I personally have the fondest memories with Guerlain Orchidée Impériale range as the products literally made me go Wow about 10 years ago. As I've mentioned several times in my previous posts, my grandmother has been a loyal Guerlain Orchidée Impériale user since it was first launched, she started incorporating La Prairie into her skincare mainly because the kind counter manager moved to La Prairie XD. Haha, it's actually crazy because those Guerlain counter manager in the department stores and also duty free shops know my grandmother very well as she buys on a regular basis. Yes, she's the celebrity there :P (joke)
Anyways, I stayed at my grandmother's over the holidays when I was younger, and I used to get quite bored when she was out. So I sort of experimented her expensive skincare products daily as I was just curious why she uses so many! :3. When I was doing experiments on my face, I never knew how expensive they were, oopsie >_<. (Oh, grandma, please forgive me!) And those main victims were, in fact, Guerlain Orchidée Impériale products. I just thought the scent and the packaging were just very bling bling, totally my style. So I sneakily tried them for about two weeks while I was staying at her place. Oh my, my pimple marks were noticeably fading and most of all, the dark circles around my eyes disappeared and my under eye area looked much fuller! Haha, I was still a teenager, but I could still tell what the difference Orchidée Impériale products had made to my skin O_O. Even my grandmother saw the huge difference in my face that she actually got very glad that I seemed to rest very well there. Haha, she will never know that there was a hidden secret, other than happiness and good food ;).
And the pleasantly surprising experience has also significantly contributed to my passion for tech charged skincare along with La Prairie, which has led to starting to discuss those products on my blog here over the past few years.
Regardless, Guerlain added Orchidée Impériale Black Cream into their prestigious Orchidée Impériale Collection about 5 months ago, and my sister has been asking me about my thoughts on the new cream as she is an Orchidée Impériale user. And here's how I feel about the cream after trying for a few months.
Scent & Consistency
The scent of the Black Cream isn't anything unusual as it smells very Guerlain-like, which is mature floral with a slight powdery hue. It's interesting because their products are quite fragranced like Chanel, but their scent is way more subtle than Chanel. Their skincare range never once gave me a headache, which is very nice. If your skin is sensitive to fragrance though, their products are not the best options nonetheless.
The texture is very Orchidée Impériale: generic dense creamy consistency. It's also fast-absorbing and penetrates into skin quick just like other Orchidée Impériale products.
Once you start massaging in, it feels slightly rich, but as it gets fully absorbed, it leaves skin satiny smooth neat finish. It's a pleasant transition and there's almost a bit of firming sensation along the mid face zone too. The finish is light that I had no problem using it even during my monthly.
That's one of the main reasons why my older sister who's in her mid 30's loves to use it as she's a busy career woman/mother of two children who has no time to wait for her skincare products to be fully absorbed before putting on her make-up every morning. I'm pretty sure that some of you might know what it feels like when you are in a rush :P. And that's what makes Guerlain Orchidée Impériale Black Cream stand out amongst its competitors as it's very adaptable to different skin types with different weather conditions.
Technology
The Orchidée Impériale range by itself is all about cell longevity in a word. Orchidée Impériale Black Cream is basically powered up with skin youth preserving benefits by boosting its self-defense mechanism, which is also ultimately improves cell longevity. I have seen different products from their competitors, but many of them in fact quite often lack in firming benefits. Or they can sometimes focus too much on environmental aggressors that they may just look a bit superficial as they don't work from the core. Nevertheless, Guerlain launched Orchidée Impériale Black Cream to train skin to become more resilient against skin aging factors, which I consider to be one of the most important features to look for in a skincare purchase.
After more than 15 years of research, Guerlain Research reveals the Orchidée Impériale Black Cream – a masterpiece of sensoriality and efficacy – enriched with the Blackimmune technology™ that comes with all the strength and power of the Black Orchid to help reinforce the skin’s self-defense system*. With every application, the skin becomes more resistant. Continuously protected, it can concentrate on revitalizing itself to combat all signs of skin aging: wrinkles appear to fade, the skin's texture is more refined and facial contours look more defined. The skin is firmer, more supple and unbelievably radiant.
