The older I get (I’m fast-approaching 40), the more I’ve started to lean into getting older. And it’s mostly because I have a mother who is in her late 60s who has always told me that life gets better as you age. So far, despite the broken sleep after my children arrived and the challenges of motherhood, she’s right. You have more perspective, you care less and less about what people think of you and you become aware that our time on this planet is fleeting, as COVID-19 has shown us, we may as well make the most of it, as none of us know what’s around the corner. Mum has also always taught me the importance of ageing gracefully and looking after your skin...
She taught me from a young age that if I was going to spend my money on something, it should be my skin, because it’s mine for life. She’s now into her late 60s, and has the most beautiful skin, which granted is partly genetic, but it’s also due to years and years of looking after her skin properly.
I was 14 when she took me for my first facial, which was done by a close family friend who was a beautician from Croatia. She’d trained in Paris, and knew all the French beauty brands inside out. Clarins was one of them, and consequently, it was a constant in my mother’s beauty cupboard and still to this day, if I open her bathroom cabinet, I’ll find it filled with lotions and potions featuring Clarins’ signature red branding.
Perhaps it’s my mother’s inspiration, but when it comes to skin nutrition, I tend to stick to timeless products I know and love and then use them for years. Clarins Double Serum, for example, is a product mum introduced me to which I have used for years, and use daily without fail (and so too, have many women before me. ClarinsDouble Serum has been a go-to anti-ageing treatment for women since it was first released in 1985). It’s my beauty secret. My go-to product which never lets me down. It contains 21 powerful plant extracts, including turmeric which is the star ingredient. I’m also an avid user of Clarins Beauty Flash Balm, which gives me a creamy hit of hydration whenever I need it throughout the day.
My mum takes the same approach and has used Clarins for years, making tiny tweaks to the products she uses along the way as her skin has matured. Now in her late 60s, her skincare regime is completely focused on anti-ageing. If you Google skin in your 60s, you’ll read things such as “Your skin turns drier and itchier and may look like crepe paper or tissue” or “Wrinkles, age spots, creases, and bruises become more noticeable”. It doesn’t paint a pretty picture, which is why Clarins set about to coming up with a solution for these concerns.
Open my mother’s cupboard now and you’ll discover the newly launched Clarins Nutri-Lumière range, which is targeted at women whose skin needs additional nourishment. Nutri-Lumière came about after four years of research, which saw 103 plant extracts studied and 17 plant extracts selected. One of the reasons I love Clarins is that the brand will always choose a natural ingredient over a chemical one, if it delivers the same level of effectiveness. During their research, Clarins made a scientific discovery around the micro-nutrient network (this is responsible for supplying nutrients and maintaining the skin’s youthfulness). With age, this network depletes and slows down, resulting in dullness, deep-wrinkles, dark spots and dry and fragile skin.
The star ingredient, Horse Chestnut, is a major scientific discovery and the key ingredient in the Nutri-Lumière range. Two potent parts of the plant – organic flower extract and the active fruit molecule, escin – help restore vitality to nutrient-depleted skin. Together, this revitalising duo provides game-changing nourishment and luminosity for healthy-looking skin.
The range is super targeted and effective. There are four products in the range: a day cream, a night cream, a day emulsion and a treatment essence. Here’s a run-down of what they do, and we’ve also added in the Double Serum because I like to share my beauty secret as much as I can.
In association with Clarins. Go to clarins.com.au | Photography: Julie Adams | Georgie wears Oroton top, $189
Nutri-Lumière Day Cream
The loveliest thing about this cream is that it’s oil-infused which leaves your skin feeling intensely nourished. As I mentioned above, Clarins Laboratories developed two active ingredients within Nutri Lumière – Organic horse chestnut flower extract and horse chestnut escin. This revitalising duo maximises the penetration of nutrients in the skin, ensuring skin is nourished and luminous by improving its micro-nutrient network to deliver key nutrients more efficiently. Suitable for all types of skin.
Nutri-Lumière Night Cream
Applying a night cream is one of my mother and my favourite daily rituals. It signals the end of a day and is a moment of pampering (and in my case, usually the kids are finally asleep). This cream is incredibly comforting and nourishes and illuminates the skin by morning. As with the day cream, it contains Organic horse chestnut flower extract and horse chestnut escin, the active molecule in the fruit. Suitable for all skin types.
Nutri-Lumière Day Emulsion
Apply this heavenly lightweight, non-greasy, oil-infused emulsion to the face and neck every morning after cleansing skin. This emulsion will nourish and restore radiance to nutrient-depleted skin. Along with the aforementioned horse chestnut, it contains ingredients such as desert date which makes the complexion more even (hurrah!). Suitable for all skin types, especially for women who prefer a lightweight texture in their Day Cream.
Nutri-Lumière Treatment Essence
I added an essence to my skincare regime a couple of years ago after I saw one in my mother’s cupboard. An essence essentially works as a primer for your moisturiser and really work to increase up the hydration in your skin. My mother loves this nutrient-rich, anti-aging essence because it exfoliates, energises, and preps mature skin for treatments to follow. Another key ingredient is oat, which delivers a visible smoothing and lifting effect. Apply before your Nutri-Lumière Day or Night Cream.
Double Serum
You’ll find this beauty hero in mum and my beauty cabinet. Clarins Double Serum is a complete age control concentrate formulated to stimulate the 5 vital functions of the skin for a more youthful and radiant complexion. It contains 21 active plant extracts including Turmeric, which is distinguished for its exceptional anti-ageing properties. The new innovative bottle delivers a made-to-measure dosage of the serum, thanks to its rotating pump design. It’s my all-time favourite product.
L-R: Clarins Nutri-Lumière Treatment Essence – All Skin Types, $88. Clarins Nutri-Lumière Day Emulsion – All Skin Types, $170
L-R: Nutri-Lumière Night Cream – All Skin Types, $180; Nutri-Lumière Day Cream – All Skin Types, $170