The Sleek Dermatologica Store

I have often been annoyed at the fact that while I spend a fair amount of time writing this blog, I earn a whole lotta nothing for doing so. My friend from Beccarama told me that her husband says that there’s no way a whole bunch of men would be writing all of this stuff for diapers bags. They would have figured out how to make money out of this blogging thing by now. Or they would have stopped.

Occasionally, however, some little extra comes along that makes it all worthwhile. For me, that little extra was a free mini spa treatment at the slick flagship Dermalogica store in SOHO. (And that’s the full disclosure part: They invited me down, gave me a glass of water, a tour of the small but super sleek space, a mini facial, and a bag of sample size goodies from their own line.)

The reason this particular freebie made me feel like the blogging isn’t all for naught, is that it came just before my 45th birthday. (thank you, thank you. no gifts, please.) And you know what happens after 40, don’t you?  Every year the day after your birthday, you notice a new physical flaw.  The day after my fortieth, I noticed my first age spot. The day after my forty-first: two little creases between my brows.  Forty second? Wrinkly knees.

I wasn’t exactly looking forward to 45.  So anything that promised to pamper me and improve my skin at the same time was time well spent. Plus,  my little Dermalogica experience, was a mini treatment – what they call a Microzone treatment, – and it lasted only 20 minutes.  To some, that might be enough, but I’ve never been one of those people who could spa for hours on end.  I don’t want people poking and prodding me (however skillfully) for more than about — well – 20 minutes.   If you want the full hour long thing, they do that too — and in a super cool looking Pod.”" (no kidding!)  But in terms of time and lack of being poked-ness, the microzone thing rocks.

Dermalogica offers several different targeted microzone treatments (this picture to the right is where you get them. If you want privacy – it’s not for you. But it’s just your face. Get over it!):

• Flash exfoliation / resurface, smooth, brighten
• • Eye rescue / brighten, firm, revitalize
• • Lip renewal / smooth your smile
• • Blackhead relief / clear and prevent breakouts
• • Rapid spot clearing / speedy breakout recovery
• • Hand repair / heal rough hands
• • Men’s skin fitness / make shave problems history

I chose the Flash Exfoliation.  But there was no rubbing and scrubbing here.  There was a lot of talk about cell rejuvenation, and vitamin C production, and the effect of gamma rays on man in the moon marigolds. (Ok, maybe not that, but a lot of scientific skin talk that made me want to respond with one big “whaaaaa?”) And there was a lot of extremely gentle massaging with the either lightly scented or completely unscented (not unscented which really means chemically smelling, but REALLY unscented) Dermalogica products.

I remember once when I went to a Yoga retreat in upstate New York, my roommate telling me that she didn’t believe in facials. What, like they’re the tooth fairy or something?  But I sort of agreed.  It’s nice to be massaged and coddled, but does it really make a difference?  In a word: yes.  I’ve already written about my (not at all freebie related) Avon Regenerist products doing wonders for my eyes, but this facial just put me over the edge: I’m a believer.

After it was over, and for the few days since, my skin looks brighter and clearer, and just plain better.  Why, I might even say that I don’t look a day older than 44.

My friend (and prom date) Billy Kolber, from Billy Knows Best, thinks otherwise.  He’s been an Avon Man for years, (f you click over to his site, he happens to have an Avon post up right now!) and he insists that Avon spends more on product research than just about anyone, and their products are therefore more effective and better overall. Plus, they give a lot back to women and the community.  Not bad.

Anyway, because Billy really does know best a lot of the time, I decided to try out Avon’s latest best product ever (they seem to call every new product the best one ever).  It’s called Reversalist, and here’s what Avon has to say about it on their website.

“…wrinkles are a result of micro-injuries to the skin, so AVON studied how skin heals. As part of the repair process, the body produces Activin. 5 groundbreaking years in development , exhaustive research, testing & review has resulted in an unprecedented discovery by AVON scientists, how to activate this key repair molecule. Formulated with Activinol Technology to help reactivate skin’s repair process to recreate fresh skin & help dramatically reverse visible wrinkles….”

