My new personal skin trainer KIKO - 30 days later

You may remember that I started a new regime in August when I got myself a personal trainer for my skin, courtesy of KIKO, and you can read more about the product and my first impressions in this August post. Since I hadn't found any reviews of this product anywhere, I decided to put the product to the test and to do a 30 day trial on myself, to see if it delivered on all the amazing promises.

So before we get started, let's do a quick recap of what KIKO Skin Trainer claimed to do for the skin. First of all it's supposed to be a youth generating serum that trains the skin "to increase its youth potential" by recharging the skin with energy and counteract the signs of aging, intelligently moisturize skin according to its needs, increase cellular oxygenation to show healthy complexion and even out the skin. The scientifically proven results from the KIKO test groups were pretty impressive:

• The skin is up to 42.8 % more supple (average value: 21.8%) after 4 weeks.
• The skin’s hydration increases by up to 76,6 % (average value: +31.6%) after 4 weeks.
• Wrinkle depth is reduced by up to 58.5 % (average value: -32.4%) after 4 weeks.

The two aspects that I have been focusing on during my 30 day trial were improvements to the suppleness of my skin and sense of hydration. I also need to say that during this trial period I have made no other changes to my skin routine and not introduced any other new products.

 
Now on to the results! For 30 days I've been using no other serum but the KIKO Skin Trainer, which I have applied every morning and evening after I've cleansed my face, but before adding any moisturizer or night cream. The serum is a quite a lot thicker than other serum's I've used so in the beginning I only used about 2-3 drops for my face and neck. But after a few weeks I started to feel as if that wasn't quite enough and as if the serum absorbed quicker into the skin than previously, so I added a few more drops for every use. Even if I did use a little bit more, it still sank into the skin beautifully and quickly, leaving it feeling nourished but without any shininess at all. I can't say that I've come around to the plastic scent of the product, but since that smell doesn't stay on my skin, I think I can put up with it for a few seconds while I massage in the serum. 

After a few days I started to notice that the skin did feel toned and stronger in a sense, as if the skin had tightened up a little, but not in the sense of dryness, but on a "muscle" level. And at the end of these 30 days that feeling is even more prominent. So that's a big tick in the box for increased suppleness - I really didn't expect that, so WEHAY!

For the other criteria on sense of skin hydration, I'm not as impressed as I am over the increased suppleness. There could of course be many reasons for this - change in the weather, hormonal, whatever, but for me the fact that I had to up the dose of serum from 2-3 drops to 5-6 to get a sense of hydration means that the serum simply didn't hydrate enough, and keep in mind that I already have dry skin. It wasn't just that I didn't get that initial feeling of hydration after a few weeks use, it was also that my skin clearly needed a moisture boost a couple of times a day, which is something I haven't had to do for quite a while. I guess it's a good thing I've always got a facial spray with me! So in terms of hydration I can't say that I noticed any overhwhelming positive results. 
 
The Skin Trainer is reasonably priced at £22.90, and for that I am VERY impressed with the increased suppleness, and as I continue to finish up what's left of it, I think I will add a richer and more moisturising serum either in the morning or evening to restore the hydration level to my skin. I would definitely recommend KIKO if you're looking for something to tone up your skin, but if you do have tendencies towards dry skin, like I do - you might want to counteract any dehydration from the serum with an intensely hydrating moisturizer.

I'll let you know if this small change that I'm planning has had better results regarding the hydration sense when I've finished the product in that month's Empties post.