Marvelous Scent, Not Too Greasy Either!

This lightweight cream is decidedly for oilier skins, as it does not leave a greasy residue or make the skin an oil slick as so many do, especially as the day goes on. Not sure why they call this a morning cream, as it contains no sunscreen. Maybe it was meant to be applied before your daily spf if you are in the habit of wearing one, as everyone should, what with skin cancer on the rise! The concoction of vitamins, minerals and plant extracts makes this a very "organic" type of cream, but with a fancy label. The smell of this is amazing, sort of a green tea mixed with fresh cut grass, maybe that's what they mean by energizing, then again, I don't know how any mere moisturizer can "energize" the skin?

Besides the vitamins, minerals, and plant extracts, this product contains a dizzying list of other ingredients including fillers, water-binding agents, and additives. Long ingredient lists are not bad in themselves, but for those with a tendency towards skin irritation, they increase the likihood that there will be something in the cream that might cause a skin reaction. Despite the complexity of ingredients in this, this cream also contains a good mix of anti-oxidants and other free-radical combating components. The vitamins that this contains are as follows: vitamins A, B, C, E, K, along with cashew nut extract, as well as extracts of peach, orange, kiwi, pineapple, papaya, sesame, hops, and sage. The four essential minerals present in this cream are zinc, which has skin ailment healing abilites, manganese, which can be an antioxidant, magnesium, a strong disinfectant and sebum absorber, and last but not least, calcium which is an essential mineral for the body, though it is unclear whether it would have any true benefit when applied topically to the skin.

Clarins has apparently put a patent on their own discovery, called vitacreatine. I know that Nivea has creatine present in some of their newer creams, so I don't know how much of a patent Clarins has on vitacreatine, which may be something entirely different from creatine.....It is this vitacreatine which is supposed to be the energizing element in this cream. Clarins put one of their ingredients which is unique to the company in this cream called "anti-pollution" complex. I don't know why putting this so-called anti-pollution complex in this cream would be at all necessary, as the product already contains anti-oxidants which not only protect against free radical damage from the sun, but also protect the skin against pollutants. It is odd though that this cream doesn't contain any spf to speak of, being a "morning cream" and I wonder how much free-radical damage can really be prevented with this without any sunscreen

I personally, have not noticed any redness nor irritation after using this, my skin is oily and very good in terms of resisting irritation. The cream's aim is to restore skin's vitality to ALL skin types, though I would say that this cream better suits oily, combo or normal skins due to its rather light texture and consistency. The cream promises to bring more clarity and brightness to the skin by virtue of its vitamin properties. Color, tone and radiance will be restored with regular use, says the product info. I haven't seen any improvement in my skin's color per se, but yes, my skin does seem to be brighter and more youthful (I am 38) and we can all use some of that, right? Along with some of the very hefty claims, Energizing Morning Cream can also diminish the appearance of "all visible signs of fatigue;" I don't know, is there any one descernible sign of fatigue or are there other ways that you can look tired besides dark circles and dullish skin tone? The product doesn't say that it will help reduce dark circles either, so the "all visible signs" phrase is an odd one.

With regular use, the cream is supposed to deliver a more radiant appearance and wake up tired skin. I guess in order to give a truly accurate review, I would have to stay up for two days without sleep and use this to see whether it really did make my skin look more"revitalized" and radiant. I don't know that this is a fountain of youth, but who knows, it may just get me going the morning with the scent alone!!