The Telegraph: The £205 cream that everyone's talking about - but is it worth it?

The Telegraph: The £205 cream that everyone's talking about - but is it worth it?

21 August 2019

"This is what proper hydration feels like"

Thanks to an A-list fan club and rave reviews, Augustinus Bader’s all-in-one cream has quickly achieved cult status. But does it live up to the hype? The Telegraph’s experts put it to the test...

Lisa Armstrong, 
Head of Fashion

When I first heard about the cream that did everything, it sounded far too good to be true. Yet even quite sensible people were getting excited, discussing it at parties and swapping results. It was like a cult. It probably helped that, like other cults – The Secret, The Brotherhood of Love, for instance – The Creams, (there are actually two, The Cream and The Rich Cream) have definite articles in their names.

Given the confusion that comes with the current trend for layering a multitude of potions on your skin, I like the idea of there only being two products. But how can a single formulation simultaneously cleanse, moisturise, reduce fine lines, purge spots and repair sun damage, which is what people were saying about this duo? And the price – £205 a bottle, each of which lasts four to six weeks. That’s £1,845 a year. As for all those celebrities rushing to endorse it: they’re probably paid.

Four weeks in, there’s no doubt my skin looks happy. But my skin likes a number of products, including Alexandra Soveral's effective organic range. So investing in this long-term is really an article of faith: will it make a difference to how my skin ages?

Since there’s no science yet that can provide a convincing verdict on two futures – one where you used The Creams for 10 years and one where you didn’t – we don’t know. But last week I met Augustinus Bader, the brains behind The Creams. He’s the antithesis of a smooth-talking snake-oil merchant, so lacking in hyperbole it’s disconcerting. As head of stem cell research at Leipzig University, he's regarded as one of the leaders in regenerative medicine. In 2008, after almost 20 years of research, he developed a gel that prevented scarring in burns victims and diabetics (those with severe diabetes often develop chronic wounds that fail to heal). 

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Annabel Jones, 
Acting Beauty Director

As a beauty editor I’m exposed to more face creams than most. Some come with impressive clinical trials, some look fancy but fall down on application, and others are just darned good value for money.

 

Then there are the rare few that go cult. In my 20 years as a beauty journalist I cannot recall a time (other than the relaunch of Creme de La Mer in 1994) that a moisturiser gained such attention as Augustinus Bader’s The Cream. The Business of Fashion recently dubbed Bader “the most googled name in skincare” and there’s a growing number of famous faces that have been posting favourably about The Cream on social media including Kate Bosworth, Courteney Cox, Carla Bruni, Demi Moore, Naomi Campbell (less convincing), Kim Kardashian West, Victoria Beckham (come to think of it, she raved about Creme de La Mer too... hmm) and supermodel Amber Valletta. Leonardo Di Caprio has been buying it in multiples. Crikey.

Is this some genius marketing trickery? I had to find out.

After all, if VB says it’s good (she’s my age and her skin glows in all the right places) then it’s worth a punt. If you eke out the 50ml bottle for six weeks then, if my sketchy maths is correct, it costs £4.88 per day. That means forfeiting my twice-daily oat milk cappuccino; it better work. The Cream has been proven in clinical trials to reduce wrinkles, fine lines, sun spots and redness in ageing faces like mine.

“Our skin’s DNA doesn’t change as we age, our skin cells merely become inactive – so we’ve developed a technology that prompts them to wake up and repair the daily damage that causes ageing,” Prof Bader explains. His response to The Cream’s eye watering cost is matter of fact. “It takes the place of your whole skincare regime,” he shrugs. For me, that entailed two cleansers, exfoliator, toner, serum, mask, facial oil and night cream. I don’t use an eye cream but it replaces that too. In the spirit of fairness I vowed to use only The Cream for a full month.

“What can I expect at the end?” I asked Prof Bader. “The more you use it the stronger and more immaculate your skin will look,’ he professes. Immaculate?! If only.

After a fortnight, it had taken on a softness that, I’m not kidding, felt as smooth as a baby’s bottom: this is what proper hydration feels like. And as for those pesky signs of ageing, I can report that my pores have shrunk and radiance has improved.

Is it worth giving up my cappuccinos? There are cheaper super creams that have good science behind them,but I will tell you this: I’d struggle to go back to my former multistep routine. My wash bag is lighter and I’m wearing less make-up if nothing else. Even if it’s just in my mind, I feel younger since using it.

And for the first time since my 
thirties I’m receiving compliments about my complexion. So yes, dammit. I’m sold.

Read the full article at The Telegraph