Still Searching for a Miracle in a Bottle

Time for another chapter of "e Spends A Lot of Money on Cosmetic Products!" And to my male readers - don't worry - a very manly post is on the way for tomorrow, I promise...

But in the meantime, for the beauty product-obsessed, I bring you some good news this time around... I have been using Estée Lauder's Advanced Night Repair for over a year, and I still really like it and will keep using it, even though it's $73 a pop (you can get a smaller-sized bottle, though). I was waiting to write about this product because, since I'm always on the lookout for even better, more miraculous lotions and potions, I had been using a trial of AlphaDerma CE for a few weeks and wanted to be able to compare the two for those of you who are into this kind of thing.

But before getting into the comparison, I will share how I even came upon Estée Lauder's infamous "little brown bottle" in the first place. There was an ad for it on the back of InStyle magazine a long, long time ago, and it touted this web site for the product. I went to the site and got sucked in by the never-ending "testimonials" from people who had been using the product for nearly two decades and claimed to look significantly younger than their real ages. I figured I would give it a try - in this day and age, any product that actually can stick around for twenty years is pretty rare and is a testament to the fact that people like it enough to keep shelling out the cash for it. By the way, they are still running ads for ANR on the back of InStyle, I just checked the October 2007 issue. But for some inexplicable reason, the testimonials have been taken off of the web site.

So I went into what was at that point Marshall Field's (now Macy's) and the sales girl pumped me up about the product even more. She assured me that I could exchange it (but not return it for a refund) if I had a bad reaction to it, but claimed that no one had ever returned it. She then told me that they just so happened to have a few of the rare 2.5 oz, $90 bottles in stock, which are a really good deal when you consider that the 1 oz bottles are $46.5o. I figured "What the hell," and bought the $90 bottle.

But wait - BONUS FOR e!!!! When I got home, I realized that there were TWO bottles in the bag! The 2.5 oz one AND a 1.7 oz one. If you think for one second that I actually returned the extra one, then you are crazy. I thanked my lucky stars and then prayed that the stuff was actually good, or else I would have to sell the unused bottle on eBay or something.

Since that point in time I have used all of the products in this "complex." The concentrate, the normal serum and the eye area-specific serum. I don't think I'll ever use the concentrate again... that is the stuff you are supposed to use for 21 days to "kick-start" your new regime, and then again every 4 months or so. It was fine, but I don't feel like it did anything significantly different from the normal serum.

The directions say to use the Advanced Night Repair product at night, but the counter people will tell you to use it in the morning, too. I followed their advice and use it twice a day.

So what exactly does it do? I'll tell you what it doesn't do first. It is not an acne-fighting product, so, you will still need to use something else to combat break-outs. What it does do is smooth the skin and make it seem more "glowy." I don't really know how to describe it, but even my husband noticed a difference when I was first using it a year ago - and you know that guys never notice anything like that! You can read the site I linked to above or this page on Estée Lauder's site to understand what exactly it is supposed to be doing for your skin. The only thing I would forewarn you about is if you buy the eye area serum, which I use and like as well, more is not necessarily better. I was globbing that stuff on and that did irritate my eyelid - it was just too much. After I stopped spreading it on so thickly I have never had any problems. And I never broke out from the overall face serum, either, which is a freaking miracle.

So why did I stray from the ANR and try AlphaDerma CE? Well, while the ANR does say that it helps fight future wrinkles and smooth current ones, it's not really known as a "wrinkle-reducing product." Whereas AlphaDerma CE is. One day I was feeling particularly bad about the state of my forehead so I starting researching the latest and greatest new products. I think what started my search was an ad for LiftFusion. Once I realized that that crap was $130, I figured I better make SURE it was good before buying it. When I started digging around online, all signs seemed to point to AlphaDerma CE being the way to go instead. But that stuff is of course expensive, too. Which is why I was extremely happy to find this "5 Day Sample" kit of all of Janson Beckett's top products at Skinstore.com.

