Review : Vichy Essentielles

I was sent some new skincare products to try from Vichy. I received them just before Christmas, so I thought I'd let you know how I've been getting on. I've never tried anything by them before, so I was really excited to try these. I was sent a facial cleanser, a body milk for dry skin, and a face cream for dry skin.

What does the brand say?

Vichy's Essentielles range offers the guarantee of effective active ingredients, clinically proven results and high tolerance at an accessible price. Vichy Essentielles is for all skin types to be used on a daily basis to help hydrate, protect and reveal skin's radiance.

Essentielles is enriched with Rose Gallica extract, an active ingredient used by pharmacists for many generations. It contains Polyphenols antioxidants that protect the flower against external aggressors and ensure its freshness. When used in skincare it has a triple action: Protecting, hydrating and radiance revealing.

The range is also enriched with soothing Alantoin, nourishing Shea Butter, hydrating Glycerin and soothing and fortifying Vichy Thermal Spa Water. All products are paraben-free, suitable for sensitive skin and tested under dermatological control with clinically proven results.

What do I think?

When I read more information about the products and the rose extract, I was expecting a really old fashioned product and scent. I was pleasantly surprised though. It's not an overpowering rose scent, but a nice subtle floral hit. The packaging isn't old fashioned either. I can't decide if I like the simplicity of it or not, but from a practical view I love the tube rather than a pot.

Facial Cleanser

This was the first product I tried. I was just about to go to bed, so splashed my face with water and used a pea-sized amount of this. I found it really difficult to lather up, so used some more. It didn't seem to help though, and I couldn't get a nice foam going. So... I tried to wash it off. I say tried, because it just stuck to my face. I noticed though, everytime I splashed with water, it'd start foaming. When it did foam, it created a nice creamy lather. So the key is little product and lots of water. I eventually washed it off and my skin was squeaky clean. Literally squeaky. I was a bit concerned about this, because if I squeak when I run my finger across my cheek, doesn't that show that my skin is stripped of moisture? I was extra generous with my moisturiser that night to be on the safe side.

I used it again the next night (little product, lot of water) and it was lovely. It removed every trace of dirt and make up from my skin, smelt good, and made my skin feel clean and smooth. I used it everyday for a week, and it did a fantastic job at getting rid of make up and dirt, but I kept squeaking after every use. Unfortunately, that is something that puts me off using it.

I do like this product, I'm just not convinced that squeaky-clean skin is good when you suffer from dry skin anyway. It's a fantastic deep-cleanser though, so I'm going to continue using it once-a-week, when I'm feeling particularly grubby (ie. hangover day) or if I've been sporting heavy foundation.

My Rating : 3/5 - I'd give it more if I could use it everyday.

Facial Cream

This face cream smells stronger of rose than what the cleanser does, but because I'd already started using the cleanser, I was used to the scent. It's not overpowering or unpleasant, thought Mr Lollipop disagrees. He wrinkled his nose when he went to kiss me goodnight - charming!

I suffer with redness on my cheeks, and if I eat anything red then I get a rash for a few hours on my cheeks. Mental I know. Anyway, when I used this cream my cheeks started stinging. Yep, proper stinging, like Ouch-that-bloody-hurts-get-it-off-me-NOW!! kind of stinging.

As expected, my cheeks went luminous red. For a few minutes I felt like I wanted to dunk my head in a bucket of cold water it was that bad. So I did. I washed it off as much as I could with some cold water, and put my good old faithful E45 cream on. Even that stung and I had red blotches all over my cheeks and chin. When I woke up the next morning I had broken out. I've still got marks on my cheeks now, a few weeks later.

I know you're supposed to give skincare a chance to work, and things are going to get worse before they get better in many cases - but that was torture. It evidently isn't any good for my skin, since it is a little on the sensitive side. This product claims to be suitable for sensitive skin though, so I don't know why my skin reacted so badly to it.

I gave it to my mother to try, and this is what she thinks after 2 weeks of using it:

• Nice consistency
• Feels light on her skin
  
• Gorgeous smell
• Spreads around her face easily, so you don't need to use a lot of it
  
• Not greasy, but took a while to absorb
• Skin feels 'tacky' for a good while afterwards, so don't use it immediately before makeup application
• Skin started feeling smoother after a few days
  

My Rating : 0/5

The Mothership's Rating : 3/5 - She wishes it would absorb quicker

Body Milk

As soon as I got the package, I gave the body milk to my mother because I don't like perfumed/floral scents on my body. I prefer yummy scents like vanilla, coconut, cocoa butter, honey, strawberry etc. Basically, if I smell edible, I'm good haha. She thinks:

• Gorgeous smell, a wee bit stronger than the face cream. Scent lasts all day.
• Thinner consistency than she likes in a body lotion (though bear in mind it is a body milk)
• Feels light on her skin and absorbs quickly
  
• Her skin feels soft all day
  

The Mothership's Rating - 4.5/5 - She adores everything about it except the consistency.

Price

Facial Cleanser - £4.50 for 100ml

Face Cream - £8.50 for 50ml (there is also an emulsion for normal/combination skin for the same price)

Body Milk - £6.50 for 200ml

If you are interested in trying the Essentielles range, you can buy it exclusively from your local LloydsPharmacy now. I personally won't be checking anything else out, but my Mam loves the range!

Hope you found our reviews helpful :)

xoxo