Intensly moiturised? Garnier's New Intensive 7days reviewed

Well what better way to follow an exfoliation blog than with a moisturising one? As with exfoliation I'm one of those people who need to make a conscious effort to mositurise so when I saw the latest Garnier product to hit the shelves and heard it's claims of "skin feeling intensely hydrated for up to 7 days" I thought - that needs to be tried!! I picked this up the other side of Christmas so it's been a while but I've been using it quite a bit to suss out how it best works... In fairness though it's been a long time coming this blog so thank you all for your patience!

The Details:
So this is Garnier's latest product in their body range and is accompanied with literally bucket loads of astrices on the back regarding their claims. Here's an overview so you don't have to squint at the small print in store:

Claim: "A consumer study shows that Garnier Body Intensive 7days Lotion is so hydrating, skin still feels moisturised even 7 days after your last application" 
Notes: "After twice daily application for 4 weeks. Consumer tests on 84 subjects, 5 weeks'

I can't help but think wouldn't most skin feel super hydrated for up to a week after a month of twice daily moisturization?? So instantly I'm skeptical I won't lie.

Claim: "Immediately, rough skin is relieved and dramatically softened. Skin is optimally hydrated for 48 hours"
Notes: "48 hr hydration instrumental test on 24 subjects"

So now I'm thinking my skin will feel moisturised for up to 2 days after each application?!


Claim: "After only 7 days of use, skins quality is dramatically improved - dryness - 49%, roughness - 25% and suppleness +26%"
Notes: "Clinical scoring on 40 subjects"




The Images:

So with dry scaly legs in mind after a winter of tights and long trousers I opted for the "Dry to Extra-dry Skin" one pictured above with shea butter in the 250ml pack.

Garnier have released 5 lotions to choose from to cater for all skin types. These are as follows from left to right:
1. Aloe Vera - Normal Skin
2. Mango Oil - Dry, Rough Skin
3. Shea Butter - Extra Dry Skin (this is the one I bought and am reviewing!)
4. Honey - Dry, Sensitive Skin
5. Coco Butter - Dry, Dull Skin



The Sciencey Bit:
Ok so there was one more asterix on the pack which I hadn't mentioned above and this is the word L.Bifidus. On further investigation around the back of the pack we learn that this stands for Lysate of Bifidus. Google this and all you will find is press releases and info about this new Garnier product that seems to attribute most of it's benefits to Lysate of Bifidus. To me it sounded like something I expect to find in my daily Actimel and actually, surprisingly, I wasn't too far off!! 

Basically this is a bacteria which is found to have skin conditioning properties and is found in a lot of high end products like Creme de la Mer Body Cream, Esteé Lauder's Advanced Night repair and L'Oréal's  Youth Code Serum. It's said to be a probiotic that makes our skin more stress resistant and protects it against environmental aggressors (Source: The B-Spot via www.cosmeticmonster.com)

There is also a rake load of oils and butters included alongside this in the ingredients list which I take it all contribute to the 7 Day moisturization effect! Garnier say "The L'Bifidus enriched formula works like a shield and helps lock in moisture."


The Conclusion:
Well I have to say I used it and loved it!  I did a few tests on it to suss out if it's many claims are indeed true. I'll be honest thought - moisturising twice a day for 4 weeks just seemed like madness and I'm guessing most of my reader's would agree! I did a 7 day test though and religiously moisturised every day after a shower for 7 days... after a few days (2-3) my skin really did feel super soft and by the end of the week I was very happy. I'm not sure about the suppleness they mention on the pack but roughness and dryness were virtually gone! This feeling lasted for days after I stopped moisturising too which definitely made the product worthwhile to me (lazy individual that I am)!! I did the ultimate moisturiser test (in my opinion) and 5 days after my last moisturisation I had a spray tan - now originally before I changed my ways an impending spray tan was the only cause that had me moisturising religiously right up to the day before - so I was a wee bit scared to say the least. I was afraid my tan would be patchy due to dry spots of skin having not moistursed but the tan cam out as good as ever and lasted a good 5 days too! This for me was amazing - usually when I get a tan I moisturise every day before and after to prolong it's life and this was pretty much matched by a product I stopped using 5 days prior to tan - AMAZEBALLS!!


My big pro would be it's super fast absorption so you can moisturise and get dressed minutes later without that horrible sticky feeling you get usually. I even used it minutes before putting on tights one day! This really makes it a moisturiser that you can easily use every day. My only con would be that the scents are limited to your skin type with only one per skin type. If you don't like it you are kind of snookered.


On a recent trip up north I did however see some new gel-creams in this range with new scents and an even lighter consistency - mega excited to see them down here in Ireland as my 250ml botttle has almost run out (first time I have ever run out of a moisturiser so soon if at all!) and I'd really like to suss out these gel ones!