Today, the Olay product line is a far cry from its earlier women’s beauty products, and Olay now offers a full array of health and beauty aids for women of all ages, from all walks of life. The company has changed hands several times before finding a home with Procter & Gamble in 1985.
One beauty aid offered by Olay is the Olay Regenerist Microdermabrasion & Peel System. I have heard this product and other microdermabrasion products advertised recently, and I knew the local spa I have frequented in the past charges well over $75 for a chemical peel and abrasion treatment, so I figured I’d check out the products on the shelf and see if one struck my fancy.
Among the products on the shelf, I found the packaging of the Olay Regenerist Microdermabrasion & Peel System to attract my attention over the other products. Most of the product packaging was clinical/medical looking, or in plain white packaging with blue letters, simple, but they did not stand out like the black Olay Regenerist Microdermabrasion & Peel System’s box, with the yellow and orange, almost flame-like accents.
Checking prices, I quickly realized at about $25.00, the Olay Regenerist Microdermabrasion & Peel System was the least expensive kit of all except for one kit, which was priced about $5.00 cheaper, but did not have a two step process that Olay’s had. This definitely made the Olay product appealing to me.
Another thing that appealed to me about the Olay Regenerist Microdermabrasion & Peel System was that this kit did not require the use of a tool or scrubber to apply the product like many of the other kits contained. I am the worst at loosing or misplacing tools like this in kits and still having product left but no means to apply it. The fact that Olay’s kit could be applied with fingers and not a tool was a plus for me.
So my daughter and I decided to purchase the Olay Regenerist Microdermabrasion & Peel System and give it a try. She and I have very different skin, with her having a Hispanic background, darker tone and oilier skin, and me with a fair complexion, sensitive and dry skin, so we figured if we both used it, we could get a good idea of the results on different skin types.
The first step in the process is a 2.2oz, short container called the Olay Regenerist Microdermabrasion Treatment with Derma-crystals. When we opened the product, there was a safety seal under the lid, which I liked seeing. The product is an orange color and smelled faintly of citrus, no chemical smell at all. The microdermabrasion treatment with derma-crystals was similar in feel to hair gel, except it had these rough beads mixed in with it, which I am sure are the derma-crystals.
When rubbing the product between my fingers, I was reminded of running my fingers through wet sand, and this is pretty much what it felt like on my face – wet, cold sand. The instructions were to rub about a quarter size amount of product on your face for about 45 seconds to one minute. I was pleased to see that a quarter size amount of gel was just about perfect, which means a 2.2oz bottle of this product will go a long way.
The microdermabrasion treatment warmed quickly once on my face, and short of being a bit sticky, I had no problems with this product. You will want to make sure your hair is pulled away from your face, because the product does attract your hair and it sticks all over your face if you don’t (my daughter learned this the hard way).
One word of warning about the microdermabrasion treatment – when the instructions say to rub gently on your face, they mean gently. The first time I used the product, I rubbed too roughly on my cheeks, and they were very raw and sore after. I did discover I could rub harder on my chin and forehead than my cheeks.
The second time I used the treatment, I had no problems. My daughter experienced no problems with the treatment, but I had already warned her not to rub too roughly. Once the product is rubbed in, you now have a derma-crystal mask on your face, avoiding the eyes, mouth and nasal openings.
The second step in the process is a 2oz bottle of Olay Regenerist Peel Activator Serum, with lectic acid. This product is a clear liquid with no smell I could detect. It is smooth, like a hair gloss serum. The instructions for using this product were to apply a thick layer of the serum over the derma-crystal mask. While you apply this serum over the mask a white foam will begin to form.
Once you have applied the serum over the mask, the instructions state you should rub the serum into the mask for up to one minute. This is where the fun begins. The product information says may feel a ‘warming sensation’. Boy, they weren’t kidding. My cheeks burned like they were on fire! My daughter’s cheeks burned so badly, she almost washed the product off before the minute was up.
As you rub the serum into the mask, you’ll notice the derma-crystals will dissolve, and the serum and treatment combined will begin to feel much like an ordinary soap cleanser on your face. The burning sensation does not last for long though, which is a good thing.
One negative thing I did notice is that the smaller 2oz bottle of the activator serum is not only smaller, but actually uses more product to achieve results than the treatment container does at 2.2oz. This means it is likely you will run out of activator long before you will run out of the treatment product.
The next step is to rinse your face with warm water, completely, to ensure you remove all the product. So off to the bathroom my daughter and I go. When we were finished rinsing, we discovered two things: 1) My face was red, slightly puffy in places, and still stinging, 2) my daughter’s face was smooth, clear, and looked very clean and fresh.
I knew I had sensitive skin, so it doesn’t surprise me that a product that in its very name has the word Peel and Abrasion in it would cause me to react this way. My daughter, on the other hand, does not have sensitive skin, so her face did not react this way. The redness stayed for about 5 hours after I had rinsed the product from my face, and my cheeks still burned for about a day after using the product the first time. The second time I used the product, I had the same reaction, but the effects did not last nearly as long.
What my daughter and I both noticed, however, was that our faces felt much smoother, the skin softer, and my usual dry spots were not dry at all. The other benefit to this product was that when applying makeup after using the product, we both found we required less liquid foundation and that both the liquid and powder foundations could be applied more evenly and smoothly, and the shades even seemed to blend with our skin better.
The final analysis: I would not personally use this product more than once a month or so, even though the instructions say it can be used up to twice per week. My daughter tends to agree that twice per week is a bit too much for her too, figuring she’d use it a few times per month. However, we both believe the product does exactly what it claims to do: softer, visibly smoother skin, balances skin tone (after the redness goes away), and regenerates skin’s appearance.
All in all, for the price and how long the product appears it will last (for me, the product could easily last six months or longer, and at $25 for a 6-month supply, that is much cheaper than the salon and spa treatments), Olay Regenerist Microdermabrasion & Peel System is well worth the money, especially when compared to the expensive spa treatments, and the product does perform as it claims. I would definitely buy this product again, burning cheeks and all.
