It’s not often I revisit a product on BBB, but I’m truly so impressed with Institut Esthederm I wanted to cover it one last time.
I’ve just had a 5 day break in the sun; and earlier in the summer, a 7 day break. If you come from the UK, it’s fair to say that our skin is not exactly ready for such a sudden burst of rays. In fact, I saw some pretty bloody awful examples of how not to sunbathe; painfully red backs and chests (and some very alarming Speedos but that’s another story altogether) that were literally cooking on the beach. I just wonder sometimes how they’ve managed to miss the words ‘sun damage’. My attitude to sunbathing has completely changed over the years. On both holidays, I got to a point where I felt tanned enough and switched happily to the shade. Previously, I’d have just gone to the max.
On both occasions, I used Institut Esthederm sun care. Institut Esthederm works by encouraging melanin to the surface of the skin so that skin protects itself – there isn’t a straightforward SPF as such although it contains a couple of standard filters – and this technology dates back 25 years. I haven’t burned once since I started using it and this is my third summer of trialling the range. From a vanity point of view, I don’t come home with crinkly skin although I will say that my hands did not fare as well as my face and body because for the first time ever, they looked pretty ropy post holiday.
I still struggle to explain the science effectively (but in my own defence, I’d say that their website doesn’t explain it properly either); however, IE uses the adaption method over the protection method, and maintain that depriving skin of sun exposure makes it lose its ability to adapt to the sun (i.e. tanning). Melanin absorbs some of the solar radiation, while the incoporated Photo Cellular technology ensures that skin cells are protected against photo-ageing. I guess you could say it works with the body’s natural reactions to the sun rather than against. It does however filter UVA/UVB rays.
There is no doubt that I tan more quickly using this range, and with the absence of any burning at all, I’d have to concede that it is probably – for me, at least – safer, too.
It’s not a cheap option for tanning by any means (for a two week holiday where you’ll be sunbathing regularly, and including after sun and pre-sun, you could easily add £200 to the cost of your holiday but I’ve spotted a few offers though on the internet so do look around) but if I’m still hooked after 3 years, I’m convinced it’s worth the spend.
Transparency Disclosure
All products are sent to me as samples from brands and agencies unless otherwise stated. Affiliate links may be used. Posts are not affiliate driven.
6 comments
The skin tans to protect itself from the sun, but the tan does actually not protect you from sun damage at all. Tanning is the skin’s way of saying that it is getting damaged. It has nothing to do with “adaption”, that is plain gibberish. Use proper SPF to avoid skin cancer. It’s plain stupid not to IMO. Well, that’s what the textbooks we use in medicine say anyway…take it or leave it.
This stuff does contain SPF. Check the ingredients list. It contains a couple of bog standard uv filters as found in most run-of-the-mill sunscreens.
Great to read about Institut Esthederm here in your blog! My friend, dermatologist, used to work with it and always said that it’s great. I’d like to try one day its whitening line.
I love it too. I used it for the first time this year and stocked up on the after sun but realised with horror I couldn’t use it on the husband due to the sparkles it contains!! I hate sparkle normally, but it’s really subtle and pretty here.
Agree it’s excellent stuff. Pricey, but really good.
Ida is right about what it says in the text books, but I have long been of the opinion that skin is more adaptable than we have yet discovered through the full rigours of the scientific method.
I suspect that the tan is the result of the skin’s activities in dealing with the sun. I think that melanin is simply a by product of an elaborate anti-oxidant system we haven’t fully elucidated yet.
The skin does show at least some adaptation in the sense that Langerhans Cells migrate to it following sun exposure, so it is not necessarily total gibberish.
Going straight from the UK to a bright sun area and taking no precautions at all is obviously unwise. Using a high SPF sun block all the time is a better idea. I wonder though if in the future we will come to realise that the best idea is to use the SPF cream to overcome the shock but that you can also build up your innate defences as well by a bit or judicious controlled exposure.
hey there! I used to use a brilliant product from esthederm called no sun but I can’t seem to find it anywhere in the UK. It was brilliant at stopping hyperpigmentation. Do you know how I can get some?