THE MASK OF SORROW! (Olay Total Effects 7 x Mask)

Member Name: Skyedame

Product:	Olay Total Effects 7 x Mask
Date:	21/07/07 (392 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: You get to lie down for 15 minutes

Disadvantages: You may as well as stayed up

I received a free sample of this product some time ago and it was a toss-up whether I put it on ebay or tried it myself. I confess I wasn’t that keen because many, many, many years ago when I was a mere 17-years-old I remember buying a bottle of Oil of Ulay (as Olay used to be known) and because I had a perfect skin – though a tendency to tightness if I used soap and water – I was unprepared for the awful patches of scaly dried skin which I developed after 2 days of using Oil of Ulay. I gave the lotion to my sister and carried on, ever after, using moisturisers which were creamy rather than fluid in consistency.

***Olay Total Effects 7X Mask – did it cut the mustard?***

The face mask is a face-shaped lotion-soaked stretchy material with holes for eyes, nose and mouth. Sort of Phantom of the Opera does QVC. The lotion contains Vitamins E, B3 and B5 to “infuse skin to help enhance the natural moisture barrier”. Other identifiable ingredients included Green Tea Extract, which is an anti-oxidant

Place the mask (which is quite pleasantly cooling) over your face, smoothing down the edges. Leave on for 15 minutes.

*** Under the Mask ***

Whilst it was ‘cooking’ I considered the 7 signs of ageing which, strangely, nowhere on the product packaging could I find any further mention. For me, the 7 signs of ageing are:

Poor memory; sore bones; insomnia; failing sight; wrinkles; not caring

Which of those would the Olay Total Effects mask cure? Well, my fifteen minutes were almost up, I hadn’t come to any positive conclusion about the 7 signs of ageing and what Olay meant by them, and my skin is beginning to feel worryingly tingly. At my age, I’m not used to ‘tingly’ anything, so I decide to remove the mask.

Following the instructions on the packaging, I discard the slimy mask and massage in the remaining lotion still adhering to my skin. The instructions also say there is no need to wash off the residue.

I beg to differ.

My skin felt unpleasantly sticky – there was mention of sucrose somewhere on the ingredients – and there’s no way I am going to put my foundation straight onto that.
I didn’t wash it off, but I did massage in a good layer of my usual moisturising cream, which did get rid of the sticky feeling. The smell was okay – nothing startling, nothing unpleasant, but if I was going to pay full price for these suckers I’d expect a gorgeous smelling product.


*** Am I now positively gorgeous? ***

Prior to starting on this quest for youth this afternoon, I applied a mud mask to firm the skin and tighten the pores. After applying the Olay mask, the only results I could discern were a softness of the skin – but no softer than usual, because I am always particularly gorgeous. There was no tightening effect (but don’t call me Slack Alice) – I can only assume that the ‘sticky’ feeling was, in fact, a sort of tightening agent at work and, if I hadn’t needed to use a foundation (purleese – perish the thought of going naked) it might have worked. However, since my skin has ‘settled’, and bearing in mind I have applied my make-up, I do think my skin looks brighter. But then again, the sun shone briefly into the room for the first time in weeks, so anything would look brighter.

Would I buy the product for myself?

*** Cost ***

Difficult one this. I could find no price for this product on the Olay website. I have seen the price elsewhere marked as anywhere between £16 and £25. Even at £16 for 5 masks, that would mean each lotion impregnated mask would cost £3.20. So no, at that price, I wouldn’t take the trouble to seek it out.


*** Conclusion ***

Maybe I was expecting too much of it, but I am nearer 60 than 30. I believe women in their 20s are fretting over wrinkles these days so the results for them might be quite different. Olay/Ulay are both the same. A product that for some reason doesn’t really hydrate my skin properly. Would I buy it?

Sorry, Olay, you failed again.

© Louise Saunders 2007

Summary: An overpriced, overhyped promise of yoof