Hope in a Tube

Skin looking a bit sorry for itself after the rigours of winter? Then you might just like to invest in what I reckon is a bit of wonder product for restoring some luminosity to the old boat race. Now, before I start extolling its virtues, the product in question is NOT budget. But what price decent skin? As someone with skin that can be difficult and reactive to even the slightest hormonal, lifestyle and environmental changes, I tend to put skincare quite high up on my list of priorities. I would never spend hundreds, and have had precisely one facial in my life (I didn't enjoy it all - I'd rather have a stress-releasing massage than have my skin prodded and appraised under unpleasantly harsh lighting) but when I find a pricier product that I think delivers the results to justify the price tag, I hand over my card and vow to do the shopping at Lidl for a few weeks. It usually balances out.

I discovered this product - Erborian CC Creme HD - via Wardobe Icons and while sceptical about handing over £36 for a face cream, the online reviews seemed pretty unanimously positive so I headed over to Space NK, gulped a bit then punched in my pin. There's no questioning that £36 is rather a lot for a 45ml tube of cream, but I'm pleased to report that a little goes a very long way. I've still got about half left of the tube I bought back in February, so in theory it should last me till June, working out at about £9 a month...relatively reasonable, no? 

So, what is about this product I'm liking so much? It's essentially a moisturiser, but somehow seems to deliver much more than just skin hydration. Firstly, the CC stands for colour-correcting. If, like me, you're sceptical about beauty buzzwords and scientific claims that sound a bit too good to be true, you'll be wondering what this actually means in practise. The cream comes out of the tube white but when applied to your skin has the impressive power to match your skin tone, 'colour correcting' by toning down any redness along the way. So, if you've got, say, a rather angry blemish, it takes out the redness from the affected skin, making it look a lot less visible and a whole lot calmer.

If you've got good skin, you won't need foundation on top of the cream as it offers some coverage and evens out clear skin. Worn under foundation, as I have been doing, it just seems to infuse your skin with a certain glow that normal moisturisers don't impart. You need the smallest blob to cover the entire face, and its moisturising properties are fantastic, without feeling heavy or greasy. Oh, and did I mention that it has an SPF of 45? I wore it on holiday in Morocco in lieu of standard sun cream (which often brings me out in spots) and liked the way it protects and gives a bit of colour and coverage if you don't like going bare faced.

Yes, it's expensive and it might not be for everyone, but I'm seriously impressed with this stuff and will sticking with it for the forseeable...

You can buy Erborian CC Creme HD online at Space NK. Incidentally you can sign up for a Space NK N-dulge loyalty card, which rewards you with £5 for every 100 points saved.