In a study conducted in 2013, over 5.1 million bottles of Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair (ANR) serum have been sold globally in one year. Do the math, and this actually means that nine bottles of ANR are being sold every single minute. The Night Repair line was first launched in 1982, and over the past 30 years, Estée Lauder has done its best to continuously improve one of its best-selling and best-performing products. The original Night Repair formula is in fact the first serum ever created and the first skin care product to use Hyaluronic Acid. It is said to be so revolutionary that the new ANR Synchronized Recovery Complex II formula is patented until 2021.
Impressed yet? Well, so was I—and being a natural skeptic when it comes to “revolutionary” skin care products, I just had to try it and see for myself what the hype is all about.
IMAGE INSTAGRAM/esteelauder
Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Serum, P4100 (30ml); Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye, P4150 (15ml), available at SM Aura and Rustan’s Makati
What it is: Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Serum promises to “dramatically reduce the look of key signs of aging,” which includes lines and wrinkles, dryness, dehydration, dullness, and loss of radiance. It’s a multi-patented innovation designed to repair skin and support nighttime purification process. It’s highly recommended to be used with Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye, which gives added benefits for luminous, younger looking eyes. It promises “to significantly reduce the look of fine lines, wrinkles, puffiness, and dark circles.”
Current Condition: Full disclosure: I’m a huge K-drama fan. That sentence alone should give you an idea of how many hours of slumber I get every night. Given the lack of “beauty sleep,” an effective nighttime regimen is essential to my life (because how else am I going to fake looking well-rested the next day when the truth is I spent the entire evening crying over breakup scenes?). It goes without saying that my major concerns include dark under-eye circles and tired, dehydrated skin.
IMAGE INSTAGRAM/esteelauder
How I Used It: If there’s one thing I don’t allow myself to be lazy at, it’s removing my makeup before hitting the sack no matter how exhausted I may be. After making sure that my face is already squeaky clean, I use a cotton pad to apply toner. Next up is the ANR serum! It comes in a pharmacy-inspired brown bottle with an apothecary dropper, and I only need about two to three drops of the product to cover my entire face. It has quite a thicker consistency compared to other serums, but I take it as a good sign that my skin absorbs it almost instantly. It leaves my face looking dewy but not necessarily oily, and you can instantly tell that no artificial fragrance has been added to it.
I’ve always been confused as to which goes first: eye cream or moisturizer? Personally, I prefer to apply the former first so that my eye area can absorb the more vital ingredients before I add another layer of product on my face. The ANR eye cream is translucent and gel-like. It’s silky and it seamlessly glides onto my skin, although unlike the serum, it takes a bit more time for the product to sink in. Once the eye cream is fully absorbed, I wrap things up by applying moisturizer. (For everyday use, I like Glossier Priming Moisturizer Rich; but on days that I need heavy-duty hydration, I bring out the big leagues and indulge my face in La Mer Crème de la Mer.)
Conclusion: The week I tested out the ANR products was a particularly busy and stressful one for me; in between writing and editing articles for the website every day, I had to produce and style a shoot mid-week and also had no time to catch up on some rest during the weekend since our team had to cover the recently-concluded Bench Fashion Week. I was in short supply of beauty sleep, so to speak. However, during those seven days of stress, I think my skin fared surprisingly well—no ugly breakouts and impossibly dark eye bags to conceal. I noticed a slight improvement on my skin texture, too; it felt softer and more supple. Although as far as blurring the telltale signs of aging is concerned, I think I’d have to use it for more than a week to see if there will be significant results.
Overall, the ANR serum and eye cream combo did quite live up to its hype. In fact, given a week with decent sleep, I think it would’ve worked like a dream.
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