For decades beauty enthusiast everywhere have been debating the age old question; is expensive skincare better? I am a huge lover of cheap cheap gang gang beauty products but I have been known to shell out a my coins for higher end products that provide proven results. High end and Hotel SPA, and tons of celebrities swear by luxury skincare and I wanted to truly give it a try and see what all the hype is about.

One thing to note, I purchased this entire collection in June 2019 with my own money and this post is not sponsored. Today I am sharing my honest thoughts on the collection and luxury skincare.

This is the Vine Vera Reservatrol Vitamin C Cleanser. It retails on their website for $176.00 CAD.

Firstly, I truly enjoy the packaging of this skincare line. It feels very sturdy and luxurious in your hand. My favourite type of packaging in the air-tight pump bottles which their line features so that’s always nice. The other products, the morning cream and the mask are jars, but you can use a spatula with them to avoid contamination.

I was super excited to try this cleanser because it has so many raving reviews. As soon as I pumped it out onto my fingers, I was so nervous to use it. reason being that it is very fragrant. It is the most fragrant product out off all the items I tried. I am not one for a strong scent. It irritated my skin badly and gave me a rash and bumpy skin from just two uses. I had to stop using the entire line and go back to my Gentle Skin Restoring Routine to calm my skin before trying them again. I still think it is a good cleanser, it feels very nice and creamy on the skin, it is a gel so it does suds up but it doesn’t leave your skin feeling stripped. It also washes off really nicely, leaving your skin feeling hydrated. Using my toner afterwards, there are no remnants of any left over makeup on the cotton round.

Like I said, I really wanted to like this cleanser because of the Vitamin C Boost it gibes to the skin but I couldn’t stand the scent. Personally, I don’t tend to reach for products with added fragrance because of this very reason. I wouldn’t recommend this if you’re dealing with any existing skin irritation, inflammation prone, acne or sensitive skin.

This is the Vine Vera Reservatrol Carberet High Potency Cellular Peel. It retails on their website for $390.00 CAD.

This product is gel consistency, and is very light weight. As you rub the product in, in circular motions it starts to ball as you can see in the second photo. This is the product gently peeling your skin. It’s honestly like no other chemical peel I’ve tried. When you are done, your skin feels so smooth, a little squeaky clean but the products you apply afterwards soak in extremely quickly. Typically when you put on moisturizer, it takes a moment to rub the product into your skin. But with this, my skin just soaks up the thickest moisturizers.

The directions do state to use the product 2-3 times a week, and by doing so, I have seen my dark spots lighten. I always say that sometimes you don’t notice your skin getting better because well, your see yourself every single day so you’re not going to notice those subtle differences. I was looking through my photos since May before I started using the line, comparing it to now, in September, and I can see a huge difference. I know that this peel had something to do with it, because over the summer, I was focusing more on controlling the oil in my skin and wasn’t using anything in particular to get rid of dark spots. I should be, but I don’t want to approach my skin harshly when trying to get rid of dark spots. So this is truly the only thing that I have used in terms of exfoliation. I also notice using the product, the “balling” that appears is not a much as it was when I first used it. This is because I am exfoliation on a weekly basis, properly.

It is so gentle, yet so powerful. It is pricey but it is worth it.

This is the Vine Vera Reservatrol Chanti Revival Serum. It retails on their website for $580.00 CAD

I was very excited to try this serum because it is made with both Reservatrol and Vitamin C.

It took me a while to figure out how to properly use this item. It is a serum but I found that it isn’t very hydrating at all. It almost gives your skin a silicone coating which makes it feel smooth but I feel as though other product (ie moisturizers) wont penetrate through this. When I used this in place of my serum, my skin felt tight and dry. There was just no hydration in my skin. I read a little more and the instructions say to use it on top of your moisturizer. Which still gave me the silicone feeling. To be honest, I really did not like this serum by itself. I do enjoy using it with the mask which I will get to in a moment but by itself, I really did not find it did anything for my skin other than clog my pores.

This is the Vine Vera Reservatrol Chanti Thermal Morning Recovery. It retails on their website for $580.00 CAD

This cream…. This cream! The claims of this product are that it is for mature skin to reduce signs of aging and dry skin. Its most noteworthy ingredients are Reservatrol, Olive Oil and Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1.

Firstly, I like that this cream has a very mild scent. As mentioned, most expensive skincare tend to be loaded with fragrance. While I did smell something it did not give me any irritation. I did enjoy this cream. I have combination skin and in the summer, it is more on the oily side of the spectrum. I don’t find that this is too oily on my skin, it almost leaves the face matte. In the summer this is great.

That being said, as we get into the colder months I didn’t find it was enough moisture to keep my skin moisturized throughout the say. I started adding two drops of my facial oil onto my fingers, and used it together. I found that for the day the lines on my forehead and between my brows became plump and not as visible but it wasn’t anything lasting. Also, on the note of the dryer consistency of the product, I really don’t know how it would truly moisturize dry skin as me with combo skin, I found it was not enough. It did feel very nice on the skin though.

This is the Vine Vera Reservatrol Chanti Thermic Mask. It retails on their website for $905.00 CAD

This mask is by far the most expensive mask that I have ever used. That being said, we’ll focus on what it does before I talk about whether its worth it or not. This masks claims to target signs of aging, dry skin, improve skin tone and texture.

When you first apply the mask to the skin with the provided spatula, you get this instant warming sensation. It feels as though you have a heat compress over your skin which is really soothing. It is formulated with both Aloe and Sweet Almond Oil so its no wonder it calms the skin. I used this mostly during the fall season when it was starting to get drier and colder so I did notice that it did wonders for my combo skin. I tend to get really dry around my mouth and cheeks but the oil stays through every season on my forehead and around my nose. I found this in addition to the exfoliator helped any dryness I was feeling.

I was instructed to use the serum with the mask to enhance the warmth but I found it de-activated the product (making it cool down again) so I stopped using the serum with it. I found that my skin looked plumped and moisturized even after washing it off. I have been getting fine lines around my brows so this helps to keep them in check. I do actually like the mask a lot but I think that $900 + is just too much.

At the bottom of the jar, I did not see any lasting change to warrant the price tag. Its nice to try luxury skincare (if you have the coin) but to be honest you’re not missing that much.

Overall

So… is luxury skincare all that it is cracked up to be? Some of the products worked great, but also half of the products I tried did not really do anything for me. Now this could be because I am still considered to have “young” skin. I am not yet even in my 30s (I am in my mid-20s) but it’s never too early to use fine line prevention products. I do already notice that I have lines starting to form on my forehead, around my eyes, my nasolabial lines (smile lines around my mouth) deepen when I am dehydrated. But like I mentioned, a lot of these products are loaded with fragrance which is not something I like at all.

I still have some favourites, being the Thermal Mask as well as the Chemical Peel however, I’m sure you can find something similar at a cheaper price. I would still re-purchase the Chemical Peel because I like it that much.