Department store quality with drugstore ease and budget saving: Aveeno

Can you believe Aveeno is 70 years old? They started with colloidal oatmeal for irritated skin and yes, they still excel at that. Last year, I was so excited when my friend Janice was flying in to visit. Just a couple of days before, I found out she’s allergic to dogs! Well, I have a dog. I went into overdrive with a team of cleaning ladies, then filling up the guest bathroom with all kinds of Aveeno baths, creams, etc. Everything was fine!

Now, this is the time of year that with the weather, people don’t want to head out. Even if you do, you may not be feeling your local mall. I know I’m not. The ones near me have been in the news for carjackings and murder! I just want to cocoon and stay home, do the luxe spa staycation. I’m willing to head to the drugstore down the street. Here’s some interesting news on that front: Aveeno has come out with a whole slew of upscale products for your body and complexion! I was happy to be hosted to experience them.

One of the best ways to look more youthful is to exfoliate. The French call it gommage, like erasing your dead and crepey skin. The problem is — especially this time of year — it’s almost too easy to overdo it. You don’t want to abrade already sensitized skin! Aveeno Positively Radiant Exfoliating Body Wash is soap-free and hypoallergenic. It’s super gentle, with the exfoliation-brightening power coming from soy and walnut shell powder: not environmentally unfriendly plastic! It has a light garden floral fragrance. Aveeno considers there to be “5 Factors of Radiance”: tone, texture, dullness, blotchiness and brown spots.

Aveeno Positively Radiant Body Lotion was kind of a lifesaver during these terrible Arctic blasts. It’s a thick cream that comes out of a pump and moisturizes for 24 hours. My back and arms were so itchy, they burned! The surface was so dry, it was almost sandy. I was ready to use long, vintage salad forks as backscratchers! It has some heavy-duty moisturizers, including glycerin and soy. It also has that light garden floral fragrance. Can you believe Aveeno has dozens of different lotions and creams?

Some of us have shied away from facial scrubs. There are rough and scratchy ones out there. Don’t even get me started on those brush devices! Even the “delicate” heads tore my face up so badly, I was depressed for weeks. But I wanna look young, too! Aveeno Positively Radiant Skin Brightening Daily Scrub has a gel consistency with the slightest bit of texture. Okay, if you’re irritated, cut back. But really, it’s pretty soothing and gentle. It has a light rain shower fragrance.

I have to admit, though it’s been a buzzword in beauty for a while, I wasn’t very clear on what “micellar” means. They’re simply surfectant (washing) molecules that attract dirt and oil, to easily wash them away! Aveeno Positively Radiant Micellar Gel Cleanser definitely does do that! It’s a silky, rainwater scented gel that foams a little when applied to a wet complexion. It’s gentle, but I definitely felt that use of their masks afterwards was very beneficial, to clear the pores that the gel is pulling dirt out of.

Aveeno makes several masks and some are quite innovative. Aveeno Absolutely Ageless Pre-Tox Peel Off Mask attacks before there’s a problem (see above). With AHA’s, antioxidant blackberry and Vitamin E, it clears and replenishes. It is a gel with a thin consistency and a natural blackberry fragrance. Unlike peel off masks of the past, it doesn’t go on gloopy and wraps your face tightly, like plastic wrap. It peels off completely. The Aveeno Clear Complexion Purely Matte Peel Off Mask with soy and pomegranate works much the same way, but it has those added benefits that I’d suggest for using in the day, before applying makeup. Why not? It only takes 15 minutes to set and a second to pull off!

A hot trend in beauty now are products that work while you sleep. Good! Less work for me, awake. Also,  it gives more time and a different body temperature for the products to do their thing. Aveeno Positively Radiant MaxGlow No-Mess Sleep Mask is packaged in an innovative tube with such ingredients as soy, kiwi and lemon peel, Vitamin C and E. It has a self-contained applicator paddle, kind of like a duck bill, that squirts out the mask directly onto your face. You aren’t supposed to touch your face or rub it in. It’s like a rich cream, but not oily. It’s not scary looking, but there is a little cream residue for a few minutes.

When it comes to moisturizer, the most luxurious trend is customization. It’s great to be able to add extra benefits as needed. I’ll bet you never thought you’d be able to get that experience at a drugstore! Aveeno Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer has an SPF of 30. It’s oil-free, hypoallergenic and non-comedogenic (won’t make you break out), so the soy here is for everyone. There are light diffusion ingredients in it, which is not quite pearlized, but makes you glow. It helps draw the eye away from flaws. Make it your “own” with MaxGlow Infusion Drops, packaged in an attractive dropper style bottle. Not only can it be mixed into moisturizer, but you can use it by itself. It works immediately with the glow enhancement and also over time, enhancing evenness of skin tone. It’s a milky serum consistency that dries instantly: it won’t interfere with cosmetics application. Aveeno Positively Radiant MaxGlow Serum + Primer is surprisingly in a liquid format — so it definitely will not interfere with cosmetics application. You shake well the bi-level formulation, combining liquid with oils. It really makes a difference in adhesion: I had some bright redness on my face and applied it. Then, I added a light BB cream on top before working out. Normally, the cream would have slid off, exposing the flaws. But no longer!