I only used 2 of the 4 products that came in the kit - the AlphaDerma CE, obviously, and this stuff called Okusil which is for the eye area. The good news is that neither irritated my skin (once again, this is miraculous in and of itself), and I actually feel like the Okusil serum did tighten my eyelids a bit. However, I didn't notice any difference in my forehead wrinkles after using the AlphaDerma CE. And the 5-day supply lasted past 2 weeks, so I figured I should see something. I was really disappointed, because I had totally bought into the hype and was astonished by the supposedly untouched photos that users sent in to the web site.

Now after looking at all of these sites and testimonials and pictures again I wonder if I shouldn't give AlphaDerma CE another go, and just suck it up and buy the actual bottle (rather than the sample size) and use it only on my forehead for a few months and see what happens. I will continue to use ANR on the rest of my face. Does anyone out there have any experience with AlphaDerma CE? I need to know! BE AN ENABLER!

- e

You Will Look Mahvelous - Two Under-Eye Concealers Reviewed

This one's for the ladies...

It's been a while since I have commented on any skincare products or cosmetics, but rest assured that I have many posts in the works about items I've tried - along with my corresponding thoughts. I'm just trying to spread them out since my friend CG told me that he doesn't want to feel like he should be "wearing a skirt and sipping Merlot" when perusing my site.

Today's topic of discussion is my under-eye area, a particularly sore spot for me as I have definitely been getting a lot of sleep since I stopped working for The Man, yet the dark areas under my peepers remain. Once again, thanks for the genes, Mom! The good news is that I don't have to look like an undead ghoul if I don't want to (sometimes I do want to!), thanks to two under-eye concealers that I've been particularly pleased with. Even if I am tired, grumpy, feeling like crap and looking like death warmed over, both of these products help to make me look more human-like. And as we all know, it is better to look good than to feel good!

Laura Mercier's Secret Concealer - $22

The Laura Mercier line of cosmetics was recommended to me a few years ago by a fellow makeup fiend - she was in LOVE with it. My hopes were very high after hearing about how much she adored the products on top of the fact that I thought she looked great (and natural, which is key). So I ran out and bought about $200 worth of this brand. Unfortunately, even though the makeup was created specifically for people with really sensitive skin, mine still had a bad reaction to the ingredients. I have a feeling it was specifically the foundation primer, since that was not oil-free, but I'll never know as I tried everything at once and then also pretty much quit everything at once. But there is one product that I will never give up, and that's the Secret Concealer. I pat it on with my finger and immediately stop looking like a Goth Grrrl wannabe. And it lasts FOREVER. I mean, forever. I have had the small pot of this stuff for over a year, at the very least.


Yves Saint Laurent's Touche Éclat Radiant Touch - $40

I had been reading about "the magic wand" for quite a while now, and had even ripped out a blurb on it from one of my magazines to remind myself to investigate further. Then when in NYC with Miss M last month, she brought up how she was using it and how it was "the best." I did some research when I got home, and apparently it is the #1-selling concealer in the world. The thing has its own web site, for the love of God! Why had I been in the dark about this? It was a conspiracy!

So of course I bought it the very next day. The woman at the counter at Saks made me put it on myself (she instructed me), which was a smart idea. I left looking much more presentable than I did when I came in, and I had the wand to boot. Since I've only been using it for a few weeks and am not wearing that much makeup anymore (my dog doesn't judge!), I'm not sure how long it will last, but my friend said hers lasted a few months. You have to click the pen applicator 30 times or so to get it working, and then you probably will use anywhere from 3-6 clicks to cover both eyes, the sides of your nose, the laugh lines along your cheeks and the hollow of your chin in total.


The comparison

Since I now have both of these products, I use them for different reasons. I will use the Secret Concealer if I'm not going to put on full makeup - like maybe if I'm going to meet a friend for lunch, or run errands where I might run into someone who I don't want to think I'm a heroin addict because of my dark circles. It is cheaper than the Radiant Touch and lasts a lot longer, so I don't feel the need to conserve it as much. I also feel that it works better alone than when you put powder over it. This is because it's a bit thicker than the Radiant Touch is, and it sometimes settles in the creases under my eyes (nothing that a quick swipe with the pinky finger won't cure, though). If I actually am going out for a dinner or to an event or am trying to remind my husband that I'm not a COMPLETE hippie ever since I stopped working, I will use the Radiant Touch. I put it on over foundation and it is the smoothest cream I've ever seen... it truly is amazing. I feel like I probably need to use more of it than the average person would - and I'm not going to lie and say that there are no dark areas left after I use it, because it's not a miracle worker. But it does help a lot and I really like the consistency of it. The downsides to this product are that it is definitely more costly, and you need to clean the brush often with rubbing alcohol (I clean it after every use, but you can go a week or so). I guess it starts to smell if you don't clean it.

