If you know me, you know that my love for Victoria Beckham Beauty knows no bounds. And, trust me, that is something I’m really ashamed to admit because everything is so insanely expensive. Sure, I’m more than happy to give a £100+ product a glowing review for its results, but for me personally (who absolutely does not have a spare £100 to spend on skincare) the price of a product is a total deal breaker, because no beauty product is worth any sort of financial stress.
So please do keep the above disclaimer in mind as I work my way through my feelings about the new Cell Rejuvenating Priming Moisturizer in Golden. You see, when Victoria Beckham Beauty launched last year, I fell head over heels for the makeup products. The buttery eye shadow palettes (which by the way look and feel like absolute works of art) were love at first sight and the silky liners are now permanents in my collection. And the truth is, I can face spending £48 on a luxury eye shadow palette. It might pain me a little bit, but I am a beauty editor, which means my spending habits do naturally tend to lean towards beauty products.
However, only shortly after my love affair with VB Beauty makeup began, a new skincare product came on the scene. Formulated in collaboration skincare maestro Professor Augustinus Bader, the Cell Rejuvenating Priming Moisturizer contains Bader’s patented TFC8® technology that is responsible for giving his own brand’s The Rich Cream cult status. Sold as a priming moisturiser designed to plump, increase radiance and even out skin tone and texture, VB Beauty’s first foray into skincare was hyped and warmly received. However, I have to admit, I wasn’t a fan. While I deem the skincare ingredients themselves to be seriously impressive (TFC8 really does help to promote healthy skin through repair and renewal), I find the thick, rich texture a little too much for my oily skin, and I feel as though it blurs the lines between makeup and skincare a little too severely. Oh, and it costs £140 for 50ml.
With that being said, the next skincare launch did grab my attention. Upon launch, the Cell Rejuvenating Power Serum was without a doubt a hardworking, highly efficacious skincare product. I reviewed it, fell it love with it and literally finished my last drop this morning. Whereas I probably wouldn’t be happy to adopt using the moisturiser as a regular skincare product (it just feels too thick to be doing my skin any good), the serum quickly became one of the best skincare products in my line up. It heals, soothes and reinforces my skin barrier like little else. But will I repurchase another one for £180? Absolutely not.
And so we arrive at today, which marks the latest skincare launch from Victoria Beckham Beauty. When the new Cell Rejuvenating Priming Moisturizer in Golden arrived at my door I was a little disappointed. I knew that a big skincare launch was on the way and finding out it was just another version of the one VB product that I didn’t actually like was a little disappointing. Upon unboxing it, it looks absolutely no different to the original. It’s still the same sleek, chic tortoiseshell design packaging with a handy pump dispenser. However, upon dispensing the product onto the back of my hand, my interest piqued.
Unlike the original, the new Golden formula has, what at first appears to be, a glowing, golden pigment tint. However, when you start to work the moisturiser in, any sign of a pigment disappears and it simply leaves skin glowing, radiant and beaming in a way that so few pigment-free products are capable of doing. In fact, the finish is so beautiful that as soon as I realised what I was dealing with, I slathered it over my entire face. And oh my word, did it not disappoint. In fact, I’d say I pretty much fell in love there and then.
I love glowing skin. I like my skin to have a bronze-looking glow all day long and any product that helps me achieve that while looking natural is an instant winner. And this product is just that. As far as ingredients go, it contains all the same skin-loving technology as the original formula to help support cell turnover and radiance. The main addition, however, is that the new Golden shade contains amber, bronze and white light-reflecting pearl to boost glow and radiance, and there is no pigment in there, so matching skin tone isn’t a worry. Any of the bronzy-looking colour that comes out of the tube is only a result of the pearl, meaning it disperses into a sheer, translucent veil.
To tell you the truth, it really took for this formula to come my way to understand what it is that I disliked so much about the original. For no-makeup days, Cell Rejuvenating Priming Moisturizer in Golden will be my absolute go-to, whereas, with the original, I simply couldn’t justify having a separate pre-makeup moisturiser that didn’t change the appearance of my skin instantly enough to justify its existence in my daily routine – and especially not for £140.
The new formula, however, although it is still very much being pushed as a skincare product, has a whole bunch of other benefits that encourage me to look at it in a new light, literally. The glow is unreal and my skin looks naturally healthy, radiant and luminous. It’s almost like a healthy skin filter. And those added pearls that bring such aesthetic benefits place this product firmly in my makeup routine, as opposed to my skincare. To me, it’s simply seriously skin-loving makeup prep, and I’m down with that. Will I repurchase for £140? We’ll see.
