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| Yves Saint Laurent Forever Youth Liberator Serum |
Yves Saint Laurent released a new skincare range (called Youth Liberator). Aside from the silly-sounding name (in my opinion, this sounds a bit Youth Defence League-related), this range purports to speed-up the regeneration of skin-cells, plump-up the skin, smooth-out the wrinkes, slow-down the ageing process, and all that usual stuff that we, as women, buy into and believe, because let's face it, very few of us are willing to grow old gracefully (well, we're on the fence about growing old, it's the looking old bit that none of us like).
Moving on. This skincare is inspired by glycobiology, a study (in essence) of the sugars found in tissues, which helps provide an understanding into skin ageing. Glycans (nothing whatsoever to do with the pseudo-warewolves of the Underworld series of movies) are macro-molecules found in our tissues which help to combat ageing. As with everything, as we get older, our body produces less and less of these glycans. L'Oréal (Yves Saint Laurent's parent company) claim that the addition of glycans to this new range of products will help skin to be younger, plumper and less wrinkled over time and repeated use.
As with most ranges, the serum of the range usually contains the highest concentration of the active ingredients that are being promoted, and this is no different, so it seemed like a good one to try out.
What I found:
This was a short-lived trial. I had intended to use this for a few weeks to see if I noted any difference with my skin. That didn't quite work out for me however - the high volume of alcohol in this product (you can smell it when you open the bottle) caused my sensitive skin to flare up, so I stopped using it after three days. In general, I don't care what other products are available in a skincare product, as long as there is no alcohol. It doesn't suit my skin, it doesn't agree with a lot of skin-types either and in general I just don't see the need for it.
Other than the obvious alcohol smell, there's no particularly offensive scent to this product (and I have found that Yves Saint Laurent products can be very "smelly" ;-)
In terms of the claims that the added glycans are helping with plumping or reduction of lines/wrinkles? Maybe they are, maybe they are not. The formula also contains sodium hyaluronate and silicones, which will help out with that anyhow. At around €70 a pop, this is too expensive a product that may or may not deliver on the "youth liberation" front, while causing problems on the sensitive skin front. I won't be repurchasing.