If you are interested in using either of these products, my advice would be to haul yourself down to the department store near you that sells them, and go in with NO makeup. Tell them that YOU want to put on the concealers - it really is better that you figure out the hang of it before you're alone in your bathroom, cursing yourself because you can't make it look like the girl in the store did!

And if you have any other concealers you've tried and recommended - you better leave a comment for the rest of us!

- e

Product Review: Merino Lanolin Skin Creme

In my never-ending quest to meet Frodo, Gandalf and the rest of the gang from The Lord of the Rings trilogy (yes, they are real!), I spent two weeks in New Zealand last fall with my husband. One of our stops was this quite touristy, but actually really fun place called the Agrodome. As soon as you take one look at that site you will see why the Agrodome experience deserves its own post at some point in the future - it was the most bizarre mix of farming and extreme sports ever - perhaps the only mix of farming and extreme sports anywhere, now that I think about it.

Anyway, when we were there, I picked up a ton of souvenirs to bring back for family members, including many small jars of Merino Lanolin Skin Creme. In New Zealand, they sell everything related to lanolin that you can imagine, because it comes from wool and there are a hell of a lot of sheep down there!

I gave the lotion out for Christmas to several relatives, but I actually didn't keep any of it for myself.

A few months ago, my mother-in-law asked us if we knew if there was a store where we could buy the Merino lotion in the United States. Shortly after, my grandma commented on how much she loved the lotion I gave her, but that she was trying to use it sparingly now because it was almost out and she didn't think it would be available anywhere around her. When I mentioned both of these comments to my mom, she said that my dad had been "stealing" the lotion I had given to her, and that they both really loved it. Hmmmm.... something was going on. There are tons of lotions on the market and so many are interchangeable, to have four people raving about one specific brand seemed curious to me. When I mentioned all of this to my aunt, she, too, said that she was crazy for the lotion, and to let her know if I found a place to buy it.

So... I looked up the company's web site to see if there were any U.S. distributors. I'm not sure if I was just totally unobservant at that point, or if they later added a "USA Orders" button on their purchasing page, but I made an order through the New Zealand-based site. The next day, someone from the company wrote me and directed me to the Merino USA site, which is apparently the only U.S.-based distributor (they are located in Arizona). They had a special touting six huge jars for a discounted price, so I figured I'd do that and be able to give it to all of my family members who were eager for a new supply, and try it out for myself as well.

Before the shipment arrived, I had pretty high expectations, because I had read all of the raving customer testimonials on the site, as well as a special section describing the benefits of the lanolin lotion on diabetics. I'm not diabetic, but figured that the lotion had to be damn good if they were using it on patients and whatnot. Also, for those interested, they also have a line of baby care products.

The shipment arrived, and, to be honest, I haven't used the lotion very much - simply because I try to use the Jergen's Natural Glow as much as I can in the summer so as to not blind people with my otherwise glaring white skin. However, every once in a while I had been slathering the lanolin cream on my feet and then immediately putting on cotton socks when I went to bed, and my feet were invariably extremely soft the next morning. I was impressed by that, and also liked how it didn't have any scent. Recently, I decided to take a rest from the Jergen's and go all out with using the Merino cream for one night. My main complaint was that while I can't exactly say the cream is sticky, it's much thicker than normal lotion and therefore you need to be prepared that your pajamas, sheets, etc. are going to cling to your body even after the lotion has soaked in for a while.

But it is worth it! I can honestly say that I was amazed at how soft my skin was when I woke up. The hobbits and elves in New Zealand are pumping some magic into this lotion, I tell ya!

Therefore, I strongly recommend Merino Lanolin Skin Creme to anyone who suffers from dry skin and has never been able to find anything that soothes the problem. Keep the sheep-shearers of New Zealand employed!

