Skincare of the Week 13.09.15

Last Sunday was a very stressful day, so I ended up giving myself a mini-facial in the middle of the day.  Oskia Renaissance Cleansing Gel was soothing with its rosy softness, then I slathered myself in Aveda Intensive Hydrating Mask for the rest of the day.  I love this stuff, oil-free, it is instantly cooling and soothing (I keep mine in the fridge.  That reminds me, I need a bigger fridge), and leaves you plumped up and less red and angry-looking.  As I'm approximately 2/3rds sheer grumpiness, this is a minor miracle, I'm sure you'll agree.

After a stressful Sunday, I needed a treat come Monday morning, and when that happens, I reach for the Zelens:

I've been trialling the Intense Defence serum for a few weeks now, there's a full review of it upcoming, but I like this.  I like this a lot.  If you have tendencies towards sensitivity and redness (as I do), you'll probably like it too.  I paired it with the Z Recovery Intensive Repair Balm, as that is probably my second-favourite Zelens product of all time.  A non-greasy balm (actually more of a rich gel-texture) this nourishes and just makes skin look fab after using.  Any time my skin is a bit stressed, or dried out, or over-stimulated with active products, I reach for this, and my skin is usually much the better for it after one application.

A tiny catastrophe on Tuesday when I couldn't find either my Bioderma Crealine spray OR my beloved La Roche Posay Serozinc, so I had to dig out my Caudalie Grape Water.  I actually like the grape water, but the other two are much better for my rosy-redness, so it wasn't really the end of the world.  I added in the Ren Rosa Centifolia Cleansing Water, as, for some reason, I woke up with mascara smudges.  My waterproof eyemakeup remover has gone walkabout, and I paid the price on Tuesday.

More about this routine (and why it was so special) after the break ...

Caudalie Polyphenol C15 Skincare

 

 

By Luke

It is with some irony that I write this with one mother of a hangover. Despite the warnings, I am partial to a glass or five of wine, and hang the consequences. So, imagine my delight when I read the press information for the new skincare range from super affordable (and rather excellent) skincare brand Caudalie on how damaging the effects of everyday living - and that includes alcohol consumption – are to ones face. It is especially ironic as Caudalie have based pretty much their entire ethos on the benefits of the antioxidant polyphenol from the grape seed. Clearly our priorities with regards to the use of the grape are at some odds here. 

Notwithstanding that (and my imminent vow to never drink again) I am pleased to tell you about the new skincare line Caudalie have added to their ranks, Polyphenol C15. As mentioned earlier, Caudalie use Polyphenol in a stabilized form derived from grape seed. Polyphenol, as you may well be wondering about it, is one of the most powerful antioxidant ingredients from the plant world. Allegedly about 70% of ageing is the result of free radical action on the skin, a result of all sorts of things like a hectic lifestyle, alcohol, smoking and sunshine, polyphenol can a pretty useful tool in the arsenal against ageing. Up to now they have used the antioxidant ingredient on its own, but have just developed a vitamin C complex that is stable enough to mix with hyaluronic acid.

Vitamin C is typically a fragile ingredient, and is notoriously difficult to get it to remain active in a pot of cream. Often vitamin c products are presented in a slightly unusual way, with a separate powder, or capsule of the ingredient. Because, once exposed to the environment, once it is out there it breaks down very quickly, and becomes ineffective. The benefits of vitamin c on the skin are numerous, and these include a brightening quality, and an ability to fight oxidisation, which is a main culprit in the skin ageing process. So trying to keep the little sucker alive long enough to be effective in a face cream has always been a bit of a challenge. Caudalie are now claiming to have cracked that.

There are three products in the range: Anti Wrinkle Defence Serum, Day Fluid, and an Eye Cream. I have been using these for a good few weeks now, and am happy to say they are all really good, and actually seem to have made a visible difference to my skin. 

I love the serum in particular, as it’s just heavy enough to nourish my dry skin. It smells great as well, as you’d expect from most Caudalie products, but this time it is not the traditional Fleur du Vin scent, but it has more of a cucumber-y sort of minty smell. It does a good job of providing a certain amount of ‘plumping’, but mainly it seemed to add a clarity to my skin that wasn’t there before. Redness has died down, and my skin looks a little more even. Perhaps it was counteracting the effects of alcohol, I don’t know. What’s more, it is a very acceptable £35.

The Anti Wrinkle Protect Fluid is also an excellent moisturiser, for £29. I have said many times before, that I am extremely fussy when it comes to moisturiser as I have very dry skin, and I was sceptical about a fluid texture. Normally, anything on the ‘oil free’ end of the market is not nearly nourishing enough for me, but this was actually pleasantly surprising in its moisturisation qualities. Perhaps it was with the benefit of the serum underneath that made it this way, but nonetheless, it did seem to do the job, and with a broad spectrum (UVA and UVB) SPF of 20 to stave off any potential environmental damage (as well as the aforementioned Vitamin c and Polyphenol) it was a real pleasure to use.

