I’ve spoken in the past about blogs being good places to follow a brand’s progress where you can track over a period of time how they’re getting along. I’d cite Dr Jart as a good example.. came in like a lion and slowly disappeared from sight. Also Astalift. It was everywhere and now it’s nowhere. Erborian is a relatively new brand and a French/Korean hybrid. It’s got investment from L’Occitane and therefore the money and back end capacity to really fly as well as the capacity to create many more new products. If you’re interesting in charting the fortunes of beauty brands, Erborian is a good one to watch right now.
The Erborian Camellia Mask Eclair is a perfect example of the merge of French beauty culture and Korean beauty culture. It’s a clear mask that you put on in the evening and leave overnight (it does dry, don’t worry). When morning comes, if you add a tiny drop of water to your fingertips you can start to roll away the mask in little whisking movements and it reminds me so much of a Clarins ‘gommage’ style mask that I used to love. I found the result wasn’t overwhelming, but I honestly don’t think I put enough on. It was enough, however, to get a whisk going and see little bits of mask flying away.. my skin did feel softer and looked a bit more glowy, but I wasn’t wow about it. The absolute downside to the Erborian Camellia Mask Eclair is that as it dries, it will stick in any hair down you have, but thankfully, you can whisk the T zone area and easily wash away any bits stick in your facial hair. I will try this again and be a bit less cautious about the amount that I use.
However, a whole other story for the Erborian Duo De Camellia that you can use either as a mask or an overnight cream. It’s absolutely delicious for skin – mine felt softer, happier and completely hydrated after a sleep over with this, so much so, that I’ve started using the Erborian Camellia Essence again. I’ve been using Institut Esthederm Vitamin A Concentrate, but found it stains my white bed linen so I’ve swapped in Camellia at night and still use IE in the day.
The one thing I don’t feel really happy about with Erborian right now is the prices. It is very expensive; when you’re trying to get to know a brand, you need (I think) more entry level products – try-me sets and so on. I’m hooked on Camellia Essence and Camellia Radiance Cream and they’re £54 and £50 respectively. The Erborian Camellia Mask Eclair I can live without – £48 to pick bits out of your chin? No thanks. But, there are so many new launches ahead that I’ll cover over time as I test them out and I really do rate Erborian as a brand that delivers as well as a brand that’s tapping into a massive trend right now. It’s the only brand that’s convinced me properly that a double, or even a treble cleanse, is worth the effort. Erborian is HERE.
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