I was waiting for our meeting with the Lancome products for a very long time. I especially wanted to try out their Energie De Vie The Illuminating & Purifying Exfoliating face mask. But it’s a true fact that high-end brands want a lot of money for their products. I was rather lucky to buy a small jar of this mask from an official website, plus get some minis of the product for free.
I’m among those who prefer testing products starting from small packages. I always try to do so, especially if the big jar costs a lot. I really appreciate that a lot of high-end brands nowadays offer their products housed in minis. Honestly I don’t really like sachet packages but minis are fine for me. By the way, as for Lancome you can easily buy some travel-size products to try them out on the official site. Here’s where I bought this babe.
PRODUCT INFOFull name:
LANCÔME Énergie de Vie The Illuminating & Purifying Exfoliating Mask
Place of purchase: the official website
Price: $20 for 15mk and $55 for 75ml
I chose 15 ml jar.
PACKAGE AND DESIGN
The cardboard box with the jar inside was safely sealed.
I want to highlight it again - I have the product in a mini package but still it looks the same as the full-sized jar. Looking at the jar I can see hard work done, as the mini looks exactly the same as its elder sister which houses 75ml of the content.
The top lid closes safely and very tightly, so there’s no need to worry about spilling of the product. Inside the jar there was a surprise waiting for me. Honestly I didn’t even expect that this babe would have a protecting inner liner but Lancome really managed to surprise me. The liner is small though thanks to the convenient gripping whip, I can easily take it out. What’s more there’s the brands logo to it as well.
INGREDIENTS
I’m not very good at analysing the ingredients lists but maybe you are, so here’s the list for you to look through.
Aqua/Water Glycerin Alcohol Denat. Melissa Officinalis Flower/Leaf/Stem Water Betaine Hydrogenated Castor Oil Citrus Limon Peel Powder/Lemon Peel Powder Ci 19140/Yellow 5 Ci 42090/Blue 1 Vaccinium Macrocarpon (Cranberry) Seed Oil Tocopherol Hydrogenated Jojoba Oil Sodium Hydroxide Sodium Hyaluronate Ppg-26-Buteth-26 Peg-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil Arginine Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate Tris(Tetramethylhydroxypiperidinol) Citrate Chlorphenesin Salicylic Acid Melissa Officinalis Leaf Oil Xanthan Gum Menthoxypropanediol Panax Ginseng Root Extract Propanediol Phospholipids Caprylyl Glycol Carbomer Citric Acid Parfum/Fragrance
PRODUCT PROMISES
I guess that many women of all ages across the world face frequent skin problems like dullness of the skin, uneven skin tone and flaking. I personally have already noticed that I’m not always delighted with my reflection in a mirror. Of course traces of fatigue will be very difficult to fight with a face mask only. Here only a good night’s sleep, good meal and sport will help you. But I deem that a mask can be a great helper, can’t it? Let’s find out:
A 2-in-1 exfoliating face mask that both hydrates and exfoliates the skin in under 5 minute for purified, smooth, glowing skin. Mask and exfoliate in under 5 minutes! This 2-in-1 exfoliating mask provides the best of both worlds: hydration with a gentle yet effective exfoliation for skin that is instantly purified, fresher, softer, and more radiant. It's fresh texture is formulated with hydrating glycerin, jojoba pearls, and lemon peel. Skin will feel more hydrated, pores appear reduced, and skin's texture is more refined.
CONSISTENCY AND SMELL
I want to start off with the unusual consistency description. Of course I looked through reviews of the product before purchasing, so I was mentally ready to what I saw. Énergie De Vie Illuminating & Purifying Exfoliating Mask by Lancome has a gel-like consistency. It’s almost transparent, especially when I apply it to my face and only in the jar I can see that green cast to it.
The mask has a lot of exfoliating particles to it. They are of two sizes: big and small. The exfoliating parts are rough as well as rather soft to the touch in the product. I want to draw your attention that if you have sensitive skin, you should be careful not to hurt or irritate your skin with the product.
The consistency of the product is reminiscent with a jelly that was mixed. The mask holds its shape so there won’t be any problems applying it, as it doesn’t travel down or leak. But I still wish there was an application spatula. I don’t know maybe they put it in a full sized package. But here I have to use my fingers or any other tools that are in sight.
