The only product today, this is the IDC Institute Hand Cream
Owl, variant Vanilla & Caramel!
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It’s the only thing for today because it’s been bugging me
for ages, ever since I first saw it at DM and then did not buy it. So I went
back one day just for this... it was too cute to pass up! Anyways, this brand
is one DM always has in stock, but during the festive season they get so many
products from them! Like, a bunch! I don’t usually pay attention to this brand
because I always thought it was a bit overpriced; I always assumed it would
have mediocre quality for a price that should get you great quality. This cream
as well was honestly a bit too expensive for how much there is (just 30 mL!),
but I really, really wanted to have one of these little owls! I couldn’t
decide which one, though! The green one is prettier to me, but it smelled like
mint, which I’m really not a fan of... so I was left with this one. Tbf, this
scent doesn’t sound like a dream either; I really dislike caramel/toffee etc, here’s
hoping the vanilla is the dominant scent. Now, let’s finally see what this
tiny little cream is like!
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Packaging: what a small tube! But it’s so cute! The very
light yellow colour is a great, soothing choice that goes well with the
graphic. Look at that silly lil’ owl, being so cute and winking! Aww! Information
about the cream is in the back, in quite small font. The cap is black, which,
eh, alright. I would have preferred it be either a white cap or a rose-coloured
one to match the owl. Anyways, it closes very tightly, but it is screwed off
and on to open and close it, respectively. Simple, but very cute design!
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Ingredients: glycerine for nourishment. No parabens. It has
got paraffin oil as the second ingredient, but, you’ll see, it’s quite
different to Nivea Creme’s consistency. The scent is very intense; it smells
like a mix of both vanilla and caramel, with caramel, naturally, overpowering
the vanilla. Smells a bit like roasted caramel. But once you actually apply it,
it smells more like vanilla than caramel, thank god! I actually like the scent,
it’s very yummy! The expiration date is 12 months after opening.
Pure white cream, nothing too special.
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At first glance, this formula looks like it’s going to be a
relatively rich one, but looks are deceiving! It’s actually very slippery and
runny, and it’s extremely light, way too light for me. It does feel greasy,
but, more than that, it feels watery and thin. It’s surprisingly hard to
properly buff into the skin, as it leaves a lot of streaks. Once it starts to
absorb into the skin it becomes slightly more thick and waxy, but it still
feels very thin. And it takes sooo long to absorb... probably because of how
watery it is. Although I do love how buttery it becomes once it does actually
absorb.
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Well, this cream is certainly too light for my hands. I
routinely get extremely dry skin on my palms, and that painfully dry skin
craves nourishment. And this is something this cream cannot offer, at least not
in the amount that I need. It is quite hydrating, though! And my skin does feel
softer for a while after applying it, but it simply isn’t nourishing enough,
which isn’t really a surprise, since it only has glycerine in terms of
nourishing ingredients. Oh well...
In conclusion, this is an okay cream, but not strong enough
for my extremely dry hands. I guess it is much better for normal skin, where
nourishment and intense hydration aren’t quite as big of a concern. It smells
very lovely; although the caramel is pretty dominant (which bothers me a lot as
someone who dislikes it so much), after you start to rub the cream into skin,
vanilla suddenly becomes the more intense scent of the two. In the end, it
smells like some kind of cookie or vanilla cake, which is so yummy! The formula
of this cream is very, very thin and watery; much too watery for me. But it
soon becomes more silky and slightly thicker. Still, it’s way too thin for my
liking. And this is apparent in how this cream cannot heal my dry, cracked
skin. It doesn’t have enough emollients, even though paraffin oil is the second
ingredient. It’s a nice enough cream to quickly hydrate your hands on-the-go,
but for anything more I’d look for something more nourishing. Sadly, I cannot
recommend this cream, it’s just not too good at what it should be good at:
hydrating the skin. Just remember to wink back at the owly!
Rating: 5.5/10
Would buy again? NO
