ROAD TEST: "I tried Lancôme's Génifique serum for a week to see why it's a cult favourite."

In Mamamia’s Road Test series, real women road test the latest trends, treatments and techniques you need to know about - and share their honest thoughts. If it's out there, you can bet we've tried it. 

Over the past week I've had the delight of trying the Lancôme Advanced Génifique Serum, and I'm pretty sure I'm the only beauty editor to try this cult favourite so late in the game. How awkward!

It's one of those iconic products loved by so many, and I've invariably heard people banging on about it since forever. There's SO much hype around it. But, yeah - I've never been able to get my hands on it to try it for myself (read: it's ALWAYS missing from the beauty cupboard).

While it's been kicking around the beauty block for a while now, the latest version of this serum has been updated with a slew of fancy ingredients.

In addition to a combo of hyaluronic acid, brightening vitamin C and nourishing ceramides, it also features a powerful complex of seven pre and probiotic fractions that work to strengthen your skin’s barrier and microbiome (the ecosystem of microscopic 'good' bacteria that keeps your skin healthy and balanced). Together, these ingredients help to improve things like texture, radiance, elasticity and firmness.

Clever little thing.

Sounds pretty good, right?

Teeny tiny detail, though... a 30ml bottle will cost you $105.

It's steep. We know. But serums are probably the one area (treatments aside) that are worth spending a decent amount of cash on. Just sayin'.

To find out if this fancy serum is really worth its cult status, we break down the details - including what it is and if it actually works.

What does Lancôme Advanced Génifique Serum promise?

To put it short: LOTSA good things.

As we mentioned, it's laden with millions of these lil' skin-loving probiotic fractions, which are meant to have a really positive effect on the skin.

Lancôme Advanced Génifique Serum promises to promote healthy-looking skin by visibly reducing redness, strengthening the skin's barrier and protecting skin from the environmental assaults of everyday life ('cause, 2020).

Image: Supplied. 

After just seven days of using the serum, the serum is meant to give you visibly younger-looking and more radiant skin. After only one bottle, it says ageing skin will look visibly rejuvenated with the skin's recovery improving 77% faster.

Neat, but how do they know all this stuff? Did they just make it up?

Nah. The brand ran a clinical study on the effectiveness of the serum on 34 subjects over eight weeks. So, if you're more of a numbers person (hello, we didn't see you there!), the results are broken down below:

- Radiance +52%
- Skin texture +57%
- Resiliency +49%
- Skin elasticity +50%
- Firmness +48%
- Sagging skin +46%
- Fine lines -42%
- Wrinkles -46%
- Skin clarity +47%
- Even skin tone +42%

So, now you know what's in this cult serum and what it promises to do, wanna find out what it's like to use?

My Lancôme Advanced Génifique Serum review and verdict.

OK. I've been road testing this serum for a week now - slapping it on morning and night after cleansing (and before moisturising), and keeping a close eye on any changes that I might see.

But first, I should probably tell you what my skin is like, hey?

To give you a bit of a background, I would say my major struggle right now is the persistent redness and dryness (particularly on my forehead and around my nose). My skin texture is also not ideal. Cute.

You see, I did a real number on my skin a while back when I threw on approximately WAY too many acids, consequently messing up my skin barrier. Since then, I've struggled with joyful things like redness, flaking and sensitivity. Not ideal.

So, while I don't need too much anti-ageing stuff just yet (I'm in my late 20s), strengthening my skin barrier and making my skin look bright/healthy/alive again are some things I would really like to get out of this product.

All right, I'll stop waffling on. Maybe.

Here are my thoughts:

First up, the bottle obviously looks and feels bougie as hell. It's weight-y, shiny and the dropper magically offers the correct amount of serum *every time*.

In terms of the formula itself, I found it to be delightfully non-sticky and far more pleasant to use than many of my other serums (who will not be shamed at this point in time). It felt luxe. And I liked it. A lot.

Image: Supplied 

While I usually notice ol' mate redness or at least a slight twinge of irritation after applying most skincare products (heyyy messed-up skin barrier), I was surprised to find my skin felt really comfortable, soft and happy post-application. 

Win!

In fact, I thought my skin looked pretty freaking good right after application. It looked 10/10 clearer and more even, smoother and just way more radiant than it usually does. 

Now for my 'proof'. 

Here's what my skin usually looks like:

Image: Supplied 

And here it is post Lancôme Advanced Génifique Serum application:

Image: Supplied 

Look at her, all glowy and smug.

Instant results aside, after using the serum over the course of the week I started to see some really nice changes in my skin.

I noticed that the persistent dryness and flakiness around my nose has completely racked off (just to be clear, I'd been using a hyaluronic acid serum before trialling this, and it seemed to do absolute zilch for this concern) and my forehead now feels smoother and softer than it has in ages.

My skin is feeling hydrated, soft and supple - and this feeling actually lasts throughout the day.

I'm finding that my foundation is now sitting on my skin nicely and not flaking off my face or clinging to dry patches ('cause there's none to cling to... HA!). I also feel like I don't need to go in with a concealer to tackle those red spots around my nose, because my skin looks pretty even and isn't acting all irritated and bitchy, for once.

Keeping in mind that I've only been using this guy for a week, I think my skin is looking brighter, healthier and feeling way less sensitive - which is a major plus for me.

Overall, I think this Lancôme Advanced Génifique Serum is a really nice serum that pretty much anyone could use. While I can't speak for tackling wrinkles, I can honestly say this serum packs a real punch on the brightening front, and it's perfect for those who struggle with dull, uneven skin (me).

I'm truly quite impressed with the results I've seen so far, and I'm really keen to see how my skin compares over the next month or so.

Results aside, it's such a luxurious-feeling serum that it takes your usual, boring ol' skincare routine and turns it into a fancy ritual. Which I'm a real sucker for.

While making a decision to splurge on an expensive product isn't exactly easy (especially now more than ever), I can honestly see why there is so much hype around this cult favourite serum. Because there's nothing quite like a skincare product that actually ~works~.

Have you tried this cult serum before? Share your experience with us in the comment section below.

Feature Image: Supplied.