The Lancome Clarifique Dual Essence is an essential skin-prepping step before the Lancome Advanced Génifique serum. It has multiple uses on its own even as a base application: the Lancome Clarifique dual essence tones, clarifies and exfoliates all at the same time, providing a perfectly cleansed skin canvas for nutrients to be optimally absorbed.

Lancôme Clarifique Dual Essence – A Brightening Essence Review

Lancome Clarifique Dual Essence is a skin brightening essence as it is enriched with organic French beech bud extract, the key ingredient which is responsible for the brightening properties of this essence – sloughing away dead skin cells some of which are melanocytes (melanin-producing cells), as well as to make way for new cells beneath to restore and renew the epidermis layer. In so doing, this process brightens and evens out the skin tone, promoting skin radiance and clarity.

Lancome Clarifique Double Essence – A Bi-Phase Formulation

The Lancome Clarifique is a double essence comprising 97% clear French beech bud essence and a 3% bi-phase essence component of grapeseed oil and salicylic acid. Bi-phase skincare products have two compositions to them – a water-soluble part and an oil-soluble part. These two parts have to be emulsified into one solution for the skin to reap in the activated enzymatic benefits at once. Salicylic acid is a type of BHA (beta-hydroxy acid), and 3% of this component hits the sweet spot for all skin types.

Oily skin types will require more BHAs that penetrate deeper into the pores and skin layers for the treatment of acne and other skin concerns relating to excess sebum production such as clogged pores, black heads and white heads. Dry skin types will need more AHAs (alpha-hydroxy acids), such as glycolic acid, malic acid, lactic acid, etc, which helps drier skin to combat fine lines and wrinkles, reduce surface scarring by gentle exfoliation without damaging the skin’s barrier function so that moisture can still be retained. Anything above 5% of BHAs would be too harsh on dry or dehydrated skin, therefore the Clarifique double essence is generally safe for all skin types.

The way to use the Lancôme Clarifique Dual Essence is to shake the bottle for a few times until the whisk inside it becomes obscured (as seen in my YouTube short video above), that is when you know that the essences are fully combined and the product is ready for use. You may pour it into your palm and directly on your skin, or soak the essence in a cotton pad and sweep across your skin for an even distribution.

Lancome Clarifique Dual Essence Key Active Ingredients

To know how the Lancôme Clarifique Dual Essence work, we first need to break down the roles of its key active ingredients:

Benefits of French Beech Bud Extract

French beech bud extract has the ability to inhibit tyrosinase, an enzyme that is responsible for melanin production which delivers the color pigment to our skin. This enzyme inhibition ability helps to prevent the production of dark-pigmented melanin in our skin. French beech also contains natural alpha-hydroxy acids (AHAs) which speeds up cell turnover, increasing the rate of the formation of the protective skin barrier, and therefore the skin is repaired and smoothen in a shorter amount of time.

Salicyclic Acid

As mentioned, Salicylic Acid is a BHA type, meaning it delivers the key function of breaking down the bond between dead skin cells, enabling them to be removed faster, making way for new skin cells to regenerate. Apart from unclogging pores and balancing oil production, which is beneficial for acne-prone and oily skin as explained earlier, salicylic acid can also clarify our skin tone by smoothing out the skin surface through getting rid of rough bumps and blemishes.

Grapeseed Oil

Lancome derives their grape seed from Europe, of which only the purest oil is extracted. Its moisture retention and anti-oxidative properties are the key benefits for our skin wellbeing due to its rich Vitamin E, Omega-6 fatty acids and polyphenols. These nutrients help in the protection of our skin against UV exposure, free radical damages as well as skin inflammations such as itch and dryness, acne, and even viral skin infections like erythema.

Together, these active key ingredients are responsible for the brightening, repairing, strengthening and nourishing aspects of the product, resulting in a smoother textured, glowy and even toned skin.

Dual Action Boosts Enzymatic Activity

The ‘Dual Essence’ feature of the Lancome Clarifique refers to the 97 percent (clear) essence and 3 percentage bi-phase (lipidic) essence as mentioned above. Turns out that the active ingredients in the essences bring about a ‘dual action’ effect as well. We have natural skin mechanisms, otherwise known as enzymes, that constantly help to regulate excess sebum production (Lipase), as well as breaking down proteins in the process of the skin’s natural self-exfoliation and renewal (Protease) including the Tyrosinase (mentioned above) which generates melanin during a synthesis process known as Melanogenesis at the basal cells of the epidermis. If the skin produces too much of melanin, hyperpigmentation happens and causes the skin to have dark patches. The ingredients of the Lancome Clarifique Dual Essence target at the lack of or in excess of our skin’s natural functions, and work to catalyse and control these enzymatic activities by speeding up the skin regenerative process and regulating the rate of melanin production.

The Role of Essence before Serum

Just as the Lancome Advanced Genifique Yeux Light-Pearl Eye & Lash Concentrate is to be used before the Lancome Advanced Genifique Yeux eye cream in order to increase the latter’s efficacy for our under eye areas, applying the essence on the face is a critical step before the serum because essence improves the skin’s absorption of the serum’s active ingredients.

Essences are more aqueous than serums; their thinner consistency help to nourish and hydrate the skin to make the skin texture softer and saturated, conditioned to take in any nutrients that follow even faster. The presence of moisture makes the stratum corneum more pliable and permeable, and so allowing nutrients to penetrate more easily. Overall, the role of essence improves the skin’s barrier function and serves as effective vessels in the delivery of the nourishment the serum brings – which the Lancôme Clarifique Dual Essence review is to be based on.

Lancôme Clarifique Refining Enzymatic Dual Essence Review: The Verdict

Let’s talk about the experience of using the Lancôme Clarifique Refining Enzymatic Dual Essence first. If you have dry or dehydrated skin, brace yourself and get prepared for some stinging when using it for the first time. As your skin drinks this double essence up, you can feel the prickly feeling as the product gets absorbed. But this unpleasant feeling lasts only for a few seconds before a better sensation takes over. The tautness before was gone, and the skin instantly feels more relaxed. No sticky or oily residue at all, just soft, cleansed skin.

The two photos were taken 2.5 weeks apart, with the top photo shown after using the Lancôme Clarifique Refining Enzymatic Dual Essence. Don’t scrutinise too much on my fine lines and wrinkles because the ways I smiled in those two photos were different. My wrinkles and fine lines show no significant improvement at this point, or perhaps they just needed more time. This double essence is supposed to refine pores as well; that too is not noticeable in my case. What is noticeable though is that my skin tone is more even now, and also got brightened a little. The age spots I had earlier are still there but lightened. There is also improvement on the blemishes and acne scars on my right cheek.

I’ve got the Lancôme Clarifique Refining Enzymatic Dual Essence for more than a year but it was only these few weeks that I’ve been using it daily, once every night, consecutively. Given a longer period of use, I’d think this essence could result in even more advanced improvement such as refining and smoothening of my skin texture as well as further clarification of the skin. I’ll give the Lancome Advanced Génifique serum in a separate review post when these duo would be used together.

The Lancôme Clarifique Dual Essence retails for SGD$164.00 for 150ml and SGD$220.00 for 250ml in Singapore. Shop below for Lancome exclusive deals!

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