nv perricone

With the current focus on blogger integrity and honesty in reviews, now seems as good a time as any to face the music on this one.

NV Perricone Cold Plasma was given to us to review. Owing to the high RRP of this cream and the reputation of the brand, I wanted to trial this thoroughly and bring you a comprehensive review of how it addresses the "ten signs of aging" it sets out to improve or correct. You can see my initial post about it here.

It has a light, easily absorbed consistency and sturdy glass packaging. It looks like a white version of Clinique's Moisture Surge moisturiser - almost more gel than cream. In fact it is designed to be used along with moisturiser - it's more of a treatment product than a traditional face cream.

It has a patented "delivery system" designed to carry beneficial nutrients and fortifying substances across the cell membrane and thereby improve the look and feel of skin. This is an interesting premise but one that I found slightly disconcerting from a biological point of view - my skin is there to protect my body from outside invaders after all and I'm not sure I want its integrity compromised in this way. However it seems that a lot of work and expense have gone into designing this stuff, and it would have been nice to tell you exactly how well it worked and what the effects were over time.

Unfortunately there is only one definitive thing I can say about this cream, which is that the smell of it is bad. I have tried to steel myself and put it on after cleansing, but the odour put me off and most times I just skipped it. So I can't in all honesty tell you whether it works or not. It may do absolute wonders for aging skin. But it also smells like slightly-off meat or fish.

I am very sorry - I have failed you all. *Pushes fish-cream into back of cupboard with great relief*

This cream may work out well for you if you are anosmic or have a poor sense of smell. Or you may find, as many seemingly have (this product is a best-seller on NV Perricone's site) that it works well for you and you don't perceive any bad odour. The issue may be a quirk of my olfactory system, which is quite sensitive to certain protein smells. (I can't stand using crockery that has been used to serve eggs, for example, unless it has been washed very thoroughly.)

But as far as I am concerned - this is not one I am going to be purchasing. The smell is something I just can't get past.

This product was given to us free for review purposes.

Wow... and I thought my Cool & Clear Elemental Herbology cleanser was a class act.

NV Perricone's Cold Plasma treatment retails at a cool £120 (or$195) for 30ml. That is, well, VERY EXPENSIVE.

What does it do to earn this sort of payment? Is it a whizz of a multi-tasker of a genius worth every penny? Or is it like one of those controversial bank fatcats hoovering up squillions of pounds for no apparent contribution beyond basically sitting there?

Well, according to NV Perricone's website, Cold Plasma tackles 10 signs of aging; elasticity, clarity, radiance, smoothness, texture, redness, blotchiness, fine lines and wrinkles, dryness, and firmness. (Radiance is a sign of aging? Well I guess they mean absence of radiance, firmness, etc.)

But basically in plain speaking, this product is claiming to improve your skintone, make skin more youthful, moisturise, and make wrinkles less obvious.

The key ingredients are apparently "advanced neuropeptide technology", DMAE, L-tyrosine, and DHA (the last two are amino acids).

I have a degree in Biology, and despite reading the press release several times I'm still not exactly sure what the mechanism at work here is supposed to be. I think that there is some kind of ion channel that carries the ingredients over the cell membrane of skin cells, and allows said ingredients to work on the cells from within. Sounds a little invasive to me.

I am not very old yet, nor very obviously aged-looking. I don't have much in the way of wrinkles at the moment. There is probably room for improvement in my skin though, and I think that a cream of this type could probably benefit me in terms of clarity/evenness of tone if it did all it claims to do.

I've worn this for a week now, which is not really enough time to let it do its thing. It's comfortable to put on, with a slightly watery, non-oily texture that sinks in well and is compatible with my regular moisturiser. (You cleanse before and moisturise after putting this on.)

My skin seems happy enough with it - I haven't noticed any dramatic changes in condition so far, and I definitely have no complaints about my skin.