This article contains affiliate links. We will earn a small commission on purchases made through one of these links but this never influences our experts’ opinions. Products are tested and reviewed independently of commercial initiatives.
In the quest for neverending youth, I’m prepared to slather my face in whatever is claimed to work wonders on everything from fine lines to flakes.
So when a cream touted as ‘the one that works’ entered the chat I was listening.
Augustinus Bader’s The Rich Cream may be one of the most famous skincare offerings out, with a celebrity client list the length of my arm and seemingly the be-all and end-all of luxe skincare.
It claims to erase fine lines and crows feet and plump up the skin, with celebrity fans among the likes of Victoria Beckham, Jennifer Aniston, Margot Robbie, Kim Kardashian, Meghan Markle and Charlize Theron. It also came out top in WWD Beauty Inc’s The Greatest Skincare of All Time list in 2021.
Its founder, Professor Augustinus Bader, is a German-born biomedical scientist, physician and leading expert in the field of stem cell biology and regenerative medicine, so we suppose he may know what he’s on about, with The Rich Cream formula said to be backed by 30 years of research after the scientist looked into treatments for burns patients.
So when a tube landed on my desk just begging to be trialled for your viewing pleasure, dear reader, I opened it immediately, ripping through the box like a kid on Christmas morning.
First thoughts? The cream itself is gloriously silky, it truly feels like a rich cream – not just a clever name – and it spread well when applied.
I have dry, sensitive skin and I began using it morning and night to really get the most out of it. In fact, it’s suggested you ditch all other active skincare while using The Rich Cream, so my vitamin C serum and retinol are currently on hiatus.
After seeing the effects coming through two weeks in, amid a fastidious routine (yes, even when getting home from the pub at Stupid O’Clock), I’m contemplating using it just in the morning now, because I’m going to race through the bottle faster than you can say ‘refill’ and I’m not ready to run out just yet.
Putting it on dry skin is a little harder to manoeuvre and I definitely found when used on a damp face (I spritz my face with a witch hazel mist – this one, to be specific – in an attempt at skin flooding) it covered more ground and I got more bang for my pump. Two pumps was all I needed, which gave me about a 5p-size of product. I’m going to take it down to one pump, as I think that’ll still cover enough face.
But you want to know if The Rich Cream works, don’t you?
I’m two weeks into using it morning and night, now, and because I’m looking at my face every day, I didn’t notice any wildly dramatic overnight successes apart from a nice glow, but the compliments from others suggested the cream is working its magic.
I’ve made sure The Rich Cream is the only new weapon in my arsenal, so seeing as not only my partner has pointed out how good my skin is looking, but colleagues (yes, plural) have also remarked on my evidently fresher visage, it seems the hype is real with this one.
While I reckon my forehead’s fine lines appear less angry my ’11s’ are holding firm – really, the only thing that’s going to get rid of those is a shot of anti-wrinkle you-know-what – so I can’t enthuse the cream is the fix-all, miracle-worker some proclaim it to be.
What it has done, though, is give my face a lovely feeling of moisture and nourishment and, despite my collection of actives being put on pause (which have also admittedly given me a slightly damaged skin barrier) I still feel a certain ‘bounce’ to my complexion. It feels healthy. It feels, well, it feels rich.
It’s my own form of quiet luxury, if you will.
Plus, it goes beautifully under makeup and doesn’t pill when I put my sunscreen on.
Augustinus Bader The Rich Cream
As you’ve probably already gathered, this stuff isn’t cheap. It’s not even expensive as far as ‘expensive’ skincare goes. This is a proper splurge and many would label it hilariously steep for a face cream.
Per 50ml you’re talking £225 (or 30ml for £140). So, you really need to be deep in the pockets to be forking out such a fine penny for your face.
Will I buy another bottle once this one dries up? Not unless I do a Mia Thermopolis and find out I’m heir to the Genovian crown, or something. Yes, sadly I don’t have a spare £200-ish on one single skincare product, but if I was packing those sorts of funds I’d certainly consider it as a regular in my routine. In fact, I’m quite jealous of those who can rock it year-round.
Trials by the brand, which claimed users saw forehead wrinkles visibly reduced by 37% in four weeks, crow’s feet reduced by 54% during the same time, and skin felt 92% firmer and 110% more elastic, suggest I need a couple more weeks to really reap the full benefits of usage, so I’ll be holding film and continuing with my routine, but I can already vouch for feeling firmer and more elastic. So that’s a tick there for expensive creams.
Sorry bank balance.
Much like the likes of La Mer’s Creme de la Mer, Augustinus Bader’s The Rich Cream is one of those luxury additions that is almost like a statement piece for a bathroom cabinet brag. So I’m glad I’ve come out the other side agreeing it’s a pretty nourishing cream (let’s check-in in a fortnight, though, eh?).
If you’re not after some heavy renovating and simply want a good quality (great quality, even) cream that could minimise some finer lines, plump skin and give a glow to drab texture, and you can afford it, I say go for it. And buy me a bottle while you’re at it.
Check out The Rich Cream here.
Source: Read Full Article
