Okay kids, prepare yourself as this is a loooong introduction to my experience of Obagi Skincare. I’ll be reviewing the full routine when I’ve been on it for around 6-8 weeks, and I’ll also do another follow-up once I’ve been on it for 3-4 months, but this post is just an introduction to the products I’m using, alongside my first impressions of all of the products and the range in general. I’ve known about Obagi for years, but I’ve always been a bit nervous as the Obagi products are known for being extremely transformative, which means that there’s a period at the beginning where your skin is going through drastic changes which can be a bit scary. However, it felt like the right time to give the Obagi routine a go, and I’m fortunate to be working with a PR who is leaving me to work myself into the routine without any pressure.
I popped along to Rita Rakus in Knightsbridge to have a consultation and find out what products I should be using to address my main issues, which include dryness, dehydration and pigmentation. I was given a routine that was loosely based around the Obagi-C Rx System for normal to dry skins (there’s an Obagi-C Rx system for normal to oily skin type too) that consists of the C-Cleansing Gel to use morning and evening, then the morning routine consists of the Professional-C Serum 15%, then the Hydrate Facial Moisturiser followed by the Sun Shield Tint Broad Spectrum SPF50. My night routine consists of the C-Cleansing Gel followed by the C-Therapy Night Cream and Hydrate again. As I’m prone to dryness and this is a pretty active routine, I was also given the Hydrating Complexion Corrector from the Rosaclear System just in case my skin starts getting too angry, but so far I haven’t had to use it.
I’ll get the negatives out of the way first: the Obagi range is phenomenal – some of the very best skincare I’ve tried – but the packaging is terrible! Not only is it incredibly dated, it’s also a bit of a pain to use; the C-Cleansing Gel container makes it hard to limit how much you squeeze out, so wastage is a bit of an issue, the C-Therapy Night Cream has to be squeezed out of a tube that doesn’t really like to be squeezed, so it’s a bit like banging ketchup out of a bottle – you hammer away at it and nothing comes out for ages, then suddenly a big splodge appears providing much more than you needed – and the Professional-C Serum bottle leaks, which is particularly unhelpful for a product that needs to be kept away from air and light. Having said all that, it’s very much worth the effort as the products are incredible. I’m not a massive fan of the cleanser, but the Professional-C Serum 15% is easily the best Vitamin C I’ve ever tried; you know how Vit C serums can feel dry and unpleasant on the skin whilst leaving a residue? This one goes on like a dream, has a gorgeous consistency and gives skin the most phenomenal glow – I always find Vit C serums a nuisance under make-up but this one just lifts skin so well that it looks amazing. Speaking of products that are great under make-up, the beautiful Sun Shield Tint is a fantastic SPF with a subtle tint that sits really well under makeup – no bits or piling here – and I think eventually I’ll be able to get away with wearing it as my only base product.
The C-Therapy Night Cream is a very powerful skin lightener containing Hydroquinone, hence the need to see a specialist as you can’t buy the product without a consultation. I actually started with the C-Therapy Night Cream for a few nights first and the difference in the morning was very impressive; the texture and pigmentation quickly improved after a few days and improvements are still very much ongoing. You hear some horror stories about the transformation phase with Obagi as many people report extremely dry skin that’s neon red and flaky (but they persevere because the end game is so strong!) but thankfully, so far, my skin has only struggled a little bit with dryness, some sensitivity and a little bit of itching (and no breakouts, which is a big surprise!) none of this is so awful that I feel like I have to hide my face, and interestingly you can’t really see any of these issues when I have make-up on, skin just looks glowy and fabulous – I already feel like I’m well on my way to my best skin yet, so I can’t wait to see how it all looks in a few more weeks! Find out more about the Obagi-C Rx routine here – link – where you can also find your nearest practitioner. I went to see the extremely glamorous Dr Rita Rakus who can you find out more about here – link.
*PR Samples
