Garancia Diabolique Tomate Water Cream

It's the time of the year that  I reach for light water-based moisturizers during the day. I still use oils and heavier creams before bed, but when I'm awake  all I want is to avoid looking and feeling clammy under my makeup. This year I've been testing two such moisturizers (actually started using them sporadically months ago). Today we're talking about Garancia Diabolique Tomate Water Cream, a French product with a unique texture.

Tomatoes are among my most favorite things ever. I can live on them, and sometimes I actually do, so the idea of using them in skincare is very appealing to me. Garancia Diabolique Tomate Water Cream is a naturally tinted moisturizer (the sheer color comes from lycopene, the carotene that makes the tomato red). Diabolique Tomate is labeled for normal to combination skin, a good description for my skin this time of the year. When I first tested it months ago, the cream wasn't cutting it, but that's to be expected. During the colder months my skin is normal to extremely dry.

Garancia Diabolique Tomate Water Cream comes in a pump bottle. I use about two pump-full for my face and neck. The cream is orange colored and as you touch it and spread onto your face it becomes watery (hence the "Water Cream" in the name). It feels very pleasant and absorbs right away. I can't say that I see much (or any) tinted glow on my face, but that's a matter of skin tone. I tried it on my pale and pink husband (who hates tomatoes as much as I love them) and could see a faint yellow-orange tint if I looked close enough. But even on his skin (I'd say he's around NW10-15 in MAC terms) Garancia Diabolique Tomate Water Cream is not what we'd call a tinted moisturizer. However, when cleansing my face there is a visible reddish stain on the cotton pad, so the cream leaves a residue on skin and that actually bothers me a little. The light moisturizer seems to sink in and plump the skin a little, but I can't help but feel a bit unclean knowing I'm walking around with lycopene on my face. On the other hand, this ingredient is actually a good antioxidant, so maybe I should just get over myself.

In term of hydration, Garancia Diabolique Tomate Water Cream is a good choice for me when I know I'll be spending several hours in and out of the house, including walking around the city. There's no heavy feeling and it simply does it job. However, when mostly in air-conditioned spaces I sometimes need a bit of reinforcement, at least in the form of a real tinted moisturizer over it, and I watch for any sign of dryness.

Bottom Line: I say tomato you say tomahto.

Ingredients:
Formula INCI: Aqua (water), propanediol, glycerin, Butyrospermum parkii (shea butter), propanediol dicaprylate, citrus medica limonum (lemon) fruit extract, helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil unsaponifiable, isononyl bran oil extract, boron nitride, isostearyl alcohol , butylene glycol cocoate, ethyl cellulose, lechleri ​​croton resin extract, Solanum lycopersicum, tocopherol, acrylates (C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer), parfum (fragrance), potassium sorbate, sodium hydroxide, Sorbic acid, phenethyl alcohol, PPG-2- methyl ether, methylisothiazolinone.


Garancia Diabolique Tomate Water Cream is available from French drugstores and places that stock such products, as well as frenchcosmeticsforless.com ($60.95) and occasionally on Amazon.