I'm a bit of a beauty addict and love to try out new products. I was lucky enough to receive a free sample of this Olay Regenerist 3-point Super Serum directly from Olay as part of a promotional campaign. You can find this product in most high street beauty stores and it costs RRP £29.99 for a 50ml bottle.

Product description: "Olay's most concentrated amino-peptide complex ever gives you firmer looking skin on the face, neck and décolletage.
+ Immediately hydrates to plump the skin for a lifted appearance.
+ After 5 days: dramatically firms the look of the skin most prone to sagging.
+ After 2 weeks: helps reduce the appearance of lines and wrinkles."

Directions for use: Using your fingertips, massage 2 pumps of the serum on the face, neck and décolletage with circular motions every morning and evening.

I received a 7ml sample size tube of this product, which was enough to last me for exactly two weeks of using it day and night. I focused on using this mainly on my face rather than both my face and neck, so if you were going to apply over both areas this would not last you for quite so long. I was more interested to see if continued use would have a noticeable effect on my skin so stuck with using it only on my face to get a better test of the product and see how it worked for me. I was curious to see if the claims of drastic, visible improvements within just 2 weeks of use would prove to be true.

The full size version of this product comes in a bottle with a pump dispenser, but my smaller version is a simple tube with a screw-top lid. I found that it had a lovely consistency that was creamy but lightweight. Upon close inspection the serum does have a slight colour to it, with gold shimmer particles dispersed throughout, although this does not show up on the skin so it's safe to apply in the morning without ending up looking covered in glitter all day! It also has a light fragrance to it that I really liked, although I am not sure how suitable this would be for those with sensitive skins that require fragrance-free products. The serum spreads well over the skin but I did need to use a fair amount to get a good coverage, and my sample was only sufficient to provide me with enough contents for 2 weeks of use on my face. I can imagine that even a full-sized 50ml bottle would not be particularly long-lasting if it were applied as recommended to the face, neck and décolletage, at both morning and night.

After using this product I can only say that I was thoroughly disappointed in it. The product description states that you should see instant results as it hydrates to give a lifted appearance. I personally didn't notice any visible difference to my skin after applying the serum. It did sink fully into my skin and was absorbed quickly, so I feel like it does hydrate skin very quickly, although that did not lead to any obvious improvements. After 5 days you are then supposed to notice a dramatically firmer appearance of sagging skin. Again, I was not seeing anything different. My skin did not look firmer, nor was it firmer to the touch. Nevertheless I was still happy to give it the benefit of the doubt and hoped that extended, repeated uses would help the product to reach its full potential. However, after the full 2 weeks with twice daily applications I still didn't notice any visible changes in my skin whatsoever. By this stage, I should have seen a reduction to lines and wrinkles, but they are just as present and noticeable as usual. My skin has only just started to show the first signs of ageing within the past 1-2 years and my lines are very much in the small and shallow category, but seeing as this serum was not even effective enough to help improve my lines I have doubts about how well it would work on anyone older who really needs an effective anti-ageing product.

On the positive side, the serum did leave my skin with a velvety soft feeling directly after each application, and my face did feel smoother and moisturised. It was also nice and lightweight so did not leave my skin feeling overloaded or clogged up, which is essential for me as I have combination skin that can be prone to oily patches, and this can get worse with heavy night creams leading to blocked pores and spots. However, I do not think that this serum offered any benefits above and beyond what I would have got from using just a basic moisturising product. I feel it was a big let down considering that it claims to offer real results, and it really did not work on my skin. I would certainly not want to pay £30 for the full size version as there are plenty of other products out there that offer better results at a much lower price.

This Olay Regenerist 3-point Super Serum is not something I can recommend and I wouldn't bother to buy it for myself. I found the claims to be a typical example of over-inflated hype and in reality the product did not live up to my expectations, nor did it seem to have any real effect whatsoever. It earns the one star for being lightweight and providing gentle moisturisation, but even though my anti-ageing needs are somewhat minimal now (being in my late-20's) this was still not effective enough - I want results that I can see!