I always fall for creams and potions that have research behind them. When I read a label and it lists all kids of percentages of people in a study who saw results with an anti-aging cream, it pushes me to buy the product. I want to be one of those people who saw results!

I tried out Algenist’s Complete Eye Renewal Balm for four weeks to see what kind of results I would get. I intended to use it longer, but I will get to that later!

I hadn’t used anything from Algenist before, and the packaging looks clean and almost clinical, so it wouldn’t be something I would normally be drawn to. At my local Sephora store one of the staff members suggested this cream and said it had worked wonders on her eyes. I decided to give it a try, although my first impression wasn’t great.

 

 

 

 

The cream was fragrance free, but I still felt like there was a smell to it that I didn’t like. Every once in a while I could smell it, and then often I couldn’t smell anything. It bothered me a little bit – there was definitely a scent I didn’t really like, but it wasn’t a big deal because it wasn’t overbearing, and I couldn’t smell it all the time.

The cream was thicker than some of the ones I have used in the past, and it felt soothing to put it on.

The big deal about this cream was that it had the exclusive antiaging ingredient Alguronic Acid. The claim is that a biotechnology laboratory California unexpectedly discovered the properties of Alguronic Acid, and the bioactive compound available only in Algenist products.

Then there are the research statistics, which get me every time:

Following a self-assessment of 100 women, within 10 days of daily use:
– 86 % Felt skin density, suppleness, and elasticity was restored
– 93% Felt skin radiance appeared boosted

Within 4 weeks of daily use:
– Deep wrinkles appeared minimized in 78% of subjects.
– Skin appeared noticeably tightened and lifted in 81% of subjects.

So in theory, this cream was looking really good!

It’s funny, because I really did feel like the cream was making a difference in the first two weeks. I felt like the skin around my eyes looked a bit brighter! It was a little exciting.

Then things started to a go a little sideways for me.

Please note that when I review a product, it’s my own take on the product. This doesn’t mean you will have similar effects to the product I am using – everyone’s skin is completely different!

I did feel like the skin around my eye’s was tightening at first, and then I realized it was my skin around my eyes drying out and getting a little irritated. I couldn’t believe that was happening because the cream was so thick, and it felt like it was moisturizing when I was putting it on. I ignored this for a bit, which later ended up being a bad move.

By week four I started to experience the skin around my eyelids and eyes become extremely dry – the driest I had ever seen it! I thought it may have been the weather since my skin usually goes a little crazy when we get a weather change, but this was getting a little extreme. I also noticed little hives showing up around my eyes. Not the huge itchy ones, but little welts that would appear and disappear.

I finally clued in that it could be the eye balm, so I took a break from this cream and went back to my Korres eye cream, and the hives instantly went away! The dryness was gone by day two. It was pretty clear to me that this eye balm hated my face.

We had such a good start – it was like one of those amazing first few weeks of a new relationship when everything is lovely and happy. And then we broke up.

This eye balm has some amazing reviews online, and like I said it was recommended to me at Sephora as well, so maybe your experience would be better than mine. At a cost of $81.00 CDN, maybe ask for a sample of it first!

 

 

 

Photos courtesy of Algenist.com