The Beauty Gypsy Review: Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Serum

Estée Lauder’s Advanced Night Repair is home to some of my Holy Grail skincare products. Namely, the Synchronized Recovery Complex II (which I have used almost every single day for the past decade) and the Eye Supercharged Complex (whose light gel texture has become a firm favorite since it’s launch last year).

That said, it’s taken a while to get my head around the new Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Intense Reset Concentrate.

Firstly, there’s the claim that it soothes skin in just one hour.

This, combined with the hashtag #PressReset, sort of makes you think that it will give you a miraculously healthy, glowing complexion in one hour.

Sorry but NO. While Estée Lauder is great at nighttime skincare, they are not magicians. There is no product that can actually heal damaged skin in just one hour. That would be like expecting a six-pack to miraculously emerge after doing ten crunches on one isolated day. Not. Going. To. Happen.

What this newest serum does is soothe irritated skin and bring down inflammation – courtesy the addition of calming ingredients like lavender oil, barley extract and oat kernel extract.

It also plumps up dehydrated skin with 15 times more hyaluronic acid than the original Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Recovery Complex II, which makes it perfect for the times when skin is feeling particularly parched.

Then there are antioxidants like resveratrol and skin-strengthening ingredients like whey protein, to ward off free radical damage and restore the skin’s natural barrier. This is important for helping skin heal in the long term and boost its resilience against pollution, grime and bacteria.

Does it work?

I first brought out this serum after trialling an acid-based exfoliator (the ways I torture my poor skin for work!) that left my complexion red, raw and scratchy. Basically irritated AF.

Next morning, the redness was down by almost 50% and my skin felt less raw and itchy. I could step out of the house without hiding my face in a ski mask. One week of consistent use later, the redness was almost gone (almost – not quite completely). And now, three weeks after I first began, my skin is back to normal.

So, I reiterate, nothing can heal truly damaged skin overnight.

That said, hyaluronic acid can go to work almost immediately, plumping up skin by the time morning comes around. Similarly, these calming ingredients work at bringing down the inflammation in a couple of nights, depending on how bad it is when you begin.

For me, what is always more important is resetting the skin’s natural barrier and strengthening it from the inside-out. And while this took almost three weeks, the bounce-back was impressive. This one definitely goes on my nightstand for the next time my skin decides to pay me back after I subject it to a bad product. Because, knowing me, it will happen.

What’s the worst skincare disaster you have ever faced?