So how much would you spend on a single skincare item?

Blog post by BR Merilyn

So how much would you spend on a single skin care item?

And does the price of something determine the quality of it, and the results? Or, is high end skincare all about the marketing, and pricy creams wrapped in glossy packaging, served with a good dollop of "if it costs this much it must be good?"

The Beauty Crew as you know, are not allowed to talk about specific products unless they have purchased them themselves and I’d heard about the launch of the Lancome Visionnaire VISIONNAIRE LR 2412 4% – Cx Advanced Skin Corrector, a product that promised;

• Soft, supple and smooth, skin after the first application
• After one bottle the skin is sublime and transformed.
• Wrinkles are smoothed: 79%
• Pores are less visible: 83%
• Imperfections are reduced: 79%
• The skin’s texture is refined: 84%

They also say that after 4 weeks of consumer use one out of two women tempted by a cosmetic procedure decided to postpone it.* 

But, could it seriously be true? Ok evidently there were women queued around the block to buy it in the UK when it was first launched, but to be fair traffic in Auckland sometimes gets backed up for 20 km's just because folk want a gander at a nose to tail that was cleared away 30 minutes ago, so I wouldn't read too much into that.

Anyone that's over 40 can generally testify that time is catching up with them in the most unwelcome ways (and I won’t even talk about weird facial hair and the direction that your boobs start going in!)  Wrinkles magically appear where you least expect them; they arrive with bags in hand in the middle off the night to decamp on your face, and like an unexpected relative outstaying their welcome, they just don't take the hint that it's time to move on!

So armed with personal necessity, determination to find the truth for BR readers and a good dollop of curiosity I decided to give it a whirl.

$225 of hard earned cash later the LANCOME Visionnaire LR 2412 4% – Cx Advanced Skin Corrector was mine!  Let’s be honest here, this was THE MOST expensive single skin care product that I’ve ever bought! In fact, I momentarily considered using it as a nutrition source, as lets face it, you can get a whole lot of wine for that sort of dosh! However sanity prevailed (really?) an onwards I went.

When you open the packaging the bottle is tall and slender and a gorgeous blue colour. The dispenser has a pump which I really like as it controls the application, however, when you pick it up, you discover that this gem of gorgeousness is in fact plastic!  Now I’m in two minds about this; on one hand plastic is good should it happen to fall off the shelf onto my bathroom floor, but on the other hand, a plastic bottle for something that costs $225? Personally LANCOME I think you could have pushed the boat out on this one a bit more.

Nonetheless I’m not rubbing the bottle on my face expecting a transformation it’s what inside that counts.  The product is actually described as a serum although not on the bottle.  But it comes out as a white pleasantly fragranced very light lotion not what I would traditionally call a serum.

It takes two pumps to give me a good coverage and the product sinks in really quickly.  I’d certainly be giving it the thumbs up for “soft supple and smooth skin after the first application” but let’s face it, that’s not exactly ground breaking stuff is it?  I guess the real test comes after it has been used for a good chunk of time.  Well……the reason I’m writing this now, is that it’s actually 3 months since I bought the bottle so I can report back on what the longer term outcome was of this momentous purchase!

Let’s tick them off one by one.

After one bottle the skin is sublime and transformed - Oh yes, I’ve had 3 people in the last 6 weeks who actually thought I was 10 years younger than I actually am (Stop it!). And me (my harshest critic) can honestly say my skin has never looked so good.

Wrinkles are smoothed - Absolutely. My biggest wrinkle area is around my eyes – it has absolutely reduced

Pores are less visible, imperfections reduced, skin texture is refined - Yes, yes and yes..

So there you have it. So I bought the 100ml bottle and have been using it once a day for 3 months, i’d say there is probably at least another 3rd of the bottle left, it’s quite an opaque bottle so it’s hard to see exactly how much is left, but I’d think I’ll get at least another 6-8 weeks out of this bottle so it’s cost about $40-50 per month.

But the final test is I suppose given the price…what do the judges think? Would I buy it again?

And the answer is (pregnant pause) a big unreservedly YES from me!  I really think it’s made a visible difference to my skin and in fact..I’ve recently just splashed out on the 1 Minute Blur (amazing) and the Eye Serum.

So if you’re over 40 I definitely recommend saving up and splurging on this...you won’t regret it.

So what do you think of spending into the hundreds on just one skin care item?  In your experience do 'high end' products generally deliver? Would you prefer to opt for 1 key product and assign the majority of your budget to it, or do you want to see more products for your money?  What's the most you've spent on just one item? Get chatting below!

Footnote: This blog is Merilyn’s personal experience of Lancome Visionnaire VISIONNAIRE LR 2412 4% – Cx Advanced Skin Corrector. BR editorial staff are not permitted to write about products they are sent free of charge from brand or PR Agencies. Merilyn has purchased this product with her own money. Her views are completely her own - they do not reflect the opinion of Beauty Review, which remains, as always, unbiased and independant.

* After 4 weeks of consumer use. Consumer evaluation of women aged 35 to 49 years tempted by hyaluronic acid, laser or chemical peeling.