A while back I posted about a range of products I have been sent by Vichy to test. I was asked by the PR company before I recieved the products about my skintype/skin concerns and so I was sent the products in order to address the issues I had (Combo-dry skin, breakout on my chin!). I’ve been using these for around a month now (I think that you have to give any skincare regime a month before you can tell whether they are going to work for you or not!), and so the time has come to give some feedback on the products and say how well or otherwise they worked for me! You can check out my earlier post about the products here – http://mizzworthy.blogspot.com/2009/06/vichy-products-on-test.html

I added in the Purifying Astringent Toner myself ie I picked it up in my local large Boots branch. It cost £10 for 200mls. I actually only added this product in because I personally like to use toner and feel like it helps my moisturiser sink in better. I have used this for a couple of weeks now and so far I like it. I have actually noticed a marked improvement in the “breakout zone” since I added it, so I’m not sure if this is prepping the skin for the concentrate to work better? Or maybe it would have improved anyway at this point? I just have a bit of a thing for using matching products lol! I suppose ultimately though, using a toner or not is down to personal choice. One thing I would say though is that this would work better in a pump bottle as its a bit difficult to dispense this without getting dribbles down the side of the bottle…

I was also sent the Concentrated Blemish Perfector, which contains 4% salycilic acid. This product claims to calm burning and redness, and visibly clear the impefection in 24 hours…

Often spot treatments can be very drying and this means that finding a decent blemish treatment for sensitive and dry skin can be a bit of a mare. I’d say that this is definitely worth a try for those of us with dry or sensitive skin who are prone to the odd breakout.

This is a green cream, with a clean but again not overpowering scent. Obviously the green works to diminish the redness of blemishes/spots on a temporary basis. It took about 2 weeks to see a definite marked improvement in the “breakout zone” as although the treatment worked reasonable quickly on existing blemishes, I was finding that initially I still had blemishes coming through. Once this stopped happening I was happy with the results and found that the breakout started to clear up without my skin feeling like it was being stripped off layer by layer, as with other blemish treatments I’ve tried… This comes in a 15ml tube for £10, which some might feel is a little expensive.

This is probably not the treatment for people who want overnight miracle results, as it simply won’t do this. It didn’t produce miraculous results in 24 hrs, but I would add that prior to starting this regime, my chin was actually feeling quite sore due to the cystic feel of some of the zits, but I found that this made my skin feel a lot less tender and sore, which was great.

I was also sent the Pro Mat which promises “Non-stop Matte effect hydrating care”, and claims to protect against shine. I was fairly sceptical about this product at first as I doubted that it would be hydrating enough for my skin, however I was pleasantly surprised by it!

Again, this is a pale green lotion which has a very very faint clean scent, which disappeared effortlessly into my skin. I used a large pea sized blob and found this adequate for my face. I think I’ve probably used about half the tube in a month, and again I think this retails for £10-15. I liked this as it hydrated my skin adequately without looking shiny. It did struggle to keep shine and oil at bay a little during the relly really humid days we had a couple of weeks ago, but I doubt anything could have handled that.

This also comes with an SPF of 15, and I personally need a higher SPF than this on my face in the summer, so I topped this with a facial spf of 50, but that is personal choice – I think this is a great moisturiser to try for combination or oily skin, but I am not sure how well it would work for dry to very dry skins…

For night time use, I recieved a couple of products from the Aqualia range, aimed at dehydrated skin. The range claims to provide 24 hr hydration.

First up, the Aqualia Themal 24hr Hydrating Concentrated Serum. I really really loved this product, it felt very refreshing on the skin, almost like a big glass of water… I noticed as well that this made my skin feel nice and soft and really well hydrated. I can’t rave enough about this, and I would use this under any moisturiser to boost its performance and generally make the skin feel more comfortable. Love it! I believe this retails for £15 for 30mls in the uk. This comes in a glass pump bottle, which is quite heavy – not one to drop on your foot in the morning!

I also recieved Aqualia Light fortifying and soothing lotion, which I believe costs £10 for 40mls. I felt like this was a decent basic moisturiser, which is sometimes what you need when you are experiencing breakouts or other sensitivities. Definately hydrated the skin well, but contains nothing fancy, and some people might want more from a night product – this is also available a s a rich version too, for those with very dry skin.

Finally, I got to try the thermal purity Calming Cleansing Water. Again, I would have prefered this to be in a pump bottle as it was difficult to dispense without dribbling it down the bottle. The product itself however worked really well – similar effect to the Body Shop Camomile Eye makeup removing lotion, but for the whole face. Put simply it feels like rubbing a cotton wool pad soaked in water over the face. It removes all traces of makeup gently, and leaves no nasty film over the skin, feels very gentle, and doesn’t dry the skin at all. I belive this is £10 for 200mls.

Of the products I recieved I would Definitely repurchase the serum, and the cleansing water. I wouls also repurchase the normaderm products if my skin broke out on a regular basis, and I’d definitely keep a tube of the anti blemish concentrate in for isolated breakouts in the future, although possibly not everyone would feel that the anti blemish concentrate would be worth £10 or work quickly enough, but its def worth a try if you don’t wish to upset sensitive skin…

What do you think? Anyone tried any other Vichy products?

MizzWorthy x