Kiehl’s keeps things simple

A WOMAN on the go shouldn’t be wasting time slathering five creams on her face when one perfectly good cream that has five effects, with natural ingredients, mind you, is in the market.

Last week, US- based Kiehl’s presented its Super Multi-Corrective Cream via a mani- pedi pampering afternoon in S Maison, beside the Conrad Manila. The silky, light, and fragrant cream promises to address signs of skin aging such as lifting, sculpting, retexturizing ( also known as pore refining), smoothening, and of course, moisturizing.

“The drier your skin is, the more age concerns are actually apparent,” said Joan Hwang, Kiehl’s Philippines Product manager.

The product combines three ingredients for the effects: jasmonic acid is supposed to help in epidermal renewal and to correct lines and wrinkles, while another component, beech tree extract, improves the skin’s firmness, plumpness and density. Finally, a dose of fragmented hyaluronic acid is meant to intensely moisturize the skin, and improves the texture and elasticity of the skin.

The product boasts to be able to have visible results in as fast as two weeks, as proven by a test that Kiehl’s conducted. According to Ms. Hwang, a sample size of men and women were collected, and told to use just the product. The subjects were given diaries to record their skin’s progress, and results were seen in two weeks, and the effects were doubled in another two weeks. A release states that 84% of their consumer subjects agreed that their skin indeed felt and looked revitalized.

The New York-headquartered Kiehl’s, founded in the 1800s, is known for its wide range of skincare products, so of course, Business-World had to ask if the multitasking new cream can replace five of their products on the dressing table. “We never replace. Moisturizer itself is one step of your routine,” said Ms. Hwang. And, “you still need to use sunscreen.” Prevention is better than cure, they say, so blocking the sun’s aging UV rays is still a must.

So wrinkles can be fixed in one month, if claims about this cream are to be believed, but can it be a worthy substitute for medical procedures designed to reduce the appearance of skin aging ( botox, lasers, and facelifts)? Said Ms. Hwang, “If you’re looking to really get a facelift, [those have] immediate results. At the same time, that means going under the knife. This one — fine — maybe it takes two weeks for you to see visible results, but at the end of the day, at least you didn’t go under the knife, right?”

The cream retails for P3,650.—