Beauty trial: Crème de la Mer discovery collection
Crème de la Mer, the holy grail of skincare – a load of snake oil or worth the hype? Because there is a lot of hype around this brand. I’ve tried (and been converted to) The Lip Balm (£42) and The Intensive Revitalizing Mask (£105), both of which deliver excellent results. But the legendary crème had until recently evaded me… well, hello, it’s £105 for the smallest pot!
Admittedly I’ve never needed serious skincare. I’m lucky to have young-looking skin, few lines and managed to get by on the stuff in a big blue pot that my mum used. But as I’ve got older, I’ve noticed uneven skintone, a few stubborn spots and just general not-looking-its-best skin.
Enter the Crème De La Mer Discovery Collection, a trial set that’s pretty comprehensive and gives you a taster of the Crème De La Mer magic ingredient, a.k.a the Miracle Broth. (Back story: the Miracle Broth is the ferment that founder Max Huber created that blends sea kelp with a cocktail of vitamins and other nutrients. Legend is that 60 years ago, aerospace physicist Dr Huber created the concoction in a quest to prettify his own burn scars. His unique biofermentation process uses light and sound to give the ingredients their magical properties.)
In the set you get a trial-sized 1ooml foaming cleansing gel and 15ml Regenerating Serum as shown in the main picture above. You also get a 30ml pot of Moisturising Cream. (You actually get to choose which version, of which more later.) (Note: the Moisturising Cream in the pictures is a lot smaller, a 7ml sample size.) Plus you also get The Tonic (100ml) and The Eye Concentrate eye cream (5ml).
The idea is you get to try the whole regime for £230. My pics went a bit wrong but below you can see The Tonic, and the eye cream plus three mini samples of moisturiser. While there are three versions of moisturising cream available; the classic cream, a lighter ‘soft’ cream and a moisturising cream gel, you only get one in your set depending on your preference. IMPORTANT NOTE: The one you get is bigger than this – a 30ml pot, not these 7ml samples.
I went with the Moisturizing Cream as I like my creams quite rich. You use the cleansing gel on damp skin, rinse with tepid water, pat dry, then follow by the tonic and a pump of serum. Then the moisturiser goes on. With the Cream there’s a technique – you have to warm it between your fingers until it’s translucent then press (not rub) it into your skin. You do this ritual twice a day. I guess it’s a bit like the Clinique 3-step system but with a serum as well. The idea of a ritual does compel you to stick to a routine, I stuck to mine for three weeks until my mini press sample pot of Cream ran out.
The verdict? The spots on my jawline and hairline that have plagued me for months have cleared a lot and I also feel like my skin looks clearer and more even-toned overall. Is that because of these products in particular, or from just having a regular routine? Hard to say. I will say that I liked the serum and moisturiser more than the face wash and tonic. I think I just prefer more creamy or oily cleansers and I’ve never really used toner before. However, I loved the eye cream, like using sliced cucumber (with a yummy smell to match) – great for tired blogger bedtime eyes.
If I was going to spend on full size anything it would be the eye cream and the serum. Both feel luxurious to use and seemed to make a difference and with the eye cream especially, a little goes a long way. In all, a starter set like this is a good way to give a regime or brand a go and if you decide you don’t like the whole lot, you can cherry pick the elements you do like without a major wasteful spend. The discovery set came out just before Christmas (mine was a press sample) so seems to be sold out online but I’m assured it’s still available on counter at Harrods. Which for a luxury brand like Crème de la Mer is probably a good thing as you can then benefit from the knowledge and advice from the counter staff before splashing out.
CORRECTION: This post has been updated with amended size information
