Debating

[JenSav]

I am currently using Dr Dennis Gross skin products.  I have been using them a little over a year.  I am over 50 and looking for other Anti Aging products.  Need a change.  I have been reading good things about drunk elephant.  Are they all good Anti Aging or do you recommend others.  

[GG84]

@JenSav 

I love DDG products, why are you looking to make a switch? I don’t exclusively stay with one skin care brand, I use bits and pieces from brands to build a routine. DDG has been great for my skin. 
I like Drunk Elephant for moisturizer ( Drunk Elephant Lala Retro™ Nourishing Whipped Refillable Moisturizer 1.69 oz/ 50 mL ) but not for anything else. 
I use Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare Alpha Beta® Extra Strength Daily Peel Pads 30 Treatments + 5 Bonus

DR. DENNIS GROSS SKINCARE - Ferulic + Retinol Triple Correction Eye Serum

DR. DENNIS GROSS SKINCARE - Stress Rescue Super Serum with Niacinamide

Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare DRx SpectraLite™ FaceWare Pro 3-Minute LED Device

[tg1973]

Honestly, if money is no object, Perricone is kind of the gold standard for anti-aging from a scientific standpoint. He even funds research on ingredients like alpha lipoic acid to find out what actually works. To say this is rare in the industry is to put it mildly. Another science based line is Obagi Clinical, which uses the patented ingredient kinetin that has been clinically proven to slow aging. If you're looking for serious anti-aging you're probably old enough to remember the brand Kinerase which was around in the late 90's and hyped a lot by dermatologists with Courtney Cox in their ads. It was expensive, I never tried it, but I sure saw ads everywhere. Kinetin was their baby, but the company got tired of making it, now Obagi Clinical uses the patent, as do some of the Estee Lauder lines. Don't count Estee Lauder out, they have several anti-aging lines, though they tend to be highly fragranced and pretty hazy about their ingredient lists claiming trade secrets. But they are elegant and easy to find in department stores. Other lines tend to focus on a single ingredient they use marketing buzzwords to create a sense of magic around. Ginseng is popular and does contain saponins, an antioxidant (Sulwhasoo), tea or green tea extracts, which contain catechins, another antioxidant (AmorePacific), l'Occitane has helichrysum oil, which is a flower, La Mer has its mystery algae extract, Lancer has hylaplex, Algenist has a different magic algae which has never done anything for me, Guerlain uses honey or an orchid depending on the line, la Prairie has caviar extract, for whatever reason, combined with some amino acids, SK-II has saccharomyces, a probiotic ferment that is actually an industrial waste product of sake making that they call pitera and pretend they aren't selling a common ingredient worth pennies for hundreds of dollars, it's all a huge scam. Go to lotioncrafters dot com and see for yourself how cheap these magic ingredients are. All of which is to say that only two ingredients have been clinically proven to slow aging: retinoids (prescription, Retin-A, tretinoin is the generic) and their lesser retinol derivatives, and kinetin. Most luxury brands simply charge outrageous amounts of money for retinol, which is just as good when you buy it from Neutrogena. Other ingredients like alpha lipoic acid have been shown to have observable effects on wrinkles (thioctic acid in ingredient lists), and are available super cheap as over the counter supplements. The rest are some peptides with topical Botox- like effects, and of course antioxidants, which are all kinds of good for you but mostly address uv exposure, and are no replacement for sunblock. While most products put a single antioxidant in each product, a better option is a big fat antioxidant cocktail from an extremely science forward brand called Skin Actives. Their UV Repair Cream took ten years off my extremely pampered face, which I didn't think could be done. Check them out, I have loved everything I've gotten from them except their all-zinc sunscreen because even I'm not that pale! But the TL;DR of it is go to a dermatologist and get Retin-A. It works, there's proof. Then get an antioxidant 0rgy from either Skin Actives or Perricone, and buy whatever else your skin likes. Moisture matters, but Hyaluronic acid serums that cost more than$7 are robbery, get the one from The Ordinary. Bobbi Brown's cream is lovely, so are Obagi Clinical and Perricone's classic firming cream, but skip Peter Thomas Roth entirely, I know a cosmetic chemist who can explain why every PTR product is good ingredients thrown in the garbage, everything at the wrong pH. And find a sunblock you love and use it like a religion.

[tonite]

Hello, I’m new here but love what you wrote-I love skin care (and products....and products...) and i Loved reading what you wrote!! Obviously you know what you’re talking about and I respect and appreciate that! Seriously, the more I look at products you’ve tried and reading knowledgeable-I really respect that! I hope to talk to you again! Dawn

[tg1973]

*blush!*. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

I'm new to this site and found your post. Great info you shared, thank u! You know of any products that help with undereye puffiness? I'm 52 and have been cursed w/ bags since a teenager. Have tried just about everything under the sun. With so many new products out there...bit overwhelming and pricey.

Any info would be appreciated!

Thank u.

[tg1973]

I can honestly say that puffy under eyes are one problem I don't have. If you looked at my photos you know that it's my lids that are crazy baggy (inherited from both parents, I'm screwed), so I don't know a ton about under eye creams except that the reviews I see are rife with disappointment. The item I use personally for my eyes is called Firming Eye Serum from Reviva Labs and it's sold at vitacost and natural food places for $18\ounce. That ounce lasts for like a year, it's huge for an eye product. It has DMAE, which tightens skin, vitamin c to brighten, alpha lipoic acid to reduce crows feet, and a couple of peptides. Most eye products on Sephora don't have that many anti-aging ingredients and cost WAY more. That being said, the only one of those ingredients that might address puffiness is the DMAE, so I wouldn't recommend it for puffiness. But I am a big believer in using a treatment serum for your eye area, to get special ingredients soaked into your skin, then putting your regular cream on top of it for moisture. I know that Perricone has an eye treatment that looks really good, if you can afford it. But personally as I don't have that kind of money, I would skip Sephora, go to skinactives dot com and look at their eye products. There's a de-puffing serum for$22 that looks really impressive, and the reviews are great. That would be the first thing I would try, it has the best ingredients for the lowest price, so it would be great if that works and you're done searching. There are certainly good eye creams at Sephora, but they won't necessarily have anything you haven't tried. I've had foil samples of the Shiseido Benefiance Eye Cream, and it's sure creamy and nice and probably help wrinkles, but that's just wrinkle cream. I've also tried a foil sample of the Obagi Clinical eye cream with vitamin c and it legit flattened my crows feet, but I don't see any reviews claiming it helps puffiness. It makes more sense to me for you to use a tightening serum and let your regular cream do the moisturizing instead of trying yet another eye cream. The caffeine product from The Ordinary might be enough for your bags, but if you need more, Skin Actives sells amazing stuff. Not for nothing, but having duffel bags for eyelids and knowing from my parents that they're going to get worse, of course I've looked into plastic surgery. I can't afford it, but snob that I am about natural beauty, I would totally get my lids done if I could. They've bothered me my whole life and they're only going to get worse over time. Apparently under eye lifts are very simple, as they hide an incision under your bottom lid and just tighten up the skin. I'm not saying you need it, I'm just saying I know how frustrating and sad a thing like that can make you. My mom has baggy lids AND baggy under eyes from smoking, and it makes her look older and sad, and seeing it makes her sad. But it took me until she's almost 70 to get her to use CeraVe cleanser instead of bar soap on her face (!!!!!), I've given up on giving her advice and buying her skincare gifts. So if you want to explore that option, I won't judge you. I don't honestly know if there's any under eye product that will really get you tight skin, and I know darned well no product will give me a proper lid crease. But good luck, whatever you decide, I know this is one of the more frustrating and difficult issues to treat.