A new regime with Vichy

I do love product launches. I love seeing all the shiny new bottles on display. I love the prospect of trying something new. I love finding out all the science and nature facts that make each cream, gel, lotion or powder the new ‘best thing.’ I especially love it when these products come from a brand I already trust, like Vichy. I’ve been using their products for a while now and honestly, my skin has never looked better.

Last week, at the Rook and Raven gallery in Soho, I attended a showcase of the latest Vichy products. Some bottles were futuristically displayed in tall vases of bubbly water. Some stood proudly atop their pillars and others were surrounded by stunning fresh flowers. The whole effect was quite breathtaking –nicer than some of the art I’ve seen in that gallery before!

Some of the Vichy product ranges have become quite familiar to me now, and I was excited to find out if there was anything new to try from the Dermablend range. I wrote about it back in April last year and have been especially please with the results I’m getting from the concealer and powder. The Dermablend counter was manned by famous make-up artist Claire Ray. With 18 years of experience belying her youthful appearance, Claire has painted the faces of Take That, Westlife and Sienna Miller and she’s Vichy’s brand ambassador for this year and next. Claire was really lovely to talk to and I fully trusted her when she colour-matched me to shade 15 for a Dermablend foundation. I can’t wait to try this, it should be arriving soon. I’ll keep you posted.

Since the event, I’ve been using Skin Sleep from the Idealia range at bedtime and the matching Smoothing and Illuminating cream after my double cleanse and serum in the morning. My skin feels lovely and soft. Twice a week, I smother a bit more on and leave Skin Sleep on as a mask at night.  The ‘double cleanse’ phase of my skincare regime is new – advice I received at the Vichy event. Now, I use a cream cleanser to remove my make-up and city pollution before removing my eye-makeup with my favourite oily Boots Botanics formula. Then, I wash my face again with Vichy Purete Thermale FreshCleansing Gel and pat dry. I just love that fresh face feeling.  

I’m going to put together a product review of my favourite new Vichy products soon, so you can treat yourself to something new and shake up your skincare regime too – I’m a firm believer in mixing things up to get the best results.

Products! Products!

I get colour matched by Claire Ray

Becky gets colour matched

The foundation I'm going to try

The amazing Vichy pharmacy in the Rook and Raven

Amazing products!

Grease be Gone

You know that feeling when you wake up in the morning? At best, a bit groggy, at worst, zombie-like. Sometimes, your skin feels sticky and you don’t know why. You cleansed, toned and moisturised like a good girl the night before (or at least gave your face a quick swipe with a moisturising wipe when drunk) but after a night of sleep, it still feels a bit icky and greasy. I wasn’t sure why, or how to combat this feeling until I attended the Vichy event at the Ham Yard Hotel last month.

I had been looking forward to visiting the Ham Yard for a while (it came highly recommended by a particularly glamorous friend of mine) and it didn’t disappoint.

The instant I stepped inside, I realised I wanted to live there forever. Everything was pink! There were neon lights from God’s Own Junkyard! The chairs were upholstered with African-style prints in fluro brights! Safe to say I was excited.

Pushing my interior design enthusiasm to one side, I tried to focus on the real reason I was there: the launch of Vichy’s Normaderm Night Detox. Ham Yard has a built-in cinema (nice) and myself and Vichy’s other guests enjoyed a presentation as we sipped our drinks and munched popcorn.

In a nutshell, as you sleep, oily skin works harder than any other skin type. Sebum is overproduced, leaving you with that oil slick feeling in the morning. Your skin tries to renew itself, working twice as fast as it does during the day and already oily skin produces three times more sebum than normal skin types. Normaderm is powered by ‘revolutionary double-edged technology,’ tackling sebum with a potent combination of detoxifying and purifying ingredients. Eperuline, LHA, Salicylic Acid and Hepes mix with mattifying Perlite and absorbing powders to give you a smooth, matte complexion well into the day. The results are proven – 93% of women noticed an improvement in their skin’s quality.

