Product Review: Lancôme High Résolution Refill-3x™ SPF 15
Lancôme High Résolution Refill-3x™ SPF 15, 1.7 oz, US$75.00
God knows I adore Lancome’s mascaras, but when it comes to skincare, I had yet to have any success with any of the Lancome products. If we complain about the strong perfume scents from Korean skincare, wait till you try Lancome’s skincare! Even if some of the more basic items like cleansers aren’t half bad, the fragrance is way too pungent for me to like using them. And I normally don’t mind having a little nice smell to my cleansers (just not anything that’s supposed to stay on my skin).
I did not buy this, by the way, it was a gift, so at least it wasn’t as painful as it would have been for me (and my wallet). Because this is an anti-wrinkle product and I have it in full size, I decided to give it 3 months before I review it. To be honest, the length of time didn’t matter. I always believe that some brands are better at doing skincare or makeup but not both, and Lancome fits right under that category. I like Lancome’s makeup (especially the mascaras), but as far as skincare goes, it’s just loaded with lots of silicone (fillers) and perfume.
This is supposed to refill wrinkles within one hour and boost the synthesis of elastin, which will make fine lines, wrinkles, and imperfections less visible and the SPF15 will protect the skin from daily UV damage. First of all, the one hour claim is just bogus. I did not notice the slightest bit of difference in my fine lines on my forehead over the 3 months I had been using it, let alone one hour; and the SPF 15 is completely inadequate as a daily sunscreen. I needed to use my IOPE Sunblock White (SPF47 PA+++) over this (or any other higher SPF).
The scent is irritating and unpleasant. It’s highly artificial and worse than some of the other Lancome skincare fragrance. It literally gave me a headache for the first hour or two (it has major hang time!) before either I got so used to it I didn’t smell it anymore, or it dissipated after 2 hours or so. Scent is one of those highly personal things, mind you, but this one definitely isn’t a nice kind of fragrance.
After 3 months, I didn’t see any difference. It is also not a good hydrator either – just lots of silicone to fool you to think that it makes your skin smooth. Even though it is noncomedogenic, I did notice a bump or two in my ‘apple zone’ (under eye area close to the nose) – so I did not use it in that area to avoid breakouts. I mostly used this on my forehead and this somehow made my skin look rather oily* and I needed to use blotting paper a few times a day while I used this.
Bottom line: Lancome is really much better at makeup than skincare, and so far, none of the Lancome skincare products I had used had proven me wrong!
*I tested this separately without using any other sunscreen over it to see if it was causing the oiliness, and it was.
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Arthur
April 20, 2011 at 9:47 am (765 days ago)Same with Yves Saint Laurent products, the strong, and I say STRONG smell stays on your skin for quite sometime. I felt like I doused a bottle of cologne on my skin. My GFs who use YSL mascara says that it’s perfume-y.
I have used Lancome’s Blanc Expert and was highly disappointed with its performance. The last product line I tried from this L’Oreal brand was Genefique, which is another disappointment for me. L’Oreal’s drugstore versions of Lancome-like products actually has a better, less pungent smell.
I am starting to tolerate Korean herbal smells from products like Whoo, SooRyeHan, Sulwhasoo and Iope. I thought that the heavy smell of Ginseng found in Sooryehan’s Hyo line was the most potent I have tried in a Korean brand, but after a few minutes, it mellows down into a sweet, slightly musky(?) smell.
I gave up on L’Oreal brands including HR and Biotherm more than a year ago. I do find myself walking in from time to time to the Kiehl’s flagship store in NYC because my hubby uses their Facial Fuel line.
My faves are the Korean brands from LG and AmorePacific. My current love is SooRyeHan Seonyu Aqua Essence and Aqua Cream. Love Love Love K-Cos! It was your reviews that I valued that led me into using Korean products. Thank you Joseibi.
Joseibi
April 20, 2011 at 10:54 am (765 days ago)Dear Arthur,
Thank you and I am glad you tried the Korean products and like them! I still like J-brands too but mostly use their makeup now and use Korean skincare. That way I still get to use both!
Add Givenchy to the list of perfumey brands…I have a lip gloss from Givenchy and the scent gives me a headache!!!! Anna Sui (made in Japan) has perfume added to their skincare and makeup, it is a little strong but because it’s a rose scent (which I like) I don’t mind it. But for the most part I prefer my products scent free.
