Midnight Blue: A Review of Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Line

When I was little, I had this song I liked so much. I've heard of it on the radio during a school bus ride and that time, there was no Sound Hound or Shazam so I spent maybe a year trying to catch it again and again so I could mentally take note of the lyrics and sort of find the title.

Midnight Blue | Electric Light Orchestra. Oo na, I'm such an old soul

When you've spent a year trying to find something, its name, or anything else, you don't forget. I guess that's why I had related a 1979 song to a beauty product, yes? Yes, I don't know why I do that.

The sheep in the background means it's pajama time! xx

The first time I've heard of this rather nightly elixir was when Frances had a contest up and I was feeling annoyedwith my skin because I did all these bad habits for the skin. Incidentally, I sometimes feel like I had better skin before! Or maybe that's just cos it's me and I won't be a very credible judge of my own face.

Tara circa 2010.Back when I wore jeans and drank Coke Zero.

Tara, 2011. At the Nuffnang Family Day. Photo by Sophie Uy

Tara Cabullo, present.

Maybe all these obsessive habits on beauty and skincare was worth it after all cos I don't look that bad {I think!}

You know what's common with the last two photos up there? Both were taken on a day when I had less than four hours of sleep and yet --- I looked decent and more. I actually look like I had full eight hours sleep!

To be honest, I didn't realize how beneficial this serum has been for the last two years until now that I've actually sat and thought randomly that I should be writing a review about it. So here you go, my thoughts on Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate and Midnight Recovery Eye:

The Good:

Unlike some girls I know, Kiehl's MRC did not break me out despite going overboard of putting on more than one to two drops of it before slathering on night cream. According to Kiehl's Brand Manager Sheena Dy, to apply it, all one needs to do is squeeze a drop from the bottle, spread through fingers and pat on the face.

LOL we're oily from applying the products while having dinner cos they smelled so good!

There has been no fail --- every time I wake up, as long as I've applied this concentrate, I always have a well-moisturized skin in the morning signs of which are soft, supple skin despite being dried out by air conditioning or cold weather. As I've learned over the years, skin breaks out from dryness and not from being oily {unless it's dirty} so as long as my skin's properly moisturized, I don't break out.
When I was in Toronto, I was completely unprepared, having super duper light summer skincare so after a day of being out into the bone dry Toronto mornings, I broke out from loss of moisture. Kiehl's Midnight Recovery was then just a part of my nightly routine. I experimented on using it during the mornings and guess what, IT WORKED.

I slapped on a few drops of Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate before heading out and the flakes went away. And look ma, no jetlagged look!

A bottle lasts a lifetime. Well, technically, a few years. I've had my first bottle when I won one from Frances' contest and bought my second early in 2012. That's bang for the buck, y'all.
The Midnight Recovery Eye has been helpful in keeping the dark circles away. Have been sleeping very few hours most days for the last month, with no explanation and no one can tell. Yet.
Oil is our friend. Repeat to self.
Both smells like spa on the face and like little twigs of lavender. Mmmm :)
Sheena continues to educate us about the proper application of eye creams, "Apply everywhere, in the area surrounding the eyes, lest it's just useless. Apply especially on the corner where the eyes crinkle."

The Bad:

The glass bottle of the concentrate is amazing on the boudoir but scary to stash on the luggage. I had to wrap mine in tons of shirts to make sure it doesn't break on my 16 hour flight.
I'd imagine this would be a little too much for women who have oily skin. As I have pretty dry skin, it was perfect. If you have otherwise, best to try it out with a few drops first.
Doesn't come in smaller sizes.

Overall Recommendation:

Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate is a bit scary at first, what with it being this blue bottle of pure oil, scary if you're oily and just plain heaven sent if you've got dry skin. I completely recommend if you've been meaning to amplify your skincare {like I was}, finding a serum and have turned away from cream-based skincare and/or just looking for the solution to dull, lifeless, no-sleep skin look.

What's your daya to make yourself look like you've had sleep? Mine is Kiehl's MRC!
xx