If you read through the product promises of this Double Tenseur from the French brand Sisley, you might have a thought it’s a solution for everything! It hydrates, instantly lifts, smoothes and refreshes… Why aren’t there any healing effects, huh?
I had a chance to test it out with this 2ml deluxe sample of the product.
Sisley Tenseur Instant & Long-term Gel
Its motto “instant and long-term” is given on the small tube as well as on the box it was packed in.
A few words about it:
Sisley Tenseur Instant & Long-term Gel
This moisturizing and refreshing gel delivers a "second skin" effect to immediately create a lifted and smoothed appearance on the skin's surface. Oat seed extract creates a continuous, stretchy and flexible "3D" mesh on the skin's surface which an immediate lifting sensation. At the same time, the combination of Rhatany and Lemon extracts tones and visually smoothes skin texture. The face looks instantly firmed, features appear lifted and signs of fatigue are faded.
I guess that aside from the botanical extracts, the formula is also enriched with unicorn tears and fairy dust since it promises everything. Besides, it can be used several ways. That’s magic!
Let’s look through the list of ingredients:
Sisley Tenseur Instant & Long-term Gel
Water/Eau (Aqua), PVP, Glycerin, Dimethicone, Butylene Glycol, Pentylene Glycol, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Avena Sativa (OAT) Kernel Extract, Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon) Fruit Extract, Nasturtium Officinale Extract, Saccharide Hydrolysate, Gossypium Herbaceum (Cotton) Seed Extract, Biosaccharide Gum-1, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Leaf Extract, Krameria Trianda Root Extract, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil, Coriandrum Sativum (Coriander) Fruit Oil, Litsea Cubeba Fruit Oil, Pelargonium Graveolens Oil, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Dimethiconol, Divinyldimethicone/Dimethicone Copolymer, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Dipropylene Glycol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Disodium EDTA, Sodium Hydroxide, C12-13 Pareth-23, C12-13 Pareth-3, Citric Acid, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Sorbate, Linalool, Citral, Citronellol, Geraniol, Limonene.
It’s very pleasant to see all those botanical extracts, even though not all of them are rare or exotic. But at the same time, we also have glycerin with some silicones there... Now I get it. This product is nothing more than a silicone-based primer that fills in the skin texture and smoothes it out thanks to that unsinkable film.
This is the reason why they also recommend applying it as a makeup primer on top of your moisturizer, as well as a touch up over makeup throughout the day. This is all about magic. It’s made in France and is fragrance-free.
One more good thing about it is the sticker with some numbers on which I guess ensure the original content in the tube.
Sisley Tenseur Instant & Long-term Gel
Yet, the proud Sisley brand doesn’t retail deluxe samples.
Sisley Tenseur Instant & Long-term Gel
As for Instant & Long-term promise, that sounds ridiculous. Any affordable makeup primer will do the same!
Sisley Tenseur Instant & Long-term Gel
However, they persist on the contrary and even put instructions inside in different languages.
Sisley Tenseur Instant & Long-term Gel
I won’t stop here long so let’s pass over to the action.
Sisley Tenseur Instant & Long-term Gel
The tube is too small to promise much. Everything is short and on point.
Sisley Tenseur Instant & Long-term Gel
The product is a see-through gel which is a little bit turbid.
Sisley Tenseur Instant & Long-term Gel
It smells really naturally. I can feel
pleasant oily-lemon smell which revives me when I apply the product.
I can’t see any point in applying it on top of my moisturizer because it may crease then (it’ll highly depend on the moisturizer you use). Besides, what for?... Before applying my foundation, I use a special makeup primer. And it does seem weird for me to apply something on top of my makeup during the day. So, I used it only as a toner, right after toning my face and patted the formula into my skin. Then, I followed it with a cream.
The runny gel is very easy to apply. It goes a very long way. This deluxe sample was enough to test the product.
Oddly enough, it didn’t take long to sink in. It didn’t leave any sticky film either. I guess that filming sensation might have been left after my cream.
As for the results from the Double Tenseur, it worked as a nice toner: it hydrated my skin and helped the cream to sink in better. Also, it smoothed my skin texture a little. (Do you still remember it does it all thanks to the silicone components?) My skin was better with it. I mean it didn’t get oily that quickly and I liked the results, especially in the summer. But nothing instant from it, let alone long-term.
The idea it works instantly is only thanks to the smoothing silicone base of it. Here I can’t even be picky about it.
I can’t give it the minimum number of stars. After all, I can see some results after use. And the mixture of glycerin and silicone didn’t perform as bad as it could do. In fact, it’s a pore erasing primer with a hydrating complex. It can be found anywhere now. No way it's the promised anti-aging magical stuff.
On the brand site, they retail the full size (30ml) for $192. However, you can find it cheaper on Amazon. Now it costs about $98.99 on sale.
