Devoted as I am to Marks & Spencer’s excellent beauty halls, I’ve never tried any of its own-brand skincare. I mean, why would you? Everyone has some sort of existing relationship with particular brands of skincare, lovingly formed over the years, and if you were looking to change yours, M&S’s own range is not the first, or even the hundredth, place I would have looked.
“A fortnight later, I basically have a new face
So I was surprised to have it recommended to me by a friend who works in the beauty industry but has nothing to do with M&S or its public relations. She was talking me through various spiffy new offerings from brands she does represent, and then she pushed a Jiffy bag across at me like a vegan pushing across a Big Mac and a side of nuggets. Out of the corner of her mouth, she said: “It’s M&S’s new night cream. You must try it.” Eh? I said, or words to that effect. Turns out her mum uses it and was so impressed she bought it for her daughter, who was so impressed she kindly bought it for me.
After all that, I naturally felt compelled to try it. I was expecting to find it perfectly nice and possibly better suited to maturer skins than even mine. Turns out it’s amazing. Run, don’t walk. It’s called Absolute Ultimate Sleep Cream, from the Formula range (£22). It promises eight hours’ sleep in a jar, and it’s not wrong. I tried it for two weeks over the Christmas period. It zapped every speck of tiredness, bleariness and overindulgence from my skin. Impressively, it did this from the very first application, but then it just carried on doing it, night after night, so that a fortnight later, I basically have a new face.
It isn’t just a moisturiser, obviously — it’s stuffed to the gills with peptides, hyaluronic acid and various “skin-brightening actives”, all of which are designed to make you look as perky and well rested as is humanly possible, even when you’re broken. NB: it’s not for you if you like natural skincare (even though it contains beeswax) — this is the fully loaded version. I was too delighted to care. Also, I tried it while recovering from festivities. Imagine what it does to your skin when you’re behaving normally. Gives you a facelift, probably.
The only drawback for me is that the cream, which is much thicker than I would normally use but caused nary a blemish, is highly scented, which I don’t like. I don’t think fragrance has any place on someone’s face. But I like everything else about it, especially the fantastic results. You wake up matt but supersoft, with a tautness to the skin that is seriously pleasing. You know how people are always wanging on about how X or Y really does have an effect on fine lines? This stuff actually does. It’s like a best-kept secret (see also the M&S shoe and boot ranges).
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Absolute Ultimate Sleep Cream; marksandspencer.com
#Shelfie
The actress Margot Robbie reveals what’s on her bathroom shelf
La Prairie Anti-Aging Night Cream, £162 ‘No matter how drunk I am, I won’t go to bed without it on.’
Burt’s Bees Tinted Lip Balm, £6 ‘For a little lip colour, I use these.’
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Caudalíe Beauty Elixir, £12 ‘I always have it in my beauty bag for the plane.’
Calvin Klein Deep Euphoria, £52 for 50ml EDP ‘Sometimes I see a celebrity endorsing a product and I think, “You don’t actually use that”, but I genuinely do wear this.’
Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer SPF20, £34 ‘It’s great for everyday use when I’m not going to events.’
