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This was a nice little find. I do enjoy a colour correcting treatment being prone to a little cheek redness. I also am always intrigued by products with “Cica” in its name but I’ll get onto that shortly.
I picked up the Cicapair colour correcting treatment from John Lewis in Leeds on a bit of a whim. JL had this little stand at the front of the beauty hall selling what I’ll call ‘jumbo travel-sizes’ and being a beauty magpie, it went straight in my basket.
Getting straight into the product, I’d say this is more makeup than treatment but it does come loaded with Tiger Grass (Centella asiatica – Cica); a barrier repair complex and then a probiotic ferment targetting the skin’s microbiome -by the way, prepare for that phrase to be everywhere in the next few years – it’s been floating around the last 5 years but gaining traction.
What does Cica stand for in skincare?
But, right, OK, this is my thing. If Cica according to half the internet is short for Centalla asiatica, then why the hell are there about 1,000 French pharmacy products with the word Cica in the title that have been nowhere near Tiger Grass?
So what does Cica actually mean? Well, the ingredient all these repairing balms have in common, including my beloved La Roche Pose Cicaplast Baume, is MgSO4 / Magnesium Sulfate aka Epsom Salts. In skincare, MgSO4 is used three fold: anti-acne/bacterial, texture enhancer and an anti-inflammatory. So I’m going to go with that definition.
So back to the Dr.Jart+ Cicapair Tiger Grass Color Correcting Treatment that’s more makeup than treatment in my humble opinion.
Self-adjusting coverage you can trust
When you apply the Cicapair colour correcting treatment, it goest onto the skin in that lovely redness colour-correcting shade of green, but then quickly starts to turn into a more fleshy colour.
I was immediately annoyed as I always get screwed over by colour changing products that ‘adjust to your skins natural shade’ – they always go a short of poopy-orange on me.
However, and I’m not surprised it being from a Korean brand like Dr. Jart, it actually got the shade matching right. See the photos below but it covered up the mark on my hand I got from playing with the cat (she’s part Bengal and doesn’t know her own strength).
The cream feels quite thick and balmy and I’m absolutely here for it – it’s protecting but not heavy and greasy. It has a more ‘mineral paste’ texture if you’re familiar – almost a little powdery. I like it and it doesn’t feel heavy on the skin but you’ll definitely notice or feel something on the surface, but for a repair balm, that’s what I want.
Below you can see it on my cheek where you can see some of the redness. I was very pleasantly surprised and whilst yes, there is a tiny bit of surface residue from that slightly powdery texture I mentioned, it’s nothing major and isn’t visible beyond looking closely.
It also doesn’t sit shiny which is good for a balm; it’s a nice balance somewhere between smooth mat and dewy.
Dr.Jart+ Cicapair Ingredients
There’s one or two ingredients just to say the least if you look at the full list below.
There’s a lot of silicones and dimethicones in here which is why I’m leaning more towards this being a tinted balm rather than a true treatment product as you’d know it. But the Centella Asiatica is pretty high up the list in a higher concentration.
There’s also Niacinamide for moisture barrier building and anti-inflammatory action.
Dr.Jart+ Cicapair Full Ingredients
Aqua, Cyclopentasiloxane, CI 77891, Dimethicone, Caprylyl Methicone, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Glycerin, Lauryl PEG-8 Dimethicone, Octyldodecanol, Phenyl Trimethicone, Triethylhexanoin, Butylene Glycol, Centella Asiatica Extract, Niacinamide, Tridecyl Trimellitate, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, Disteardimonium Hectorite, 1,2-Hexanediol, Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, PEG-10 Dimethicone, Phytosteryl/Isostearyl/Cetyl/Stearyl/Behenyl Dimer Dilinoleate, Vinyl Dimethicone/Methicone Silsesquioxane Crosspolymer, CI 77491, Glyceryl Tribehenate/Isostearate/Eicosandioate, Magnesium Sulfate, CI 77492, Hydrogenated Coco-Glycerides, Stearic Acid, Alumina, Panthenol, Ceresin, CI 77499, Ethylcellulose, Caprylyl Glycol, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, CI 77288, Polyvinyl Alcohol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Madecassoside, Adenosine, Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate, Triethoxycaprylylsilane, Eryngium Maritimum Callus Culture Filtrate, Glycine Soja Peptide, Streptococcus Thermophilus Ferment, Aluminium Hydroxide, Asiaticoside, Houttuynia Cordata Extract, Ilex Aquifolium Leaf Extract, Centella Asiatica Leaf Extract, Achillea Millefolium Oil, Hedera Helix Extract, Tocopherol, Silica, Calcium Chloride, Asiatic Acid, Madecassic Acid
If you like the sound of this, you can pick up the jumbo-travel size I did here at Look Fantastic for £15 (so not cheap by any means). The full size is better value pr ML and is also available from Look Fantastic for £31.45.
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