When I reached the ripe old age of 40, it was no big deal. I called it my midlife awakening. I talked about how the start of my 40s was one of the most confident times in my life. Too bad we don’t get the physical traits to mask that.
Just as we feel we know who we are and we love ourselves and our bodies, then our bodies start to betray us. Our metabolism slows. Our waistlines enlarge. And what happened to our faces? Our skin is drier and peppered with everything from fine lines to deep lines to ruddy complexions to sun spots. A lifetime of use and/or abuse suddenly reveals itself. And don’t get me started on the sagging.
So what was that I said about loving your skin after age 40? Oh yes. It’s possible. If you look at that picture above, I feel pretty confident in my skin even though I’m halfway through my 40s and I figured out the secret.
Book a ticket to Turks & Caicos, relax on the beach, and enjoy a nice tropical beverage. I guarantee it will shave years off of your face. Until you come back to reality, that is.
Seriously, though, don’t underestimate the importance of taking care of yourself mentally and physically because it will show on your face. Typically, I’ll spend a pretty good amount on decent skincare ensuring that I’m keeping up with the latest peptide and argan oil and hyaluronic acid claims. I can’t tell you if it’s working. I only know it makes me feel better to try.
And when my skincare regime is done, I look in the mirror and see what else I need and it’s this. Just a little something extra. Just something to smooth out my complexion, to even out the skintone, to make me look just a little bit polished.
I don’t like to do that with foundation. Despite all the claims, I just don’t like the feel of makeup on my face, which is why my skincare is so important. What you see is what you get.
I’ve dabble in BB creams and CC creams and I actually like them. They add pigment to your skin or add color correction and give you exactly the look I’m talking about. But I’ve found something even better.
Through the iFabbo network, I opted in to review StriVectin Advanced Retinol Pore Refiner (retail $99).
The Claim
“Reduce the appearance of enlarged pores and refine texture for a smooth, even complexion.
New Advanced Retinol Pore Refiner is a lightweight daily pore-minimizing lotion and anti aging moisturizer with Retinol that delivers both instant and long-term visible pore reduction. 96% of subjects had an immediate improvement in visible pore size after a single application. Patented NIA-114™ technology nourishes the moisture barrier to provide visible age fighting efficacy as it limits the sensitivity common to Retinol use. The powerfully effective blend purifies and refines both skin tone and texture, while delivering superior age fighting benefits.”
Why I Agreed to Review It
I don’t have huge pores but it certainly couldn’t hurt my T-zone area. But it was the lure of an anti-aging moisturizer with Retinol that got me excited. That’s THE thing you are supposed to use on aging skin. I also felt like StriVectin is a pretty well-respected brand and wouldn’t necessarily be using marketing speak to get me to try the next new thing.
The Verdict
I LOVED THIS PRODUCT! And here’s why.
It did exactly what it claimed to do. It reduced my pore size, true. I can’t really measure the anti-aging effect. But it absolutely refined my skin tone and texture. I figured, if it can do what a BB cream does and help my skin not just mask it, then it’s doing it’s job.
What You Should Know
Skincare reviews are extremely difficult. Not everyone has the same skin nor the same skin problems. What works for me may not work for you. And trying to capture that on camera? Even more difficult! So if you can’t see the difference, you might just have to take my word for it.
I also make sure that every skincare product I review is used for at least 2 weeks (in this case, it was more like 6 weeks). You want to make sure it doesn’t have an adverse effects or cause problems over time.
The only thing I’m going to change going forward it the way I use it. The instructions for how to use say to “Apply all over clean face in the AM and PM. Use as the last step in your skincare routine.” So I used StriVectin after I applied my regular moisturizer. In hindsight, I’m thinking this is supposed to be a substitute for my regular moisturizer.
I’ll continue over the next few weeks but if the moisture isn’t enough on its own, I think it’s perfectly acceptable to add it to your existing skincare routine.
And when it runs out? I plan to purchase it for myself. Unless I can score another trip to Turks & Caicos sometime soon!
StriVectin Advanced Retinol Pore Refiner was provided to me as a product sample through iFabbo to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own.
