he still agreed it was a pretty great product mind you, if memory serves).

One thing I have discovered though… you won’t really feel like using Beauty Flash Balm when it’s really hot out. There’s something not-so-pleasant about adding another layer to the moisturiser/sunscreen/foundation/concealer/powder combination that doesn’t seem so great. That said, it seems to work equally well regardless as to the weather. I particularly enjoy using it as a pep-me-up when I’m heading out for the evening and have had makeup on during the day. Rather than taking everything off and starting again, an old trick in the industry was to ‘fade back’ your existing application (basically doing a light removal of necessary spots using a cotton bud laced with makeup remover) and then applying Beauty Flash Balm over your skin before touching up your foundation and reapplying the parts you removed (like eyeliner or eyeshadow).

So in all, if you haven’t already… give Beauty Flash Balm a try. If you have and you’ve forgotten how great it is… consider this your timely reminder!

BB

Clairns Beauty Flash Balm is available at:

International Stores (Will ship to Australia):
Strawberrynet for $AU42.50 (50mls) plus if you order three or more products you save a further 5%

Australian Stores
Adore Beauty for $AU57.00 (50mls). Adore accepts Paypal and Direct Deposit also
Fountain Cosmetics for $AU51.30 (50mls). Fountain also have a promo going where if you register for their newsletter you’ll receive a $10 voucher for your next order
Fresh Fragrances and Cosmetics for $50AUD (50mls)