Autumn Skin Care: Let Your Face Speak as Lovely as Your Words
During the past decade, American consumers spent five times more on men’s skin care products than they did in the previous decade, totalling nearly a quarter of a billion dollars. Now, given that the population has not increased fivefold, that statistic from Euromonitor, a market data firm, means that more men are taking care of their skin (and doing more than just shaving).
Big surprise, right? Ask any gay man to open his medicine cabinet and there’s enough product in there to stock an apothecary. Why? Because we know the import of first impressions - and looking good. More than ever, we’re living in a visual culture and if you want to talk the talk, you’ve got to work the catwalk like you own it. Or as one Hollywood silver screen heroine put it, "We didn’t need dialogue; we had faces."
Here’s our latest round-up of facial cleansers, exfoliants, moisturizers, and - yes, you asked for it - tat cover-up. Look your best for the autumn rotogravure.
Murad: Energizing Pomegranate Cleanser
If you’re like us, you can’t do anything in the morning until you wash your face. There’s so much lingering residue from all those inter-galactic travels, right? Therefore, it’s a joy when we find a facial cleanser than enables us to face planet earth looking radiant - even after time traveling.
First thing we loved about Murad’s Energizing Pomegranate Cleanser is the color. No, really - it’s like the most chic pink imaginable, somewhere between pink strawberry lemonade and a ripe peony from a spring garden (and you know how much we like a ripe peony...).
Then there’s the foaming action - the foam squirting out of the pump... This is dual-action foam that both cleanses and exfoliates with AHAs (alpha hydroxy acids, in case you’ve forgotten: they smooth fine lines and surface wrinkles, remember?), leaving your skin as smooth as a peony petal.
Murad’s Energizing Pomegranate Cleanser contains artemia, which stimulates healthy cell function, and also, pomegranate extract, which is loaded with antioxidants, thereby defending your skin against free radical assaults. There’s also witch hazel to tone and tighten pores, while removing excess oils.
In short, this cleanser is a one-step beauty regimen that both cleanses and tones, while stimulating healthy cell growth.
And if you don’t believe us, maybe you need to know that Allure magazine named Murad’s Energizing Pomegranate Cleanser the winner of "Best of Beauty Editor’s Award: Best Cleanser."
Or as Kay Thompson said, "Think pink!"
PRICE: $26 / 5.1 oz.
LINK: http://www.murad.com/pomegranate-cleanser.jsp
Envie de Neuf : Gold Radiance Exfoliating Gel
Exfoliation can be stimulating - and sometimes slightly alarming. Remember when you exfoliated your face with your homemade walnut mask - but the walnuts weren’t ground enough? Cat scratch face.
One of the joys of Envie de Neuf’s Gold Radiance Exfoliating Gel is that it is an entirely grain-free exfoliator, so that there’s none of that thistles-and-Brillo thing going on all over your face. Instead, this gel mildly dissolves dead skin cells and impurities - without any irritating friction.
How can that be? First of all, Envie de Neuf’s Gold Radiance Exfoliating Gel is packed with pomegranate extract, which, as we all know by now, is packed with more antioxidants than either red wine or green tea. Papain enzyme and subtilisin (a protein-digesting enzyme that provides cleansing and conditioning and reduces scaling, flaky skin) sweep the debris right off your skin, while the pomegranate extract promotes skin cell regeneration.
Then there’s the 24-karat gold foil. (And you thought gold was only for jewelry and Versace?) What’s great about 24-karat gold foil is that it releases anions (negative ions) to balance and brighten the skin. At the same time, this gold foil helps to speed up cellular processes, which enables regeneration.
But wait, there’s more: witch hazel as an anti-inflammatory agent, and aloe leaf extract and algae extract for soothing, moisturizing, and calming action, as well as coral weed extract, a red algae that is both hydrating and firming.
The end result of Envie de Neuf’s Gold Radiance Exfoliating Gel is that your skin looks like a million bucks - and you walk into the breakfast room feeling like you’re worth more than all the gold in Fort Knox.
PRICE: $63.00 / 100 ml (3.38 oz)
LINK: http://shop.enviedeneuf.com/
