We interview many celebrities here on the GH beauty desk, and often ask them the question: which is the one beauty product you buy on repeat?
The answer that comes up more than any other? Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream, £29.
Amanda Holden, for instance, recently told us that as well as loving it for her lips, she also uses it on her kids. “This is the one beauty product I’ve bought on repeat throughout my life. I think it's great as a lipgloss (because it doesn't just sit on top of your lips like many others do); as a moisturiser; I've even used it on my children before when they've had little grazes and cuts. It's good for everything!”
And we love the anecdote that Elizabeth Arden herself used to use it on the tired legs of her thoroughbred horses to soothe and restore them.
Elizabeth Arden Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Skin Protectant – Lightly Scented (50ml)
So what makes this formula (which is, unbelievably, 93 years old this year) so good? Although it has been reformulated and refined over time, at the heart of it is, and has always been, skin-soother petrolatum and vitamin E. In its most recent iteration, these ingredients are combined with salicylic acid, lanolin and castor seed oil for a beauty balm that is so incredibly restorative it has been clinically proven to improve the skin’s barrier function in just 30 minutes.
This would explain why everyone here on the GH beauty desk swears by Eight Hour Cream as a lip-saver; as a treatment to heal and soothe windburn and irritation; as a great hydrator for our cuticles; as a creator of little dewy highlights on eyelids and cheekbones; as a tamer of wayward eyebrows... we could go on.
And if you've tried the original and can't get on with the smell, then the Eight Hour Cream Lightly Scented, £29 (formerly called 'Fragrance Free'), is worth a spin.
You can shop the cult classic here:
Elizabeth Arden Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Skin Protectant – Lightly Scented (50ml)
