How to look after my complexion was taught to me from a very early age. My Mother would despair of me, as I sneaked into her bedroom, then sit at her dressing table and open jars of her extremely expensive creams then randomly smear them all over my face. My curiosity was (and still is) overwhelming. And as you can imagine her array of colourful bottles and jars on the dressing table were the height of temptation, where I just had to open and try each and every one of them! Exasperated, my Mother decided there and then that I was ready, at the tender age of 6, to have my very first ‘beauty lesson’. What I particularly remember was the great variety of textures and fragrances which really heightened my senses. So when I smelt the selection of Gatineau products that were very kindly sent to us at The Amazing Blog; it instantly took me on a trip down memory lane. As you see, Gatineau was my Mother’s favourite brand and the very first pot of face cream that I ever tried… For those of you who don’t know the Gatineau brand, it has a very established heritage and was founded by Jeanne Gatineau in 1930’s. It has many cosmetic breakthroughs to its name and it is particularly renowned for setting a precedent and for being the ‘first’ to: (1) Launch slimming creams with iodides, (2) to do skin type profiling, (3) creating a revolutionary breast firming treatment packaged in ampules and (4) to use collagen as an anti-ageing ingredient. This is quite some record.

I’m currently trialling their award-wining anti-ageing MELATOGENINE™ range which has a unique triple defence system. Containing the ever powerful anti-oxidants and probiotics which are there to intensively moisturise, protect and balance the skin and help reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. It is ideally for 30+ age group – ‘to preserve youthful appearance’ I am using the face cream MELATOGENINE™ Aox Probiotics Advanced Rejuvenating cream which I love. It one of the more powerful skincare products from this range and probably better suited to the 40+ as it more about ‘repair’ than ‘preserve’. It has a wonderful consistency, very luxurious and rich. It has really helped to plump-up my skin which in the current weather conditions has recently taken a real beating and been quite dry and fragile. Ingredients include Biotechnological Micro-Seaweed extract for firming and toning, Pro-firmness Peptide for restructuring and refining the skin, Mother-of-Pearl Pigments + AHA derivative for restoring radiance. I have certainly noticed that when if I’m looking tired, by applying this cream, it definitely gives me an instant radiance and ‘uplift’. I’m also loving the gentle fragrance too - so I’m hooked. I’ve also been using MELATOGENINE™ Aox Probiotics Advanced Rejuvenating Eye Concentrate which offers fantastic protection and reduction of puffiness around the eye area. It’s also fabulously cooling and soothing – great for either end of the day. It also contains the Biotechnological Micro-Seaweed extract, Pro-firmness Peptides too but also has the addition of Hyaluronic acid (which as we all know helps to moisturise and reduce the appearance of wrinkles) and the Saccharomyces extract to help diminish the appearance of dark circles. I’ve then been alternating this with their Eye Concentrate with the MELATOGENINE™ Aox Probiotics Essential Eye Corrector for days that I’ve been burning the candle at both ends. It’s enriched with Marine Collagen and Prickly Pear extract which particularly helps to fill in wrinkles. Whereas the other key ingredient of Horse Chestnut extract aids the eradication of dark circles. So with this Eye Corrector all you need is just a pin head around the orbital bone/eye socket. It is great for regeneration and for helping to return my tired skin around the eye area back to how it should be…

With all these products from Gatineau I’m very happy to report that they’re not tested on animals (recent EU ruling), contain no parabens (a very big one for me!) And silicone-free. Although they are quite pricey I see them as a worthwhile investment. In fact you only have to have a quick peak at the QVC website to see all the glowing reviews to know this brand is worth every penny.