Save the legwork – and guesswork – involved in looking for new beauty products that will suit your skin as you get older. Dione Chen reports from Tokyo on Cosme Decorte’s latest anti-ageing range.
<b>MAIN PHOTO</b> GETTY IMAGES
Mothers and daughters, like Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour and Bee Shaffer, don’t have to only share points of view – they can now share the same skincare too.
It’s a fact of life. Skin changes – sometimes drastically – as we grow older. Remember the near-perfect complexion you had in your 20s? It makes way for the first fine lines and sagging in your 30s, to drier skin, deeper lines and pigmentation in your 40s. By your 60s, wrinkles, dryness, saggy skin and dark spots are the new normal.
Unless you’re a beauty junkie who regularly keeps up with what’s new and good, sorting out what your skin needs as it evolves through the years can be timeconsuming and confusing.
No woman wants to keep experimenting with beauty options and possibly create new skin issues by using unsuitable products.
MAIN PHOTO GETTY IMAGES
What you need is a skincare range that journeys with you – one that starts with basic anti-ageing for your 30s and lets you add, mix and match products all the way into your 60s.
Japanese beauty house Cosme Decorte believes this is the way to keep customers for a lifetime. Its fifthgeneration Decorte Absolute Quality (AQ) collection works for all skin types, and is flexible enough to meet the skin’s needs at any age.
Decorte AQ debuted in 1990. Now, in 2017 – seven years after its previous revamp – it has undergone a huge reboot. It has been re-researched, reformulated and repackaged. What hasn’t changed is its basic philosophy: Your skin absorbs nutrients better when you’re feeling relaxed.
What’s new now: its neuroscience research.
Decorte AQ researchers have found that being all chill isn’t quite enough to get beautiful skin. They’ve discovered that skin cells really thrive on energy – it’s what they require to work at their best.
What’s new now: its neuroscience research.
Decorte AQ researchers have found that being all chill isn’t quite enough to get beautiful skin. They’ve discovered that skin cells really thrive on energy – it’s what they require to work at their best.
The energy skin needs
You know the drill: The older you get, the less energy you have, and the more you slow down. It’s the same with skin cells: less energy means less-efficient repair and regeneration, more stubborn inflammation, and reduced skin defence all around.
What your cells need is creatine. This protein-like compound is found naturally in the body, and its job is to supply cells with energy.
However, creatine can only be delivered to the cells via a creatine transporter that is made by the cells.
These transporters become less efficient as we grow older, so skin cells get less creatine and cannot create sufficient energy for proper daily functions.
To boost skin cells’ energy levels, the rebooted Decorte AQ range now contains white mucuna bean extract. What does this do? It stimulates skin cells to produce more creatine transporters, making enough energy so skin can heal and renew itself to look firmer and more radiant.
Cosme Decorte researchers say you’ll see improvements in two weeks if you use the entire Decorte AQ range.
The white mucuna bean extract also promises a brighter, clearer-looking complexion, as it is said to aid skin renewal.
White birch water is another ingredient in the anti-ageing skin care line. It is rich in amino acids that keep skin moistu rised, and is an antioxidant that can protect skin cells.
Suitable for dry, oily, combination and normal skin, Decorte AQ products are for both women and men.
This line is not designed for sensitive skin as there is a wide spectrum to skin sensitivity; people’s skin can react to different things.
If you are keen on this range, but have skin that is sensitive, sensitised, or prone to sensitivity, you should do a patch test to see if the products are suitable for you.
Calming scent
While the Decorte AQ line previously used a blend of essential oils and sandalwood to soothe the senses, Cosme Decorte’s researchers have continued to look for fragrances that are efficient in helping you to relax.
The new scent for all the products in the Decorte AQ line comes from an extract of the flower of the Queen of the Night cactus. This floral-woody scent was tested for its psychophysiological effects and found to elicit a good calming response.
How to use the range
The line has 12 products, all paraben-free and highly emollient, gliding comfortably onto skin and penetrating it readily. Start with the basics – in the following order – for a complete routine:
• Cleansing Cream to remove sebum and makeup.
• Washing Cream to unclog pores and remove impurities.
• Emulsion to prep and soften skin for the products that follow.
• Lotion, which is a toner to soothe and hydrate normal to dry skin.
• For day: After applying Emulsion and Lotion, you don’t need a daytime face moisturiser; you can go straight to your sunscreen.
However, if your skin still feels dry after the Emulsion and Lotion, this is when you should layer on the Oil Infusion or the Botanical Pure Oil.
• For night: Apply the Cream to mois turise and help with skin repair.
Specialist products
When skin is oilier or drier than normal, look to these products:
• If your skin has become a little drier, use the ER (extra rich) version of the Emulsion and Lotion.
• If you have large pores, replace the Lotion with the Toning Lotion. This is reputed to have antiinflammatory benefits and to be able to help regulate sebum production.
• As your skin becomes less supple when you get older, add the lightweight Oil Infusion (for normal and even problem skin, and especially suitable for hot and humid climates) or the organic Botanical Pure Oil (if you need a more nourishing formula) before layering on the Cream.
You can use these by day or night.
• For extra relaxation, and to add antioxidants and boost blood circulation, use the Massage Cream on your face after double cleansing to boost skin firmness.
• Once or twice a week, use the peel-off Moisture Lift Mask after the Emulsion to mois turise, plump up wrinkles, and tighten skin.
Why You Need an Extra Step
The order in which you use these products may be uncommon, but we explain why they’re necessary.
