Anne Semonin skin care to launch at Liberty

I mentioned briefly that last week I was invited to an Handpicked Media/Liberty event to introduce a skin care line that Liberty will soon be stocking. Anne Semonin is a french skin care brand that specialises in customising skin care to suit the individual. It has been going for over 20 years, sold mainly through international spas, and is launching in the Liberty Beauty hall at the end of March 2010.

The core of the range are paired sets of Intensive Complexes made up of an Essential Oil blend and a Trace Elements blend, which are used together as the default night time treatment, and to customise the other skin care products in the line. The brand literature states that these are sold separately in order to preserve the purity of the active ingredients (you blend a few drops of each together before each use.) There are different pairs for firming, moisturising, balancing and soothing (plus a body care pair for draining.)

The moisturisers are intended for day time use, but do not have any sun protection in them. I was quite surprised by this, as regular use of an spf is widely regarded as one of the most beneficial things you can do to help the skin age as gracefully as possible. The Anne Semonin trainer and therapist at the event explained that this is because the addition of an spf would compromise the efficacy of the active ingredients, and that they recommend using a simple sunscreen on top of the moisturiser if you need to. I know that some of my makeup ladies at www.emakemeup.com have expressed frustration at how difficult it is to find a day moisturiser that doesn't contain sunscreens in it (they're sensitive to the chemical sunscreens most commonly used) so I think this isn't necessarily a negative point for this brand. I do think that when you have a range that contains essential oils that are potentially photosensitising in it you should have some kind of sunscreen available though, and I hope that the brand considers adding a light sunscreen for use over their moisturisers soon.

If you like brands like Decleor and Darphin, then Anne Semonin would be an excellent brand to look into, at around the same price point. In my opinion it allows for more customisation of products than either of those brands, but at the same time also allows for a simpler routine; you can use the same Trace Elements and Essential Oil blend as a night time treatment and to customise all of the other products in your routine to suit your skin condition.

We were each given a couple of skincare items to test out; I've been using the Toning Apricot Kernel Oil  (on its own, as my night treatment) for a few nights now. This is a special program treatment that is used instead of the Intensive Complexes occasionally, and the Toning Oil is designed for skin that has been overexposed to the weather/sun. It smells fresh and citrussy, sinks in very well and leaves my skin feeling soft and smooth in the morning, and I find it quicker to apply than a heavier cream. It's the time of month when I'd expect my chin to breakout if it was going to, but my skin has been very well-behaved and clear with this product. It costs £36 for 30ml.

I'm most interested in finding out what Essential Oil/Trace Element pair would be best for my skin, and the four masks in the line also look interesting to me. Have you heard of Anne Semonin or tried it before?

Disclaimer: the product mentioned in this post was given to me without charge as part of an event bag.