Sisley Paris Sisleÿa Global Firming Serum

Sisley has introduced a new skin-care product. I first learned about it from Gail Sezer, Sisley pro at Saks Fifth Avenue in Chevy Chase, Maryland. Gail had received a few samples of Sisley's Sisleÿa Global Firming Serum (and gave me one) and was headed for New York for training on the new product. I was excited.

Sisley had raised the bar for skin care when they introduced Supremÿa at Night ($750). Despite the price, I have added Supremÿa at Night to my regular rotation of treatments. Anything that is a sure-fire solution for reducing parentheses (if you have them, you know what I mean) and expression lines is worth any price. If I have to go without food, I'll do it to keep wrinkles at bay. That's what happens to baby boomers, whether we like it or not! I'm not ready to have surgery or get injections. I'm holding out and using the best "potions" I can find. I would love for my skin to look like Gail's!

What Gail told me about Sisleÿa Global Firming Serum was intriguing. First, there's a reason experts tell us to sleep on our backs, not our sides. Sleeping on your face leads to wrinkling. However temporary, it's not pretty to go to work with a big pillow crease across your face. As we age, our skin loses the resilience it had when we were young. Even if you don't or haven't developed "flabby" skin, you may have seen a loss of your skin's ability to bounce back. Now, there may be a solution that will firm my skin and allow me to sleep comfortably - on my side - without buying silk pillowcases!

Sisley says that with age, our skin undergoes loss of firmness in varying degrees according to facial areas. The oval of the face and chin slacken; the neck thickens, especially on round faces; the cheeks hollow, especially on thin or square faces; and the skin gets thinner and slackens.

Sisley has studied the mechanisms that alter the skin's structure and designed a powerful combination of targeted botanical and other active ingredients to help the face recover the contours and resiliency of younger skin. Sisleÿa Global Firming Serum is said to act on all signs of loss of firmness, making the skin firmer and redesigning your face to be as balanced as it used to be.

How does it do this? Dill extract and rye extract work on firmness. Dill extract, new to Sisley's product line-up, stimulates the synthesis of the LOXL enzyme, activating elastin functions within the dermis (at least in an in vitro test). Rye extract is organically farmed and stimulates the synthesis of mechanoreceptors (effective shock absorbers) to improve mechanical resistance against gravity. The combination of tiger nut and padina pavonica extracts is promised to make your cheeks appear fuller and restore volume. These ingredients should make your skin bounce back after a "hard night's sleep."

There are many ingredients in the new serum to smoothe your skin. Organically farmed oat extract forms an effective supple and natural-feeling mesh on the skin's surface for a lifting, tensing, and smoothing effect. Four additional ingredients are included in the formula to stimulate the synthesis of collagen and GAGs and improve fiber protection.

• Peptidic soy extract to stimulate collagen
• Alkekengi calyx extract - also to help with collagen and protect against free radicals
• Willow leaf extract to fortify the elasticity of the skin
• Einkorn wheat extract for anti-glycation

I'm a firm believer in anti-glycation products. I regularly use MEG 21's fabulous products designed to fight the adverse effects of sugars in the skin. MEG 21 provided me with living proof that glycation takes its toll and that we need to include anti-glycation ingredients in our skin-care routines. I have been using MEG 21 Advanced Formula after Supremÿa at Night.

Sisley says its new serum redensifies skin and improves its tone, elasticity, and firmness. After eight weeks of use, your skin should be markedly improved. I'm willing to try that because I have found that Sisley products live up to their promises.

The serum has a fluid texture and absorbs quickly, leaving no oily film. Gail says to use it before Supremÿa at Night, which surprised me. I thought Supremÿa at Night was always supposed to go on first. You should use the new serum morning and night, smoothing it into your skin with upward strokes - even massaging it in with the back of your fingers in a closed fist. It's made for all skin types, including the most sensitive.

With a price that I understand is just south of $500, I need more samples and hope I can get them. Sisley is usually very generous with samples, which I really appreciate. They want you to see that their products work before you make an investment. That's how they hooked me so easily on the $750 Supremÿa at Night. At first I couldn't believe the price. It didn't take long for me to become a believer. It works.

Gail will have the new Sisleÿa Global Firming Serum this week. If you want to learn more about it, give her a call at (240) 497-5269. If you are local to the DC area, stop by to see her at Saks in Chevy Chase. If you're not local, but have a Sisley counter near you, you should visit and learn more about this new wonder-product.

Photo taken by me in the store from a storyboard