*In vitro tests on ingredients
A total satisfaction : 100% of women who tried the product are satisfied*
Skin is protected against external agressions and effect of time for 97% of women
Immediately smoothed out wrinkles: -42%**
Skin looks younger for 100% of women*
- *Self-assessment test, 60 women, 1 month of use
- ** Instrumental test, 15 women, immediat result after application
Full ingredients
AQUA (WATER) • NEOPENTYL GLYCOL DICAPRYLATE/DICAPRATE • GLYCERIN • COCOGLYCERIDES • PENTYLENE GLYCOL • JOJOBA ESTERS • BEHENYL ALCOHOL • CYCLOPENTASILOXANE • GLYCERYL STEARATE • SODIUM ACRYLATES COPOLYMER • DECYLOXAZOLIDINONE • SODIUM STEAROYL GLUTAMATE • THEOBROMA GRANDIFLORUM SEED BUTTER • ORCHID EXTRACT • HYDROGENATED POLYISOBUTENE • PHENOXYETHANOL • BUTYLENE GLYCOL • ACRYLATES/STEARYL ACRYLATE/DIMETHICONE METHACRYLATE COPOLYMER • DIMETHICONE • CAPRYLIC/CAPRIC TRIGLYCERIDE • AMMONIUM ACRYLOYLDIMETHYLTAURATE/BEHENETH-25 METHACRYLATE CROSSPOLYMER • PARFUM (FRAGRANCE) • AVENA SATIVA (OAT) KERNEL EXTRACT • HELIANTHUS ANNUUS (SUNFLOWER) SEED OIL • PHOSPHOLIPIDS • POLYGLYCERYL-10 STEARATE • TOCOPHERYL ACETATE • SODIUM HYALURONATE • SODIUM CITRATE • DIPALMITOYL HYDROXYPROLINE • HYDROLYZED SOY FLOUR • ADENOSINE • ALOE BARBADENSIS LEAF EXTRACT • BIOSACCHARIDE GUM-1 • BHT • T-BUTYL ALCOHOL • PALMITIC ACID • LINALOOL • CENTELLA ASIATICA LEAF EXTRACT • CITRIC ACID • MAGNESIUM ASPARTATE • ALTEROMONAS FERMENT EXTRACT • CITRONELLOL • GERANIOL • ALPHA-ISOMETHYL IONONE • LIMONENE • POTENTILLA ERECTA ROOT EXTRACT • TOCOPHEROL • FAEX (YEAST EXTRACT) • GERANIUM ROBERTIANUM EXTRACT • SANGUISORBA OFFICINALIS ROOT EXTRACT
Effectiveness
Its lightweight finish indeed makes a great make-up base during the day time under my sunscreens and CC cushions. Unlike some other luxury skincare brands at a similar price range, Orchidée Impériale Black Cream doesn't seem to encourage to produce excessive sebum throughout the day. That doesn't mean that it controls oil production, but it just doesn't make it worse. As expected, it never broke my skin out even during my monthly, which is a good news as I normally tend to stick with Atopalm Intensive Moisturizing Cream (full review) in Winter when my skin can get a bit more sensitive.
To be honest, the other Orchidée Impériale products do deliver results fast. However, you can tell the difference even after a night with the new Orchidée Impériale Black Cream. My skin felt visibly smoother upon touch, and my overall face looked more toned and firmed as days went by. I didn't see much brightening, but my skin never looked dull, so I guess that the cream worked just fine. After a few weeks when I confirmed that it doesn't give me any sensitivity, I started pairing up with different skincare products to see if they boost the benefits of the cream.
Tips
Orchidée Impériale Black Cream works great with the products in the same range and even by itself. Those with combination to normal skin will be fine with only using the cream, but you will need extra for drier skin. As my skin tends to get more dehydrated and dry in Winter, here are some of the ways that solved the problem and even better, I found their benefits complement each other that I've noticed positive results.
1. Dry Skin: Mix with a few drops of Face oil or Layer the oil over the cream
- Kahina Giving Beauty Argan Oil (Overall hydration boost and skin protection / All skin types)
- May Lindstrom The Youth Dew Hydrating Facial Oil Serum (Skin repairing and powered skin protection)
- Kahina Giving Beauty Prickly Pear Seed Oil (Added regeneration and soothing benefits / Great for sensitive & dry skin)
2. Dehydrated Skin: Layer First Essence underneath
- Estée Lauder Re-Nutriv Ultimate Lift Floralixir™ Dew Regenerating Water (Deep hydration)
- Sisley Sisleÿa Essential Skin Care Lotion (Dense gel lotion)
- Sisley Ecological Compound (Emulsion)
- Estée Lauder Micro Essence Skin Activating Treatment Lotion (Slightly dense liquid)
3. Mature Skin: Pair it with Anti-aging products
- Guerlain Orchidée Impériale Longevity Concentrate
- Chanel Sublimage L'Essence Fondamentale (Ultimate Redefining Concentrate)
- Sisley All Day All Year Essential Anti-Aging Day Care (Collagen protection)
- La Mer The Lifting Contour Serum
- La Prairie - The Skin Caviar Collection (Treatments, Serums & Creams) (Lifting & firming)
- La Prairie Anti-Aging Rapid Response Booster (Anti-wrinkles & smoothing)
4. Stressed Skin: Incorporate Detox products
- Guerlain Orchidée Impériale The Night Revitalizing Essence (Detoxifying Essence)
- Chanel Sublimage L'Extrait & L'Essence (Oil serum & concentrate)
- Sisley Sisleÿa-Elixir (Fast absorbing gel concentrate)
Where to buy
- Nordstrom (Free shipping & samples)
- Saks Fifth Avenue (Free shipping & samples)
Recommendations
- Cellcosmet CellLift Cream (VS Crème de La Mer/ Hormonal Aging/ Menopause)
- Guerlain Orchidée Impériale Brightening The Imperial Radiance Mask (Sheet mask)
- Guerlain Orchidée Impériale Mask (VS Chanel Sublimage Masque/ Hormonal aging/ Menopause)
- 7 Luxury Beauty Tools that Boost Efficacy of Your Skincare & Make-up (My Beauty Secrets/ Gift Ideas)
- La Prairie Cellular Cream Platinum Rare
- Estée Lauder Perfectionist Pro Rapid Firm + Lift Treatment with Acetyl Hexapeptide-8 (Serum)