First off, may I just say: Avon people: you need a proof reader, or at least someone with minimal grammatical knowledge writing your stuff.  The little paragraph above has a few weird punctuation things, and the part of it I didn’t use has such an awful, incomprehensible  sentence in it that I’m hoping it was just an typing error.  Seriously Avon — you’re huge. Spend a few bucks for someone with a college degree.

But I digress.

Bottom line: I bit the bullet and bought the four products that are the base of the Reversalist system:  Serum, Day Cream, Night Cream, and Eye Cream, and I really do see a difference.  My skin immediately felt incredibly smooth.  Weirdly smooth.  But good.  That degree of smoothness didn’t last forever, but I think that for at least several hours after applying it, my skin has a sort of sleek feeling that I’m sure it once had, but I was too young to appreciate!

But the biggest thing is the eye cream.  The thing that’s upsetting me the most lately (skin wise, anyway) is how splotchy I’ve become. Nothing says aging hag more than a bunch of brown spots on your face. And my eyes?  I look like I’m wearing permanent brown eyeshadow….and not in a good way. After three weeks of religiously using the products, I can honestly say, the discoloration on my lids is noticeably better. (at least to me) The giant age spot on my nose?  Not so much.  But I’ll take what I can get, and brighter eyes make your whole face look younger.

As for wrinkles, I guess I can’t really say.  I’m not particularly wrinkled (finally, an upside to having oily skin and acne in my teen years!) but I do think that overall, my skin just looks and feels…better.  My neck is pretty much past redemption – but that’s what turtlenecks and scarves are for.

I do find that a lot of products work for a while, and then as your skin gets used to them, they don’t work anymore (totally unscientific, just how I think it happens).  So it’s possible that in three months, I’ll be right back where I started.  But for now: this stuff works.  Really.

When I bought it, it was a starter kit, but I had to buy full sized products.  I just checked the website, and they are selling a sample size starter kit with everything but the serum.  So why not give it a shot?  For $10 it isn’t a big risk, and you’ll get enough product to see if it works for you.

Oh, and one more thing, just to be clear:  I didn’t get ANY freebies for writing this.  I have no relationship with Avon whatsoever.  I bought everything with my money, and wanted to put in my own two cents.

Let me know if you like it — or if you have a not ridiculously expensive product that you think works.  I need all the help I can get.

I know it’s bad for me. I know the reason I have those splotches on my face is because I spent too much time in the sun as a kid. And I know I could get skin cancer. So I put sunscreen on every day. Even when it’s cloudy. Even in winter. Cross my heart and hope to get crows feet. Really, I do.

But it’s summer, and I’m in the Hamptons, and even with sunscreen, I’m getting a tan.

When I’m tan, that little bitty age-spot under my eye becomes invisible. With a tan, it looks like my arms are way more cut than they are. (Which isn’t hard, they aren’t exactly cut.) With a tan, my eyes look bluer, my skin appears more even, I lose that ooblek colored dead-of-winter hue I acquire each year.

I’ve tried self-tanners. Usually, I end up looking like an oompa-loompa. (Nivea was OK, but still not as flattering as the real thing.) I’ve tried bronzers ( I like Bare Escentuals “warmth”)– but when I attempt to avoid the “face one color neck another” effect, I end up having to bronze myself all the way down to my navel. I mean, how can you stop applying bronzer when you’re trying to avoid having a line of demarcation between made-up and not? Anywhere you stop you’ll get a line….right? (There are, it seems, actual rules about how to do this properly – even an entire website devoted to it.  Who knew?)

I’m not tanning. It’s just that I’ve been plodding (I’d call it jogging, but I’m not going fast enough to call it that) to Cooper’s Beach a few times a week. I’ve been gardening. (Our vegetable garden is really doing well this year.) I’ve been taking walks and bike rides with the kids. And I’ve done all of it wearing sunscreen and/or a hat. And still, I’m getting tan.

I kinda like it.

I know once the fall comes and my tan fades, I’ll see those age-spots again. Maybe even some new ones. But until then, I’m enjoying living in the long ago land of even skin-tone and bright blue eyes. I’m taking all the precautions, I’m sunning responsibly.

And if none of that works, I’ve already started shopping for skin lighteners I might try this Fall.

