Clé de Peau Crème de Massage

Last week, Chris Coles at Nordstrom gave me a generous sample of Clé de Peau Crème de Massage (Massage Cream) ($120). It has really come in handy in this horrid weather.

The Massage Cream provides major moisture while promoting resilience, firmness, and smoothness. The result? A hydrated and radiant complexion. When your skin is plump, those fine lines disappear. You feel moist and supple, and you look good!

Although you could use the Massage Cream every day, it's more appropriate as a weekly treatment. Use the Massage Cream in place of your usual nightly face treatment. The directions say to apply after cleansing and balancing the skin with toner. Smooth a generous amount of cream over your face using gentle spiral motions. In other words, give yourself a gentle facial massage with the cream. After that? Blot your face with a tissue if you need to remove any excess cream.

I have used it before bed. My face absorbs all of it, so that tissue blot is unnecessary. I go to sleep with a creamy face and wake up looking refreshed and hydrated. My skin appears to have better circulation after I use it. Was it the massage or the cream - or both? I'm not sure, but I like the effect.

The ingredients include squalane (hopefully from a plant source), petrolatum, glycerin, jojoba, palm oil, arginine, and botanicals. Clé de Peau references its ingredient "TC Complex," which helps neutralize the enzyme plasmin, an element that can deactivate vital skin proteins and disrupt the cell turnover cycle. The literature on the relationship between plasmin and your skin is complex, so I won't explain that further. TC Complex is also said to help retexturize skin while reinforcing its ability to resist damage.

The Massage Cream isn't just for us dry types. Chris has very oily skin, and he loves it. I'm sure glad I tried it. I've got about two treatments left, so I'll be saving up for my full-sized jar!

You can find Clé de Peau's Massage Cream at some Nordstrom stores (Tysons Corner Center has it) and Neiman Marcus. It's also available at a few online sites.

Photo courtesy of Neiman Marcus