TRIED & TESTED: "I'm a Gen Z beauty writer, and I need to talk about this skincare product with 8 uses."

There’s nothing quite like a global pandemic to get you obsessively into skincare. 

I mean, working from home for days on end with no makeup on and extra disposable income — from no longer drinking your coffee and eating your avocado toast out — was a recipe for buying (and then drowning yourself) in a hundred different skin products in attempts to create some excitement in your life.

My face constantly looked like a glazed doughnut due to all the different creams, lotions and masks I had on rotation. However, I learned the hard way that my skin hated all the product switching (and let's not even talk about how my bank account looked at the end of this little venture).

Entering some version of normality out of home, I was forced to take a good look at what skincare products I actually needed, and not just aimlessly purchase whatever fancy new thing was trending on TikTok.

I knew I needed to invest in staple products that were proven to actually work, and wanted to simplify my beauty cupboard with multi-functional products to save myself time and money.

And that's precisely where the Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream comes in.

This magical little tube has nestled its way into both my skincare routine and my heart. I’ve been taking it everywhere the past few weeks, and naturally, I need to tell you why this product and I have become joined at the hip. 

To begin with, there’s just something so delightful and fun about its classy red and white packaging. Every time I pull it out, it has me feeling like I’m Blair Waldorf getting ready to meet Chuck Bass on top of the Empire State Building.

The balm itself is a deep apricot colour that smells and feels luxurious to apply, like someone has bottled up the elegance of New York’s Upper East Side and popped it into my handbag. 

You know those products you genuinely feel excited to put on your face every day? Well, this is one of those.

Image: Supplied.

It makes sense why this glorious little tube has wowed me so much though. 

For starters, it was created by Ms. Arden herself, and has retained cult status and stood the test of time since its initial release in 1930. 

Which, for context, is SEVENTY YEARS BEFORE I WAS EVEN BORN. Crazy. 

It’s also won over 100 industry awards, including the Gala Spa awards and Elle Beauty awards, and was named a ‘Department Store Icon’ in 2016, so I’m definitely not the only one who thinks it’s a product worth talking about. 

I mean, compared to the last memorable accolade I received, which was a merit certificate in primary school for ‘always trying my best’, this cream is seriously impressive.

Image: Supplied.

Let’s get into the nitty gritty of how it actually works. 

For starters, it’s named Elizabeth Arden’s Eight Hour Cream for a reason, because (you guessed it) it claims to calm, protect, and hydrate the skin for up to eight hours.

This is due to its special blend of petrolatum, which performs as a skin protectant, and the inclusion of the antioxidant, Vitamin E, which helps protect the skin from free-radical damage. 

The cream also contains salicylic acid and a beta hydroxy acid which gently exfoliates to reveal smoother skin. Apparently Elizabeth Arden was one of the early pioneers of salicylic acid seventy years ago, and now it’s become one of the most recognised and widely used ingredients in skincare!

But the part that truly got me hooked? Not only does this cream last up to eight hours, it also has eight uses. 

Yep. Eight. 

Remember earlier how I said I wanted to simplify my skincare routine with more multi-functional products? Well, turns out this is exactly what I was looking for. 

Let me walk you through all the ways I've been using it.

1. To save my skin from dryness.

The cream protects skin from everyday conditions like drying wind, central heating and air conditioning. 

It soothes, restores, calms and helps relieve minor skin irritations, including roughness, redness, chapped, cracked or dry skin. Which is great if you’re like me and get super dry elbows!

Image: Supplied.

2. To add a little bit (or a lot) of shine.

It’s found in the top makeup artists’ kits worldwide for a reason.

The Eight Hour Cream can add shine to eyelids, cheeks, lips and legs for a serious glam look. It also helps give your skin that light and dewy look we're all so desperately after.  

I’ve especially loved putting it on my lips to add some shine to my makeup on a night out. It helps elevate the overall look to give it that extra bit of oomph. 

3. To level-up my eyebrows.

Let's face it: we all love a good brow, but mastering the perfect routine to nail that can be... challenging. But luckily we've got this little product that does all the hard work for us. 

All it takes is a dab to smooth eyebrows and create a perfectly defined arch that will stay in place all day. 

I loved how natural it made my brows look after I brushed them up with this!

Image: Supplied.

4. To treat my feet.

You wouldn't have thought it, right? 

But yep, the cream soothes and smooths rough heels and soles, which is particularly useful in the coming colder months.

5. To condition my cuticles.

Nails are the one thing I have trouble upkeeping. Manicures are always so time-consuming so my nails (and cuticles) tend to get a little neglected.

Well, the cream not only helps your skin, but can also soften rough, dry cuticles to keep them smooth, supple and beautifully manicured.

Image: Supplied.

6. To sooth my skin after the sun.

Not that it’s been very sunny recently, but its nourishing ingredients make it the ideal after-sun treatment to relieve minor sunburn and calm dry, irritated sun-exposed skin.

So you bet when the sun does finally shine, I'll be lathering this up on my body to relieve any signs of potential sunburn. 

7. To make flights that little bit easier.

With borders opening up and people taking trips again, flying can leave skin looking and feeling dry and uncomfortable.

This intensive hydrator helps to boost your skin’s in-flight moisture level wherever you go.

8. To give me the smoothest legs in all the land.

This cream calms irritation, reduces redness and leaves legs super-smooth and silky-soft after shaving or waxing treatments.

I feel like this cream has become my secret all-in-one beauty hack, staying in my handbag from work, to university, to dinner with friends and everything in between.

Keen to get your hands on the cult beauty product that has eight different uses? Grab the Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream here.

Feature Image: Supplied.