Holy Grail of Goodies 2 (Moisturizers)

This little bottle of wonder needs no further introduction. From its humble beginnings known as Oil of Ulan, P&G did a complete overhaul on its range of products and Olay Total Effects is one of the earlier products from this new range.

I've been on this moisturizer for the past 1 1/2 years and each bottle lasts for about 2 months. Each time there's a sale at Watson's or Guardian slashing the price by close to 50%, I stock up. At any one time, I have a stash of 2 or 3 bottles as backup.

Besides a very pleasant scent and with a bonus of SPF15, it keeps my skin well-hydrated and plump. Its 7 claims? I find to be completely true.

Now, here's a product which actually delivers what it promises. And, I quote:

1. Diminishes the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.
2. Smoothes skin texture - visibly and to the touch
3. Evens skin tone for younger-looking, more balanced color.
4. Improves surface dullness, giving skin a radiant, healthy glow.
5. Minimizes the appearance of pores.
6. Visibly reduces the appearance of blotches and age spots.
7. Soothes dry skin, hydrating with Olay moisture.
   

Despite the promise of SPF 15, I slather on a separate sunblock of SPF 25. Now, this does not make SPF 40, obviously. (If only it does!) It's non-oily and the texture feels lovely as it's smoothed onto my clean skin; having been prepped beforehand with toner and serum.


I chose a serum from the same range. To be frank, I don't notice a difference with my skin when I went on this serum. It was only when I had completely run out and could not be bothered to buy a replacement bottle, I noticed a duller texture and gaping pores on my skin.

This serum when smoothed onto the skin, makes the skin soft and velvety. To save precious suitcase real-estate when travelling, this doubles as an eyecream too.

Be a bit careful there, though. It is a serum, after all. It is packed with all sorts of powerful stuff for the rest of the face and the area around the eye is the thinnest and most susceptible to spots. So, overuse of this around the eye area can cause oil seeds and those can be a pain to remove!


For something richer for the evenings, I use a night cream from the Regenerist range.

At first glance, the deep lavender cream can be a bit daunting. The scent, unlike its Total Effects counterpart, is a tad overpowering and needs some getting used to.

As usual, I pat the cream in after prepping the skin with toner (sans the serum this time since this is such a rich cream).

The skin feels soft and supple. Lines are minimized as well. (Note that lines cannot be completely diminished. A good moisturizer plumps the skin up, thus minimizing the effects of lines)