Review: Skin Care: Kanebo Impress Emulsion moisturizer

The Kanebo Impress Emulsion 2 is going to be my holy grail of night moisturizers. This is the final step in the basic skincare regime of double moisturizing and follows the Kanebo Impress Lotion.

I test drove this moisturizer in 2 conditions. The first time was while I was on holiday. I was out in the sun during the day, and in a hotel at night. Both situations are very drying and my hands and feet suffered the effects. However, my face never looked better! Granted, I was test driving the whole Kanebo Impress skin care line at the time, but it was really wow! I was already pretty impressed at this stage.

The second time I tried it was after I had a bad breakout after using some cream that did not agree with my face. After bringing the breakout under control and returning to my Kanebo Blanchir skin care line, I came upon another sachet of the Kanebo Impress Emulsion 2 and thought to give it another go, but this time, I only used it at night. In 4 days, my skin was glowing and radiant and never looking better!

I knew I’d found my holy grail night moisturizer. I like the Kanebo Blanchir Milky Conditioner for the day because its light and non oily. For the night however, although the Blanchir Night Conditioner is nice and all, I found something lacking in it, possibly because I sleep in an air-conditioned room which can be drying. Kanebo Impress Emulsion 2 seems to be the answer.

The Emulsion comes in 2 types:

• Kanebo Impress Emulsion 1- Fresh for Normal and Combination skin
• Kanebo Impress Emulsion 2- Moist and Smooth for Normal to Dry skin

The emulsion is white liquid with a viscous texture. I find that very little is needed because it spreads very easily and then you help it adhere with the Adhesive application method. As an example, a 2g sachet lasted me about 4 to 5 uses and that is saying a lot!

Prolonged use of the Impress Emulsion is supposed to help with coarse and dry skin and to refine the skin and help it retain moisture. From personal experience, I can say it does all this and more. My skin is radiant (even my facialist commented on it) and my pores are much less noticable.

Even when I do my makeup, I find I only need some concealer and light powder foundation and I have as close to flawless skin as I can get. It is pretty amazing for me because its been years since I’ve had anything resembling flawless skin.

I also tested the Impress Emulsion 1 which has a lighter texture. However, I did not find it moisturising enough for me and I prefer the suppleness of the skin after using Emulsion 2.

So, whats the price of radiant close-to-flawless skin? RM380 for a 100ml bottle. Ouch? Very. I’m going to wait till I’ve used up my Blanchir night conditioner before I switch over to this Impress Emulsion. It’ll give me time to set aside the money in the meantime and I’m consoling myself with the fact that it will last me a long while if used only at night because only so little is really needed.

Pros: Effect of radiant skin, reduced pore size, better skin texture
Cons: Expensive

[rating:5/5]