I’ve been repping Lancôme ever since I first snuck into my mum’s beauty cabinet as young whippersnapper and lathered my face in her expensive Lancôme products while she unknowingly slept in the room next door. Instead of reprimanding me, my angel mum rewarded these late-night acts of thievery by filling my Christmas stockings with Lancôme products for years to come, so I too could enjoy the benefits of a high quality skincare routine. Outside of smelling Miss Dior Cherie on a passerby, nothing recalls memories from my youth more effectively than Lancôme’s Bi-Facil Non-Oily eye makeup remover. This miracle product was the only thing that could cut through the 26384 layers of makeup I used to wear, and routinely made its way into my stocking as a result, despite the fact that one day I accidentally spilt an entire bottle of it down the drain.

But hey—we’ve gone off course here. This was supposed to be an ode to Lancôme’s Advanced Génifique Youth Activating Concentrate Serum, not a list of reasons why having children is the absolute worst. Moving on! Regretfully, for many years there was a Lancôme-shaped hole in my heart. In the quest to ~find myself~ by virtue of a solid beauty routine, I’d strayed from the brand that ensured my freckled skin shone the brightest it could growing up, but was recently reacquainted with my first love via the Advanced Génifique Youth Activating Concentrate Serum, and it’s needless to say that this truly magnifique product reignited the flame after just one wear.

As is Lancôme’s MO, the serum is made from the highest quality ingredients, with an onus on intense hydration in mind. My skin is so soft, I can’t help but creepily touch it whenever the opportunity presents itself (on the bus, in the office, making dinner, midway through conversations with friends at a bar). I mostly love that it’s not obtrusively scented, slides on like a pair of silk jammies, and is like a torrential downpour for my dry, barren skin. Rival my mum as the best fake Santa this Christmas and pop one in your loved one’s stocking. Purchase a bottle here.

Photography, Sarah Adamson.