The newest product in the Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair family is the Intense Reset Concentrate serum. Does it live up to its hype? Sarah Simpson finds out.
Ask any beauty editor about their desert island beauty products and you could almost guarantee Estée Lauder’s Advanced Night Repair will get a namedrop. The powerful nighttime serum has a cult following for a reason – it renews, replenishes and reduces the key signs of aging, leaving your skin looking radiant, hydrated and well-rested by morning. Who doesn’t love that?
The new Advanced Night Repair Intense Reset Concentrate is designed to do the hard work while you sleep (hence the name) and in this day and age, where we’re all doing more than ever before—working longer hours and juggling our families, relationships, home life and our day jobs—our skin needs all the help it can get.
Stress and sleep
Whether it’s due to gruelling hours in the office or staying up watching Netflix, tiredness can take a toll. It can also show on your face in the telltale sign of dull, dehydrated skin. Stressed skin is highly reactive, often due to too much cortisol coursing through your system – an unfortunate reality for many in today’s busy world. This is where rest and relaxation come into the equation: sleep is vital in the journey to repairing fatigued skin. During slumber, your body is in repair mode, working to restore and replenish itself after exposure to damaging environmental factors and daily aggressors. Ideally, you should be aiming to get seven to nine hours of sleep each night. While you sleep, your cell turnover can increase up to three times what it is during the day, so any less than the recommended amount could result in sagging skin becoming a sad reality.
Dehydrated skin is tired skin
There’s no denying the beauty of dewy skin that glows like it’s lit from within. And while genetics play a part, so does hydration. A complexion in need of replenishment will make itself known with fine lines, redness, tightness or a sallow tone. Proper skincare can play a big part in improving a wrung-out complexion. Estée Lauder’s new Advanced Night Repair Intense Reset Concentrate was designed with this in mind. The brand is at the forefront of research into how skin resets and recovers while we sleep, thanks to its cult Advanced Night Repair Serum. Taking the science further, the Intense Reset Concentrate is designed to rescue irritated skin. “Stressed skin is less able to resist and recover from external assaults,” says Dr Nadine Pernodet, vice president of skin biology and bioactives at global research and development for Estée Lauder. “Irritation builds as a natural repair process slows down and weakens. At this time it is critical to address skin irritation quickly and effectively in order to help avoid visible damage.”
Through research, Estée Lauder was able to pinpoint a new “resolution” phase in the irritation mechanism. “It’s been able to show that we have a natural pathway in the skin, which, when activated, produces its own lipid molecules to stop and resolve irritation as soon as possible,” says Dr Pernodet. Armed with this groundbreaking information, they formulated Intense Reset Concentrate to address the issue. Built on a complex of hyaluronic acids that form a honeycomb structure, the formula becomes a virtual cocoon, wrapping the skin in a layer of intensive rescue and restoration properties. The concentrate can be applied on top of the original Advanced Night Repair Serum to lock the serum in, allowing it to work to an even higher level.
Sarah’s thoughts after trialing the product:
While I’ve been an avid Advanced Night Repair fan for years, I wasn’t sure whether the Intense Reset Concentrate would add anything more to my already pretty refined evening skincare routine. However, I’m going to hold my hands up and say I’m a complete convert and firmly believe we could all use high doses of hyaluronic acid in our lives!
As a busy working mum, I know all too well how a hectic daily lifestyle can take its toll on my skin, not to mention the harsh winter weather, stress and time spent on screens adding their two cents. I’m not a fan of rich, heavy creams so the velvety gel texture had me hooked from first try and I have used it religiously before bed for the past two months. I massage it in as a soothing booster after my Advanced Night Repair and as well as looking more refreshed each morning, my skin definitely feels more luminous, calm and hydrated. I’m hooked.
Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Intense Reset Concentrate, $145, is available now from Farmers, Life Pharmacy and other leading department stores and pharmacies.
