Elizabeth Arden Products Reviewed :

Defining Skin Brightener

Good Night's Sleep Restoring Cream

Good Morning Skin Serum

Elizabeth Arden? One of the oldest skin care and make-up companies, founded in the 40s I believe. The name summons up visions of old ladies smelling of gardenia and carrying velveteen handbags having lunch at a department store. The company always struck me as focused exclusively on a very traditional older women's market and not that interested in innovating or branching out. It had no appeal particularly for a butch man like myself (wink wink, nudge nudge). Well, I was wrong. At least recently, EA has come out with some very innovative new products, some of which are described below. I found myself loving most of them, finding them to be as effective as products from higher priced lines, but at half the price. Elizabeth Arden is definitely moving the right direction and worth checking out. EA's products aren't as widely distributed in department stores as they used to be, but you can usually find them at Robinson-May and Nordstrom. They also have a website http://www.elizabetharden.com. There's a link on their web site for shopping, but it's not activated yet. It seems in the future you'll be able to buy their products online.

Size	1.7 oz	Price	$45	Where	Robinson's May
Ingredients:
Water, cyclopentasiloxane, butylene glycol, pentylene glycol, dimethicone/vinyl dimethicone crosspolymer, phenyl trimethicone, hydrogenated polyisobutene, ceramide 6 II, acidopholus/grape ferment, algae extract, aloe gel, cola acuminata seed extract, shea butter extract, white birch bark extract, sodium hyaluronate, retinyl linoleate, tocopheryl acetate (vit. E), arginine, glycine, lysine, proline, isoeicosane, glyerin, sodium PCA, trehalose, urea, phospholipids, polyphosphorylcholine glycol acrylate, laneth-15, PEG-150/decylalcohol/SMDI copolymer, polyquaternium-51, bisabolol, C13-14 isoparaffin, PEG-8 cetearyl alcohol, laureth-7, magnesium aluminum silicate, polyacrylamide, xanthan gum, triethanolamine, disodium EDTA, PG-hydroxyethylcellulose cocodimonium chloride, mica, dimethiconol, fragrance, butylparaben, isobutylparaben, isopropylparaben, phenoxyethanol, carmine (CI 75470), iron oxides (CI 77491), titanium dioxide (CI 77891).

This product is intended to firm your skin, exfoliate it and even out your skin tone. Note the innovative and full list of ingredients. When have you seen white birch bark in a product before? Not me. The product also contains Elizabeth Arden's signature ingredient, ceramides, which are a natural constituent of your skin. Ceramides provide firming and general skin health. It's important to note as well that this product achieves exfoliation and even skin tone without alpha- or beta-hydroxy acids, so it's much safer for your skin. So what about the results? In a word: Mantastic! This product has quickly become one of my favorites. It goes on smoothly, and seems to dry very quickly. But in about thirty seconds it makes your skin incredibly smoothe, thanks to the skillful blend of silicones it contains. It's neither drying nor greasy. After application, you would apply your normal moisturizer and/or sunscreen. After just one day my skin looked more even in tone than it has in a long time (I have very red blotchy skin, even without vodka). After a few days my face looked toned, radiant and firmed. The transformation was amazing. And extended use didn't cause any irritation at all. At $45, this product is a steal, since other products that do the same thing normally start at 80$ and then quickly move up in price. This product would make an excellent cornerstone to any man's skin care regime. Highly recommended.

Ra(n)tings

Effectiveness	Pleasure of Use	Value	Overall
4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0

top | next

Good Night's Sleep Restoring Cream
author: Niall | date: 03/02

Size	1.7 oz	Price	$30	Where	Robinson's May
Ingredients:
Water, DI-C12-15 alkyl fumarate, diisopropyl dimerdilinoleate, dimethicone, capryl isostearate, cyclopentasiloxane, steareth-2, butylene glycol, shea butter, glycerin, steareth-21, stearyl alcohol, evening primrose oil, aloe gel, bitter orange peel extract, borage seed oil, ginseng extract, honeysuckle extract, hops extract, kawa extract, lavender extract, palmaria palmata extract, sodium hyaluronate, tocopheryl acetate (vit. E), PEG-8/SMDI cpolymer, propylene glycol, sodium PCA, trehalose, urea, allantoin, polyquaternium-51, panthenol, PEG_8, acrylates/C10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer, polyethylene, disodium EDTA, triethanolamine, butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane, octyl methoxycinnamate, octyl salicylate, dimethicone polyol, phenyl methicone, fragrance, methylparaben, phenoxyethanol, propylparaben, red 33 (CI 17200), EXT violet 2 (CI 60730).

This is a new night cream. It is intended to provide moisture and restoration to your skin. To that end, it has a high content of soothing botanicals like evening primrose, hops and borage seed oil, and revitalizing botanicals like ginseng and bitter orange. The cream is medium weight, which is deceptive because a little goes a very long way. I used too much the first night and some of it wound up flaking off after it dried. Once I throttled back, however, I found it absorbed very nicely and left my skin feeling dewy and soothed. It felt even more than way when I woke up the next morning. It's nice to find a simple, effective and reasonably priced night cream that really has some thought put into it. At $30 it's quite a deal. And, as an added value, it's in a very butch navy blue jar! So you can take it with you to the baths and not have people think you're a bottom. Anyway, a pleasure to use all around.

Ra(n)tings

Effectiveness	Pleasure of Use	Value	Overall
4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0

top

Good Morning Skin Serum
author: Niall | date: 03/02

Size	0.5 fl. oz	Price	$29.50	Where	Robinson's May
Ingredients:
Cyclopentasiloxane, dimethicone/vinyl dimethicone crosspolymer, avocado extract, saxifraga sarmentosa (strawberry begonia) extract, scutellaria baicalensis (skullcap) extract, birch extract, chinese magnolia extract, coneflower extract, ginko biloba extract, grape extract, grape seed extract, mulberry extract, rosemary extract, sage extract, ceramide 6 II, retinyl linoleate, tridecyl salicylate, butylene glycol, water, disodium EDTA, cyclohexasiloxane, dimethicone copolyol.

Ever wake up after a night of boozing and whoring until dawn and make the mistake of looking at yourself in the mirror? And seeing Nosferatu leering back at you? Then you realize you are going to spend all day at work looking like you spent the whole night boozing and whoring. You wouldn't think that a company like Elizabeth Arden would understand this dilemma, but apparently they do because they've developed a product precisely for this moment of unwelcome truth. This serum is designed to perk up, soothe and generally slap your face around a few times (Sister! Daughter! Sister! Daughter!) so that it looks healthy and rested. Hence the large number of botanicals that are great for making your skin glow (rosemary, birch, magnolia). I tried it the morning after an all night prayer meeting, and it definitely works as advertised. The texture is a little silicone-y for my taste, and be careful not to use too much. Just a drop on each cheek and forehead, no more. It's completely non-irritating, but it can seem a little greasy if you use too much. The greasiness goes away after a while, but still. It absolutely works as advertised. Indeed, you can actually watch as it brightens your skin and makes it as rosy as a baby's behind. Quite remarkable. Pleasure of use could be a little better, but otherwise this is another fantastic product.

Ra(n)tings

Effectiveness	Pleasure of Use	Value	Overall
4.0	3.0	4.0	4.0

take me home, bud!