Am I a Skin Care Product Junkie? Or Just too Much of a True Consumer to Settle on One Product?

This is a personal story of the myriad of skin care products I've tried. Which products disappointed and which ones delivered. Furthermore, which skin care products over delivered? With the thousands of skin products on the market today, all promising to do one thing or another for your skin, from making you look 20 years old again to erasing acne in days, it's really tough to know when you're wasting your money. And yet, we all do it! Read on for a true skin care product junkie's confessions...

Let's see, where to start. I guess we'll start with my latest little discovery. The home microdermabrasion kit. Now mind you, I've had the real thing done about two years ago for some old acne scarring still left over from my younger acne-ridden days and I absolutely loved the way it made my skin look and feel. Now, the home microdermabrasion kits claim that they can produce very similar results to the real aesthetician administered procedure.

Not to disappoint you too quickly, but they cannot simulate this effect. They do work, and they do add a nice freshly scrubbed look to your face, and clean away a lot of dull dry skin to reveal newer skin, but they do not have the same dramatic effects as real microdermabrasion does.

I will continue to use my home microderm kit though, because I like the fact that I can do it in the comfort of my own home, and for a fraction of the cost of the real office procedure. I also like the frequency it allows me to administer the treatment. There's no way I could afford the time to visit a doc's office once a week, nor would I want to squander that much money away!

Now, onto another skin care product I've purchased and tried. I purchased Dr. Varon's liquid mild acid peel kit and tried it approximately ten times. This kit is another home system that advertises as an effective alternative to a popular dermatologist or aesthestician administered skin care treatment, the glycolic acid peel, only it is in a much more diluted version due to OTC regulation.

After several uses, I examined my face several times, very closely mind you, and call me crazy, but I just didn't see any difference. The only thing I noticed was that my face got mildly irritated and seemed drier and to flake more. Perhaps this was the idea? My skin has always been a little sensitive, so maybe this is not a fair nor "accurate for all" assessment of the home facial peel, but my experience was less than impressive. But of course I will be trying it again - this time probably a higher end, online brand.

Now, onto the next product. The next product I felt certain would take my crows feet away in seconds as shown in the persuasive infomercials I was so gullible to watch for twenty full minutes. The before and after live shots of a fifty- something woman applying this gel to her eyes were nothing short of miraculous! Barely able to contain my excitement for this new "fountain of youth" product, I picked up my phone and frantically dialed the Home Shopping Network number, anxiously awaiting my "special limited time price" since I had acted so fast.

The shipment came in about four days. I opened the first package. Let me explain what this product was before I tell you how it worked. It was primarily made up of hyaluronic acid and another substance whose name escapes me now, but both of the primary ingredients were "skin swellers". What do I mean by skin swellers?

Skin care product ingredients whose main purpose is to temporarily swell the skin out. The key word is "temporary" here. It did work, and it worked for about two hours, but to my dismay, when I looked in the mirror later on that day, all of my crows feet were just as deep and pronounced as they were before application.

My miracle fountain of youth hopes were dashed to smitherines! How could I be so gullible? I promised myself I would never again purchase another pricy skin care product. Instead I would only limit myself to special visits to a cosmetic dermatologist or spa to get my "real" skin care treatments. After all, they were the only thing that worked, right?

Well - no, not necessarily. I have had some good experiences, which I would like to share also - in another article perhaps? Just try to be as informed as possible about the ingredients in the skin care products you purchase. That's the moral of the story. Make sure they have some sort of real merit and therapeutic properties to them over the long haul, and are not just some sort of quick fix.

Visit CosmeticsGalore: Skin Care Product Reviews for skin care product reviews. Danna Schneider is the founder of Cosmetic Product Reviews and Comparisons