Looking Good: Fresh Crème Ancienne
Having combination skin is really a pain sometimes, it’s nearly impossible to find a day moisturiser that keeps the normal to dry portions of your skin hydrated while not clogging the oily parts of it. Even if you find the right one that does that, chances are you can only use the product alone without being able to layer sunscreen on top of it. As a firm devotee of SPF 50 sunscreen, for many years i went without using a moisturiser in the day because i hated the grimy feeling that it produced when both combined. Shocking right? defying the rules of skincare, but i believe that being comfortable with the products that you are using is more important than fulfilling all the requirements by skincare experts.
The lovely team at Fresh invited me to a private dinner a few months ago with the founders of the brand Lev Glazman and Alina Roytberg who took the time to introduce the Crème Ancienne Soft Cream, a newly formulated version of their original version that is inspired by the world’s first cream. Termed the ultimate ageless complexion treatment, this moisturiser aims to provide a 24 hour nourishment which absorbs into your skin quickly while also reducing signs of ageing. With a cream that provides such a range of benefits, i naturally expected it to be ultra rich despite their description of it being weightless. However when i started using it initially as just a night cream (it doubles up as both a day and night moisturiser), i was blown away at the texture! Unlike most gel or lightweight products, this cream is not watery at all but instead has a velvety texture with a slight bounce, the most similar thing i can describe it to would be a Panna Cotta dessert. The consistency and texture of this allows the user to dab on the right amount instead of piling on too much, which i sometimes have a problem with when i dip my finger into a pot of moisturiser. The nature of the cream allows no wastage which to me is absolutely genius.
Now does it absorb like it says it does? You bet. Within seconds of applying this, you do not feel like anything is on your skin. This is because of an important ingredient in the cream, Medowfoam seed oil which is a fatty acid that is absorbed easily by the skin. Even with most top of the range moisturisers that i love, absorption takes at least a good 5-10 minutes. After discovering that, i decided to try this out as a day cream underneath my daily sunscreen which was to be honest, one of the better decisions that I’ve made this year. With the immediate absorption of the Crème Ancienne Soft Cream, my skin did not feel plastered with products or grimy at all. It also gave me an extra radiance which is from the Echinacea extract without making me look oily which is a difficult look to achieve, trust me. The insanely fast absorption is also perfect for both impatient people and lazy people who would like to sleep in an extra few
minutes in the morning.
Now it would be unfair of me to comment on the age reducing aspect of this cream because I don’t exactly have ageing skin right now. However I strongly believe in prevention, hence my almost obsessive usage of sunscreen. The cream contains Vitamin E which protects your skin from wrinkle-casuing free radicals, which I believe is a great combination with my daily sunscreen routine. The almost scentless cream is also a major draw for me because I dislike over cloying scents when it comes to beauty products. So thanks to Fresh, I finally am abiding to the rules of skincare and now have a moisturiser to use in the morning!