Friday 4 November 2011

mini-review Lierac Cohérence night cream

Today I will review a rather large sample size of the Lierac Cohérence night cream.

I received this cream with a whole sample size kit from lookfantastic.com: it was a deal when you bought 2 Lierac products.  

My sample was rather generous: 15 ml. So I had the opportunity to test it for a month in order to give it a proper review.




About the brand:

First, Lierac is a French brand. If you put French and skincare into one phrase it often gets a lot of attention. Well, because French women are known to be stylish without trying too hard. Or they call that the Je ne sais quoi...

Still, I am a bit more pragmatic over these things, because I won't believe in the hype just because it is French. For the record: I really like  La Roche Posay suncare, but I wasn't too enthousiastic about Embryolisse

What Lierac has to say about their brand themselves:

LIERAC Laboratories’ philosophy is to use the extraordinary power of nature and plants to deliver a specific solution and precise answer to every skin requirement. 

LIERAC Laboratories are partners of Eco-Emballages and participate in European program to eliminate and recycle all components of their packaging. Join us in our eco-friendly approach by sorting your recyclable waste materials (glass, plastic, paper, etc...) for selective collection.


 


All of it sounds environmentally friendly and almost like an organic brand. However, it is still quite synthetic on a couple of fields.

The Lierac website's claim: 
This luxurious pink-tinted cream is enriched with a complex of magnesium and potassium hyaluronate for specific night-time relaxing action.  It contains 4% COHÉRENCE™ vectors to help reactivate the production of type III collagen – the specific collagen of younger skin.  You wake up to more rested facial features and a refreshed complexion.  Night after night, the skin appears as if “lifted”, feeling tauter and firmer, and looking visibly smoother.  The facial oval appears gradually redesigned. 

Nothing but impressive. 

The ingredients:
Type III collagen accelerating vectors:  4%;  micro-emulsion of vitamins C, B5, B6, E;  potassium hyaluronate;  magnesium;  ultra-repair protective base.


 I am quite sure these cannot be the only ingredients but these were listed on their website.  I mean, even products for overreactive skins (that need as little ingredients as possible) have more ingredients. And the scents I am smelling isn't listed either. 
But I'll guess they mention the high-profile anti-agers only for their public.


The cream is light pink in colour:


You really need a tiny bit for enough product to cover your face and neck:


Scent:

It has a soft powdery scent, which I find similar to its soft lilac colour. The scent is somewhat synthetic but feminine and not too obtrusive. However, I think that if your skin is more sensitive or has a sensitive period it might be a bit hindering.

texture:

I think it is creamlike, rather thick and stays sticky for quite a while. I personally do not mind, because my skin can be dehydrated but I wouldn't recommend it to combination to oily skins. On the other hand, very dry skins might opt for a balm-texture, although for hydratation I think a cream is normally more efficient.

Anti-Ageing:

As mentioned before, I had a trial size and have only used this one for a month. I am not sure it did something effective on the field of anti-ageing. Sometimes you hit a product (for example the Nude Cosmetics serum) that you can really see working when you use this, and this cream wasn't so effective. It didn't do any harm either.

However, I always advocate to have your anti-aging products in pump-dispensers or in serum form. Why? because the active ingredients that have to work for you stay fresh longer in a pump or drop-bottle display. I do buy cream-pots, but only if they target for hydratation/moisture or are products that are for sensitive skins. The content of a pot is exposed to air and light in a higher extend than a drop-bottle content or sealed pump-bottle, so the active ingredients will lose their powers sooner.

Price and availability:

I got my sample for free with lookfantastic.com. so it is relatively easy available for online shoppers. People in France and Belgium even have bigger access to Lierac, but some Dutch pharmacies seem to sell it as well. The price is rather expensive on lookfantastic, that is £49.00.

Conclusion:

It was a lovely cream, but I would not repurchase. It smells a bit too synthetic and I don't think the ingredients target my need for rejuvination at night.

Most importantly, I didn't wake up with a fresh and plumped skin the next morning. I find this to be the dealbreaker: a night-treatment is the most important time to target your skin-goals because the skin is at rest.

I could see the difference on days I used another nightcream: Often I alternated with Jurlique Purely White Skin Brightening Night Treatment,  which gave me better result the morning after: I woke up much fresher and more plumped. I have to review that nightcream soon because I really like the whole experience of using that nightcream, and Jurlique has a more holistic feel (and scent) too. Plus, it really rocks at targetting pigmentation-spots.

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