Prettily packaged French beauty brand SAMPAR is back in South Africa, this time in Edgars once more as well as Woolies. I was given 3 Day Weekend (R250) to try and it’s a bit of an interesting cat in that it promises a healthy-looking glow but doesn’t use any self tan ingredients or a tint. Instead it claims to help your skin produce up to 32% more melanin, the pigment that gives you your colour, using a medicinal root extract and peptides.

You’re supposed to use it for seven days before you see results and I’ve been swatching it on the inside of my arm but didn’t see any colour change. I’ve read reviews from other girls online and it seems a bit hit and miss in that some will see a difference and other’s wont. This possibly has to do with the fact that I’m a super pale peep who’s melanin-challenged to begin with and SAMPAR does include a disclaimer that the results will be relevant to how much melanin your body can naturally produce at best.

If this is something you’d like to try yourself, know it’s got a divine gel-cream texture that absorbs within seconds.

I was also given the brand’s First Hands Cream (R250). Again, it’s also a lovely light-textured and floral-scented gel-cream that’s much ‘creamier’ than 3 Day Weekend. I can’t find the ingredients list but it feels like there’s a fair amount of silicone in the mix as it’s got a slight ‘primer effect’ and leaves your hands feeling ‘silky’ straight after use.

Other plusses? It plumps with hyaluronic acid in a bid to (temporarily) reduce the look of wrinkles while protecting against dark marks thanks to niacinimide. I can’t find an ingredients list to give me an idea of how much niacinimide is the mix (it could be a smattering, it could be a decent amount) but as an SPF isn’t listed on the packaging just make sure you slap a sunscreen on top or you’ll undo all the good work the niacinimide may or may not do.

Oh! There’s also an antioxidant complex in the mix – something SAMPAR refers to as their Urban Advance Complex – that consists of Shea, mint leaf and sweet probiotic extract.

Were you a SAMPAR fan when it first hit SA shores? Are you glad to have it back? Feel free to chat to me in the comments section below.

Love, love

Leigh