“Mommy, why are your legs so big?”

Ahh…the innocence of youth. No judgements, no critique, just a question. Plain and simple.

Now, my daughter is eight. And just yesterday she said to me:

“Mommy, what are those lines on your face?”

Yikes. I like to think of myself as not all that wrinkled. It’s pretty much the only benefit of having had oily, acne prone skin all my life: I haven’t yet shriveled up like my smooth ivory skinned childhood friends. But now, out of the mouths of babe…Maybe I have more lines than I thought.

I’ve been using Glycolic Acid pads — kinda like Stridex for the post-forty set — for quite some time. And I do think it’s made a difference. But all those creams???? Is one really different than another?

I mean some of these ingredients…olive oil. Should I just stick a pizza on my face? Fruit acids. Maybe I should go Californian and top the pizza facial with pineapple. Pomegranate, copper, Sugar Cane. Maple Sugar. peptides. Who knows what really works? Sometimes I think I should just toss a salad and stick my face in it. Oh wait – I did that today at lunch.

My friend Billy Kolber, expert in everything that matters, votes for the relatively inexpensive and not at all exclusive line of Avon products. Billy, a long time Avon Man, contends that Avon spends more on research than anyone else. They were the first to use alpha hydroxy acids, and they know their stuff. I’ve been buying Avon from him for years. But quite honestly, this new line of Anew Alternative products just smells too strong for me. My husband threatened to leave the bed one night unless I washed it off. It might work — but I can’t use it long enough to find out. (but the reviewer on this link LOVES it)

A recent NY Times article said Glycolic Acid does the best job. But which cream? What works?

Before I start to look like that peach I’ve left in my fridge for way too long — anyone have any thoughts on what skin products really work?

Or maybe I should just mush up the peach and stick it on my “lines.”

I’ve been to the Lands End site with all of it’s symbols about body type and claims of flattery. And I’ve always liked the suits. Not too flashy. Not too revealing. But in the end, not too exciting, either. They’re all fine in a “I’m a middle aged woman who drives a minivan, has a bad perm, and still uses cans of Cream of Mushroom soup to make a casserole” kind of way. But chic they’re not.

This year, I decided to actually go to a store and try on bathing suits. No easy task. Like most women over forty who’ve borne children, trying on bathing suits is as depressing as it gets. What I didn’t realize is how expensive it can get!

The average price of a bathing suit at my local (and totally fabulous) lingerie store, The Town Shop, is $150. Seriously. They have a few bathing suits under $100, but most fall into the $125-$225 range. Shocking. I must be naive, but I had no idea a little piece of Lycra could cost so much.

But I had decided that, like a good haircut, a good bathing suit can change everything. So I sucked it up (and sucked it in) and tried one on. I don’t know who this Karla Colletto is, but man, can she design a bathing suit. I’ve tried the Miracle Suit thing, and quite frankly, the only miracle is that they can get away with their copywrited claim that you’ll look ten pounds lighter in ten seconds. They’re relatively flattering, but they ain’t no Karla Colletto. In her suits I looked – are you ready for this? — GOOD! Do you understand the magnitude of that? I LOOKED GOOD IN A BATHING SUIT. Talk about shocking.

I don’t know why. Maybe it’s the cut, maybe it’s the fabric. But I don’t care what it is. It was worth the staggeringly high –wait for it…$225 — price tag.

I decided to see if my “the worse you look the more you have to spend” theory applied to exercise clothing as well. Usually, I head to Filenes or Target and buy my exercise clothing there. After all, why spend big bucks on something you’re just going to sweat up anyway?

How wrong I was. I have only one thing to say to you: Lululemon. These pants are amazing. Their seam runs down the back of the leg, instead of the sides, making your legs look longer. The waist band hits at exactly the right spot to avoid side-bulge, and minimize butt bulge.

In my Lululemon signature pants I really do look ten pounds lighter. Unfortunately, they also left my wallet nearly $100 lighter. A small price to pay for a small butt.

So alas, it’s true. The worse you look, the more you pay. But the bright side is, if you’re willing to spend the big bucks, you can look like a million bucks. Or, OK, $100,000 bucks. But that’s rich enough for me.