Background: My skin lacks clarity and smoothness from adult acne and post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, melasma from long-term use of oral hormonal contraceptives, fine lines at the outer corners of eyes, a deep furrow between my eyebrows, and beginnings of sagging at... Read full review
Background:
My skin lacks clarity and smoothness from adult acne and post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, melasma from long-term use of oral hormonal contraceptives, fine lines at the outer corners of eyes, a deep furrow between my eyebrows, and beginnings of sagging at my jawline and under the chin. I’ve been told I have younger-looking skin when it comes to wrinkles and firmness than other 40+ women, but not sure if it’s because I still get acne, am as oily as I was in my 20s and my plumpness stretching my skin.
For the duration of the trial, I stopped using anything with exfoliative qualities in my regular routine, like scrubs, acids, vitamin C, and retinol. I used a gentle cleanser morning and night, plus micellar water at the end of the day to take off makeup, sunblock during the day, and a light moisturising cream at night on top of the Prevage treatment.
Product:
The complete treatment comes in 4 vials, one for each week with increasing strength of exfoliation, and a dropper to use for all 4 vials. The idebenone powder is deposited in the solution when you press the button on the lid and the lid is replaced with the dropper. It instructs us to shake the bottle before every use to evenly disperse the idebenone in the solution. In my experience, one dropper-full of solution is more than enough to cover the whole face and there was a couple of days worth of solution still left behind after a week, but was not used because we had to move on to the next higher strength vial. It seemed a bit wasteful, especially for the retail price if I had bought it, and was really tempted to keep on using it past the week. I hadn’t thrown out any of the bottles and noticed no change in colour and wonder if it would still be effective to use.
First week:
I did not experience any stinging during the week. I felt some parts of my face were breaking out with more white and blackheads, but the rest of my face looked brighter and smoother at the end of the week. I’m not sure if this was a purging of deep-seated impurities that comes with exfoliating the top layers or if my skin was adjusting to quitting my usual regimen and adjusting to a new one. Could also be both.
Second week:
I did not experience any skin sensitivities with the increased strength of the next vial. I noticed my skin was less oily during the day and some tightness after cleansing. My skin seemed to have stopped breaking out, thankfully. I noticed my skin getting firmer and more glowy. The fine lines at the outer corners of my eyes are less noticeable when I’m not smiling.
Third week:
Still no stinging when I apply the stronger vial of acid. This week has been very hot and humid. I noticed my face would get more red under the sun, despite my regular use of my usual SPF30 sunblock. It would also get red easier when I workout or the day I had a few alcoholic drinks. Face sweat made my skin feel prickly. I kept on with the treatment because my skin was looking better when it was not red, like if I was in an air conditioned room. I alleviated the redness and prickly sensation with spraying my face with Avene thermal water often to cool down.
Fourth week:
Work friends noticed I seemed glowing, like I had a holiday (I wish)! Redness not so bad as last week. I can get by not using my regular liquid foundation and just dabbing some powder to take out the shine from my sunblock. Can barely see my fine lines in the outer corners of my eyes. The deep furrow between my brows is still there but looked like it shortened in length. Small pores have disappeared, the mini-craters from past acne lesions were still there. There was a significant firmness in my jawline and under the chin. Post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation and melasma have visibly lightened. The only problem during my “after treatment photo” was that I was having another bout of tiny breakouts that I usually get a few days before my menstrual period.
Overall:
I am very satisfied with the treatment. I would recommend it to those who can afford it. I’m not sure if it’s recommended for younger people, but it seemed to control my oiliness and acne along with reducing lines and improving firmness and beightness. It was definitely worth the retail value. I would say the end effect was like having regular facials at the comfort of your home. I would love to repurchase, but it is very pricey. Probably if I had a windfall of money, like a good tax return, but otherwise can’t see how I could afford it regularly. That being said, I don’t know how long the effect will last once your done with the four weeks and how often in a year they would recommend repeating it. With the price, I’d probably use the whole bottle whether it took me past a week or not, before moving on to the next strength. If I had to do it again, I’d probably do it over the winter. The sun, heat and humidity made it very uncomfortable for me for a few days in the treatment.
I would like to thank beautyheaven and Elizabeth Arden for the chance to trial this treatment because it was so amazing.
