Paula Begoun Exfoliating 8% Alpha Hydroxy Acid Gel

I have been a huge fan of Paula Begoun since the mid-80's when she came out with her book "Blue Eyeshadow should be Illegal" which stumbled upon in a bookstore in New York City.    I found it both hilarious and VERY on point. I bought the Beauty Bible and was hooked from then on.

She has come a long way from telling us the truth about what cosmetics and cosmetic companies are really about (which is the bottom line of course) and what exactly it is you are paying for when you buy those very high end products. Which is marketing, name and hype.
Thanks to her I have become an informed cosmetics consumer and have always been on the lookout for good quality products for honest prices since then.
Thats not to say I have never bought Dior, Chanel or the likes since then, because I have, but I learned not to expect miracles from them just because of their big name.
I learned that cheap brands can have very good products and expensive brands can have very bad products (even within the same line) and it's up to us to learn how to read ingredient lists to find out if the product warrants the price tag and if our skin will benefit from it.

Paula has launched her own line of high quality products and I have been using a couple of them religiously for years.
First off is her Exfoliating 8% Alpha Hydroxy Acid Gel because I truly believe exfoliating is the way to better and younger looking skin.

                                                                                                    

I bought a 120 ml bottle of this lightweight gel formula about a year ago, used it almost every night and it's still not finished by any means, so to say it's very good value for money would be an understatement.
All you need is a quarter dollop of product to cover face, neck and cleavage.
I take it all the way down to my cleavage for a good reason: I used to love sunbathing and my skin has suffered a little of course over the years. This type of exfoliation is very good for smoothing and rejuvenating sundamaged skin.

When you start using this you may be alarmed by the fact that it stings a little right after application. Well, stinging isn't even a good word for it, it's more of a light tingling sensation really, which subsides almost immediately. The gel then dries to a thin layer and you're supposed to follow with a moisturizer at night and a moisturizer + sunscreen for day.
Applying sunscreen is very important as, with this type of exfoliation, your skin will become more sensitive to the sun.

The instructions state you can gradually build up the use of the gel, from 2/3 times a week to every night/morning to twice a day. Right now I am using it only at night and occassionally in the morning when I feel my skin needs to be smoother.

And now for the RESULTS:
Having used almost every form of exfoliation from manual scrubs to cloths under the sun I cannot begin to tell you how much I love love love this product!
Almost from day 1 you see and feel the difference, it truly delivers!
My skin looks and feels smoother, pores are more refined, hyper pigmentation slowly fades and overall I just feel my skin looks more glowing. That can't be a bad thing right?

I'm currently testing Paula's new RESIST skin care range and will update on the results of that very shortly. My expectations are skyhigh haha! We'll see if she delivers again!