Current Skincare Routine | Caudalie Polyphenol C15 Range

I last wrote about my skincare routine back in November, but things have changed a bit since then: I’m actually still using the facial scrub I mentioned in that post (and which I’m starting to suspect is secretly replenishing itself every night), but the other products have all been used up, and replaced by this little lot, which I received courtesy of French brand Caudalie:

Caudalie is a brand I’ve had a little bit of experience with, as they’re a regular in some of the beauty boxes I receive, but this is the first time I’ve tried their Polyphenol C15 Range, which has been developed to deal with the “thousand lives” so many of us lead these days, as we attempt to juggle work, family, social lives, and so on and so forth. Now, as most of you know, I personally lead only the one life, but I sometimes FEEL like I’ve lived a thousand of them, and there are mornings when I LOOK like I’ve lived a thousand lives, too. Those are some bad days, seriously.

This range is designed to help deal with all of that: it won’t simplify your actual life, obviously, but it will help fight the effects that stress, pollution and too many Cadbury’s Creme Eggs can have on your skin: and it’ll do it using reassuringly normal-sounding ingredients like grape seed and Vitamin C, along with some hyaluronic acid to plump up the skin and smooth out wrinkles. Here’s what I’ve been using:

ANTI-WRINKLE EYE & LIP CREAM:

As you can tell from the name, this is a double-duty eye and lip product, which helps to eliminate dark circles and also to smooth out the contours of the lips. My dark circles haven’t been too bad lately, thankfully, but my lips are one of my problem areas: not only are they prone to dryness, I also have no discernible upper lip-line, so my top lip just blends into my face: fun! I’ve always used separate products for these two areas, so the idea of a double-whammy really appeals to me. I haven’t noticed a huge difference around the eyes with this, but I DO see a definite improvement in my lipline (i.e. I actually look like I HAVE a lip line now) after just a few days’ use. That’s a pretty big deal to me, so I’m really looking forward to seeing how it holds up in the long-term: so far, so good…

ANTI-WRINKLE DEFENCE SERUM:

As some of you may recall, I love a good serum: they’re my preferred type of skincare, and I have a particular weakness for ones which come in little glass bottles, with droppers – it makes me feel like I’m in an old-fashioned apothecary or something. This one has a practical use too, in that it only dispenses a small amount of product with each squeeze, meaning that you don’t end up going wild and using way too much. Which I’ve never done, obviously. *Looks innocent.* Like most serums, a little goes a long way with this: I dot it on before applying my day/night cream, and it absorbs really quickly, leaving the skin smooth and prepped for the next step, which is…

ANTI-WRINKLE PROTECT DAY CREAM:

The first thing to note about this is that it contains SPF20, which is an instant winner for me: I’ve said it before, but I wish ALL skincare contained SPF – it’s just SO important. As with all of the products in this range, it also uses that grape seed, vitamin C and hyaluronic acid, so it has you covered on a few different angles: you have an anti-oxidant, a skin plumper, and, of course, good ol’ Vit C. I was also sent the…

ANTI-WRINKLE PROTECT FLUID

This basically contains the same ingredients as the cream, but, well, it’s a fluid, so it’s a little lighter. This is also a day cream (and also contains SPF 20), and as I obviously only need to use one of those at a time, I haven’t used this yet other than to quickly test it, but I think it could be a good option for warmer months. If there are any, I mean.

All of these products come in the same dark green tube (with the exception of the serum, which is in the aforementioned dark green bottle), and are very lightweight and easily absorbed. Other than the eye and lip cream, which is fragrance-free, they’re also very lightly scented: it’s subtle, so if you hate heavily-scented products, these shouldn’t put you off, but when you do catch it, it’s a lovely, fresh smell. I’m terrible at identifying scents, but my first impression was that it was something “nature-y”, almost like freshly cut grass, but not quite – it’s nice and refreshing, anyway!

I haven’t been using these for long enough to speak about the long-term effects, but I’ve been paying particular attention to the pesky nose-to-mouth line I have on the left side of my mouth (you can totally tell I sleep on my left side…), and I’ve noticed that it does look smoother, and less noticeable a few minutes after applying the serum or day cream. The effect doesn’t last all day, but I’m hoping that with continued use, I’ll start to see improvements, and will start to age in reverse, Benjamin Button-style. OK, I’m kidding: that’s not going to happen. Maybe that’s for the best, actually…