If you try one product, make it this reparative moisturiser that's saved my skin from a winter meltdown

An image of Kiehl's Ultra Facial Meltdown Recovery cream on a wooden surface, next to an image of beauty editor Fiona McKim.

This week, my Sunday Service to you is sharing all about the excellently-named Kiehl's Ultra Facial Meltdown Recovery Cream.

Facial meltdown - can you relate? My wind-lashed, moisture-sapped, rosacea-flushed complexion can. And despite possessing an unreasonably large supply of the best face moisturisers money can buy, nothing I'd been slathering on had quite hit the mark.

Then last Monday, this assertive red pot landed on my desk, like an air ambulance, 'coptering in to save my skin from its midwinter freakout. Things have been on the up ever since.

Why this reparative moisturiser is my beauty buy of the week

I've got history with the Kiehl's Ultra Facial family, of which this is the newest member. I have loved, used, and written about the original Ultra Facial Cream pretty continuously for the last decade.

The main schtick is delivering excellent hydrators, like hyaluronic acid, ceramides, and squalane, in a silky, unclaggy texture without unnecessary guff like perfume.

This means it works beautifully for any skin type, including dry and sensitive, but is particularly spot-on for combination faces that need a little bit of every kind of TLC going. Speaking of which...

Kiehls

Ultra Facial Meltdown Recovery Cream

Calming, cushioning, nourishing, de-stressing - name your deepest January skin desires and this'll meet them. It's got the glossy feel and hydration of the classic UFC, ramped up with soothing bisabolol (hard to say, easy to love for its skin-calming properties) and colloidal oatmeal.

Oats are such a powerful repair ingredient and exactly what we should be using during blustery, skin-barrier-stripping weather. And, unlike most of these sorts of repair creams, Meltdown Recovery doesn't hang around in a thick, greasy layer; all the good work happens beneath the surface.

As you can see, I've been dipping into my pot of this silky cream non-stop since it arrived (Image credit: Future / Fiona McKim)

Kiehl's, and their dermatologists, say this starts working within five seconds, nixes skin discomfort in five minutes, then hydrates for - not five - but 96 hours, no less.

I have no idea how you'd put that to the test at home, but I can say the instant physical relief I felt after applying this was right up there with taking my bra off the minute I get home after work. If you know, you know.

Comfort and kindness are what this time of year is all about - not punishment for enjoying December. Self-care is as much about opening that nice Chianti to enjoy during Traitors as it is giving your complexion a little kiss with an excellent cream. Sounds good? Great! Let's chat next Sunday.