8 Hour Cream - Unisex ... Really????? (Elizabeth Arden Visible Difference Eight Hour Cream Skin Protectant)

Member Name: newty1977

Product:	Elizabeth Arden Visible Difference Eight Hour Cream Skin Protectant
Date:	07/04/06 (3427 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It accentuates facial features you know !

Disadvantages: Cost and maybe the smell

Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream - 50ml - circa £25 - typically from department stores such as Debenhams and the likes.

I bought mine from duty free at East Midlands Airport, costing me £16.49 and the young lady providing me assistance wrongly assumed it was for my girlfriend!! Brownie points were quite evidently beamed in my direction as the young lady serving me thought … "what a nice young gentleman, thinking of his girlfriend and buying her a present on the outbound journey". Actually, she was probably thinking about knocking off and getting down the pub with her mates, but that's inconsequential.

Yes it's make-up, yes I am male, yes I use it, and yes I am heterosexual. I will probably get no end of abuse for this review, especially if any of my male friends saw it ... barring 2 male friends who know I use it and have already given me the abuse expected of using female grooming produts.

What on earth is the world coming to I can already here some blokes asking?! Men and makeup some of the girls may be giggling? Lap it up … this stuff actually adds something to your look for a night out, and I have already found a little extra female attention, which is always nice. Now, if only I could go and speak to said species, everything would be fine and dandy-o!

I asked my Mother about a month ago whether she had any 8 Hour cream, to which I got a reply of "what?", as my Father - very ill-timed - walked into the kitchen, during one of my more infrequent visits to my parents before going out for the evening. "Come on Queen" my Father joked as he walked out of the back door on route to the car, he would be giving me a lift to the train station in. "Doesn't matter" I muttered to my Mother, feeling like an embarrassed school boy at the grand old age of 29.

Now, why on God's green earth would a bloke want with make-up? Sorry, I will re-phrase that.. Why would he want to own a rather expensive make-up? After all, young lads have used their Mother's and girlfriends concealer for years, trying desperately to hide those couple of spots in their teenage years and early twenties…. Maybe beyond. Quite a lot of blokes use lip balm for chapped lips as well these days, and generally take a lot more care of themselves, with the use of daily moisturisers and exfoliating creams, and so on and so on. The male grooming industry has boomed in recent years. Anyway, I am moving slightly off topic, as this product is considered a female grooming product as opposed to male and it does currently reside in my toilet bag!

Why, why, why … get to the point?

Okay, two of my closest friends are female - Nel and Emma - and we do, along with one of my male friends - Adam - spend a lot of time socialising, including weekends away on the piss … that's as in getting drunk, as opposed to skiing on the piste. On one such occasion, in Manchester, just over a month ago, Adam was not due to arrive until later in the evening and so I had our hotel twin room all to myself to get ready, whilst the girls were making themselves presentable in their twin room downstairs. Naturally, being a boy, I was ready before the girls. Although, to be fair, there were two of them sharing facilities. Anyway, I was asked to give them a knock once I was ready, which I did, as they were adding the finishing touches to their war paint. One of them actually mentioned that I should try using some Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour cream, because it is alleged that I have fairly defined cheek bones, and this "wonder" cream would help to accentuate my facial structure … either that or make me look really silly! Half trusting them because I had already had a fair few glasses of alkie-hol in the afternoon, and they had downed a fair amount of jungle juice themselves, I allowed Emma to apply some of the cream either side of my nose, below my cheek bones, expecting to look into the mirror and see something reminiscing a cricketer with sun block applied. However, to my surprise, I could see the point the girls were making … It's wonderous! I could note the way the light now caught my cheekbones in the mirror with the application of the cream, ensuring that more attention was drawn to specific facial features. Great I thought … anything to lend a hand!

The smell of the cream is not, on the other hand, the most alluring, but it's not sickening and can easily be covered up with perfume … ahem, sorry, I mean aftershave! In fact, when Emma applied it to my face, it instantly reminded me of my ex-girlfriend, who used to do a lot of modelling and did use the cream quite liberally. Now I understand why, even though I used to tell her to stop using so much make-up, because I didn't think she needed it. Anyway, that's another matter, we won't go there.

So, what do girlies use it for, because they are the species the cream is - I believe - primarily designed for and certainly marketed at? The back of the tube, which is 50ml states that the cream "soothes minor skin irritations. Also for symptoms of chapping, peeling or flaking due to minor burns, sunburn, windburn, scrapes, abrasions or cracked lips. Many girls use it for similar reasons as I … i.e. for accentuating features, such as cheekbones, as the glow from the cream when captured by the light provides an excellent effect. That last sentence is not a personal appraisal of the effect I might add!

Negatives? At present, other than a mildly uninspiring smell, I can't fault the stuff, other - of course - than cost, but I only use it before a night out and not as liberally as my ex-girlfriend did, so it should last me.

To use: Apply liberally as often as necessary.

Packaing: Cream comes in a handy little white tube, no more than 4-5 inches in length, easily fitting into a toilet or make-up bag, whatever takes your fancy. I, for the record, have a toilet bag. The tube is packaged in an oblong white box, with red rim (If I recall correctly … as I have since discarded the packaging), with Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream printed in black on one side.

Where to purchase: It is generally available from perfume counters in department stores, such as Debenhams, Boots, Harvey Nicholls, Brown Thomas (Dublin). However, these are the more expensive places to purchase, and in the wonderful world of home and Internet shopping, you will no doubt see better deals on the Internet. I have seen cheaper offers on ebay … as a starting auction price anyway!

Made in the USA for Elizabeth Arden.

Elizabeth Arden
London
W3 6XL

Summary: It excentuates my cheekbones (I think I may have mentioned it!)