AGE DEFYING MOISTURISERS

[penpal]

Does anyone have any experience of using 'Creme De La Mer'???? A few friends have aspired to use the moisturiser and/or hand cream but can it really be worth the money? I have heard that using any moisturiser will have a positive affect and if you find one that suits your particular skin all the better, but do you really have to spend all this money?

Any views/experiences much appreciated as have recently noticed my skin is not all that brilliant, I'm guilty of much neglect!!!! Although I blame active 5 and 2 years.........

[jessicasmummy]

prefer avon products (im a representative!) or if i want to splash out.., Virgin Vie is great. HTH

[tamum]

I've used it. I was really disappointed, partly by the tacky plastic pot (not that I'm shallow ) and partly by the total lack of effect. I used the whole pot (lasted a month or two) and saw no difference. However, it works brilliantly well on sore or inflamed skin- when I had a cold it was fantastic.

I once read an article by John Gustafson who sensibly pointed out that your skin can only ever get as good as it can possibly be (bear with me)- if you are already using moisturising creams that really suit your skin then you are unlikely to see any improvement over that; if your skin is in bad condition and you use an expensive moisturiser then you will probably find it works really well. I would save your money and spend it on medium range good stuff!

[motherinferior]

And what, oh Big Spender, do you call medium range ?

[tamum]

Shiseido? Erm... some of the Lancome ones? (I was hoping no-one would notice, damn).

I do use Olay too- I just indulge every now and again

[paolosgirl]

I once heard an interview with some skin doctor (there must be a proper name...god, my memory IS going..)who said that the only miracle in the skincare industry is that so many women spend so much on so many ineffective products. A reasonably priced moisturiser and spf every day is more than sufficient apparently.

[bran]

I have quite sensitive, dry skin that can look really tired and flaky, and I've found that the biggest difference to its condition is more to do with cleansers than moisturisers. The body shop do an oatmeal scrub mask that really soothes my skin and makes it smoother, and I've recently started using Liz Earle hot cloth cleanser which I think is keeping my face more hydrated and plumping up the lines a little. In the summer I don't moisturise at all, just use factor 50 sun block.

Mind you, if you could actually see my skin you probably wouldn't want any advice from me at all.

[MancMum]

well i use it.. and I love it... totally better than anything else onthe market for me... it makes my lines less prominent and I look fab when I use CDLM... have tried swapping byt nothing will get me off my fix.. I am 4- but most say I look early 30s...

[highlander]

I read an article by a Dermatologist who said the best thing for your skin was to avoid smoke and sun. Gentle cleansers and a moisturiser with an SPF15 also a must!

I use Clarins cleanser, their basic moisturiser and exfoliate every couple of weeks.

It's only since I've had DS that I've noticed lines on my eyes. Maybe it's because I've yet to have a full night's sleep

[Branster]

I once saw on a TV programme or read in a magazine an article where a cosmetic surgeon said that a lot of damage to the skin is done by the way it is handled. especially around the eyes. The idea is that we have to be very, very gentle when cleaning our faces and especially when applying moisturizer. And alwayd pat the skin dry not rub a towel over the face.
No idea if it's actually true or not but it's free to do it anyway.

Again, who can guarantee any of the creams work? I personally don't think you can repair any damage by using any kind of cream, only surgery would fix it. Creams that claim to work have only a temporary result (hours) and work by either stretching the skin with a sort of fine layer or by plumping it up with a lot of water or other sythetic 'fillers' of some kind. But trying to prevent it seems more plausible. However, I'm not convinced that prvenetative creams work either.
Saying that I always find myself buying and using a multitude of products.
I agree sun and smoke (including pollution) damage the skin (and our health)very fast.

I must save up for this CDM stuff now... Is it really that good?

[charleypops]

Ooh what a fab thread - I was thinking of posting this exact same thing myself! My birthday's coming up next month and I was thinking of asking dp for Creme De La Mer moisturiser and eye stuff. I shall be lurking.

