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| Lancôme Génifique Youth Activator |
So in an attempt to give my skin a break lately, I decided to try out some of the many many serums and potions I have upstairs in the "to be trialled" box. A few weeks ago was the turn of this, Lancôme's Génifique Youth Activating Concentrate.
The secret of youthful skin.
Revealed, drop by drop. Beautiful skin for every woman at every age.
Instantly, skin feels silky soft, smooth and supple. Drop by drop, day and night, skin appears breathtakingly beautiful, radiant, even-toned and more refined. Skin looks noticeably younger, as if infused with life.
My Experience:
I am quite annoyed to say that I found this stuff bloody awful. It's full of alcohol - you can physically smell it when you open it! It caused a number of painful, deep-rooted breakouts on my skin, that haven't healed yet. I don't get spots on my face; and this categorically caused them. Youthful skin/noticeably younger? Yes, I guess I got breakouts when I was younger. Is that what they mean? Silky soft, smooth and supple? Uhhhhh... Drier? Check. Tighter? Check. Neither are good, btw.
A bottle of this stuff is around the €70 mark and lasts about two months. Thankfully, I hadn't purchased; I was using a small trial bottle that I got in a Lancôme Christmas Crackers or some such. After the week, I made myself physically pour the remainder down the drain, so I wouldn't succumb to the I-have-it-so-I-have-to-use-it routine I'm so fond of.
Perhaps this would work for a more (much more) oily skin. From speaking with my aesthetician, she is of the opinion that a lot of French products are made with Mediterranean skin in mind, and to bear in mind that the Mediterranean skin type is much thicker and oilier than our more delicate, northern, pale, thinner skin (it has to be, they get the sun!). So, in that respect, a small amount of alcohol in skin-care products is not the evil that I've always believed it to be; just not necessarily suited to Irish skin types per se.
While I love their cosmetics, I'm hit-and-miss with Lancôme skincare products. I also trialled the Lancôme Visionnaire serum (see here) and had mixed feelings about it.
My advice; if you're skin type I, II or III, stick to products that have no alcohol in them. That rules this out. Then again, maybe you've used it and you love it. I'm moving back to my Crème de la Mer, to clear up my skin, before I trial anything else.