My skin really got bad once we went on the road and came west. I could blame it on a lot of things such as the increase in sun exposure and the dusty winds out here, which are all factors. But the number one reason my skin is the pits is because I'm not consistent with upkeep. I admit it. Just for the record, my skin is combo to oily.
In addition to the normal aging process such as loss of elastin, crinkles and thinning skin, I've been experiencing an increase in age/sun spots, bumpy texture, tenacious blackheads on cheekbones and sides of chin, and pores you could sink a Volkswagon in. It really is an insult to injury to have these adolescent-type maladies on top of the age stuff!
I've tried numerous things, such as a couple of hand-held exfoliating devices (which were miraculous when I first used them, but I guess I've reached a plateau for what they can do). I've gone through bottles of beta hydroxy toners, jars of retinol, collagen, vitamin C and hyaluronic acid serums, scrubs, masks and on and on. I always see an improvement at first, then things seem to stabilize and the path to improvement seems to just stall out.
None of these products have done much of anything for the age spots, the stubborn blackheads or the moon crater pores. But then they aren't really designed to; I thought I'd at least see an improvement in the texture. (Yes, I am exaggerating on that pore issue just a titch. But they are visible to me, therefore unacceptable.)
Years ago, in my thirties and forties, I used jar after jar of the original Avon Anew cream in the greenish-aqua jar. At the time, it was the only product they had called Anew. It was an alpha hydroxy acid product. It worked a treat! It was ever so slightly drying, so it was great on my oily areas and kept the pores small and the oil dried up but not so drying as to cause flakiness, redness or discomfort. I really liked that stuff!
As things go, that product was eventually discontinued as Avon expanded its Anew skincare line. I've tried several of their newer products but none of them seemed as effective as that original one. So alpha-hydroxy acid departed from my life and I moved on to other things.
To be honest, I'm just too darn cheap to pay major bucks for skincare products. My feeling is that one is paying for a famous name and a fancy jar of stuff that doesn't work any better than anything else. But to each his own...we are all different. However, recently I've heard several BeautyTubers mention the alpha-hydroxy cream by Studio 35 Beauty. They all said it was pretty good stuff.
This prompted me to recall my love affair with the Avon Anew AH product and decided I'd give alpha hydroxy acid another go. The Studio 37 product can be found at Walgreen's, Drugstore.com and Amazon among others. However, the Amazon pricing is way higher than Walgreen's or Drugstore.com. I purchased the cream in the jar, but it's also available as a lotion in varying strengths. I had to go to multiple Walgreen's in my area before I found a store that had it in stock. So I bought 2 jars in case I couldn't find it again. They were only $10.00 per 4 ounce jar; the old Anew product I used was $25 per one ounce jar, so it was quite a price difference.
Within 2 days of use, I saw those stubborn blackheads I've been fighting for years diminish at least 50%. The bumpy texture on my cheekbones also improved! The troubled areas to either side of my chin were much better as well. The beta hydroxy toner I'd used never gave a result like that! After about 4 days of use, my skin felt a lot smoother as well. These were the results I'd been looking for! All those scrubs, masks, exfoliating gizmos didn't do half of what this cream is doing. So far, I've been using it about 3 weeks and my makeup goes on much nicer due to the smoothing effect the cream has had on my skin.
On the negative side, this cream straight up smells like Elmer's Glue-All. The packaging is a simple plastic jar with a pink lid, nothing fancy. I sometimes feel a slight tingling in some areas on application, but that disappears in a few seconds. The texture is nice, and a little goes a long way. The scent fades a few minutes after applying, so it's not a big deal for me. I use it at least once, sometimes twice a day.
More about alpha-hydroxy acid products:
Alpha Hydroxy acids work by removing the top layers of dead skin; it is basically a chemical exfoliant. They can help increase the thickness of deeper layers of skin, thereby improving firmness.
AHAs are generally safe for most people when applied topically to the skin as directed. A concentration of 10% or less is recommended. The Studio 35 Beauty Alpha Hydroxy cream is 7.8% AHA in a 70% solution.
AHAs make some skins extra sensitive to direct sunlight, so a sunscreen should also be used. Other possible reactions could be mild skin irritation, redness, swelling, itching, burning or discoloration. If you have any of these reactions, discontinue use.
This is one of the better 'YouTube Made Me Buy It' purchases I've made and I'm pretty happy with it! I hope this is helpful to someone who has skin issues like mine.
Till next time,
"My dad used to say makeup was a shallow girl's sport, but it's not. It's armor." ~ Courtney Summers, All The Rage
No comments:
Post a Comment