[Branster]

Good luck CP! DP will be enraged at the price and will be too embarressed not to pay for the products once he asked for them from the pretty sales assistant!
How much do they actually cost?
From the other thread the eye cream was about £80?? Isn't the day cream about £160?? Or more? Or less?

[Kayleigh]

How much

[charleypops]

I once sat in on a biology lecture and the lecturer said that the only things that made any difference in moisturisers is vitamins A and E. A (Retinol) is, I guess a kind of gentle peel encouraging new cells to grow, and the molecules of vit E are the only ones small enough permeate the epidermis (outer layer) to the dermis (deeper layer), anything else just sits on the surface and don't really do much.

[charleypops]

branster! yes, those sales girls do have their uses at times...

[tamum]

I think some dermatologists say that the most important thing is regular exfoliation; they do all seem to agree that no cream will make that much difference.

I don't know how much CDLM is, mine was a present, but I'm sure it's at least £100.

[Branster]

aparaently so CP.
But, there was a Horizon type of programme on a few years ago, about cells and stuff and they said that, apparently, cells renew only for a certain numeber of times it is not a never ending process. I can't rememebr if they rnew with less frequency or they just stop renewing at some stage. it was all to do with research and tumours and stuff and me being so simple minded, i thought I understood what they said at the time but am absolutely incapable of reproducing the theory. Anyway, once they dicover if this is true and they find out when this renewal process stops or slows down, then they can invent something to keep us all young forever! That made me think: if we do speed up the skin renewal process ourselves with this magic moisturisers, wouldn't we in fac get older quicker?
I really live on a different planet, don't I?!

[edam]

Agree with Charleybops ? that's what I've heard from several dermatologists.

[edam]

Charleypops

[Branster]

unfortunatelly they didn't do their stuff on DH who decided to get me a present from Space NK (no idea what to buy but saw me going in there once and assumed one can just walk in and pick something up and it would do). He was approached a lovely sales assistant, he said he needs a present for his wife and she showed him this miraculous cream, he said that's OK after listening to speal and not understanding one bit of it. He asked how much and was told about £250 (so he told me). And he said that it's a bit too much for such a small pot !! . Bless him. Didn't buy it but now I wonder what cream it could have been at that price. The he proceeded to pick up a small pink packaging saying it looks pretty so he'll have that. What is it? Nipple cream. Poor DH. I don't think he ever felt so embarrassed in his whole life! In the end he asked to buy some Clarins products, which they chose for him as he knew I always use that.

[Gwenick]

I'd agree the Avon stuff is fab. Never used to myself, but most of my customers used to swear by it and when they did that wretched phone offer last year and more people bought it some of them apparently ditched their other more expensive creams for it!

[jessicasmummy]

hoorah! another vote for avon!!!

[MancMum]

creme dela mer is 75 quid for a small pot - it is very rich and it last me for months...

[romilly]

Hmmm... branster, mancmum and charleypops - found you lurking in the ablutions threads again -

I love CDLM - but it is £145 for a pot that will last you about 3/4 months - which if i'm being honest, i don't think is justified (but then is £150 for a pair of Seven or Paper Denim & Cloth jeans? - NO! but we love them anyway!)

No-one should expect miracles or quick fixes from a face cream anyway - it's like everything in life, depressingly, you have to work hard for good skin/good figure/ whatever.

Never believe those actresses with impossibly glowing skin who say they eat what they like and party til dawn - they're all boring as hell - and in bed by 9 pm every night (covered in layers of CDLM too btw, J Lo uses it by the barrel load apparently!!!) I shouldnt have said that last line, now you all want to buy it again, dont ya?!

[romilly]

btw branster - the pot of stuff your husband couldnt put down fast enough in SpaceNK is that Sjahl brand i think

even a sucker like me was sceptical about that one (i did manage to schmooze the sales asst. enough to trowel some out into a sample pot for me before leaving the shop though! and no, it didnt make me look like a supermodel - funny that...)

[BadHair]

Mine is about 99p from Asda and my skin is pretty young looking, though I so meself. Don't have any wrinkles (she said, smugly), just lots of bags under eyes.