Visionnaire By Lancome`

With all of the hype surrounding the launch of Visionnaire I knew I had to give it a try and after one of my fab twitter friends Nichola Joss described this product as stunning, I hot footed it into Newcastle to one of the Lancome counters.

I have to admit the poor women who served me did get the short straw as I wanted to know how and why this product worked. I was given the sales pitch which was that it was a molecule which triggered multiple changes in the skin, but unfortunately we couldn't get any more detail than this. I wanted to know about this molecule, was the magical molecule LR2412 a delivery system which simply delivered the other listed ingredients to the skin in a different way or was it the magical ingredient that would change my skin. Lancome describe Visionnaire as a Skin Corrector, this is quite a claim and one I certainly needed to road test.

I couldn't wait to cleanse my skin, I felt I had to use my Lancome Baum Eclate another of my favourites, particularly during Autumn and Winter to ensure my skin stays hydrated and protected during the constant changes in weather. I then applied two to three small pumps of the Visionnaire to my skin, gently massaging it in to my face and neck which was a total pleasure due to the smell and feel of the products. I would say it was a cross between a gel and a cream in texture. I allowed this to totally melt into my skin and then applied a little moisturiser before heading off to bed.

As always I had that very excited Christmas morning feeling and jumped out of bed and faced the mirror (I am very often devastated at this point in my day). I have always believed that if a night cream / treatment / serum is good you should be able to see a difference in the morning - well 'hello difference'. I could visibly see a difference in my skin, please don't ask me to say exactly what it was (7am - oh please) but I knew it was different and in a good way.

It is recommended that Visionnaire be used at night, but I have to say I was so excited about the result I used just one pump around my eye and forehead (problem areas)before I applied my usual products and makeup.

Over the next few days I did get quite a few compliments from my clients about how fresh my skin looked and when asking what they wanted to achieve from their facials, they were saying that they wanted their skin to look even like mine. Now this is huge compliment for me as I am very self conscious about pigmentation on my face and this was clearly becoming not appearing as visible.

I have been using my Visionnaire for almost 4 weeks now and I have to say that my skin is looking more even in texture and feeling smoother. The tone and pigmentation is also much improved, so much so that over the last two weeks I have taken to wearing tinted moisturiser rather than a foundation as I don't actually want to cover my skin up (wow, get me!!) I have had a couple of little spots appear over the last few days, but I have to say that normally these could have dragged on for weeks before fully healing, but give me two days using the Visionnaire and they have practically gone. That alone is worth £57 from my purse.

Before I wrote my post on this, I still had to understand how this product worked - I knew it did but I needed to know why, so I asked those lovely girls behind the twitter @LancomeUK to help me out. The girls kindly provided the press release for me to devour and so here is my take on the magic that is Visionnaire.

After many years of researching how plants repaired themselves, 12yrs to be precise. Lancome discovered that when a plant is injured and is in need of repair it produces jasmonic acid which triggers a chain of reactions to aid repair and prevents future damage. Lancome wanted to recreate this reaction within the skin and have a single molecule prompting repair in the skin, basically it triggers a process so everything within the skin works harder to repair faster.

Retinol is an ingredient we are used to seeing in skin correcting products and can physically change the skin, but due to the potential irritation it can cause this is not seen in large amounts in products so change is slow. The LR2412 works in a very similar way to retinol but without the irritation.

Well it certainly has me sold, I am loving the visible changes I can see in my skin and the fact it just looks bouncier and thicker I think. Sometimes my skin would take on a slight paper thin look, particularly on my cheeks in the winter, but my skin here definitely feels fuller.

So its a huge thumbs up from me and this is one serum which I will continue to use. Thank you Lancome!!

Has anyone else tried Visionnaire? If so I would love to know what you think.

If you have any wonder products you think I should try, let me know and I will do what I can to give them a go.

Wendy xx

Rio Rosa Mosqueta - anti aging Day and Night cream

I am always on the look out for products that can double up and do more than one job so was delighted to be given the opportunity to try this anti aging day and night cream.

I am a great fan of rose oil and natural products so couldn't wait to try this new product for a few weeks.

The product claims to protect skin from harmful UVA rays during the day and then nourish, hydrate and renew at night. So a quick study of the ingredients list was as always, top of my list. The cream is packed with a whole range of ingredients which back up the claims and help moisturise, hydrate, protect and regenerate. It is certified organic by EcoControl and contains no parabens, paraffin or other synthetic ingredients.

The range of products are based on Rosa Mosqueta which is a wild rose found in the Chilean Andes. The Rosehip oil which is packed with vitamin C has great rejuvenating properties and I was delighted to see its inclusion very high up on the ingredients list, so we know there is more than just a hint of it in there. The cream also contains Red Algae as the UVA and UVB protector, this is one of the most powerful UV - absorbing substances in nature, so no need for any artificial, chemical sun protection here. This is backed up with a range of anti oxidants such as vitamin E and horsetail extract.

With the addition of macadamia nut oil, shea butter and aloe vera this product is definitely going to protect and reinforce the skins barrier and protect, particularly in the winter months and if that wasn't enough there is also some alpha hydroxy acids in there to gently exfoliate the skin to ensure no build up of old skin cells which will help to maintain a nice healthy glow.

So on with the product itself, anyone who has read my blog will know that i am not very keen on products that are in jars, I do use them, but if given the choice I would always choose a tube or pump action dispenser to maintain the integrity of the ingredients. (but that's just me)

The product itself felt very rich to the touch and as such I was a little apprehensive as I have a tendency to a bit of an oily T zone. I warmed the product up a little in my hands first with it feeling so rich and applied to my cleansed face, I felt as though I had to work the product in quite a bit and to be honest didn't love the feel of the product on initial application but loved the fresh natural aroma of it. However, a couple of minutes after application I was expecting a greasy feel to this product as the cream had felt so rich but my skin felt fine with no residue left on my skin at all.

I continued just applying the cream on its own after cleansing both morning and night and although I didn't particularly love the feeling of the cream on application, my skin was looking good, nicely hydrated and fine lines around my eyes looking quite good too (result). The product does recommend that for best results to use the Rio Rosa Mosqueta Oil first, but as I didn't have this to hand I decided to use a serum after cleansing and then use the cream, this definitely worked better and the cream went on and felt so much better on application.

Although I have typical combination skin, I didn't experience any shine through the day as I had expected and felt my skin looked pretty good after using this product.

The product is recommended for all skin types and I would say that this would work with the inclusion of the oil for anyone with a drier skin.

The product is priced at only £14.99 and as it is packed with a whole host of natural and organic ingredients and the fact you can use it both day and night I would definitely use this product and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it as a great moisturiser at a great price.

I will certainly be looking to try the oil in the future as I do feel the two products would work brilliantly together. (Christmas list I think)

If you would like more information on the products you can follow the team through twitter @RioRosaMosqueta or visit www.riorosa.co.uk

If you have tried this Day and Night Cream or the oil, I would love to hear what you think.

Wendy xx