- e

Pet Peeve of the Week: Cosmetic product marketing and the fact that I buy into it

Aging happens. And if you are like me and you can't even stand seeing a needle much less getting pricked by one - then you probably wouldn't consider voluntarily going under the knife for any sort of cosmetic enhancement in the future. Yet you may still want to do whatever you can to counteract the effects of time on your skin.

Enter the cosmetic industry and its product marketing geniuses, who know all too well that there is a huge market out there of both men and women who will pay good money for any sort of topical solution that claims to slow down the ticking of the clock, or even out skin tone, or "firm and tighten," or "plump" - you name it. There is an outright slew of ads and infomercials running right now that speak to this "I want to look good but don't want to have surgery in order to do so" segment. I am a card-carrying member of that segment, and have the product receipts to prove it.

But the frustrating and slightly humorous part about this is that deep down I KNOW this crap isn't really going to work - or at least it's not going to work so well that anyone else besides me notices. How do I know this? Because I consulted to a major dermatologist firm about 6 years ago for 1.5 years, and learned more than anyone (who is not actually a doctor) would ever want to know about this topic.

Alas, that knowledge still hasn't stopped me from getting sucked in by the hype. I have tried out many of the most advertised cosmetic "solutions" out there, so I feel compelled to give you my opinion, because a few are OK.

Freeze 24/7 (for wrinkles) - $115.

I had seen this product hailed in nearly every magazine that I read, and everyone was saying that it was a miracle worker. People had done tests with it where they put some of it on one palm and none on the other... and the palm with the cream on it actually smoothed out all of the person's palm lines?!?! I thought, "Wow, that is hard-core!"

There was a tester jar of it in a store I was at recently, so I put some on. I definitely felt a tingling sensation, so I thought, "This must be working." About an hour later, I was in Ulta, and thought I would be all clever and use my 20% off coupon to buy Freeze there. Alas, that product was one of the few that couldn't have any discounts applied, which I found out after I bought it. D'ah! I have since put it on a few times, and even put it on one half of my forehead and asked my husband to guess which side it was on. He guess the WRONG side, and I will be taking the jar back today (which I just realized recently you can do with ALL cosmetics - return them if you don't like them!). Anyway, I will say that Freeze definitely does something, but I don't like the feel of it. It kind of lightens your skin, mattifies it (if that's a word) and makes it feel extremely EXTREMELY tight, like you have a mud mask on or something. But there was no real noticeable effect on any wrinkles (which they touted would be immediate), and I think if I would have tried to put makeup on over it, it would've been tough - it's kind of paste-like when it dries. So thumbs down on this one.

StriVectin (for wrinkles) - Around $100.

If you have not seen the "Better than Botox?" ads, then you must not read ANYTHING. They are all over the place. You must admit, this was and still is a brilliant marketing campaign. Unfortunately, this stuff doesn't really do anything, and as my dermatologist calmly repeats every single time I go see him: "You are already using the best stuff there is for wrinkles. The only topical solution that has proven to work in clinical studies over the course of time is tretinoin" (better known as Retin-A or one of its offshoots).

But I had bought StriVection when it first came out and before I knew about the whole "you can take back cosmetics" thing, so I still use it every morning for some unknown reason (and Retin-A at night). The huge bottle has lasted two years so far!?!

Prescriptives Super Line Preventor (for wrinkles) - not sure of real cost - like $55 maybe?

I was given a pretty large-sized tester of this free not too long ago (it is going to last me FOREVER), and have put it on my forehead a few times, but I think it may be causing me to have a slight allergic reaction. So as of right now, I do not have enough information to be able to comment. Does anyone else like it out there?







Frownies (for wrinkles) - I don't remember cost, but it's not a lot.

Have you heard of these things? The supposed "secret of movie stars" like Meryl Streep and Rene Russo? They are these crazy sticker pads that you moisten and put on wrinkles and leave on overnight. Over a matter of weeks, they are supposed to "re-train" your wrinkles/muscles and smooth them out. Quite frankly, I've just never had the patience to keep putting them on night after night. You need to smooth out the area you want to put them on with one hand, apply the sticker thing with another, hold it there for 3 minutes... it's actually kind of stressful. Maybe one day I will become motivated enough to keep them going for weeks on end, but not just yet. The other thing is that my face is always puffy when I wake up, so I have big indent marks around where the sticker is, and sometimes they haven't gone away even after I take a shower! So I can't chance going into the office and getting strange looks (or stranger looks than I already get on a normal day).

