Anti-ageing battle #1 Review on Clarins Double Serum

Today happens to be my birthday and ironically I want to talk about an anti-ageing product!

Let's face it, who doesn't want to have the softest, firmest and wrinkle free skin?  I embrace my age with my two arms open very widely and I have no problems about the process of ageing.  It's a natural thing and I can't stop it from happening.  However, when I started to notice there were a few lines creeping in on my forehead last year; I wanted to do something about it.  Even my husband asked me, 'what happened to your forehead?' OK he's a lovely guy and he didn't mean it; but this is how I sensed the seriousness of the problem.

My sister and I visited the Clarins beauty counter in Selfridges a few months ago, that was how I found out my 'ageing symptoms' is called, 'First sign of ageing'.

I was drawn into one of  Clarins' latest product, Clarins Double Serum...

Clarins Double Serum, priced at £55

It is a pricey little brown bottle.  You can however buy it from www.escentual.com which is priced at £44 on their special offers.  This serum, priced at £55 contains a good 30ml of goodness known to control the ageing process.  According to the packaging, this double serum combines the most powerful water-soluble (hydric) and oil-soluble (lipidic) age-control ingredients.

When I first received it, I was impressed by how big the bottle looked in real life.  Unlike some other super expensive 'serum' type product, usually comes in the tiniest bottle ever.

Two pumps is all you need, according to the instruction.  And I completely agree with it as its texture is really rich and extremely moisturising, not greasy at all.  I think on days/nights when it isn't that dry or you don't have dry skin like I do, you could get away with not applying your favourite moisturiser afterwards.  It is also advisable you apply this morning and/or evening before your regular moisturiser.  As this product is like precious, and so far the most expensive skincare product that I purchased, I only use it in the evening.

It is like a water/oil mixed serum (as the ingredients suggest).......

I have been using it religiously for over 3 months, I'm yet to see a 'visible' result.  The lines on my face are still there in my forehead.  I didn't notice any difference this serum has done to my skin.  In the past few months or so I struggled with blemishes/ breakout on my skin which occurred a lot more frequently than it used to.  You can read here and here for detailed stories.  I therefore eliminated a number of skincare products to see if any of those have caused a reaction to my skin.  The situation has calmed down but blemishes were still creeping on and I finally attempted to stop using this serum for 2 weeks and I noticed a significant different to my skin.  My skin was a lot clearer and I felt that it has definitely calm down.

I have a feeling this serum might be part of the reason it caused breakout on my skin, together with other strong and potent products.  It could also be due to my skin over-reaction to anti-ageing product because after my skin was back to normal, I introduced another anti-ageing serum to my evening routine and within a week's of time, I started to have breakout again.

My journey to try and use an anti-ageing product has now been put to a pause.  I think my skin simply can't take such products for the time being.  What I am doing now instead to battle against ageing skin is to focus on cleansing, exfoliating and hydrating my skin, wearing sun protection skincare product and avoid direct exposure under the sun.

Instead of wasting this expensive serum, I am now using it for my neck and chest area in the evening - perhaps they will benefit from the goodness in it?

What about you?  How do you attempt to fight against those annoying lines that start creeping on your forehead?  Have you tried any anti-ageing product that works?  Or you are a bit like me who has experienced similar problem?  I want to hear from you!