Dry Skin Crisis- Vichy Laboratoires Nutrilogie 2 Cream Review

photo credit: Animal Planet 

Dear Readers,

A few weeks ago, I did a foolish thing. Let me tell you the whole story. 

We were studying skincare and facials at school, and the practical grade was based on giving facials. I let another student use the school's spa line, Repêchage. Now, for some dumb reason it didn't cross my mind that oh hey, my skin is super sensitive- maybe I shouldn't be using new products all of a sudden! DANGER, WILL ROBINSON!
I went ahead and let my classmate use the Repêchage Hydra 4 (for sensitive skin, hah!) set on me. He scarcely had time to apply the cleanser to my face before I felt a deep burning sensation begin to race across my face. 

Long story short- redness, puffyness, itchiness (thank goodness for Benadryl!) and just general pain ensued for the next few days. When that was over, I was left with the top few layers of my skin completely demolished.

I couldn't make facial expressions or touch my face without feeling that dead, stiff, scaly skin. I did in fact, resemble something close to the picture up top (though that horned lizard has much more impressive coloring). I was downright miserable- people kept telling me how bad my face looked, and I bet a few of them were itching to offer me some moisturizer. 

image from VichyUSA.com

What to do? My normal oils and moisturizers did nothing to penetrate and heal my devastated skin. Not my trusty aloe nor exfoliation do a single thing to dent that scaly mask I was now wearing. 

Enter Vichy Laboratoires (no, that's not a spelling error)'s miracle in a tub, Nutrilogie 2 Cream. ( I believe Nutrilogie 1 is lighter in texture and more absorbant than 2, for those wondering. ) I applied an ample amount on right before bed, desperately hoping that I would wake up miraculously cured of my flaking face. And I was!

When I got up the next morning, I couldn't believe the change. The cream had soothed and moisturized my skin beyond anything I had hoped for. After a light exfoliation (super light) and another application of Nutrilogie 2, my face actually felt better than it had before the whole fiasco. I can start out the day with a light application of this cream and still feel the effects 12 hours later. 

This cream is white and quite heavy though it absorbs really well. What I mean to say is that it may in fact be too rich for normal skin. It's white in color and has a faint fragrance which I didn't mind. It is the most expensive moisturizer I've tried at $29 (Mr. MakeupWithdrawal couldn't believe that skin care could cost more than $10, the poor dear. He was in fact quite flabbergasted when I told him how much La Mer creams cost, and grumbled something about how soap worked just fine) but it was a miracle in a jar for me. 

I would highly, HIGHLY recommend this if you have intensely dry skin or get those dreaded patches of dead skin during the winter. Honestly, I haven't had a single bout of scaly skin since I've been using this. I think this would also be a fantastical product if you are using an acne treatment that is severely drying your skin and need something to moisturize, stat. 

I hope you're enjoying 2011 so far! And on a side note, I've started taking pictures in sunlight of China Glaze Tronica! The only time I have to take swatch pictures are during my lunch break- so they're coming along... slowly. 

-Mimi

Product mentioned was purchased by me, for my own use.