Stinky Business

Oh BGND friends....

Every once in a while, we all have a facial crisis of sorts...a time when our skin decides to rebel and do something so wrong, so evil that we can only hang our sad faces in shame, shake our heads and think- why skin? WHY?

Well ladies and gents, BGND is having one of those moments. The skin around my mouth, the sides of my nose, my chin and even my jawline and upper neck is FREAKING OUT. It is dry, it is red, it is itchy - IT IS ANGRY AT SOMETHING.

Well, I am sad to report- it is rebelling against something I had high hopes for. Something that had been recommended to me, something that has received beauty award after beauty award.

The offender?

AVON Renew Retroactive Night Cream

Now- the picture I have above is NOT the exact cream that I am using. I actually believe that my particular Avon night cream has been phased out by the company. However, I bring it up to you, my loyal readers more for the lesson I have learned from this ugly face situation than to diss this particular cream. I was recommended this cream - I was told how great it was, what it would do for my fine lines, how it would moisturize and make me wake up with fabulous glowtastic skin.

Well, it has not. Why you ask? Well first of all, let me tell you that I am using this cream on a lark (not always a great idea). I am currently traveling and I had this in my bag of "to try" products. So I packed it away instead of my usual night cream and after 3 nights- disaster. First of all, in the cream's one defense, I am in a different part of the country with different temps/humidity/water. However, the issues I have with the cream, not because of these factors.

The biggest tip off that something was wrong? The SMELL of this cream. Not sour or bad, but strong and very perfumed. I have a girlfriend who also recently tried this cream and she also told me of the smell (yay Beth!) and she was not joking. It seems like a scented body lotion in terms of scent strength, not a face cream. And what does that mean? ALCOHOL. And if you want to dry out your skin and irritate it into a inch of it's life- use a cream heavy in alcohol. In winter, you should be using something soothing and rich. Something to moisturize your tired skin while you sleep, give it new life and work with your anti-agers, not against them. This was not that cream.

Well, I have re-learned my lesson. Beware alcohol. It does not belong in your night cream. It will dry you out- it will make your anti-agers angry and it won't work. I tried to give this cream a shot, I thought all the reviewers couldn't be wrong. But I was right and they were wrong. BAD. VERY BAD. So if you get something new and it seems like you are putting perfume on your face and not lotion, get rid of it. You can give it a try like I did- but beware the possible results. And most importantly- 9 times out of 10 YOU CAN RETURN OPENED BEAUTY PRODUCTS. CVS takes things back, Sephora takes things back no questions asked..many places will take things back if you just explain you had a bad reaction. Even salons and day spas will often take things back...it doesn't hurt to try.

So go forth BGND readers- with soft, smooth, NON-DRY facial skin!

Keep looking fabulous,
BGND