Our ‘up to 1/3rd off French Pharmacy’ promotion is in full swing, and if your stories are anything to by by, you’re hoarding enough micellar solution and thermal water sprays to last a lifetime! We love hearing your tales of the products that you love so much, so we thought we’d tell you about some of the ones that we swear by. From skin healers to magic make-up, here’s what team Escentual can’t live without…

Lauren

Favourite Product: Vichy Aqualia Thermal Fortifying & Soothing 24hr Hydrating Care Serum
Having combination skin, I didn’t think I would need a product that hydrated my skin but sometimes my skin can feel tight, especially with this cold weather. I use it every evening before I put my moisturiser on and it makes the world of difference. I find that my skin is softer and my moisturiser is absorbed better, meaning minimal wastage. Plus you only need a tiny amount of the serum to cover your whole face.

Matt

Favourite Product: Vichy Aqualia Thermal Rich 48 Hour Hydration

I am currently on medication that leaves my skin dry and very easily irritated, after trying a few other moisturisers and finding that my skin was becoming dry, red and sometimes flaky by about lunch time I tried this and wow, I could not believe the results. I use it daily in the morning after my shower and shave and my skin stays soft and hydrated all day long. I found the results were immediate and after a few weeks of use I have found my skin no longer feels dry and tight after washing. If you have dry and sensitive skin I could not recommend this product more.

Emma

Favourite Product: Vichy Dermablend Dermasmooth Corrective Foundation and Bioderma H2O Crealine Micellar Solution

I’m going to cheat and tell you about two of my absolute essentials. The Dermablend Dermasmooth Foundation in 15 Opal is my perfect foundation: full-coverage yet lightweight, with up to 16 hours of wear and a truly seamless finish. Seriously, it’s like a more awesome second skin. I’ve repurchased this so many times since first discovering it and I rarely wear anything else.

Another favourite is the Bioderma H2O Sensibio Micellar Solution (formally Crealine). This is incredible for my skin, and I know a lot of other people rave about it, too. After cleansing my complexion is normally blotchy and pretty angry, but this cleanser calms it and still manages to take off all my make-up – including the long-wear Dermablend! It doesn’t make my skin feel tight or dry, and it feels so refreshing after a long day of wearing make-up. I’ve recommended it to everyone I know (including my rosacea-prone mum).

Alan

Favourite Product: La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Skin Recovery Accelerator

I heard about Cicaplast through beauty blogs and how people had found it a great product for healing scars. It’s main use is to help heal sensitive skin, after a chemical peel for example. Now I don’t have these but I’m always injuring myself in some way or another.

Recently I’ve been using this every day on a post-op wound that I have that has stitches. Now, I didn’t use it on one half and leave the other half of the scar natural to test it, but I’m a firm believer that this has helped the healing time significantly. The surgeon was more than happy with the speed it was healing over!

I haven’t tried it on older scars to see if it helps them fade away. It seems to be a bit hit and miss for this use. Though I found it definitely helps fresh ones to heal more quickly.

Gem

Favourite Product: Vichy Normaderm Deep Cleansing Gel, Vichy Normaderm Purifying Astringent Toner and Vichy Normaderm Anti-Imperfection Hydrating Care

I love these three products and since discovering them a year ago they have become part of my daily routine and I couldn’t live without them. I prefer to use them all in the evening so that they can work their magic over night without being disturbed by other products.