Review: DHC Q10 Travel/Trial Set

Since I'd finished using the Boscia set and the season and weather changed from warmer summer to drier fall and winter, I'd moved on to the DHC Q10 Travel Set. I was fortunate to receive this from Kay, but you can also find it on the U.S. website. I finished this set just as 2009 came to an end.


My skin is sensitive and dry in the cold seasons, but this set and Q10 line are suitable for every skin type.

Information on the set and individual products taken from the DHC website:

Description
Target signs of aging caused by UV rays and stress by utilizing the benefits of coenzyme Q10. This potent antioxidant helps protect the skin from free radicals, which can damage your skin and accelerate the appearance of fine lines and other signs of premature aging. Bag included.
Deep Cleansing Oil: Superstar. Try this amazing cleanser and you’ll see why it’s our most popular product worldwide. Dirt, excess oil, makeup—even waterproof mascara—and other pore-cloggers dissolve easily, leaving your face a grime-free zone that is soft to the touch. Its unique water-soluble formula rinses completely, so you’ll never see a greasy residue. Olive oil and vitamin E help ensure you won’t see dryness either.
Olive Soap: Clear advantage. Olive Soap’s bevy of botanicals come together to create a fierce antioxidant and vitamin-rich cleanser that’s gentle on sensitive and dry complexions. Olive leaves are naturally fortified with coenzyme Q10 (a nutrient that also exists naturally in human tissue) and give Olive Soap the power to fight free radicals and help prevent damage to collagen and elastin fibers from UV rays. This botanical bar works to free your skin’s surface of dirt and excess oil while vitamins and antioxidants go to the cellular level for skin strength reinforcement. Wash regularly with its generous lather and never again will skin have to feel tight after washing.
Q10 Lotion: Set the tone. This age-fighting toner maximizes your coenzyme Q10 potential to target sun-damaged skin and help smooth and hydrate your complexion. Because coenzyme Q10’s ability to penetrate is exceptional, repeated application gives better effects. For best results, follow with Q10 Milk or Q10 Cream.
Q10 Milk: Vitamin Q. If you’re interested in an age-fighting ingredient that will help your skin attain a firmer and smoother look and feel, it’s time to add products utilizing transformative coenzyme Q10 to your daily skincare routine. Bring moisture and suppleness back while scavenging free radicals on your skin's surface with this milky gel moisturizer, perfect for daytime use.

Texture: Light milky gel
Q10 Cream: A perfect 10! DHC Q10 Cream is a luxurious formula that combines the excellent toning and firming properties of revolutionary coenzyme Q10—a natural skin revitalizer—with olive oil and olive leaf, for optimum nourishment and preservation of your skin. Coenzyme Q10, nicknamed “vitamin Q,” functions as a powerful antioxidant, protecting cells from free radicals. Brilliantly vibrant, the rich hue of this cream comes from the nutrient itself. Enjoy renewed vivacity and help maintain tone and resilience for smooth, supple skin. Fall in love with firm skin with this high-performance, uplifting treatment. The future of skincare is not just bright—it’s radiant.

