As a beauty editor, who really loves a good moisturiser, I have tried a fair few of them over the years. As soon as a new one drops onto my desk, straight into my handbag it goes for testing. You see, whilst I appreciate that the best face serums are the grafters in any skincare routine and help you target certain issues, as someone with dry skin, prone to dehydration, I find immense comfort in a pot of face cream. Comfort is the key word here. I would describe my face as parched, which means that my skin can often feel uncomfortable - we're talking tight, rough and sometimes even itchy. Just to recap: dry skin is a skin type with very little oil, dehydration is a condition that occurs when there is a lack of water. So I am always searching for creams that provide an instant soothing feeling - if any cream doesn't do this, then it gets passed off to someone else.
I will admit that there are lots of creams that do this, as I said I have tried hundreds and hundreds over the years, and I have claimed rather a few of them as my best moisturiser for dry skin. However, I can now hold my hands up and say that I was wrong, oh so wrong. Because, the best moisturiser for dry and dehydrated skin is, in fact, SkinCeuticals Triple Lipid Restore 2:4:2.
This isn't a new launch that recently got delivered into the Marie Claire beauty cupboard, this was recommended to me following a facial at the skin and aesthetics clinic, Montrose London. My dehydration had reached irritating levels and I was there to get a Hydrafacial. I've been getting the J.Lo Beauty Boosters, which aim to bright, tighten and hydrate. Whilst there, my practitioner recommended that I get my hands on this SkinCeuticals moisturiser. "You'll love it," I was told.
Boy, they were not wrong. The cream aims to replenish skin with what it naturally loses as we age: lipids, more specifically ceramides, cholesterol, and fatty acids. The formula is made up of 2% pure ceramides, 4% natural cholesterol, and 2% fatty acids, hence the 2:4:2 in the name. It calls itself an Anti-aging Lipid Replenishment Treatment. I don't like products that use anti-ageing terminology on their packaging. Developing a decent routine that takes care of and encourages skin health, by feeding it what it needs is in my opinion a far better way to see you through the signs of skin ageing, rather than looking for products marketed in this way.
So what's it like? The texture somehow manages to feel simultaneously richer than butter, as well as lightweight on the skin. It absorbs quickly and doesn't leave behind any greasiness, instead the the skin feels like velvet - I'm not lying, it's so strokeable. It envelops the skin in nourishment, which is the immediate feeling of comfort that I so often crave. It has a slight lavender fragrance to it, which as I use it in the evenings too, is a nice touch.
After months of using it as both my day and my night cream, I have seen a noticeable change to my skin that I've never experienced before. Granted, the Hydrafacials are helping, but since using this moisturiser my skin is softer to the touch, bouncier than a trampoline, more even-toned and a lot less dull. I have just finished a jar and am using something in its place until I get my hands on another, and I can already tell that it's not as good. Both my skin and I are mourning the loss of the SkinCeuticals cream.
We must quickly discuss the price. It isn't cheap. You won't get any change from £100. In fact, you'd have to add £50 to that. It is a steep skincare choice at £150 and I typically don't recommend beauty products over £100, but I just had to write about it and its effects in case someone else is looking for the same thing. A lot of people will have scoffed at the price and decided there and then that they would never spend that, and I wholeheartedly appreciate that it is a lot of money. However, for those people who are plagued with the same skin issues as me and who haven't been put off by the price, I genuinely believe that you will have no regrets. I am currently walking around the house in search of things to sell so that I never run out again.
In short: it's glorious.
