New technology is a constant in beauty products. And the trend these days is multi-tasking. BB cream. CC (color correcting) cream. Not surprisingly, the blogosphere has been abuzz with news of L’Oreal’s recent addition to the terrific Revitalift product line: L’Oreal Miracle Blur, an entirely new type of multi-tasking product. I heard about it a few weeks ago, and I was dying to go out and get it. Unfortunately, we were in the middle of a snowstorm so I had to wait.
The package describes L’Oreal Miracle Blur as an “instant skin smoother finishing cream”. Hmm, it does sound like a completely new product category. The package copy goes on to say that the product “erases the look of wrinkles, lines and pores” with “opti-blur technology”. It also says, “See visible results. A spectacular blurring effect”. Wow, those are big and very exciting claims!
The multi-tasking part is that it is also a broad spectrum sunscreen with an SPF 30. Cool.
I hate reading directions, so I just winged it the first time I tried it. Out of the tube, it is a waxy gel, I guess I’d say. It reminded me a lot of DHC’s Velvet Skin Coat that is a primer to be worn under foundation.
So, I put on moisturizer as always and then used the Miracle Blur as a primer. NOOOOOOO! It made my foundation sort of slide off my face after an hour or so. What a dope!
Next time, I read the directions. The key thing is that L’Oreal Miracle Blur is the LAST STEP! There are two options. The first option says to go through your regimen: cleanse, day cream, eye cream, and finish it off with “a dime’s worth” of L’Oreal Miracle Blur applied over your whole face for “an instant skin smoothing effect”. I decided to go with that approach today. The L’Oreal Miracle Blur felt a little waxy or greasy on my face initially, and an hour later, it’s much less so. On the plus side, it made my face feel incredibly smooth and soft, very similar to the DHC Velvet Skin Coat, probably the dimethicone doing its thing. What’s confusing is when to use concealer, a step that I cannot skip. I put CoverGirl liquid concealer on before the L’Oreal Miracle Blur, and the concealer completely disappeared. Next, I put Smashbox full coverage stick concealer over the L’Oreal Miracle Blur, and so far, it’s still on. Has the L’Oreal Miracle Blur made a “spectacular” difference in the look of my lines and wrinkles? Is it a miracle? To be honest, not so much.
Last night I was going to a lecture on ichibana at the North Shore Horticultural Society, and I tried the other option: “targeted application”. Again, I washed my face and applied moisturizer and eye cream. I put on a light application of Bare Minerals Primer. Next, I put on Almay Smart Shade Anti-Aging Makeup and a little concealer on my sun damage. Finally, I put Miracle Blur on areas that could certainly use some blurring: lines above my lip, deep V between my eyebrows, crows feet, and crepe-y skin under my eyebrows. Did it work? Not sure. I had so much stuff on already! Maybe a little? Well, not really. 🙁
I do not plan to repurchase L’Oreal Miracle Blur because the results weren’t noticeable enough on me. I believe I can get a better result with foundation. And because I wear a day cream with sunscreen and usually wear foundation with sunscreen, I don’t need Miracle Blur for the sunscreen benefit. Nevertheless, this is a product that you may want to try for yourself, and it may work better for you than it did for me. If you do try it, please comment and let us know your opinion and results!
I purchased L’Oreal Miracle Blur at CVS for $24.99 for 1.18 fl. oz. Since I originally published this review, the price, especially at Amazon, has dropped precipitously. In addition, L’Oreal has come out with a smaller tube for $6.99 that will allow you to try the product without having to spend $25. Smart idea! The size also makes it handier for travel so it doesn’t take up as much room in your beach bag or in the small plastic bags you have to use to get through security in the airpot.
While it didn’t do much for me, younger users of this product liked it, thought it was worth the money and found it comparable to prestige products…though they didn’t mention which ones!
Active Ingredients are the sunscreen ingredients: Avobenzone 3%, Homosalate10%, Octisalate 5%, Octocrylene 5%, Oxybenzone 6%
Inactive Ingredients: dimethicone, c12-15 alkyl benzoate, talc, diisopropyl sebacate, silica, silica silylate, glycerin, trimethysiloxysilicate, dimethicone crosspolymer, water
Here are some links on Amazon if you’d like to check out any of the products mentioned:
(Yikes, Almay Smart Shade AA Makeup is listed for $2. What a steal!)
What a bummer! Sounds like they invented one extra product, one extra step we don’t need on our faces. I won’t bother trying it based on your review. And I LOVE your glasses, BTW.
Thanks, Kim. I shouldn’t have taken that pic w/ the glasses on ‘coz you can’t see the skin around my eyes lol! I soooooo wanted this product to work for me, but I guess that truly would be a miracle!
Hi Allison,
Here I am again 🙂
So what is it all about? I mean the miracle blur. I am totally confused! Should we use it as a primer, or as a moisturizer?
My brain is already over loaded with skin products, it’s time that manufacturers make it a little simpler .Besides, you know that I don’t believe in something called miracle cream 😉
Dima Al Mahsiri recently posted…Honey Face Mask: the Sweet Solution for Your Skin Problems
Happy to see you, Dima! This is a weird product, but so many bloggers think it’s the greatest and I don’t know why. It is supposed to be the last product that you apply. Even though it feels like primers I have used before, it isn’t a primer. You should have seen how awful I looked after a couple of hours when I used it under my foundation lol. It is meant to be used as a sunscreen if you don’t have sunscreen in your moisturizer or foundation. But the promise that the product makes is that it will make skin imperfections less visible by “blurring” them, I think, because of the waxiness of the Miracle Blur covering the line, wrinkle, pore, or blemish. Unfortunately, it didn’t do it for me. And I agree with you, there are no miracles in skincare! Also, this had many ingredients that I know you prefer to avoid 😉
I wanna thank you for the inspiration you gave me by your post 🙂
Check your email for details 😉
Dima Al Mahsiri recently posted…Honey Face Mask: the Sweet Solution for Your Skin Problems
Thanks for the review and your honest opinion! I keep seeing this with rave reviews and wanted to see a review by someone a little closer to my age…..not that we’re old or anything like that hehehe!! I have 2 tubes of Velvet Skin Coat so I’ll just use up what I’ve got
Thanks again sweetie!
Anytime, Sharon! I was excited about this product, and sad that it didn’t live up to the hype for me. And it cost $25 to boot. Oh well, use those Velvet Skin Coats. I love how that product feels 🙂