As for the scent I can say that it’s very unusual. It smells of something sour and fresh. I wouldn’t say that it smells of lemon mint which girls usually mentioned in their reviews. No, there are some mint notes to this product but still for me it isn’t a lemon scent. On the internet I tried to read the reviews of ginseng, particularly of its smell, so now I can say for sure that the Lancome product doesn’t smell of old vegetables or a cellar! The smell of this mask really refreshes and perks me up. I can feel the energy coming that the product promises.
USEThey advise to use this Énergie de Vie The Illuminating & Purifying Exfoliating Mask two times a week. I follow this advice and other days I either give my skin a rest or use any other face masks. By the way, I recently purchased one more mini mask by Lancome which I’ll review very soon too.
I think I shouldn’t bother and remind you that all face masks should be applied on a cleansed face. I usually prefer to apply this mask in the morning as I’m too lazy to do it in the evening. And I especially like to treat myself with this energetic mask when I’m revived.
Suggested Usage:
-Apply mask on clean skin.
-Leave on for three minutes.
-After three minutes, massage product into skin, rinse with water, and follow with your usual skincare routine.
I want to say that this mask won’t steal too much of your time. You won’t have to feel bored for 15 minutes waiting for the mask to sink in. The manufacturer promises us that the product starts working even within 3 minutes. By the way the mask is really versatile and will flatter any skin type, including sensitive skin. I can’t say that I suffer from sensitive skin, though throughout the year my skin may turn very sensitive from time to time.
About my skin: I guess it’s of combination type with an oily T-zone, enlarged pores and blackheads on my nose. When it’s cold outside my skin becomes dry in some areas and it flakes.
The mask is easy to apply thanks to its gel-like consistency. And I guess that again thanks to the consistency the spending turns minimal. (Do you still remember that my mask is of 15ml). This small jar goes a really long way. I’ve already applied it 7 times (!) and still there’s a lot left in the jar. Maybe this content will be enough for several more uses. I also can’t say that I tried to use the product economically, on the contrary I always applied a lot. Not too much but still enough.
There aren’t a lot of exfoliating parts to the product when I apply it as a mask. In the jar it seems that the product is full of them.
While with the mask on I can feel that cooling sensation on my skin that makes me really refreshed. I guess that I can even feel some tingling sensation with this mask on but it isn’t discomforting for me.
As advised, I wash the mask off with water with circular motions to additionally exfoliate my skin.
The product rinses off easily leaving no sticking or tightening sensation behind. All the small parts also rinse off nicely with water, so you won’t have to spend a lot of time to wash the mask off either.
Here I want to say that the product doesn’t affect blackheads. It doesn’t affect them at all. In the shots you can see it if you look at my nose area. I intentionally didn’t apply any other product to my nose to run the experiment with this mask by Lancome fairly. But don’t be upset as the manufacturer doesn’t even promise us the blackheads reducing, does he? But instead they promise us pore reducing after use of the mask. Alas, I haven’t noticed it either.
So, I can’t say that I’m 100% delighted with the result I get with this mask. The thing is that the product isn’t very much exfoliating. Yes, it does fight small skin problems but it won’t do anything with some really problematic areas of your skin. This is probably because there aren’t enough exfoliating particles to it. But in general I like the way my skin looks. The product really revives it and makes it smoother. It also refreshes and brings some tone to my skin. I can feel as though my skin is literally breathing with its every cell after each use.
The product is no way drying to my skin. No tightening or drying out sensation after use, which is so important for me. The cleansing effect is so delicate that I can’t doubt that the mask will flatter sensitive skin types.
I also noticed the acne spots disappearing. I understand that the process of spot reducing and them making less visible is long and time-consuming and I presume this is why I haven’t noticed any result after a couple of uses. But now I can clearly see it. The spots have become less obvious.
OVERALL
I can say of the Lancome Énergie de Vie The Illuminating & Purifying Exfoliating Mask only positive things from me. Maybe I’ll repurchase very soon and I even guess I’ll buy the full size of the product. The only thing that I can be picky about is the weak exfoliating effect in terms of my pores and visible blemishes.
In all other respects the product is perfect. It evens out my skin color and makes the acne spots less visible. After all I can speak of my experience and the way the product works on my skin. This mask is a great energy gulp in the morning. I also noticed that any face cream applies better if I used this mask before. And in general my makeup looks better after this mask application.
For the mentioned disadvantages I want to take off 1 star from the Énergie de Vie The Illuminating & Purifying Exfoliating Mask by Lancome. But still I highly recommend this product. Especially when there’s such a great opportunity to give this product a try if you buy a mini jar for better money. And only after thorough testing you’ll decide whether to buy a full size or not.
Thank you everybody for your interest to my review.
