Hydration Does Not Mean Stickiness! (L'Oreal Men Expert 24 hr Hydrating Balm)

Member Name: Nar2

Product:	L'Oreal Men Expert 24 hr Hydrating Balm
Date:	27/07/09 (157 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cool looking and practical sized bottle, looks like it could work; nice scent.

Disadvantages: It doesn't work and it's not worth the £6

Amidst some facial products I use from time to time I like to return to labels that promise much by their reputation who have a range of products designed for men with cheaper prices and doesn't prevent me from having to continually visit department stores. Over this past year I've been using up my Clinique For Men products to make way for cheaper alternatives that do what they set out and do it better without going over £10! As such not only am I currently using L'Oreal's Men Expert Comfort Max moisturiser but I've also tried out a few other potions along the way including their 24 hr Hydrating Balm, a latter word I don't personally like as it either reminds me of lip balm or the stuff funeral directors use to cast up the dead!


At £5-95 bought from my local supermarket for a 100 ml size bottle, this oval shaped plastic bottle is as well designed as it can be for a man; easy to slip into a sports bag as well as looking professionally masculine dripping in silver paint injected plastic with a hip and loud orange banner above its flip top, it couldn't be any more sporty if it tried.


The product has a lot of claims however and with my experience of L'Oreal a lot of it is a lot of old hoof! The product for example claims to have been designed for men who have skin different to women no less and is "weakened by the daily ordeal of shaving." Ordeal? Not quite, L'Oreal but one of necessity to prevent any man's face feeling like sandpaper. Against how much time L'Oreal have investigated and researched men's skin and how these have "...evolved at every stage of life..." (Yeah, right: keep taking the collagen pills!) all this product promises is a 24 hour softness to keep skin moisturised/hydrated and without feeling dry. Less of the marketing and more of a realistic approach would help L'Oreal here.


Upon dispersal the white cream that oozes out of this is thin and milky and has a gloopy thin consistency that I wasn't expecting. Certainly over the five times more expensive priced products I have used from the Clinique For Men, range, their moisturisers that I use tend to feel thicker upon application as well as lending a velvety smooth feeling with it. Here this product reminds me a bit of cleansing milk rather than an actual moisturiser and when applied it prickles softly around just wet shaved or dry shaved skin. However whilst I was expecting my skin to feel glowing, my face started to feel like the kinds of effects I get when I sometimes meet my neighbour's cat and I don't have my Benadryl/Antihistamine tablets with me.


Such a feeling where the skin starts to prickle and feel uncomfortable wasn't another aspect I was expecting with this product. After half an hour my skin changed from feeling soft to feeling sticky rather than a cure for dryness and feels very similar to sun protection sun tan milk when it is left on my face i.e. wash it off quickly and start again!


L'Oreal state that an ingredient called Ceramide 5 has been added to this product and it claims that this additive soothes and restores skin. However in light of the prickling effect I wouldn't go as far to say it soothes. Amidst the hype there are no indications to suggest the product is hypoallergenic or dermatological approved and if Ceramide 5 is an acid then that perhaps answers my own question.


The scent however is quite fresh, very much geared to men's aftershave and doesn't come over as overly cheap - unlike their moisturiser which to my mind smells like pencil sharpenings.


Twenty-four hours later however and my skin feels dry to the touch without any actual stickiness yet there is no smooth suppleness evident. Around the moustache line and on my chin where I get a lot of dry skin, this 24hour hydrating balm seems to ignore the condition easily even though it claims to help dry skin. How it repairs my face I can't quite say or tell even when looking at my complexion either; it doesn't sink into skin very well and for some patches can reveal shiny areas. Certainly if there is one aspect that has worked then it points towards my face not feeling stretched or tired, but I could say that about a number of facial products that I have used geared towards the feminine market!


So for me, the 24-hour hydration doesn't work. It gives me some abrasion and an uncomfortable feeling and for a product that has supposedly been researched at every man's evolving life, I guess L'Oreal need to rethink how they go about collecting research. For the price it is simply not worth the trouble and effort and that's a great pity for a product that has been specifically designed for men after shaving to feel comfortable and hydrated. More often than not all I feel is that I've been ripped off. Thanks for reading. ©Nar2 2009

Summary: L'Oreal need to do more research and stop the sticky feeling this cream leaves behind.