Retin-A (for wrinkles) - Prescription.

This stuff DOES work. How do I know? Because I did one of the scariest things of all time - the UV Light Test. Back in grad school, the health care unit did this big fair on campus and they had one of these sophisticated machines, which I had read all about in health and beauty magazines. The kind that basically show you what you are going to look like when you are old by putting you under this special kind of UV light that shows underlying age spots and wrinkles and whatnot. You can pay good money to get one of these tests because not too many places have the machine - and here I was with the chance to do it for free.

But the reason why I was so scared to do it is because I had spent about 9 years of my life on and off in tanning booths. Yes, I realize this is idiotic, but YOU go back in time and tell that to my teenage self. Everyone has their vice, and mine was tanning. On top of that, skin cancer runs in my family. After my consulting gig with the pharmaceutical firm, I pretty much quit intentionally being out in the sun cold turkey. But now it was time to face the facts by looking into a mirror while under the UV booth thingamajig.

Why Retina-A works was extremely obvious when I was under the light. I only use it on my forehead, nowhere else. In the UV Booth, my forehead was almost COMPLETELY FREE of age spots and/or other scary marks, whereas the rest of my face looked like I was going to become the old hag woman that the Queen from Snow White turned into when she head out with the poison apple. It was all freckly and age spot-y and mottled. I was in disbelief. If you ever want to become completely depressed, trust me - take that test.

I have since tried to use Retin-A elsewhere on my face, but the rest of my skin outside of my forehead can only handle it about every 4th day. Do I still have wrinkles on my forehead? Yes, of course I do. There's no way to NOT have wrinkles without surgery once you're in your 30s. But should they have and could they be much worse, considering my sordid tanning past? Definitely.


Hylexin (dark undereye circles) - Around $100

Coming to you from the same "Better than Botox?" marketing gurus is Hylexin for undereye circles. As I was also blessed with this problem (thanks for the genes, mom!), I of course had to run out and buy this after reading an article in Lucky magazine where they had put it on one eye and not the other for a few weeks and noticed an actual difference. There are also other sites that have (possibly fake) before and after pictures.

I WAS able to scam at Ulta with this product and get 20% odd with a coupon, so I was very happy about that. So happy that I bought it twice. But what I forgot to do was the same "only one eye" test on myself, so now I'm too scared to ever stop using this cream because I forgot what I looked like before and I don't know if it was significantly different. I do feel like it works a little bit, so I think I will keep using it, and maybe eventually I'll get brave enough to just do one eye for a while and see if I really can justify the expense on an ongoing basis. So the jury's still out on this one. Regardless, I still have to use undereye concealer (all hail Laura Mercier!), so it is not like Hylexin performs miracles.

L'Oreal Sublime Slim (firming body gel) - Around $8.

I am not a fan of this product. It is sticky even after it dries and I just didn't feel it did anything, despite all of its "#1 product in Europe!" claims and supposed test results. You get what you pay for sometimes...








Estee Lauder Slim Shape (firming body gel) - $50.

This stuff WORKS and it rocks the house, if I do say so myself. Will it completely firm up your "problem areas" - no. Nothing will. We all have to deal with that. But it did, in my opinion, result in a significant, visible-to-the-naked-eye improvement. It is $50 a pop (you go through it fast, too) and works best if you use it twice a day - and the kicker is you pretty much have to wait a few weeks to start really seeing results, and you then cannot stop using it or the effects go away. It's like crack for your skin. But to me, it is worth it - it is my main indulgence I allow myself to get. The problem is, it is getting harder and harder to find!

ESTEE LAUDER PEEPS - what are you doing?!?!?! You need to market the hell out of this thing?!?!?! Everyone I know who has used this loves it. Two thumbs up from e.


So there you have it, my opinions on what I have tried. Despite the fact that I'm complaining about myself actually buying into the product hype... I still just have to end on this note: if there are any other products any of you reading this out there have tried and love - it is your duty to report them in the comments!!!

- e