Hello.
Whitening has been an obsession that has swept Asia for well, ages. From Japanese Geishas painting themselves white before a show to my mother and sister cringing at the sun, whipping out their pocket umbrellas and nagging me to cover up before their worst nightmare comes true: darker skin. I remember once when I was 10 and on a trip to Bintan, I did not know the importance of sunscreen and spent seriously all day out in the sun – lets say I came home at least 5 shades darker and peeling and had a presentation at school the next day (I know I was 10, it was on the Leopard Seal, ok? :P). Not cool. Unlike western parts of the world a “tan” does not go well in the “Look like Hot Stuff in Asia” book (although of course, there is always non-conformity) and I am no excpetion, I want skin that is radiant, fair, and flawless.
On Feb. 5, I was invited via the lovely Pearlin again (who I think is doing a fantastic job linking bloggers to brands) to be a part of Elizabeth Arden’s White Glove Extreme Event where 7 lucky bloggers were sponsored by Elizabeth Arden – the new White Glove Extreme skincare line coming to Singapore stores only in March. We promise to try it out for a month, while they promise us radiant skin thereafter. Neat exchange.
Of course when I saw this in my inbox, I jumped for joy at an opportunity to finally make my skin….um..whiter? Wait a minute ,what does whitening actually mean? Does it mean that I gotta totally revamp my whole foundation routine because I’m gonna be a lighter shade? Nope. Well sorry to disappoint make-up obsessed shoppers, but save your money for that new blush you’ve been eyeing for because whitening means skin that will be more bright, radiant, flawless and smooth and not exactly “whiter”.
So lets take a closer look at the new Elizabeth Arden White Glove Extreme skincare line:
The stars of the show include core ingredients: Embilica C Complex and the Marine Mineral Extract.
Although the Embilica C Complex does sound like its from an old sci-fi film using the embilicas of odd animals, its actually not your embilica cord the mamas have saved up, its actually an Indian Gooseberry. Its a fruit extract common in Eastern traditional medicine used for ages and now combined with a Vitamin C derivative. With this combination, Elizabeth Arden has created folks, a double whammy that controls melanin production – in simpler terms: bye bye dark spots and hello radiant skin.
However, its the new Marine Mineral Extract that makes White Glove Extreme truly unique. Called Cellulossomes Eryngium (hehe I love sounding so smart and scientific) its derived from a sea holly plant that has a flare for living in the toughest of situations. Its often dehydrated, in salt water, exposed to high amounts of sunlight and dry sand – ( I would insert a “sounds like” but I really can’t on this one, this plant is a cool kid). But despite these conditions, it still blossoms so Elizabeth Arden saw this opportunity and harnessed its defence mechanisms and applied it in the skincare range so that your skin can survive even the toughest of situations just like the plant!
Now I seriously get scientific, so if you didn’t like science back in school, I suggest you skip this paragraph :) Well, I’ll make it a little easier for all of you:
One of the serious issues of making skin brighter is to decrease the pigmentation problems associated with too much sun. How does the new Marine Mineral Extract do that? Well, it strikes the melanin production at different stages of its cycle. Here’s the natural process but in simpler terms (I’ll use Chem A instead of Phenylalanine, Chem B instead of Tyrosine and Chem C instead of DOPA, Chem D instead of Dopaquinone and Chem F instead of Melanine so you don’t fall asleep and get an F on this science lesson. Do note that basically all that happens is that Chem A turns into Chem B and it continues along the line until BOOM Chem F which causes dark spots. (Grade F = fail = dark spots). The Marine Mineral Extract stops Chem A from making Chem B while the Embilica will stop Chem B from turning into Chem C. If Chem C happens though, the Vitamin C will save the day and stop it from turning into Chem D. And thus, Chem F won’t happen whereby F = Fail = Darkspots. So, no dark spots! Ta-Da!
Now done with the boring stuff, lets get to the haul:
Lets take a deeper look into what I have to stick to for the next month:
1. Clarifying Foam Cleanser (Sample) full size retails for $57: removes complexion-dulling impurities, purifies skin, gentle and non drying.
2. Gentle Brightening Lotion (Sample) full size retails for $67: prepares skin for powerful ingredients, alcohol free
3. Brightening Pore Refining Gel (Full Size) full size retails for $102: the newbie to the White Glove family and thank the heavens for these, I def. don’t want pores in the new future. Its a hydrating cream that softens, and drenches skin with moisture while promoting smoother and healthier looking skin.
4. Daily Moisture Brightening Cream (Sample) full size retails for $102: if we don’t like gel – does basically the same thing but without pore refining :)
5. Brightening Eye Moisture Cream (Sample) full size retails for $80: gives brighter eyes and is gentler for those tender areas around your eyes
6. Skin Brightening Day Essence (Sample) full size retails for $133: minimizes dark spots and discolorations
7. Brightening UV Protector SPF 50 PA+++ (Sample) full size retails for $79: Um SPF 50, wow.
8. Skin Brightening Overnight Capsules (full size) full size retails for $132 : Its said that if you wanna look like hot stuff the next day for that special someone, use this the night before and its all good in the hood :)
Wow, looks like my morning and night routine will be quite lengthy as I’m usually used to a 3 step *gulp*. But, if the efffects are worth it, I’ll do it . For you. For me. For everyone. Honestly, I’m presently sceptical because I don’t buy into these kind of descriptions much but we’ll see in a month!
Ok, I’m getting cheesy maybe because its late and this is an extremely long post – I apologize. Picture time! It was a lovely event and Celine Chambat (Regional Marketing Manager of Asia Pacific, India and the Middle East), Elizabeth Tan and Jasmine were all wonderfully friendly, the food was wonderful and so was the company!
Sorry this is SO LONG haha :)
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Love,
Roseanne