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Every time I talk about Chanel I get negative comments about the fragrance content. Well, those of you that like your products fragrance-free because you have sensitive skin and would like to use Chanel but can't, heads up.
What is it?
'The 1st comforting moisturiser formulated by Chanel to soothe, de-stress and defend sensitive skin with only 10 ingredients for optimal skin tolerance.'
An oil and fragrance-free moisturiser for sensitised skin.
Who is it for?
In theory everyone, as most of us have sensitivity issues from time to time.
Particularly good for stressed skins, reddened skins and post-treatment skins.
What’s in it?
The 10 ingredients are:
water
squalane (olive sourced, not shark)
lauroyl lysine (amino acid)
glycerin (vegetal)
camellia sinensis leaf extract (silver needle white tea)
shea butter extract
sodium polyacrylate (emollient)
steareth-21 (emulsifier)
caprylyl glycol (humectant)
phenoxyethanol (preservative)
Possibly acne/allergy/troubling for some ingredients?
Not really, even the shea butter is an extract, as opposed to the thick actual 'butter'.
Natural? Organic? Man made? Vegan?
Mixture/vegan
Tested on animals/sold in territories that advocate testing?
No in EU/ sold in China
What's not in it?
oil
fragrance
mineral oil
parabens
How do you use it?/Where to use in your routine?
'Apply to perfectly cleansed skin morning and evening.'
I've also been using it randomly, as a moisturiser and underneath other heavier products throughout the day on no-makeup days.
What’s good about it?
To look at the ingredients you may not get particularly excited about this new Chanel cream, but the attention to detail has been rather hidden behind the scenes. Chanel worked with Dr Amy Wechsler to try and find the best cream to immediately soothe the skin, with the fewest ingredients.
La Solution apparently took 117 trials and 4 years to come to market and Chanel say during each trial they would go back to the drawing board if any of the testers reported redness/breakouts etc.
We know that stress is a killer - for both you and your skin. In the skin it is caused by sleep deprivation, emotional and physical stress, travel, pollution, smoking, hormonal changes, sun exposure, over-scrubbing, the list is endless. A stressed skin leads to over-production of NGF (nerve growth factors) and causes the skin's sensitivity to increase.
The main focus of the product is silver needle tea, containing twice as many polyphenols as green tea and proven to reduce the production of these neurotrophic factors by 75%. In layman's terms, it tells your skin to CHILL and go for a lie down.
I used it to calm my post-retinoid flaky skin under slightly heavier oil-based moisturisers and it was brilliant. Not greasy, no burn at all on sensitised areas and it definitely took the redness down. I reached for this over my usual 'sensitive face' products all week and it worked. I love it. It's now my first choice when I feel a hot flash/food allergy reaction coming on, and very comfortably in the 'when in doubt' pile.
One of the nicest things for me is the purposeful exclusion of mineral oil, all too often added to 'sensitive' creams with the thinking that it causes no further damage, and that fewer people react to it, when more and more we are finding out that this is simply not the case. It's used primarily because it is cheap.
What’s not so good about it?
It's £58.00, but it's Chanel. And it's not a vanity product. It works. Your call. But please refrain from leaving me comments saying 'Why would you pay £58.00 for a face cream?' when I check your Instagram and it's full of £500 handbags and £150 jeans. Alrighty then. :)
Similar products?
I only found Eucerin, and that wasn't particularly 'clean', if you know what I mean.
Minimal ingredients, no fragrance, no oil, no essential oils, no mineral oil. Can anyone think of anything else? I'll add if so!
Chanel La Solution is £58.00 and goes on sale nationwide in the UK on 25th March, but is already widely in the US and available from Nordstrom for $80.00 here: Nordstrom/Chanel/laSolution
