Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Capsule’s All About Capsules – Why Ceramide NEEDS To Be In Your Skincare Regime

Kelly Bertrand tries out Elizabeth Arden’s newest capsules on the block!

Capsule x Elizabeth Arden

“How is this so SMOOTH!?”

Welcome to my first time trying out Elizabeth Arden’s new addition to their famed Ceramide capsule collection and yes, your girl is excited.

It’ll come as no surprise to anyone reading this that at Capsule, we bloody love capsules – more specifically, powerful, effective little ones that promise to change the game when it comes to skincare.

Ooosh, do we even need to go on!?

Well we will – especially when the product we’re talking about is a serum designed especially for those of us who have combination or oily skin (if you’re one of us you’ll know about the struggle of finding something lightweight AND that works!).

It wasn’t that long ago that us elder millennials would avoid serums and moisturisers if we had oily skin – we were using our dialup for Bebo, MSN and Limewire, not googling ‘skincare you need to know about and will thank yourself for when you’re 32’.

But of course, we now all know better but it still doesn’t mean that all serums are your best friends. And now, keeping harmful stuff OUT of our skin is just as important as putting the good stuff in. Oh, and getting those pesky pores as teeny tiny as we can!

It’s all about balance and barriers

As I’m getting older and (debatably) wiser, I approach skincare like I do fitness (well that’s not entirely true, I have a skincare regime… walking to the dairy for chips counts as fitness eh). What I mean is that I’m not focussed on being skinny or suspiciously un-lined; rather, it’s about health and how I feel – strong, balanced, (relatively) sane. And I want my skin to reflect that.

A big part of that for me, is rebalancing my complexion. I have frustratingly combination skin in both texture and colour – those red splotches that just won’t go; weird patches of different textures, and the tendency to just be a little dull.

So in order to combat this, I gave Elizabeth Arden’s new Advanced Light Ceramide Capsules a go – here’s what happened.

(Please note that while this is part of an ongoing partnership with Elizabeth Arden, all opinions are my own).

Ingredient highlights:

  • PHYTOCERAMIDES: Mimics most abundant and important ceramide for nourished & strong skin.
  • CYCLOPEPTIDES: Supports collagen within pore walls; tightens and improves skin texture.
  • HEMISQUALANE: A light emollient that controls excess sebum.

What they say:

“Powered by skin strengthening Phytoceramides and pore-perfecting Cyclopeptides, this serum absorbs quickly to strengthen skin barrier, refine pores, and rebalance skin complexion. After one capsule, skin is 28% stronger, nine out of 10 women saw a dramatic reduction in visible pores. After one-week, stubborn lines are visibly reduced. After one month, 100% agree skin feels healthy, looks luminous, and retexturised.”

What I say:

I’ve used Elizabeth Arden products for a long time, so I’m already a big fan of ceramide capsules. There’s lipids in the skin that work to bind our skin cells together, and as we age, we naturally lose them (what’s new). By the time we’re in our 30s, we’re already down 40% of them, so topping them up ourselves with our skincare is essential.

And of course, this leads into the idea that we need a strong skin barrier – good stuff in, bad stuff stays out – so these little babies are perfect (and of course, being sealed individually means all the ingredients stay pristine, rather than lose their effectiveness with oxidisation or contamination).

This serum is a LOT lighter than the other ceramide capsules in the range, which I’m loving (especially in this 100% humidity – the last thing you want is your skincare dripping off your face). There’s a generous amount in each capsule – I use some of it on my neck and decolletage – and it’s a luxe experience in of itself. And you can feel safe in the knowledge that the capsules are 100% biodegradable too, which is a huge plus! 

It works instantly to blur pores, which is great if you’re applying foundation or anything else to the skin – my foundation looked fantastic over the top, almost like I’d done that face shaving thing.

After a week, my skin was softer for sure, and had a brightness I normally get on a tropical holiday. Natural skin radiance is hard for me to achieve, so I loved the helping hand.

After almost two weeks, my little lines are still there, but softened somewhat, and I swear that little red patch of bumpy bits seems to have chilled out.

But the real positive for me is a renewed confidence in my skin – you can’t really put a price on that glowy, healthy look and it’s something I can see in the mirror right now.

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