Finally, the Anti Wrinkle Eye & Lip Cream, which is £26. I am not a fan of eye cream per se, as to be perfectly honest (and borderline boastful), I don’t have dark circles, even with a hangover – sorry about that! – and wrinkles around my eyes are not really a concern of mine. As such, I tend not to use one, unless I am suffering from dry eye in which case I will grab whatever is nearest to try and rectify this.

Despite that, this was a nice eye cream. It is not earthshakingly amazing, but then eye creams rarely are in my opinion. It was light, and disappeared easily, has no fragrance and it didn’t sting my eyes, so it was a thumbs up from me. The added bonus of being to use it around the lip area as well, an often neglected area of visible ageing, was a coup. It also contains the latest wonder ingredient Matrixyl 3000 which apparently boosts collagen synthesis. I couldn’t really see any difference in my eyes to be honest, but then as I said, what’s to notice. Definitely worth investing in if you like the rest of the range.

Overall, I am mightily impressed by this, not least from the price perspective. So if you are on the lookout for an accessible anti ageing range, you’d have look quite hard to find one as good as this in my opinion. 

Caudalie C15 is available from www.caudalie.co.uk and they also have a gorgeous brand new boutique on Monmouth Street in Covent Garden.

This post: Caudalie Polyphenol C15 originated at: Get Lippie All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post at Get Lippie, then this content has been stolen by a scraper

Nuxe Prodigieux le Parfum and Parfum Divin de Caudalie

 By Get Lippie

Those two great French skincare competitors, Nuxe and Caudalie, have both brought out perfume versions of their cult body oil products this summer, and I managed to get my hands on both so I could compare and contrast each of them.

Nuxe is probably the cult body oil product in the UK, and this summer, the iconic rectangular bottle has been re-issued with a cute limited edition design,  which I surprisingly rather like.  The perfume bottle is a flat oblong with a bronzed ombre effect over.  It looks rather staid in comparison to the limited edition bottle though, I think!  

The scent is warm, redolent of jasmine and sunshine, with a small hit of coconut. It actually has a rather sunscreen-y scent, instantly transporting you to a beach and the tropical cocktail of your choice.  On first spraying, it is intensely heady and rather strong-seeming, but this headiness wears off rather quickly, just leaving a floral-musk skin scent behind, which is rather nuzzly and lovely.  It's very discreet in wear, you're not going to offend any perfume-phobics in the office in this one.  

In comparison with the scent of the oil itself, it holds up very well indeed - on first sniff, they're practically identical - the oil has a more rounded profile, and because of the oil base it's less sharp-seeming than the parfum, which feels a little thinner than the original formulation.  That said the two are to all intents completely indistinguishable from each other.  Lasting power for the fragrance, even though it's a parfum formulation, is around 4-6 hours, but as it wears very close to the skin, sometimes you'll have to hunt for the scent whilst you're wearing it.  Nuxe Prodigieux le Parfum costs £43 for 50mls.

Packaging is, for me, a very important part of any product, and hands down the Caudalie bottles win this particular context.  Not only is the circular shape of the oil bottle easier to handle (I struggle with the flat rectangle of the Nuxe, owing to having very small hands, and the bottle is too wide for me to grip properly in use), but the metallic ombre effect on the Parfum Divin bottle is quite, quite lovely.  I also like the wooden lids, which add just a little extra touch of luxury and texture to the overall presentation.

Divine oil is just a couple of years old, but has spawned a couple of offshoot products already - a body scrub, and Divine Legs, which is a lightly tinted body moisturiser - and the perfume is a natural extension.  A lighter, fresher, fragrance than the Nuxe Prodigieux. In comparison, Parfum Divin has an almost cucumber-y ozonic scent, atop a base of blonde woods, cedar and white flowers.  I can catch a hint of jasmine here, but it's far less punchy than in the Nuxe. It dries down to a more woody skin-scent than the Nuxe, but they are both somewhat on the discreet side, and dry down to a gentle inoffensiveness.

Whilst less initially heady than the Nuxe fragrance, it's actually a slightly more sophisticated scent overall, being more redolent of a spa than a sunscreen,  but it does still manage to smell almost exactly like the original product, in the same way.  Again, the fragrance is a little sharper, and a little fresher than the oil, but this is down to the formulation, as an oil fragrance will always seem a little "fatter" to the nose, than an alcohol-based spray. The lasting power for both fragrances is about the same. Parfum Divin de Caudalie will be available for £39 for 50ml when it launches shortly.  There's a candle version of the fragrance too, which really, really, really needs to join my candle collection, tbh.

So, do you need both fragrances?  Probably not, to be honest.  Both the fragrances are wonderful companions to their respective oils, being respectful recreations of the originals, and they're both wonderful for layering over the oils for a little extra oomph (the oils will anchor the fragrances to your skin, making them last longer), but which one you prefer will depend on which oil you have a preference for.  I can't actually pick a winner - the Nuxe is a cult product for a reason, it smells great, and is instantly evocative, but, the Caudalie is sophisticated, and (for me) a better bottle.  Which one do you prefer?

The Fine Print: PR Samples.  But I'm ordering a candle, oh yes.  No, I am NOT obsessed.
 
This post: Nuxe Prodigieux le Parfum and Parfum Divin de Caudalie originated at: Get Lippie All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post at Get Lippie, then this content has been stolen by a scraper