When I first saw E'shee Clinical's collection of serums (I was sent free samples), I didn't know what to make of them. The prices seemed to be in inverse proportion to the size with the Serum Cellular Repair costing $179 (and now in the TIA shop) for a Liliputian 10 ml or 0.34 fl oz. As I said, these teensy 10 ml ampoules must be full of something mighty powerful – or we’ll have to consign them to the Dept of Daft. So far, I have only tried the Serum Cellular Repair and, three weeks in, I think it is pretty extraordinary.

Given the size/price ratio, I have been targeting it at the area from my cheekbones to my outer crow's feet and on the fine lines around my lips (I've been using KaplanMD's serum on the rest of my face). The smoothing effect on wrinkles is impressive and I've also been extremely pleased with the reduction in redness caused by those minute broken veins, or thread veins. So far, I have used about a third of the amount and reckon I have about 10 weeks more to go. My guess is that if you were to use the recommended couple of drops for the whole face, there is about 6-8 weeks worth.

The key active in E'shee's Serum Cellular Repair is a recombinant human growth factor, FGF1. Growth factors decline in our skin as we age and cosmetic growth factors and proteins considered to be potent wrinkle reducers. E'shee says it works with Professor Chiu of Ohio State University, who patented the human FGF 1 gene.

The ingredient that I believe to be responsible for treating the redness and broken veins is the horse chestnut. The seeds contain a saponin called escin. This is supposed to strengthen veins and capillaries by blocking an enzyme called hyaluronidase, which can breakdown of proteoglycans (part of the structure of capillary walls).

Tinocare GL is interesting as it is based on a wood-degrading fungi that secretes a special type of ß-glucan as a moisture-retaining agent to help them penetrate the barks of trees. The makers of Tinocare GL say they have mimicked this process to create a cosmetic ingredient with moisturizing properties. This along with the sodium hyaluronate makes this one serum that never feels drying. In fact, it really does make my skin look plumper.

Mulberry is here as a skin lightener. Studies have been shown mulberry leaf extract to inhibit tyrosinase activity. Additionally, several phenolic flavonoids, such as gallic acid and quercetin, and fatty acids, such as linoleic acid and palmitic acid, have been isolated from its leaves.

The bottom line on a product like this is whether I would by myself more if it using my own hard earned cash. The answer is yes, but I would  use it very parsimoniously (as I have) to target problem aging areas that need some heavy artillery. In the meantime, I am going to add in the Serum Hydra Gold ($119) to get a take on something else in the E'shee line. It has gold leaf (gold is an antioxidant) in it and algae, but that's about it so we shall see. E'shee also does a vitamin C serum, but as my skin isn't a big fan of C I am waiting to hear how Junko gets on with this.

Ingredients: Aqua, Hamamelis Virginiana (Witch Hazel) Distillate, Propylene Glycol, 1.3 Butylene Glycol, Aesculus Hippocastanum (Horse Chestnut) Seed Extract, Glycerin, Morus Alba (Mulberry) Extract, Tinocare GL, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Sodium Lactate, Sodium Hyaluronate, Triethanolamine, D-Panthenol, Lactic acid, Carbomer, Allantoin, Phenoxyethanol, FGF 1 (Recombinant Human acidic Fibroblast Growth Factor).