I was worried that the new serums from Chanel – Le Jour de Chanel, La Nuit de Chanel and Le Weekend de Chanel – would be un petit peu style-over-substance but I must say that I’m very, very pleasantly surprised. It’s a nice idea, at any rate, to create a “skin wardrobe” – very Chanel. Very chic. The bottles are typically understated and beautifully designed – this is skincare that you want to have on display, not hide away in the bathroom cabinet.

But it’s not about looks, is it, when it comes to skincare? If you consider my fondness for Alpha-H (simplest packaging ever) you’ll remember that for me, effectiveness reigns supreme. There’s no point having a pretty pot of something that does absolutely nothing. So how did I get on with Chanel’s 24/7 skincare? Tres bien! (I’ll stop with the French now, shall I?) But let me explain a little about each product, because they all do slightly different things. The idea would be a bit silly otherwise, I suppose! The concept behind the Le Jour, La Nuit, Le Weekend range is that there’s something to suit your skin for each of its ‘phases’. Le Jour is supposed to “reactivate” your skin, La Nuit de Chanel focuses on recharging and Le Weekend (my favourite) is for renewing. Le Jour is a light, silky serum that uses salicylic acid to gently exfoliate in the morning, La Nuit is a calming, hydrating serum for resetting skin overnight and Le Weekend uses our good old friend Mr Glycolic to exfoliate and hydrate. That one has a slightly more creamy texture and I have to admit to being a bit naughty and sneaking in a few Le Weekend sessions midweek!

This skin wardrobe concept is excellent if you have relatively well-behaved skin with no particular concerns other than polishing it up and keeping it nice and hydrated. In fact, even if you’re oily, acne prone, or suffer from very dry skin, following the jour-nuit-weekend system will probably work very well. The daytime serum contains salicylic, so it’s actually quite helpful for oily skin or skin prone to breakouts. The night and weekend serums are very hydrating without adding oils, so again, spot on (hohoho) if you have combination, oily or breakout-prone skin. Normal-to-dry skin will lap up the hyaluronic in La Nuit (there’s also gorgeous frankincense to calm the skin overnight) and the glycolic in Le Weekend will suit pretty much everyone unless they have skin that hates glycolic. (Happens.)

My skin has enjoyed having a proper routine, I think. Despite having spent most of the past six weeks indoors, in front of a computer, eating absolute crap and getting no sleep, I look surprisingly well. In fact, two people at Le Weekend commented on my glowing appearance and I only had tinted moisturiser on! So there – as I said, pleasantly surprised. And I know what you’re thinking at this very moment – what do these babies cost? You’d be right to be apprehensive – this is Chanel, after all. But prepare for another nice surprise, because I’ve been doing some mathematiques and you may like what my sums say…

Le Jour and La Nuit cost £60 each for 50ml – £1.20 per ml. Hydraluron (one of the best and simplest of the hydrating serums on the market, and widely considered to be incredibly good value) is 83p per ml. Advanced Night Repair II (see review here) will set you back £1.46 per ml. So the Chanel serums sit very nicely (and marvellously!) between a serum considered to be something of a superbly affordable buy and one that is, I would say, pretty fairly priced. Who’d have thought it, eh? Le Weekend, with its May Rose water and “high-tolerance” glycolic costs £72 for 50ml – price per ml is £1.44 – still just very slightly less than Lauder’s Advanced Night Repair II. Taken aback? I am!

You can find Le Jour, La Nuit and Le Weekend at Boots.com, Selfridges.com and at Debenhams. You can save a little by buying all three at once -the trio costs £172 at Boots.com, a saving of (hold on whilst I find my calculatrice) £22.

**UPDATE! EEK! Debenhams have 10% off these at the moment – I have no idea how long for, but it saves £6 on Le Jour and La Nuit (now £54, click here) and Le Weekend is down to £64.80 (see here.) The coffret trio is £154.80 instead of £172, so a total saving of (grabs calculatrice again) £37.20 against full price, single bottles. You can find the coffret here!**

***A little practicality note: I do follow Le Jour and La Nuit with a moisturiser. Le Jour is actually very dry without one – I’ve tested it both ways! Some serums I can apply directly beneath a BB cream or Tinted Moisturiser and it’ll be just fine, but I think with that salicylic acid going on, you need the extra layer. La Nuit is very hydrating, but you’ll benefit from the moisturiser popped on top because the hyaluronic acid will grab onto it and make your skin superbly juicy and plump. I don’t use a moisturiser after Le Weekend. I have no idea whether or not you should do, I just don’t. So there. I treat it almost as I would treat my Liquid Gold – that is, apply and then forget about it. Go to bed. You may follow with moisturiser or do as I do, whichever suits.***