Texture: Medium-weight cream
How To Use

Deep Cleansing Oil: Use dry hands to gently massage DHC Deep Cleansing Oil into dry face to dissolve dirt, makeup, and other impurities. Rinse with cool or lukewarm water. Do not add water to this product during cleansing. Follow with DHC Olive Soap.
Olive Soap: First create a lather in your palms; then envelop face in the soft foam to cleanse your skin. Rinse thoroughly. Follow with DHC Q10 Lotion.
Q10 Lotion: After cleansing, pat lotion over entire face, using palms or a cotton pad. Follow with DHC Q10 Milk or DHC Q10 Cream.
Q10 Milk: After toning with DHC Q10 Lotion, apply over entire face.
Q10 Cream: After toning with DHC Q10 Lotion, smooth a thin layer over entire face.
Ingredients
Deep Cleansing Oil: olea europaea (olive) fruit oil, caprylic/capric triglyceride, sorbeth-30 tetraoleate, tocopherol, phenoxyethanol, propylparaben, stearyl glycyrrhetinate, rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) leaf oil
Olive Soap: water, sucrose, olea europaea (olive) fruit oil, lauric acid, myristic acid, stearic acid, glycerin, sodium hydroxide, olea europaea (olive) leaf extract, palmitic acid, behenic acid, tetrasodium etidronate
Q10 Lotion: water, butylene glycol, glycosyl trehalose, salix alba (willow) bark extract, hydrogenated starch hydrolysate, ubiquinone, olea europaea (olive) leaf extract, biotin, cyanocobalamin
Q10 Milk: water, glycerin, butylene glycol, pentylene glycol, hydrogenated lecithin, aloe barbadensis leaf juice, phenoxyethanol, salix alba (willow) bark extract, tocotrienols, xanthan gum, carbomer, sodium hyaluronate, potassium hydroxide, ubiquinone, cholesterol, elaeis guineensis (palm) oil, olea europaea (olive) leaf extract, biotin, cyanocobalamin, sodium riboflavin phosphate
Q10 Cream: water, butylene glycol, caprylic/capric triglyceride, stearic acid, olea europaea (olive) fruit oil, hydrogenated palm oil, pentylene glycol, glyceryl stearate SE, glyceryl stearate, ubiquinone, batyl alcohol, phenoxyethanol, arginine, behenyl alcohol, serine, dimethicone, tocotrienols, tricalcium phosphate, olea europaea (olive) leaf extract, elaeis guineensis (palm) oil, silica, zinc oxide, silver
My Thoughts
I liked this set a lot! Everyone knows how beneficial Q10 is to skin, so it's great to use topical skincare that has Q10. The size and price are just right for testing out the products without committing or feeling like you're spending too much on something you're not sure about, especially a whole regimen. This actually came very close to making it onto my 2009 Favorites post, but I would like to continue using it and comparing to other skincare products.

Deep Cleansing Oil: I'm a total fan of this product which is DHC's superstar. It is a non-drying, gentle yet very thorough make up remover. Olive oil is naturally moisturizing because it is an essential oil, and it does not leave your face oily once you rinse! It does EXACTLY what it says. My only gripe, and this is minor and because I'm impatient, is that you must use it with completely dry hands for it to be effective (it's an extra step to dry my hands after I've washed them to remove my contacts).
Olive Soap: I'm not big on facial soaps but I will say that this one is nicer than DHC's Mild Soap because it's less drying, so I'm sure for those who don't have dry winter skin like mine, it's nice. I use it after the Deep Cleansing Oil and it's also just like it says, gentle for sensitive and dry skin.
Q10 Lotion: I prefer spray/spritz toners like Boscia's Balancing Tonic, but aside from that, this is a nice moisturizing toner (oh, FYI, Asian face lotion is probably not the face lotion you think of, it's a liquid like toner).
Q10 Milk: This was different, I've never used a moisture with a texture like this before. DHC describes it as a "light, milky gel" which is quite accurate. Milky gel as in a very fluid, watery, light gel/sap-like substance. Surprisingly it was very moisturizing even though it wasn't heavy or creamy! I imagine this would be a great year-round daytime moisturizer.
Q10 Cream: This was the Queen of the set, as it should be and as I knew it would be ($45 for a 1 oz. jar, it's not cheap). It made my face feel deeply moisturized, soft and supple...all night long. It's described as a medium weight cream, and though the texture was light-medium, the moisturizing properties make it seem a bit heavy to me (I can't imagine how heavy the heavy Ceramide cream would be).

In general, so far I'm becoming a fan of DHC. Their products seem to be made from high quality ingredients and I believe they are based mainly on natural ingredients and are fragrance free and paraben free. This was my second set I tried from DHC (the first was the Acerola set, which I will eventually review), and I'm slowly but surely gaining a trust in DHC products. I would very likely purchase this set again, if not the full size products, and I will definitely be using more DHC products again!