'I'm asked if I've had tweakments after using this hero serum'
From my first job on a beauty counter to the first time I stepped into a magazine's beauty cupboard, I've always been drawn to one category of product: serums. Sure, perfume was lovely, but its effects were fleeting. Finding pretty new blushers brought joy, but the glow only looked as good as my skin underneath. I knew that ultimately, a good serum would be the key to unlocking the skin of my dreams, so off I went in search of the best.
I tried many. After all, they promised so much. A vitamin A (retinol or retinal) at night, to keep my skin as bouncy as a new mattress; a vitamin C for glow; a buzzy new peptide launch for good measure... there were few ingredients that didn't pass my face at some stage.
The sad reality was that using this many serums only made my skin worse. After getting overexcited about a new vitamin C that promised radiance in buckets, my skin one day refused to co-operate. It became irritated. Sensitive. So dry that it'd drink up foundation by lunchtime. The cause, said the experts I'd see, was using too much product. I vowed to stop playing serum pick'n'mix. From now on, I'd only use one.
I went on a quest to find one serum that would deliver on all my wishes. I needed hydration, antioxidant protection and enough glow to go bare-faced and be confident about it. Impossible? I thought so too, until I met The One.
The One is Clarins Double Serum, a product that has been on my radar since... well, forever. It launched in 1985, when Clarins' founder, Jacques Courtin-Clarins, wanted one does-it-all product that delivered better skin in a bottle. It got its name as the product began as two separate serums (each with water and oil soluble ingredients), designed to be used simultaneously. Over the years, the packaging was upgraded to include a dual-chamber that houses both formulas. Since its launch, it has been upgraded nine times.
Double Serum, £65
While the product has always been in my consciousness, I only really began to use it religiously when Clarins launched its ninth iteration last year. New research from the brand found that 85% of skin aging is linked to lifestyle and environment; only 15% is linked to genes. With that, they loaded it up with powerful plant extracts and other active molecules, so the serum is working as hard as it can be.
I kept my routine simple: cleanse, Double Serum, moisturiser, SPF. I noticed my skin looked markedly better within days. There is something in Double Serum that makes my skin look perkier and plumper instantly. I put it down to the dual formula I mentioned earlier: it's 2/3 hydric (water based ingredients that give hydration) and 1/3 lipidic (oil based ingredients that give moisture). I've had many discussions with Red's brilliant Senior Beauty Editor, Alex, about my dislike of facial oils; I worry they'll cause congestion or sit too heavily on the skin. Here, diluted with water-based ingredients, I get all of the juicy skin benefits she waxes lyrical about.
In terms of what's going on inside the bottle, there are peptides to encourage collagen production, squalane to support the skin barrier and a hyaluronic acid derivative to hydrate. There's also a whole host of other plant extracts that soothe and protect against environmental damage.
My dry, weary, sensitive skin just really, really loves it. I've been applying it every day since late last year, and even though I'm lucky enough to have access to more singing and dancing serums than I can count, it's the serum that's older than me that I just keep coming back to.
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