Clarins skincare - any recommendations?

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I'm currently happy with the skincare I use at the moment, but just fancy a change. I have been given some Clarins body stuff and love it, so wonder whether to splurge on some face stuff.

Does anyone have any recommendations or reviews? I'm looking at the Super Restorative range or the Extra Firming as I am on the older side of middle age, to put it mildly!

Thanks.

I haven't tried either of those but I love beauty flash balm, it's one thing I always have in my makeup bag and someone always tells me my skin is glowing when I wear it. I tap it lightly on over my makeup but you can also use it as a mask. I also like their exfoliating cleanser and I've just finished a sample of hydra quench serum that I will be buying as soon as I'm paid! Also love their face oils, although they stink. Clarins is my favourite!

I have the Extra-Firming Eye Wrinkle Smoothing Cream, it is nothing special or worthy of the price they're asking for it ime.

I've looked into their serums but the 'highly acclaimed' ones consist of mainly mineral oil, regardless what you think of this ingredient, it is excessively cheap so the prices seem disproportionate. I do like the body stuff too though, not so much the face stuff.

I have no experience with the facial oils but I do know those are much loved, it's the only thing I'd consider looking into.

I don't really like oils on my face; I've tried a Vichy one and an Origins one, but didn't see any difference. Reading the ingredients you'd expect the Clarins ones to smell lovely, but if not I'm definitely not trying them! I must admit I am a bit of a sucker for nice packaging and fragrance, so I might have to go and smell some samples and make a decision then.

orange exfoliating cleanser is the only product I'd repurchase to be honest and sometimes Beauty Flash Balm

I've always used their moisturisers, but they've changed them recently, and I'm not particularly happy with them now.

I'm just coming to the end of the Super Restorative eye cream & shan't buy another. It doesn't justify the price, found it made no difference. When I bought it there was one of the offers on where you get a choice of biggish sample sizes with two purchases so I got the Super Restorative cream. It's nice to use, smells nice, but no more effective than some of the mid price creams I use a lot so very expensive for what it is.

Their breast cream and breast gel are v good though, but I don't know if people use that in Britain, think it's more a French thing.

Hm, not exactly a vote of confidence! I was hoping you were all going to say 'Yes, yes, it's wonderful, rush out and buy it now.' Well, I have a load of Boots points to use up so maybe I'll use those to give something a try and I won't mind if I'm not thrilled with it.

Has anyone tried the new Boosters that you add to your moisturiser? I suppose they're just another gimmick.

I'd peruse the counter and get some samples if I were you. I was a bit of a Clarins fanatic for a while but ended up going off it. The best serums and moisturisers are really to be found at Zelens (www.zelens.com) as they actually DO something for your skin and smell glorious. They're more expensive than Clarins, and sadly you can't buy it at Boots, but it's good stuff - you get what you pay for in life. You can find it at lookfantastic.com too and they're all on offer at the moment - you can always find an extra voucher code for another 15-20% off too.

I've not tried the Boosters yet, sorry.

To be honest there are better things to spend Boots points on - eg Dior, La Roche Posay, Avene etc

mrsdane - wow, that Zelens stuff looks fab, but gasp-inducingly pricey. Food for thought though, thanks.

The beauty flash balm is great!! And the glo lotion stuff too!!

I don't get the flash balm myself (it does nothing for me, but rolls off) - I do like the little pot of stuff that kinda blurs your skin though - although I can't for the life of me remember what it's called.

It's a little pot of matt, pink cream, you use the tiniest amount and it totally smooths out pores/small lines - both in real life, and excellently in pictures.

Instant smooth perfecting touch?

I have tried the green detox booster as a free sample and did like it - but not £30's worth.
But my favourites are the exfoliating toner and the extra firming night cream. I'd definitely repurchase these.

I like their blue lotus facial oil. Smells amazing and suits my oily skin.

Instant Smooth Green.

I am a huge Clarins fan! I've tried lots of other premium brands but I always return to Clarins. I have dry skin so generally use the hydra quench range, preceded by the gentle foaming cleanser with shea butter. I also use the orange exfoliating face wash occasionally. I have a drawerful of freebies too, without fail all their products smell gorgeous and have lovely textures

Sorry got the name wrong. It's not blue anything, just lotus oil:
m.clarins.co.uk/lotus-face-treatment-oil--oily-combination-skin-/C010401003.html?cgid=270&start=3

Based on that one I'd hazard a guess that all their facial oils for different skin types would be pretty good.

best, you should look at Caroline Hirons' blog, it's amazing, and she covers all skin types and levels of maturity. There are some fantastic cheat sheets on the right hand side of the webpage that are really useful - www.carolinehirons.com . She loves Zelens but will also recommend products at different price points too.

One problem is that I live in rural Ireland, so getting to a store that has a good range of products and the possibility of samples is a rare occurrence. Clarins I know I can get locally, but other high end stuff is harder to source and I don't want to risk spending loads getting full size stuff online.

Thanks all for the input. I have looked at the Caroline Hirons blog and read some of her recommendations in the past ; there's just so much choice these days - it was so much simpler when I was young and you had Anne French cleansing milk and a dollop of Nivea

Funny you mention nice- I did an experiment recently, nivea vs clarins.
I always use clarins hand and nail cream- ( that really is the business, btw, only thing I'm not sensitive to!)so as my heels were looking a little Winter-worn, to get them ready for sandals, I rubbed cream into them every night for two weeks- one foot clarins, one foot ordinary nivea creme in the blue tub.
After two weeks, they both looked good, but remarkably little difference between the two.

Nice is nivea, btw!

Their brightening exfoliating toner is a staple in my bathroom cabinet.

Love love love the Clarins Santal Face Oil. It's just gorgeous. I also like Clarins cleansers and toners too. Have used several moisturisers from the range and liked them too. The double serum also seems to be popular, though haven't used it myself. Happy spending.