Serums are an integral part of any skincare regime, often taking centre stage as the most important step due to the fact that they are (or should be) packed with repairing and rejuvenating qualities. But back in the early 1980s – when the ‘three step’ system (cleanse, tone, moisturise) was the status quo – you’d find many a dressing table without a serum. That was, until ANR came along.
Launched in 1982, when Estée Lauder was still at the helm of her famed eponymous cosmetics company, Advanced Night Repair (simply known to many as ANR) not only became perhaps the first serum to claim household name status, but was the first ever nighttime serum in the market. And if you think hyaluronic acid in skincare is a new trend, think again: Lauder was the first brand to use it in formulations back in the 1980s, and it could be found in this then-new wonder serum of theirs.
Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair
Another first was how the beauty brand made ‘repair’– instead of 'care'– the focus of the product. This little brown bottle contained their revolutionary ‘Night Repair Cellular Recovery Complex’ to help the skin repair and recover from the effects of UV light exposure, with the hyaluronic acid-based formula working to boost natural renewal processes and reverse the visible signs of ageing during the night, when your skin is most actively restoring itself.
More than 40 years later, the serum remains a best-seller, and has garnered a number of celebrity and industry expert fans. One of those fans is the celebrity facialist, Adeela Crown, who has worked with clients such as Cate Blanchett and Demi Moore ahead of filming or the red carpet. Crown, who uses ANR regularly as part of her personal nighttime skincare regime, “recommends ANR for everyone, across all genders, and for a whole spectrum of skin types”. A firm believer in “long-term prevention being smarter than a quick cure,” she also notes that the cult serum is sometimes “wrongly assumed to be for the mature age group. It has such great youth-generating powers, but those with younger skin – and oily or sensitive skin types – will highly benefit from its fast absorbing, oil-free, non-comedogenic formula too.”
The original serum was such a success due to it being marketed as a do-it-all product with seven key benefits: line-reducing, firming, evening tone, strengthening, hydrating, radiance boosting, and being packed with antioxidants. But not ones to rest on their laurels, over the decades Estée Lauder has reformulated it, improving on the original without messing with a good thing.
The newest iteration, ANR Synchronized Multi-Recovery Complex, has the brand's Chronolux Power Signal Technology added in, which helps skin in speeding up the natural renewal of new cells and collagen. Since its release in August 2020, 64 beauty awards prove that the ANR success is still going strong.
There’s also now a whole Advanced Night Repair range, including an eye gel-creme and ‘Eye Concentrate Matrix’ (an ultra nourishing concentrate), masks, cleansing balm and a foaming cleanser. The newest addition, Advanced Night Repair Rescue Solution, is a serum specifically for sensitive or sensitised skin, to help calm redness and irritation and strengthen and rebalance the skin barrier – perfect for when you’ve overdone it on the retinol or in the sun, or have just been a bit aggressive with your skincare products.
Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Rescue Solution
Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Supercharged Gel-Creme Synchronized Multi-Recovery
Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Concentrate Matrix Synchronized Multi-Recovery Complex
Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Cleansing Balm
Undeniably, the fact that you don’t need to combine ANR with other products is a key reason for its continued popularity. Suiting any skin type or tone, it doesn’t contain anything aggressive or irritating, but still works hard to improve your skin, allowing you to ditch the multi-step routine, and save yourself time before bed. “When you sleep, your skin doesn’t,” says Crown, “and the ANR formula is designed to do its hardest work during our skin’s most rested state, when it’s in ‘self-repair’ mode. Night time is the optimum time to feed our skin.” Simply apply after cleansing, before your moisturiser, in the evening, and let the time-honoured product do the rest.
