Treatments -Neutrogena - Rapid Wrinkle Repair night moisturizer 
bunnycollective 8/20/2012 2:31:00 PM
As I neared the age of 25 I noticed fine lines appearing on my forehead. I was somewhat okay with the fact when not wearing makeup, but it seemed as though my foundation would exacerbate the problem, leaving it looking not only more wrinkled than it was, but cakey as well! I am quite prone to freckles and sun spots, and because of this do not go outside without some foundation with SPF in it. I need the sunscreen, and the foundation erases the connect-the-dot look I loathe (I find sunscreen alone always makes me look greasy and break out).I could see my skin looked worse in sunlight and was horrified by the fact that it would only get worse over time. Oh and it did.. By 27 my forehead lines did not get worse.. but I had developed a form of tiny tiny bumps on my forehead, it felt almost as if every pore was plugged and inflamed and I had no idea what to do. On top of that all, I started to develop awful acne on my cheeks and chin. As a teenager I was constantly complimented on my skin, and I feel like this made it even worse that 10 years later I looked leathery and oily. I sought out the doctors advice (it is quite tough in Montreal, we do not often have our own GPs so some can be stuck with clinic doctors who do not want their time wasted), and she simply said go on birth control, but would not refer me to a dermatologist. After taking birth control for 1 month I did notice a lot of clear up, but had to trade it in for a gain of 15 lbs, with the inability to lose it! I was so depressed I did not know what to do, and ended up choosing to be thinner over having clearer skin. Immediately the skin issues returned, though my forehead's leathery look had never really left. I read about exfoliants and quickly bought a gommage by Roc, to no real avail (it felt smoother but looked the same). I bought all kinds of facial scrubs with the micro-beads, and exfoliated as much as I could get away with-same result, felt great but looked awful. I was so misled by the information that I was finding that I would use these products and then put moisturiser on hoping it would do SOMETHING. By chance, when in store looking for a good moisturizer to replace some non-helpul St. Ives cream, I ended up buying Neostrata's Smoothing cream- level 2, thinking it was just a good moisturizer with SPF in it. Boy was I surprised when it went on greasy and I would continuously rub my forehead to try to get it to sink in, only to feel skin cells coming OFF! With this product I felt it was doing something, I actually saw results.. dead skin cells being burnt off my face.. layer after layer. As greasy as the smoothing lotion was, I would still put it on my pimples on my cheeks, and though it at times created more acne, it would remove all the dead skin that had formed and made wearing foundation an actual possibility; I looked 27 instead of 35. Despite the amazing results of Neostrata's smoothing cream though, I could not get rid of those fine lines on my forehead. I ran out of the Neostrata, and stupidly did not buy any more thinking it only helped so much. I guess I must have stopped looking in the mirror, or perhaps I was more focused on life and its setbacks. Simply put, my forehead got leathery again and those cursed fine lines stayed laughing, mocking me. I bought mineral makeup, which I thought would somehow cause my forehead to be less plugged and clogged, and it made it look worse than it had ever looked; I now looked 40. I remembered catching an episode of Doctor Oz, and him saying how good vitamin A was for your skin, and him talking about Retin-A and its effects, but I was wary. I did not want to spend money on yet another cream that would only do so much, or worse not work at all. Christmas came, and I received a tiny bit of cash (I am a student), and I was feeling deep pocketed and went to Walmart with a plan. There I was again confronted with all of these creams and products and I started to feel woozy, but I suddenly this blue bottle of Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair (Night cream) caught my eye. For some reason I was so drawn to the tester bottle, I found it minimalistically beautiful! I almost bought it right there, but there was some Loreal product beside it, also with Retin-somethin and also on sale. This was the defining moment, and I did not know what to do! It dawned on me to visit Makeup Alley, and I read reviews for both, seeing a better rating for Neutrogena- so I bought it! It might just be in my head, but after 2 days my skin was exactly as others have stated, dewy, glowing and refreshed. Of course there were no major miracles but for the glowing look alone I was happy! This is the first cream that I have applied regularly, and not just because of its recommendation to do so, but because of that glowing look it gave me. I felt beautiful, even with no real diminishing lines or reduction in pimples. After two weeks of using it daily, sometimes twice daily, I noticed a major reduction in acne, and an improvement on my forehead lines (though slight). Some of my skin did flake, but that stopped as I got used to it. Eventually though, I noticed a halt in improvement, and I still had lines on my forehead. I was quite happy regardless, it continued to reduce my acne and I even noticed my sunspots fading! My forehead though, bane of my existence, started to get leathery again. I found my empty bottle of Neostrata Smoothing lotion during a move, and memories of skin cells peeling off flooded back. I splurged for a bottle of Neostrata Smoothing lotion, Level3. Oh. My. God. With regular usage of the Neostrata and Neutrogena creams, my forehead lines are GONE. My leathery, forehead? Gone.I look 10 times better than I did at 25! My foundation goes on smoothly, and I have never been happier. It seems the dead skin buildup had interfered with the magic of this cream.Exfoliate rigorously and you WILL see an improvement!
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