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| OroGold 24k Day Moisturizer |
For me, there's something just a little off about the storefront; it has that Dallas-esque snake-oil "80's luxe" appearance that seems just a little too good to be true. Perhaps I'm just reacting with my Recession Hat on, but in this day and age, an outfit that sells only their own "luxury brand" high-end skincare/cosmetics, and from such a salubrious location, and in this economic climate, and that has appeared out of nowhere, makes me feel a little uncomfortable. I am no stranger to (judiciously) spending money on tried-and-tested luxury brands (after trialling first). I'm also product-obsessed and spend a lot of time reading and researching. So I'm a little wary of a shop that looks a little Fur-Coat-And-No-Knickers, and whose products I have never heard of before now.
You can't pass this shop by without having samples thrust in your face. I don't particularly want samples of something I know nothing about, but I nonetheless have succumbed to the (quite insistently pushy) staff and have managed (despite my demurrals) to accumulate four sachets (about eleven-or-twelve days' worth) of their Moisturizing Day Cream. According to their website, this stuff retails at €129 a pop, so it's in a price-range I'm used to spending on face cream. Worth a shot.
I thought, tentatively, I'd put it to the test. I decided on a blind test, using skincare I knew nothing about, and figured I'd do the research later. You'd think I'd have learned by now. So I used up the samples for eleven-or-twelve days. I can't say I enjoyed using this product. It certainly feels "comfortable" on your skin on application (assuming you can get past the bloody awful cheap-and-nasty Granny's-skincare-from-the-Eighties-smell), but after the eleven-or-twelve days, my skin felt dryer and tighter than before. As a moisturiser then, it failed. For me, at least.
So, on to the research bit that came later. The OroGold products contain a suspension of teeny tiny ("sub-micrometer-sized") specks of gold. The ancient Egyptians, Chinese, Indians and Romans traditionally believed that gold was the "key" to youth, that it aided in healing and regeneration. Gold proponents believe it has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, and (since it can supposedly penetrate deep into the skin) it is thought that it can potentially act as a conduit to get other, active, ingredients deeper into the skin. It's believed that it helps with ageing by acting on sun-damaged skin and by slowing-down the breakdown on elastin in the skin. OroGold is not the first cosmetic company to make these claims - La Prairie, Guerlain, Chantecaille, LaRocca Skincare are just a few other high-end cosmetics/beauty company that have a range of products featuring 24k gold.
Please note however there is currently no scientific or empirical proof to substantiate any of these claims. This doesn't mean that it works, it doesn't mean that it doesn't work. But it's worth bearing in mind.
Next up, I put in some Google-time into OroGold The Company. Here's where I was a little concerned; all I could find was bad review after bad review, mainly about their sales practices. I am not going to suggest for half a second that this is the case in Ireland, for all I know, the company is owned and operated by saints :-) But from what I read, plus my experience of using this product, plus what I know about gold in products from my own reading, plus the (frankly nasty) smell, was enough to put me off. I won't personally be purchasing.
In any economic climate, recessionary or celtic tiger-y, the old advice runs true; caveat emptor. Perhaps you'll find this product good for you, I regret to say that, at the very least, it didn't suit my skin. You can get some free samples from staff standing outside OroGold at any time of the day - go grab some and use it yourself and see.