So so close to red!! Edited some old reviews as well...got to keep making them better!
So so close to red!! Edited some old reviews as well...got to keep making them better!
Member since:09.08.2006
Reviews:71
Members who trust:17
Okay, so I'm vain. Very very very vain (as if you hadn't guessed with my constant reviews of beauty products, I am somewhat of a beauty junkie!) but this one takes the biscuit even for me. I am also in addition to this, paranoid about the ageing process even though I am only 18. Together this is NOT a good combination as I spend ridiculous amounts of money on endless products, although I hope to balance it out perhaps with endless ciao reviews to go with it!
I am a regular customer at ASOS.com and buy the majority of my clothes from there. In return they send me quite a few freebies with my orders. Usually they're rubbish, like the ASOS magazine or the odd packet of Ryvita minis (salt and vineger flavour, yummy!) but one day, completely randomly, they sent me a box of L'Oreal PerfectSlim patches. Now, I wasn't sure whether or not to be offended. It is obviously some kind of deal with L'Oreal
to flog their products but it seems to be slightly misplaced advertising to send slimming patches to someone who regularly buys size 8 clothes from their website.
But then this is me, and one day I decided I needed to try these out, to get rid of the tiny bit of dimply skin on the bottom of my stomach and also the backs of my legs, which I basically only have because I refuse to do exercise or eat well and rely purely on my teenage metabolism to stay slim. i wondered what these patches might be able to do for me, whether they would be able to tone and tighten my skin to improve its appearance or whether they were a waste of time.
The fact that they are L'Oreal should inspire a certain amount of confidence. L'Oreal are one of the more upmarket high street commercial brands made famous by their 'Because I'm worth it' advertising and their dubious morals. They are slightly more expensive than other brands but usually their stuff does the job and I am normally very happy with what they produce. The company is well known for testing on animals so avoid these patches if you do not use products tested on animals.
The Perfect Slim patches promise to smooth skin, tightening to give a firmer appearance and reducing cellulite in any area which you care to stick them. I personally tested them out on the back of my thigh and the bottom of my stomach.
So for starters, the box I recieved had a lovely picture of Eva Longoria and her fabulous legs in the advert that came with it, which is slightly intimidating so thankfully they didn't put it on the box as it would only put people off! The box itself is plain white card with information written on the front in green. It's plain yet clean and simple but slightly unnecessarily bulky in my opinion, seeing as the patches themselves take up very little space inside the box, what a waste! This is why we have so many environmental problems!
The patches are contained within nice little turquoise foil sachets which tear off at the top to reveal the weird little soggy white cloth squares, which have a weird jelly feeling and a clear peel-off backing that is removed before sticking the patch onto the skin wherever required. I personally like the turquoise colour of the sachets, its pretty!
Directions on the packet instruct to leave the patch on for 8 hourse, but definately no more. It also comes with a warning to remove if they start to burn or if your skin gets really persistantly red, basically if you show any signs of an allergic reaction. I have to warn that if you have especially sensitive skin to approach these with caution. They had no adverse affects on me but they do come with warnings so I assume they have the power to give nasty allergic reactions!
So I stuck the patch on and left it to get to work. I personally put it on overnight as the patch isn't really very sticky and crumples and starts to peel off really easily so large amounts of movement through the day wouldn't be very practical. I'd be paranoid that it was about to fall off! There is quite a powerful menthol smell from the patch and it has a very fresh cooling feeling when applied to the skin. It tingles instantly which I take as a sign that something is working! It also feels quite wet and soggy which isn't very nice! The active ingredient in the patch is caffeine which is well known to help aid the movement of retained water and lymph which can lead to dimply thighs.
I woke up in the morning after the patches had done their thing and straight away I took off the patches and went to check out the results in the mirror. There were none. Oh well, it does say that it takes 3 applications to notice a results and I got 6 patches in a box, so I'll tyr again. Even though there was no change in the texture of the skin it felt smooth and tight, although it left behind a red mark on my skin that remained for about an hour. It didn't hurt so I guess it was ok, just an effect of the chemicals.
The next night I put it on again on my legs to see if it would make a difference this time. The next day again no change below the skin but the surface of the skin was tight and firm, and felt smooth and moisturised to the touch.
I tried it one more time, and the results were exactly the same. Overall I saw no deep change but the skin was visibly improved in terms of feel and tautness. My leg also looked and felt a little slimmer as if some retained water had been drained out, so the caffeine obviously did something.
I personally wouldn't buy these, simply because the changes I saw were purely superficial and it didn't really do what it promised it would, although to be fair I didn't use it over a continuous period so maybe after a more prolonged trial I would have seen a difference. However I had very little dimpling to begin with so if it has no effect on me then no way is it going to work on anyone more seriously affected. Unfortunately cellulite is just one of those things that is very difficult to get rid of and a good diet and drinking large amounts of water has a greater effect than any patch ever will. It says a lot that since I tried these patches the little bits of dimpling I had disappeared on their own after I actually got off my backside one day and went out for a run with my dad. Exercise is the answer!!
Another issue I have with these is the price. My local superdrug sells these for £10.99 which is quite a lot for a few sticky patches that don't work very well. For £3 you can buy a nice firming moisturiser that does exactly the same job that these do.
My verdict is to give these a miss, they are a waste of money, even though they have a good firming effect and are lovely and cool when you put them on they are way too expensive just to do that.
If you do however fancy giving them a try they can be bought from major retailers particularly boots and superdrug, or maybe you can get them for a little cheaper online.
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