As the gears grind toward my 40th birthday this summer I've developed a sudden interest in wrinkle reduction, age spot lighteners, and I'm having a personal debate over letting my hair turn gray or continuing to dump color on it every six weeks. I've been coloring (not because I needed to) since I was sixteen. I'm kind of bored with the process. And these freaky Dr. Seuss-style gray hairs are not very receptive to brown. Besides, I've earned them. I'm leaning toward the natural look, a la Jamie Lee Curtis.

But when it comes to the wrinkles I'm not sure I'm okay with "natural."  I noticed the first one in my reflection in the rear view mirror and thought I'd drawn on my forehead with a pen. I reached up to rub the line away. Oh horror! The line was the shadow made by the indent in my skin: my reward for years of frowning and furrowing. (There's one more reason Jesus told us not to worry!)

So I entered the anti-wrinkle zone. Also known as the women's paint and putty department.

First observation: Everything in this section is ridiculously overpriced. Yes, I'm a cheapskate, but seriously, $14.95 for a 0.25 oz. tube of something I can't even prove is going to work?

Second observation: I need 36 different products just for my face. Morning, afternoon, and evening products. Eye products, lips products, cheek products. Wrinkle smoothers, wrinkle fillers, wrinkle preventers. Sun damage correctors, free radical removers, anti-sagging, anti-bagging, anti-puffing. Fine lines. Deep lines. Spots. And then, to combat the vile injustice of still having the occasional zit to accompany my creases, there's an entire selection of goodies for the "mature" woman with "blemishes."

My mind starts to drift. Maybe Botox? Oh, yeah, botulism for my face. No thank you, I'll pass. I start picking up little (and I mean tiny, itsy-bitsy) boxes and jars and tubes and bottles and flipping them over. What's in this stuff? Is it so expensive because someone has to breed captive Tinkerbells to milk them for pixie dust to put in the magic formula?

Here's what I discover during my eyewitness investigation:

• Caffeine is one of the latest ingredients touted to brighten and tighten the skin. That's nifty. But I'd much rather drink my caffeine than rub it on my face. It's cheaper, too. Even if I get a fancy coffee!

• Vitamin C (A.K.A. L-Ascorbic Acid or Ascorbyl Palmitate), Vitamin E, Vitamin K. These are all things in my multi-vitamin. And when I eat like I'm supposed to, things that are in my food. Again, I'd rather eat them than wear them.

• Hyaluronic acid is a substance produced naturally in the body that promotes water retention in the cells. Puffy cells look younger than saggy cells. Wanna know where it comes from? Rooster combs.  No joke, the comb of the rooster is the purest source of hyaluronic acid.

• Retinol, retinoic acid, retin-A, and tretinoin are all fancy names for... Vitamin A. Mothers out there, stop telling your girls to eat their carrots and spinach because it's good for their eyes. Tell them it will prevent wrinkles.

• Alpha-hydroxy acids include lactic acid (found in milk), citric acid (found in oranges), glycolic acid (extracted from sugar cane and beets). Part of Cleopatra's beauty regimen included goat's milk baths. Funny how our beauty treatments come from the most unattractive animals, isn't it?

• Beta-hydroxy acid comes from the bark of certain willow plants and is also known as salicyclic acid. Remember Stridex? Hello salicylic acid. Hey, that will take care of zits AND wrinkles? It's also found in aspirin, wart remover (the Wicked Witch just needed a Stridex pad!), and dandruff treatments.

Conclusion: I walked away empty-handed from the enticing displays that promised me a virtual fountain of youth and made my way through the rest of the store in a haze. I paused at the facial tissues. At least those were on my list. My eye caught the blurb on one box, promising that these tissues had the power to kill viruses. Awesome! I grabbed a box, noticing the inflated price compared to the dull store-brand tissues in their unattractive packages. With a shaky hand, I turned the magic tissue box upside down. There, on the bottom, in tiny letters. Active ingredient: ascorbic acid.

The tissues returned to the shelf and I wheeled my cart to the produce department for three oranges. One to eat, one to rub on my face, and one to stuff up my nose. Food, beauty, and health care in one attractive, simple package. I don't even need a bag, so I'm being eco-friendly. At 39 cents each, that's quite a bargain.

Have you ever paid extra for a box of tissues because the box was "cute"?

Did you ever buy a beauty product that didn't live up to its promises?




For more information:www.skincareresourcecenter.com

Shortly after we were married my husband picked up a bottle of fragrance and proceeded, for whatever reason, to read the label.

"Honey? What is "ew dee toilet" and why is it in this bottle?"

"Water of toilet," I replied with a snicker.

Eau de toilette is not, of course, referring to the dog's favorite porcelain water fountain, but it sounds funny all the same. The French word "toilette", used in this form, has to do with the means and manner of grooming oneself, or the style of dress one affects. The addition of a little "toilet water" -- or fragrance -- is a usual part of our everyday "toilette."

Perfume comes in multiple forms, eau de toilette being one of the more diluted versions. The strongest, most potent form of scent is perfume extract, followed by eau de perfume (EdP), then eau de toilette (EdT), eau de cologne (EdC) and, finally, aftershave or splash. The concentration of perfume compounds is diluted, usually with ethanol (alcohol) or ethanol and water, and occasionally with oils.

Perfume compounds are made up of organic materials from plant and animal sources, and from synthetic sources when the organic substances are too rare or difficult to obtain. Perfumes obtained from all natural substances are generally much more expensive than synthetic scents.

The compounds are mixed into different "notes" -- top, middle, and base -- to create individualized, specific scents. The formulas for those scents are highly guarded by their creators. A scent can generate income and brand loyalty for decades, and even be passed from generation to generation.
The first perfumes were created not for attracting the opposite sex, nor for covering up unpleasant body odors, but to attract the gods through worship.

The recipe Moses described for the temple's anointing oil was a kind of perfume, and anyone who copied that recipe was subject to punishment. Mary Magdalene broke open an alabaster flask of perfume and poured it on Jesus' feet as an act of worship (the perfume in that flask was said to cost a year's wages). Esther and the virgins who were candidates to become the next queen were subject to a year's worth of soaking and application of scented oils. That's a lot of Bath and Body Works! The women who came to the tomb after the crucifixion arrived with spices and herbs and perfumed salves and oils for preparing the body for burial. Like mothballs and cedar?

The extracts used in the making of specific perfumes determine, to a large degree, the cost of the end product. The most expensive perfumes have the purest extracts as part of their composition.
Scientists acknowledge the sense of smell to trigger memory as far greater than sight, sound, touch, even taste. Combined with the theories of aromatherapy -- using the power of scent to change moods, emotions, even physical symptoms -- perfume takes on greater importance.

The "world's most expensive perfume" was created by French perfumer Jean Patou in 1930. "Joy" perfume, a combination of the purest form of rose extract, rose absolute, and jasmine, was designed for Patou's wealthy American friends who had been devastated by the Depression. An early attempt at aromatherapy, perhaps?

Like music and fashion, perfume follows definite trends. You can probably tell what era you grew up in, or your socioeconomic status in that era, based on your recollection of various perfumes.
Here's a few that come to mind....

Which fragrance is your favorite?


Which ones remind you of someone so much that when you smell it you think of them?


Do you have a "signature" scent?


What's your favorite men's cologne?


It's too bad we haven't invented a scratch 'n' sniff computer screen yet...



http://www.thehistoryof.net/the-history-of-perfume.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfume#Concentration