During the day, I’ve been using Vichy’s ‘Global Anti-imperfection Hydrating Care’ moisturiser which is non comedogenic (won’t clog your pores) and paraben-free. I've found that the two products work incredibly well when used in tandem.

I was surprised at how effective Normaderm Night Detox was – I’m always overloading my skin with rich night creams and it has actually been a refreshing change to use a lighter option. Similarly, switching to a lighter day cream has really made a difference to my skin this summer – it has definitely felt less oily and greasy.

Back to the cinema: after we watched the Normaderm presentation, we were treated to a surprise viewing of film classic Grease! It was a fun end to a brilliant, informative evening.

www.vichy.co.uk

Ham Yard

Two of my favourite things: cocktails and skincare

Just in case there was any doubt

Gorge lamps

Note to self: paint zig-zags on walls

Tasty popcorn is a must for any cinematic experience, as Vichy well knows

The new Normaderm range, available at Boots

Skincare steps to success

My friend Olivia gets into the swing of things

Amaze chair

The presentation in the cinema

I went with the 3 in 1 cleanser - it makes a great mask

Grease in the word

Love the opening sequence to Grease with the Bee Gees!

VICHY Dermablend – High Coverage Alert!

With the recent focus on BB, CC and all the other creams in between, you’d be forgiven for thinking ‘high coverage’ has become a censored phrase. The recent trend for dewy, ‘natural’ skin is fine for those born with a flawless complexion, not so cheery for anyone with a less-than-perfect base. When I was younger, I suffered with acne, and would have given anything to know about or have access to a product like Vichy Dermablend. I could bang on for ages about how well it covers, but I think this video featuring Zombie Boy (of Lady Gaga video fame) pretty much says it all. It’s worth a watch, if only to marvel at how fit he is without the tattoos (very). 

It’s also worth noting, that when I went to the Dermablend launch last week I had just handed my notice in at work. Feeling shaky and strange after so many years in the position, I decided three champagnes were exactly what I needed to calm my nerves. Post Vichy presentation, I continued my celebrations into the night. The next morning, the horrifying realisation of another workday was overshadowed only by the dark circles around my eyes. Panicked, I showered, moisturised, applied under-eye moisturiser, used my normal foundation and patted my Dermablend Corrective Stick sample around the eye area. The results were astounding. I followed up with the setting powder and repeated the process, mimicking the technique international make-up artist xxxxxxxx used to cover up a model’s tattoo at the presentation. The bags had completely disappeared! The only thing the stick didn’t manage to erase was my headache. Emboldened, I used the same product on my T-zone and achieved the most flawless base of my life. Incredibly, the results stayed true to their ’14 hour hold’ claim, and my circles and spots remained covered all day, even after a lunchtime gym trip (a desperate bid to raise my energy levels for the afternoon ahead).

Dermablend Corrective Stick 4.5g (RRP £15.00)

I haven’t tried it yet, but I feel like the new ‘Total Body Corrective Foundation’ is going to have similarly triumphant results. I occasionally suffer from body acne on my chest and back, but it’s nowhere nearly as bad as it was when I was a teenager. If it covers the way I saw in the demonstration (and there’s no reason why it shouldn’t) then I think it will cover my little white acne scars seamlessly. The product is water, sweat and rub resistant; great news for the summer. I look forward to wearing strapless and halterneck styles with confidence and my hair off my back for once. I’ll trial this one for you and let you know how I get on. I’m definitely going to put some on my legs too – It’s recommended for covering up varicose veins, scars, tattoos, stretch marks and other imperfections. 

Dermablend Total Body Corrective Foundation 100ml (RRP £29.75)

It goes without saying that if your skin is less than perfect, you’ll want to cover it to the best of your ability. Vichy offers affordable solutions with their Dermablend range and you can get it in Boots. My only criticism would be that the colour range isn’t enormous, but this was raised in the presentation, and they’re promising to expand it depending on the success of the range. 

www.dermablend.co.uk