IS IT TIME TO CHANGE YOUR MOISTURISER? …
In a world where constancy seems an old-fashioned virtue, particularly when it comes to shopping habits, I’m happy to be uncool! My dogged fidelity to beauty products many decades after they’re no longer on trend is a source of amusement to my friends, and frustration to anyone hoping to lure me into new ways.
In department stores I duck the charming ladies attempting to spritz me with new scents, and in the airport I’m even more determined in my evasive tactics, having once been captured and doused, then spending the subsequent twelve hour flight reeking of a new Armani ‘fragrance’ which made me feel distinctly queasy.
For longer than I’ve been married, I’ve been faithful to a small cluster of products that include Annick Goutal’s deliciously light and citrusy Eau D’Hadrien (£118, Escentual), Cowsheds Lazy Cow (it certainly sums me up, £20, superdrug.com), Eve Lom’s luxuriant paste (Cleanser, £55, Lookfantastic). In the make-up department I’ve flirted with Nars and Laura Mercier, but Charlotte Tilbury stole my heart the moment her dewy products hit the market and she ‘diagnosed’ me as perfect fodder for her La Dolce Vita range Charlotte Tilbury.
The only area where I’ve shown flexibility has been with facial moisturiser, and that’s only because as you get older, your skin changes. These days it sucks up moisture like a desert oasis in a rainstorm, and having discovered the wonderful serums from Elixseri, I’m an addict. Smooth Player (£95, Elixseri) and Rescue Diver (£85, Elixseri) are my choices, and I use them in combination every night (they recommend twice a day but they’re pretty pricey so I like to stretch them out).
But a serum is only half the battle. A good moisturiser is the best beauty investment we can make. Thanks to my earlier outlined olfactory sensitivities I try to avoid anything heavily scented and for years stuck to This Works but lately they seem to have changed their recipe which got me searching for something new.
So the range of products by world renowned dermatologist Dr Murad are my new passion. He has spent his whole career researching how to get us looking our best from the inside out. I don’t like to be too limiting on toxin intake, so the bar is set quite high when it comes to my transformative skincare needs!
Murad’s Hydro-Dynamic Ultimate Moisturiser (£60, lookfantastic) and Hydro-Dynamic Nutrient Charged Water Gel (£65, lookfantastic) are sublime; non greasy, and heavily moisturising but light, and swiftly absorbed so you don’t end up with an oil slick, I can’t believe it has taken me so many decades to find them, but now I have I suspect they’re keepers. Unless they invent a facelift in a pot while I’m still breathing …
