Review: Neutrogena Healthy Skin Anti-Wrinkle Serum, Intensive

OK, inspired by my pal Badger, I've decided to become a reviewer.

Today's review is for Neutrogena Healthy Skin Anti-Wrinkle Serum, Intensive. Yes, that's "Intensive," which I guess means this product was designed to be used by an aging Shar-Pei like me. (So if you're under 37 years old, don't bother. Go off and battle acne or something--come back and talk to me in a few years.)

Brief digression: I can't believe how great drugstore skincare has gotten in the past few years. I mean, when I was a kid it was all 1006 Lotion and Pacquin Hand Cream and Jergen's Lotion, but now companies like Neutrogena, ROC, L'Oreal, and Oil of Olay are constantly coming out with truly ground-breaking products.

So anyway, this serum. I tried it because a serum I've used for a couple of years seems to have disappeared from the stores. So I figured I needed to try something new. Even though I don't have a lot of skin problems and have always been basically pretty happy with mine, aside from that whole aging thing. Also, a friend of mine said she was using a Retinol-containing product from Neutrogena, and her skin really looked brighter and better when she used it.

So when I saw this serum, I went for it. Like Oil of Olay's Regenerist Daily Regenerating Serum, a dimethicone-based product that pretty much started the whole thick, oil-free-yet-creamy serum fad, the Neutrogena product pumps out a pea-sized blob of something thicker than water and thinner than cream. You put it all over your face ... and if you read the fine print, you do it once a day, under moisturizer. Not twice a day. Because that might make you peel.

Which it did.

But that's good! Peeling means a retinol product is working. And it wasn't full-on Renova-style peeling; just a touch of flakiness near my mouth.

As for other results, I can't say that I look better. On the other hand, I don't look worse. I'm not breaking out; it's great under makeup; and that peeling thing convinces me that it's gently nudging my tired old epidermis along.

So buy it. And use it once a day, so you don't peel.