Aging a Little Less Gracefully

I will be 37 next week, and that number doesn’t really bother me. The brown spots around my eyes are another matter entirely though. These aren’t the “beauty marks” I’ve been blessed with in abundance, these are sun damage magnified by wearing glasses, and they have begun to bug me. I decided to suck it up and join the millions of women who turn the cosmetic industry for help. I have two advantages that the average woman may not: 7 years of research done for the cosmetic industry (on people) and a friend who works for Ulta. I know what ingredients work and generally who has them. Oil of Olay Regenerist here I come!


So step 1: I trot down to the cosmetic store and stare at various anti-aging products while feeling silly. Silly is then replaced with consternation as I see most products are concerned with wrinkles, not discoloration. Damn you women who worry about looking like Shar Pei puppies! I finally find something that should work for a night treatment: Regenerist Continuous Night Recovery Moisturizing Treatment. I also picked up Regenerist Daily Regenerating Cleanser, because if I’m putting this gunk on my face I need to be washing it off.

Step 2: Go through all the stuff my friend who works at Ulta has been giving me (she gets free stuff for being awesome at her job). I find and eye treatment and a daytime primer (what the hell is that?) that both have color correction properties. Note to all who care, if you want to hide dark circles look for a product that has iridescent properties. They reflect the light and make the under eye area see lighter. Avon has a nice one that rolls on. As it happens the eye treatment my friend gave me has this property as well as fading the pigment spots:  RareMinerals Active Triple Treatment Eye Cream


Now the “Primer”. It’s sort of what it sounds like, it primes the skin so make up has a more true color. Just like paint primer. And yes, they have spackle for those deep wrinkles, which I still think is silly. The primer I have is Fusion Beauty Prime Results Brightening Primer and I don’t use it so much for the priming as for what it does to reduce pigmentation.

So I’ve mentioned all these product names because it’s been almost two weeks and damned if it doesn’t seem to be working! The circles under my eyes are less noticeable and the pigmentation is lighter (being the geek I am I took “before” pictures). So, if you too have decided perhaps it’s time to embrace your vanity and do something about those dark spots, these things apparently work.

Next time: Help I look like a corpse!