It's been a while since my last
skincare update, but the main shape of the
routine has stayed consistent. However, this past winter in London has been so particularly bitter -- I think they officially dubbed it the coldest in a hundred years -- that I jumped at the chance to try some products by
Decléor, mainly from their iris range, their richest, aimed at mature skin.
The set contains good sizes of a cleansing duo (75ml each) and a skincare trio, consisting of an oil serum (5ml), a rich day cream (15ml) and a night balm (5ml), enough even for a profligate slatherer like me to give them a good whirl over a month, used individually and together as an proper 'routine'.
Cleanse
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| okay...maybe I didn't think the skincare swatch concept though.... |
The
cleansing milk is a light gel-cream, meant to be massaged onto your made-up or otherwise begrimed face, and then wiped off with damp cottons, before application of the
toner (basically the texture of rosewater)
to remove the last of the residue and prep the face. Both products are free of alcohol but strongly scented. The cleansing milk actually proved to be very efficient at removing makeup (including waterproof eyeliners and mascaras) -- the equal of Bioderma Crealine -- and more surprisingly still, did not irritate my eyes, even when rubbed (eek) into my lashline. The toner didn't do anything for me used as a separate step (I am a fan of Japanese 'lotions' and expect this step to pull its weight), but I used it (saturating Muji peelable cottons) to remove the cleanser, and it
felt posher than tapwater :P
Ingredients
I wouldn't purchase either of these products in future, as my skin can't deal with as much regular physical agitation (wiping) as they require; back to my trusty rinse-off Fancl cleansing oil and pat-on-with-hands Hada Labo lotion.
Care
The
Aromessence Iris oil functions as a serum -- a few drops massaged into skin at morning and night before either the
Expérience De L'Âge Rich Cream for day or the
Aroma Night Balm for, er, night. Together they promise to improve wrinkles, brightness and firmness.
All three items slotted perfectly into my routine, exactly replacing the REN
Omega 3 Night Repair oil/serum, Boots Botanics
Organic Super Balm, and Honey Girl Organics
Sensitive face cream I'd just finished -- these form the base against which I am judging the performance of the Decléor trio.
The Decléor Iris oil felt much thicker and more viscous than the REN omega 3, so I needed far less -- three drops as opposed to two pumps -- and it also sank in more quickly, with zero tackiness or shine, perhaps because its hazelnut and sunflower base is lighter than REN's coconut derivatives and wheat germ. As well as keeping my skin moisturised, plump and soft, I noticed an additional visible tightening/firming effect with the Iris oil -- my pores looked smaller and my face contours (especially around the nasolabial and double chinny bits) generally neater, while even a sloppy application after a particularly booze- or crisp filled-night seemed to make my skin look a little less puffy in the morning. The Decléor scent, while stronger than REN's, is also infinitely preferable to my nose -- I get mainly lavender and neroli/jasmine.
Aromessence Iris Ingredients
I'm too young to really talk about the efficacy of
Expérience de L'Âge Rich Cream as
anti-wrinkle cream per se, but it's certainly moisturising enough to ward off the (cosmetic) fine lines that can develop on my extremely dry skin as the day goes on, especially in cold/windy weather. That itself is a tricky if not impossible feat but this Decléor really excels as a day cream-- outperforming the cheaper, more minimal products I'd been using previously (like the Honey Girl Organics cream, or Avène Trixera+) -- in its
cosmetic elegance, its surprisingly light texture (for such an effective moisturiser) instantly setting to a polished satin-matte base with subtle skin-evening and texture-blurring effects to rival most makeup primers out there.
Expérience de L'Âge Rich Cream Ingredients
Cosmetic elegance isn't remotely a factor in
night cream for me, and I actively enjoy applying a good glooping of goo (whether an East Asian 'gelly', a moisturising mask, or a rather more elegant balm, like this Aroma Night Iris balm) to seal in the strata of unguents beneath.... The Decléor is less sticky, feels smoother and more refined and melts into the skin with greater ease than my Boots Botanics Organic Face Balm -- it's a few steps closer to a cream than the traditional solid balms represented by Boots (can get grainy in the jar, requires a good bit of warming up between hands before application) -- but these are just peripheral considerations. Neither product is rich enough to keep my skin moisturised throughout the night; both work well in conjunction with other serums and moisturising creams to let me wake up with soft, plump skin.
The Iris balm looks prettier as a midday touchup on any nose-flakes etc. (i.e. more discrete, less like you've just basically run to the loo to oil your schnoz instead of powdering it in a moment of topsyturveydom) but I've rarely felt the need for boosters since using the Decléor rich day cream; overall, the price difference (£3.99 vs £34.50 for 15ml) makes the Decléor balm a definite luxury.
Aroma Night Iris Ingredients
The surprise winner for me was the day cream -- I've already purchased the full size and am
happily (rather than just grudgingly) skipping foundation most days (good thing, too, as I'm far too pale for most of my usual bases right now). A purchase of the full-sized Iris Aromessence oil is also on the cards, since I don't seem to be getting such dramatic results from a diy mix of hazelnut and sunflower oils.
The products in this post were provided for review. My comments reflect my true feelings and have not been edited or pre-approved in any way; I am not compensated for any reviews/posts.
