Whenever I go to Europe (which is not nearly as often as I would wish), I always go to the pharmacy to look for new skincare products…the stores with the green cross on the sign outside the front door. The department stores in Europe carry the same international brands that we all know — Clinique, Lancome, Shiseido, Chanel, Dior etc. — and that we can buy in the U.S. and in the duty-free shops. But the brands in the pharmacies always have an air of seriousness, efficacy and mystery about them for me.
Lierac is one of those brands. It’s made in France, created by a French physician in 1975, and acquired by the manufacturer of the European premium haircare brand, Phyto. In the U.S., Lierac products are sold online and at CVS in the area along one of the walls in a clean white display along with other European pharmacy brands. Though I haven’t seen it in my local store, Lierac is sold at Walgreen’s as well. Lierac and the other “pharmacy” brands don’t tend to advertise in the U.S., though they have brochures and info available at point-of-sale.
Based on scientific research, Lierac products are formulated with state-of-the-art skincare ingredients as well as botanicals. And they don’t use ingredients that we often try to avoid like parabens etc. The brand has both facial skincare and bodycare product lines. The facial skincare line focuses on anti-aging products and includes sub-brand lines: Déridium (anti-wrinkle), Cohèrence (general anti-aging), Intiatic (first signs of aging), menopause-oriented products, and hydration product lines among others. Basically, they are all anti-aging, moisture-promoting products.
The first product I tried was Lierac Hydra-Chrono Extreme Balm.
On the box and jar, it says “anti-aging hydration, dehydrated skin”. My skin is dry, especially in winter, though I don’t usually think of it as dehydrated! The balm itself is a deep pink thick gel. I just love the fun color and especially gel form: even though it’s thick, it seems light when I apply it. It absorbs quickly.
It has a floral scent, like many European brands, but it fades quite quickly. Hydra-Chrono also comes in a cream: Lierac Hydra-Chrono Intense Cream, but I like the gel so much, I haven’t tried the cream. It’s priced at $50 at CVS, but with their specials and coupons, I rarely pay full price for it. I’ve seen it on Amazon from $22+. Recently, I found a jar at Marshall’s for $15, and I just saw the cream on the Lierac website for $13.
Also at Marshall’s, I discovered another Lierac product, Lierac Coherence Cou, or neck-firmer lifting treatment.
It too is a gel — this time beige in color, it goes on smooth and absorbs quickly. It is formulated to activate collagen, and contains hyaluronic acid, an ingredient that helps skin attract and retain moisture. It has a light fragrance that quickly disappears. I managed to pick up this product, typically priced at $70, on sale at $7.99. I love it, and like the Lierac Hydra-Chrono Extreme Balm, a little gel goes a long way.
At the end of the summer, I was looking for a new general purpose eye cream, i.e. moisturizing and firming. Instead, I purchased Lierac Diopti Creme Anti-Rides, an anti-wrinkle eye treatment product now in new packaging from the photo below.
It was priced at $34, though it’s currently on sale on Lierac’s website for $17. I’ve been using it on and off for about 2 months usually in conjunction with a regular eye cream that I can use on my dry eyelids, but I haven’t yet seen any reduction in my crow’s feet. I’m going to try to use it on a more regular basis to really give it a chance.
Most of the time, I cherry pick my skincare products from a wide variety of brands, and I still will. But I really like Lierac, and I intend to try more of their products.
In case you’re interested, here are some links to the products at Amazon:
