Sparkled Beauty

Another item for review from Glam Sense (under the Topbox umbrella): Lise Watier Hydraforce Hydra-Protective comforting cream ($45) with Gaspe Algae extract (the algae with high resistance against harsh environment) to promote skin's hydration and its ability to protect itself.

HydraForce is named the new Canadian line of weatherproof moisturizers, where skin is 3 times more hydrated. The comforting cream itself is very pleasant to use. A nice fresh scent, like a typical scent of a higher end skin product. which does not linger long.

The texture is light, almost like the cream is lightly whipped before being bottled. It absorbs quickly but does feel slightly sticky after if you run your fingers across the skin.

The brand suggests to apply the cream to the face morning and/or evening. Because of the light stickiness, I prefer to use it at night.

Ingredients: Water, Glycerin, Butylene Glycol, Dimethicone, Dicaprylyl Ether, Cetyl Alcohol, Coco-Caprylate/Caprate, Laminaria Saccharina Extract, Opuntia Ficus-Indica Stem Extract, Opuntia Ficus-Indica Leaf Cell Extract, Squalane, Biosaccharide Gum-1, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Ascorbic Acid, etc.

Lise Watier also introduces the Hydra-Detect app, with sensor (pictured above) to measure your skin hydration during the testing period of products in the line, quite fun to play with.

It is free to download, but you will need the hydration tool plugged in on your phone through the microphone jack, then touch the 2 little silver wing nobs to different skin areas to measure the hydration levels.

The legends for skin moisture level:
- 20-30%: dry
- 30-40%: normal
- Above 40%: hydrated
- 60%: exceptional.

I was at Shoppers once during one of the beauty galas where they had the little machine to measure skin hydration and I got pretty bad reading. This year, I have Obagi Professional-C serum and Vichy Neovadiol Magistral Elixir to thanks, as the app showed quite positive figures even before the comforting cream.

Here are the readings on my T-zone before and after using the product:

Similarly readings for the cheek area:

I am glad to see improvement in hydration instantly, but will need at least a month to confirm the effect on the skin. The samples were sent out in waves and I received mine a lot later than most others. I will update the post down the road.