Salon skin care: Gatineau

If there's one thing that I really invest in it's skincare since needless to say it's the foundation for everything else, and it doesn't really matter how much you spend on makeup and other things if you don't look after your skin. There are so many excellent brands that cater to different needs, but I particularly like salon skin care, i.e. products that are used during professional treatments that you can also buy and take with you home to continue maintain your skin every day until the next time you treat yourself to a facial. I often find that salon skin care brands is more about tried and tested high quality products that are recommended to you by professionals and less about snazzy looking packaging and marketing spiels. In the first post I did about salon skin care we looked at Dermalogica and today we've got a brand that I know very well and have been using for years - Gatineau. Gatineau is a French skin care brand that has been around for more than 80 years, and the concept behind it is to combine science and nature to produce innovative products based on input not only from beauty therapists and dermatologists but also from scientists and physiotherapists for a holistic approach to skin care. I've tried a lot of different products from the range and here are some of my staple products.

First up is the Aquamemory Moisture Replenish Concentrate (£48.50) which is a gorgeous serum, to be used as a moisture booster before you apply your daily moisturiser or you can even use it on its own. It has a lovely and incredibly light almost gel like consistency that sinks into the skin at the lightest touch and a small drop is enough to cover your facing leaving it feeling very hydrated and smooth. It has a fresh marine smell and not only does it add hydration to the skin before you get on with your daily routine, it also contains ingredients to help the skin maintain an ideal level of moisture throughout the day. Gatineau has a great range of serums, but this is most definitely one of my favorites, particularly at times of year when your skin feels stressed or dry and this has been working hard for me this winter. 

From the same range comes the Aquamemory Moisture Replenish Eye Roll-On (£32.50) which is an ultra-light lotion for the eye area that you apply with a very practical roll-on applicator and again it's intended to add lots of hydration to the skin to help reduce puffiness, bags under the eyes and any lines or wrinkles. It has a lovely soothing draining effect, and to enhance the cooling sensation I like to keep this in the fridge. Since it comes in such a sleek little tube you can easily carry this with you in your handbag and apply during the day over your makeup since it instantly blends into skin and it's especially nice to use in the afternoon to refresh tired eyes, when like me you're staring at a computer all day long or whenever you need a moisture boost.

After your serum and eye cream, you need a moisturiser and a Gatineau product that I've repurchased several times is the Melatogenine AOX Probiotics Advanced Rejuvenating Cream (£76.25) which is a rich anti ageing cream that contains antioxidants and probiotics for intense protection and moisturising of the skin to boost suppleness and firmness and it also reduces appearance of lines. You can use this both during the day and night, but I prefer to use it as part of my morning routine since I find that it adds a lovely glowing radiance to the skin. It's a very luxurious and energizing cream that really feels as if it's doing something on your skin, without leaving any oiliness or residue and you can apply your makeup straight away on top of it. This cream is primarily intended for skin over 40s, but the way I see it, there's nothing wrong with starting early and hoping that you can keep pesky lines at bay as long as possible. There's no denying that this is a fairly expensive cream, however you only need a very small amount of it, so it will last a long time and it also keeps its freshness for 24 months so no need to worry that it'll go off.

Do you use a separate neck cream or do you use your normal moisturiser? I know that the jury is still out on this one and you'll get different answers depending on who you ask, but I'm in the camp of those who vote for a separate neck product. Just as the eye area has specific needs which is why a specific formula is needed, so does the neck and I've been loving the Strategie Jeunesse Firming Throat Gel (£42) which contains different vitamins and minerals and protein extracts that give a tightening effect and that also protect against sagging. It's a lovely light gel with a beautiful subtle scent or orange that feels so fresh and invigorating to use.

The last product is an item that I haven't used very long but that has quickly become a firm favorite of mine - it's the DefiLift 3D Perfect Design Revolumising Lip Care (£28) which is an amazing plumping and moisturising lipbalm. It has a very silky texture that hydrates and smooths the lips and that adds a little bit of temporary plumpness which makes it perfect as a lip primer since it also doesn't have ny horrible tingling that some plumping products do or stickiness. Since the formula also has firming effects I really like to use this as a mask for the lip contours overnight. 

You can of course get Gatineau in salons, but for some amazing deals I would highly recommend that you check out QVC, lookfantastic.com or feelunique.com.