I also used Lancome’s Blanc Expert right after having my baby! I had the entire set, more than $300 worth, what a waste, it did nothing and it was completely useless. They spent so much on marketing and yet none of their skincare products actually worked. I tried Genefique too, another useless product. Most of it was just silicone!!! The only thing I like about Lancome is their mascaras.
For some reason I cannot stand Sooryehan’s Hyo line…the smell is too bitter! I like their basic line though (Boyun cream is very nice and not too greasy). I remember ogling their packaging when I first sold the line on this website, so pretty (with the legendary Xishi as its muse)!
I used Biotherm in my younger days before I discovered J- and K-brands, the only good product is the Aquasource gel cream, the rest is…well, you know. I don’t mind Kiehl’s, my husband uses some of their moisturizers and I had used their rich body cream which were all pretty good. It’s one of the more decent western brands and I like it also because it’s not perfumey!
Do you buy the K-brand online nowadays?
Arthur
April 20, 2011 at 12:31 pm (765 days ago)Lucky for me, when I want to shop in person, I have a few stores that carry K-Cos. The Face Shop now has 4 locations in NYC. There’s 2 LG stores that sells popular brands like Whoo, O Hui, Isa Knox, SooRyeHan. There’s 2 The Amore Stores that carries AP, Laneige, Sulwhasoo, Iope, (some) Mamonde, Lolita Lempicka and Etude. There’s also Bergdorf and Sephora that carry AP and Sulwhasoo brands. For the brands that aren’t available here like su:m37, then I go online (Royal Beauty, Day Beauty and USA Cosmetics) to purchase.
Joseibi
April 21, 2011 at 11:17 am (764 days ago)Dear Arthur,
Lucky you!!! I’d love to have me some LG stores here. We have Jasper Cosmetics but only one in my area, and they don’t carry SooRyeHan or Isa Knox…I am pretty amazed how many Korean skincare and makeup stores there are in the US too. Wow.
I used Mamonde when I was selling it back in 2005, the floral scent was very very heavy but the products aren’t bad. I used one of their cucumber packs (gel masks) which was really nice. The Amore here seems to be more successful, they have more locations than Whoo (Jasper is the only one that carries it), some of the Amore branches (half of them in my area) are in Chinese malls and operated by Chinese, the Korean locations are far more generous with their samples.
I am guessing you have been using mostly Korean skincare now, eh? Or do you still use some western brands like Erno Laszlo? I haven’t made my grand return to J-brands yet, except for eye makeup, I got so many samples from royalbeautycosmetics with my order that I have yet to try anything else hehehe.
Dana
April 22, 2011 at 2:43 pm (763 days ago)Hi Joseibi,
You’re right about Lancome’s products with too much perfumes/fragrance. I used to work for Loreal (parent of Lancome) as a process engineer, and I did sometime making batches for Lancome, so I know they put a lot of perfume/fragrance into their products. And that’s one of the reasons why their products are more expensive than Loreal (besides their packagings). Their perfumes are very high qualtiy and thus very expensive.
Btw, love your blog, it’s where I found out about the History of Whoo.
Do you have any thoughts on Sansim line. I tried them for a week and my skin looks extremely smooth and bright. Thanks
http://hankookcosmetics.com/product_details.php?category_id=115&item_id=176
Joseibi
April 26, 2011 at 11:29 am (759 days ago)Dear Dana,
Wow, so I guess the price difference is from the perfume, it’s too bad because some people stay away from the perfume nowadays! Thank you so much for contributing your feedback, it’s good to know these things from a real insider!!!!
I haven’t used Sansim but some of the other readers here have. So many things to try, eh?
With all those choices I find it hard to repurchase something. I think the only things I had repurchased so far are the HoW Seol toner and lotion set, and SKII FTE. I am always game to try new stuff! 
beautyknot
April 26, 2011 at 1:56 am (759 days ago)I agree Lancome is much better at makeup than skincare, their anti-age series are too much exaggerated. The best skin care stuffs that I had tried from Lancome are their cleansers, makeup remover and HydraZen Neuroclam moisturizer. But for the hefty price, there are other better options out there actually. Their “silicone-feel” skin care gives me an impression of cosmetic-like, too much unnecessary additive if read through their ingredient list. Sigh, I really love the Golden-rose print.
Joseibi
April 26, 2011 at 11:52 am (759 days ago)Dear beautyknot,
I was once lured by that golden rose insignia!! they also paid a lot for celebrity endorsements too. I used to buy Lancome because of the then very beautiful Isabella Rossellini. I am such a sucker for these things!