Just before Xmas I was sent some of the XYZ Smart Collagen Luxe Cream to try out. I had heard of this cream before in the past, but only in relation to the 'tattoo healing' cream it was originally developed to be used as. Having the grand total of zero tattoos myself, this sort of passed me by - but I can see how this would work. The cream is now being hailed as the next best thing for wtrinkles and anti-ageing - claiming to Increase your skin’s natural collagen production to lift, firm and smooth the skin and visibly reduce lines and wrinkles, making you look 7.5 years younger.....which at the age of 31 would give me the face of a 24 year old. Yes please! Having been endorsed by the likes of Vogue, Elle and Cosmopolitan and being 100% vegan, it certainly grabbed my attention. As with most skincare reviews, I like to give it a try over a number of weeks in order to see a true result.
Pre-review context:
If you are a regular reader of my blog, then you may have noticed that I recently announced my pregnancy along with an explanation as to why I've been a little quiet on here lately! For this reason, I did extend the trial time of this product for this particular review, because, let's be honest - there is no cream in the whole wide world that can make you look even half human when you've spent all day contending with morning sickness and a strong willed 2 year old.
Now seems like the perfect time to post a bit of info, along with a few barefaced selfies (be kind!) as I haven't yet hit the deceptive 'glow' stage of pregnancy, but I am feeling significantly better than a few weeks ago.
The packaging:
As you can see from the photo above, the packaging for this product doesn't disappoint. It looks really clean and professional with the black and white box, sponge insert and lid - along with a darkened glass jar which I would expect from a cream which claims to include natural ingredients. It is the type of box that you would happily store the product in rather than throw away and just keep the container. I was surprised at the lack of cap liner/seal for the jar itself - I suppose this is something I have come to take for granted. I also love to see branding printed directly onto the jars to give it an extra professional look - it also makes the product much harder to counterfeit than printed labels such as this...just a personal opinion here and in no way affects the quality of the product itself.
The product:
If you would like to read about the natural, active ingredients, benefits, directions and clinical results for this product in more detail, there is a lot of really useful information on the XYZ website - I'm not going to copy and paste this info here, I'd like to tell you about my own personal, honest experience of using this cream.
The cream itself is quite a thick, white cream and the first thing I noticed about the product was the smell - or more accurately, the lack of it. I suppose I've come to expect products with natural ingredients to go hand in hand with some sort of essential oil or plant based fragrance but this product doesn't. In fact, the smell almost reminded me of a Boots fragrance free body moisturiser for very dry skin I used years ago. The lack of smell isn't actually a bad thing - and in these most recent times of pregnancy nausea it was actually a bit of a godsend!
I was a little bit worried that the consistency of the cream would make for a heavy feeling product on the skin once applied, but I was pleasantly surprised. although it feels very moisturising and definitely luxurious, it didn't leave any oily or heavy residues on my skin at all! I have a naturally oily T-Zone, so this was a huge plus and it also meant that I could use the cream both morning and night as suggested. It sinks into the skin really well and doesn't interfere with makeup.
I have definitely noticed a positive result. I'm not sure if I yet look like a 24 year old instead of a 31 year old (and I think it's fair to say I couldn't blame this entirely on the cream) but my skin has definitely been smoother and more plumped than it was previously.
The results:
Pictures speak a thousand words, so rather than just fill this review with text, i've taken a few photos. Some of these are no-makeup selfies - don't judge me too harshly on these, I am a girl who needs a bit of makeup, but for the purpose of the review and showing you how this cream sits on the skin and doesn't interfere with makeup, hopefully these photos will be helpful:
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| No Makeup, No cream |
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| No Makeup, just XYZ cream |
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| XYZ Cream and BareMinerals SPF30 Complexion rescue |
The photo above is completely un-edited. One of the biggest causes of premature ageing is sun damage which is why I always wear an SPF on my face. Here I have applied the bareMinerals Complexion Rescue tinted gel in SPF30 to even out my skin tone and give it some UVA/UVB protection. I have a lot of redness in my skin naturally, you can read how I combat this in my step by step complexion post here. As you can see, the XYZ Collagen cream hasn't affected the makeup in anyway and I would say it has actually acted as a really nice base - helping my makeup to go on more smoothly and look more radiant.
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| XYZ Cream, BareMinerals Complexion rescue, blush, eyebrow pencil, nude lipstick, Benefit Tinted eyelash primer |
Would you like to win a jar of the XYZ Smart Collagen Luxe Cream for yourself? I am running a giveaway for a full sized jar of the product as seen in the photos above. All you have to do is enter via the rafflecopter link below. You can enter more than once, and some options have daily entries for more chances to win - hooray!
*** competition now closed***
Disclosure: This product was received in return for an honest review.
