Dr. Ci: Labo, a Japanese skincare line, designs products without unnecessary ingredients – much to the relief of people with sensitive skin everywhere. Try as you might, you will not find perfumes, coloring, or mineral oil in this line.
To start, the Super Cleansing Gel ($32) removes make-up. It did a decent job, but I feel compelled to point out that it performed no better or worse than my eye make-up remover of choice, baby oil.
The Super Washing Foam ($30) delighted me. A pea-sized amount works up to a rich lather that left my skin clean, but not dry or tight. Both the gel and the foam contain vitamins H, P, E, B6 and C, as well as marine collagen, hyaluronan, and ceramide to moisturize skin and leave it glowing.
According to the company’s literature, applying their Aqua-in-Derm Essence ($60) before any other skin treatment allows the following products to penetrate the skin more deeply. The essence uses a base of purified water to temporarily break through the top layer of dead skin cells. I used it in conjunction with Aqua-Collagen-Gel Super Moisture ($40), a true stand out product. It works by forming a gel coating on the surface to keep moisture in, and by sending nanospheres of collagen, hyaluronan, and ceramide deep into the skin. The gel performs the tasks of a toner, lotion, make-up base, brightening essence, and beauty essence; even more amazing, it performs them exceptionally well. This does not, however, contain SPF, so be sure to layer a sunscreen over it for day.
I used all the products faithfully at first. As it happens, my neck of the woods suffered a snow storm while I tested the Dr. Ci:Labo products. My face usually dries up when confronted with cold weather. Not so with this line – I had soft skin from morning to night, even after a walk in the frigid outdoors and a day spent by a heater. Over time, I could not find anything but the company statement to support their claims for the Aqua-in-Derm Essence. I suspected that the essence did not have a vital place this beauty routine. With this in mind, I omitted the Aqua-in-Derm Essence from my line up, but continued to use the other three products as directed. I got a dry, flaky face for my trouble. After returning to using the essence, I once again had well-hydrated skin. The Aqua-in-Derm Essence really does pull its weight. I cannot argue with results.
All products can be purchased at www.cilabousa.com
