The thing about skincare is that its hard to tell right off the bat if its something your skin will love or if its something that doesn’t agree or if its something your skin will only like after prolonged use. So I’m always very wary when trying skincare and writing about it. Experience has taught me that what I may dislike now, may be something I actually like very much later depending on my skin’s concerns and perhaps, even with maturity.
And this little story leads up to the Guerlain Abeille Royale Day Cream or Creme Jour, the latter of which sounds imminently more luxurious to me 😉
Some of you may remember when I told you about the Abeille Royale serum. I liked that one very much. The scent was absolutely delicious, smelling of honey but not cloyingly sweet. After the launch of the serum, Guerlain came back with the rest of the Abeille Royale skincare range and today we have the Day Cream.
Quite many months ago, I tried this. I may have mentioned it in passing at some point on this blog, but I could not write a proper review for some reason. Although it says its a day cream and meant for normal-combination skins, its quite thick in texture so I couldn’t use it in the day then. I started using it at night and I liked it but it lacked that certain something. So I passed it over.
Then, about a month ago, I rediscovered this tub while clearing up my dresser and just coincidentally, I’d just finished my Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Oil Free Gel Cream and wanted something different. This time, I decided to wear it in the day as directed and see how I fared. Well, this time, I knew right off that this was a day cream I liked 🙂 I don’t know what’s different. It might be the application technique or perhaps my skin just decided to like it. But this time, I knew for sure just how I felt about this cream 🙂
Like the Abeille Royale serum the day cream comes in a honeycomb shaped heavy glass pot. I love glass for skincare so I am understandably happy with the packaging.
Like the serum, the cream contains Pure Royal Concentrate extract from honey, which helps promote the healing process of the skin to increase skin firmness and reduce the appearance of wrinkles. This is an anti-aging skincare range and is targeted at those concerns.
The cream is, as I have mentioned a little thick and has a lovely scent of honey and flowers. It isn’t strong nor does it linger but it smells absolutely lovely so application is a joy. I don’t use very much and I use the general moisturizer application technique – dollop in palm, spread and then apply to face and neck.
Because its a bit thick for day time, I like to spritz some floral water on my skin and then, before it dries, apply the day cream over my skin. The damp skin absorbs the cream more easily and I’m left with lovely velvety soft skin. My skin doesn’t feel oily nor does the cream feel heavy as it did before. It just feels right.
The blurb claims that this cream will leave you with a matte feeling on your skin all day long. I’m not sure if it does, I do get a wee bit oily around the T-zone in the day, but I do feel that my makeup sits on my skin better, and I don’t have to use as much foundation. In fact, these days I’m either using a very sheer foundation or just a light BB Cream (Garnier BB Cream mostly) and it just looks great. So yes, a true foundation for good makeup is good skin 🙂
In a nutshell
A day cream that smells deliciously of honey that leaves my skin feeling soft and velvety with regular use. As it is a little thick, I like to apply it over a spritz of floral water, as the damp skin seems to absorb the cream more easily. My skin looks better and I don’t need as much foundation in the day time. All round winner except for the prohibitive price 😛
Pros: Skin feels soft and velvety with regular use, Lovely scent, Luxurious packaging
Cons: Pricey, Some may find it too thick for day, No SPF
Here is the ingredient list for those interested.
I believe this cream has no SPF which is a bummer if you don’t usually use a separate sunscreen. However, if you are like me and do, then it won’t bother you at all. I sometimes prefer my moisturizers not to have sunscreen anyway. There is Titanium Dioxide rather far down the list of ingredients so perhaps Guerlain didn’t think it right to mention there was any SPF which may lull people into a false sense of security. I experienced no untowards reactions to the cream and if anything, I think my skin liked this one. Uh-oh 😛
Has anyone tried the Guerlain Abeille Royale Day Cream? Did you like it? I don’t have the local prices but this is Guerlain which translates to luxury which in regular speak means pricey. Do you have a skincare product that you weren’t sure of initially but which you later liked or which later worked for you?
Paris B
Guerlain Abeille Royale Day Cream for Normal/Combination skin retails at US$100/30ml at Sephora.com and possibly US$150/50ml. Local prices unavailable for now.
Doncha just hate it when your skin decides to like something pricey? 😛 But if it makes me look good then well…I guess I could pass it off as an investment in myself…hah!
Sadly yes, its always a pain on the wallet. But what I’ve also found is that some pricey items don’t need much to actually work so ultimately, there is some saving. Or so I tell myself 😛
i too like skincare in glass very much… may i ask what do u do with the empty pots or bottles…?? it’s funny i can’t find any recycling centre for glass, they only want plastic or can but not glass… Even the charity booth by the road…!!! I have heaps of glass bottles n pots from skincare to collagen drinks, but no one wants them ( i’m a hoarder… >_< ). I don't want to juz simply throw them into the trash, as i'd wash them n clear the wraping b4 i add them to my heaps…
Hmm its been a while since I emptied a jar or bottle but what I would do, unfortunately, is just toss it. There are glass recycling bins around but over here, its just not such a common thing. We can also sell glass bottles and jars to some collectors who come around from time to time.
i am going to sneak in a pixie for me to teleport this away from u
No chance of that happening 😛
The packaging is gorgeous and luxe. I am a glass lover too. And I used to LOVE SPF in my moisturisers…only to realise that it won’t do much and that a separate sunscreen is needed for maximum protection. May check this out at Duty Free when I’m off to HK in a few weeks YAY!
Yay for going to HK! 😀 The duty free is fab so make sure you spend some time there 😀 Like you, I prefer a separate sunscreen now. After all, what’s SPF15 in a moisturizer compared to a SPF30 or 50!
This cream sounds so luxurious and amazing! It’s really too bad sunscreen is separate!
It is very luxurious 🙂 I do prefer using a separate sunscreen where I can control what goes in it, but I can understand that many people would prefer that the cream covers that aspect so you don’t end up with so many layers on your face 🙂
This is what I aspire to be. An enabler of pricey skin care as how you have been the queen of enabler 😛 Each time I read your blog, I end up a little poorer but I love it that your skin and mine are sorta similar so I can just pick your brains.
In this case, Guerlain stuff definitely doesn’t work for me(Note to Bee, watch out for stash of samples from Tine) 😀
Its ok. You enable me with pricey accessories instead 😉 Sorry to hear Guerlain skincare doesn’t work for you… but that is probably a good thing 😀
Ahh, a royal jelly-based cream! I eat the source ingredient with my yoghurt in the mornings. 🙂 This cream would be much too rich for me, but I love the luxe packaging!
I’ve heard about the benefits of eating royal jelly! My parents sometimes do but I just never got round to the (expensive) habit. I think I should start – perhaps then I’ll look like I’m 20 agai 😀
I have yet to try Guerlain products, but I’m eyeing its beautiful powder for Spring 2012. Such an eye candy!! I’ll deflower my Guerlain virginity then. *waits eagerly*
Ooh me too! 😀 That Guerlain powder looks simply amazing – am definitely putting it on my wishlist 😀