Shiseido Ultimune Power Infusing Serum

Reviewing skincare is tricky, because you're never quite sure which variables impact your skin; so to test this product, I used it alone on one side of my face and with my usual products on the other. For reference, I have fair/light skin, am in my 50s, have slight redness, a few fine lines/crows feet, and dry-to-normal skin. My skin can get irritated, but I don't break out often. When I first applied the serum, it had a strong alcohol scent; I noticed my skin looked immediately firmer but I was worried it was just from the alcohol and when it evaporated it would dry my skin out. After a minute, my skin felt tacky but not dry, but after a couple of minutes my skin felt smooth, even on my forehead (which tends to be the driest area for me). It quickly calmed down my redness, enough that it was noticeably improved. It worked nicely with other products on my 'mixed product side', and didn't cause any issues with SPF or makeup applied over it. I've used it consistently for the two weeks, and my skin feels softer than before, the redness is reduced more, it gives a visible firmness without feeling tight, and it hasn't caused any breakouts, irritation, or other issues. I'd say the biggest drawback is the alcohol scent, but this was only really noticeable when I was deliberately smelling it to see if it had a scent and wasn't an issue when applying normally. I'm actually excited to keep using this and seeing how much the redness gets reduced over time; two weeks is already pretty impressive for the amount of reduction I've seen so far.