Grown-up Skincare
So I just got back from a girls weekend with three of my closest friends from grade school. My friend Ashleigh, who at one time was a spa manager at some of the finest spas out there, has since become an aesthetician. And let me tell you, she knows her skincare. I, on the other hand, am one of the biggest skeptics out there when it comes to expensive skincare products. I feel like I’m splurging when I buy the brand name Aveeno scrub instead of the Target equivalent. So when she took us shopping for some of her favorite skincare products, I was the only one in the bunch who did not decide that today was the day to take control of my skin’s future. The other girls both bought mdskincare’s Alpha Beta Daily Face Peel, a two-step process with little round pads that you swipe around your face to reduce wrinkles, reduce breakouts and just plain make your skin “radiant”.
If I’m such a skeptic, why am I writing about this product you ask? I have signed up my friends as my guinea pigs. When we all flew home this morning, Jen was already raving about her tingly, tight, smooth skin that she could not stop touching. She and my friend Jean have agreed to report back after using this product for a month. Stay tuned.
$75 at sephora.com
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I would definitely recommend the MD Skincare care exfoliant. The greatest benefit, so far, has been the reduced appearance of my pores. I also find that my skin is generally much more soft and smooth than it was previously. I do, however, live in a cold and dry climate (Idaho) and I have definitely noticed that I need to decrease the frequency that I use the product, as our weather has changed recently. In all fairness, I also started using their cream cleanser at the same time (much better, I assume, than me using whatever soap was handy in the shower). So, I am probably getting some benefit by cleansing my skin better than I was before. My recommendation is to try it, if you can get over the sticker-shock. I justified it by calculating how much my husband spends on our Direct-TV bill each month so he can watch all his home-town sports teams lose ball games and realized that this was still less expensive than that!
It is with great relief that I happily recommend MD Skincare! Relief, I say, because it’s durn expensive - $75 for 30 dual applications (If you have a partner/spouse who shares your bank account, feel free to share this review with them before they see the monthly statement). So, anyway, I guess it just depends on your level of investment, and we all understandably differ on this. However, if you are interested in paying more to get more out of your skin care regimen, I think this is a really nice way to go. The rest of your regimen can come free of charge courtesy of your mom who is forever switching product lines. Avon nighttime lotion for seniors? Sure, mom, I’ll take it!
Rest assured I won’t accompany this review with those stupid before/after pictures where the deck is stacked completely in favor of the after photo. If I were, however, I’d have a LOT of fun with it. For my before photo, I’d go to bed after a long sweaty workout, and make sure I slept facedown on wrinkly sheets. Then, I’d wake up at 3am, turn on some harsh overhead lighting, get out my cheap instant camera, think cranky thoughts, and take the picture without the flash on. Then, for my after photo, I’d take the day off, go to a spa, then off to a professional photographer who would shoot me with their gauziest lens while I imagined winning the lottery.
Now, as a researcher, I’m reluctant to make causal statements without a randomized controlled trial, but I’m pretty sure I don’t have time to conduct my own study complete with control group. So, let’s just say that since I’ve been using MD Skincare, my skin coincidentally seems to have improved! It’s a subtle, but clear difference – the best way to describe it is that my skin just feels totally reliable and resilient. I tend toward dry, red skin, making the smooth application of makeup a bit difficult and making it seem like I never know whether I will have a good skin day or not. This stuff seems to exfoliate deeply, but gently and without drying. Without fail, when I wake up in the morning after having used it the night before, my skin just feels and looks really good - calm, supple, and healthy.
Even though daily application is recommended, I find that after a week of this, I can use it every two or three days (assuming good skin cleansing and moisturizing still takes place on the off days). This helps stretch it out, thereby lessening impact on the piggy bank.