Serious skincare junkies will have heard of Dr. Perricone, a US board certified dermatologist and guru whose eponymous cosmeceutical and nutrition lines are loved by those in the know, as well as stars like J Lo, Kim Catrall, Courteney Cox and Sharon Stone, all of whom look, it must be said, rather good.
In Ireland, his range, N.V. Perricone, has been hard to get - thus enhancing its covetable status, of course. Harvey Nicks and the Muckross Park Hotel in Killarney are two of the brands exclusive - and posh - locations. Now it's available in Arnotts (head to the Smashbox counter, and you'll see the N.V. Perricone stand right behind it), which is good news for city-centre dwellers with cash to drop on truly effective products. And they're effective because they're literally rammed with active ingredients, like neuropeptides, vitamin c ester, olive oil and alpha lipoic acid, plus they're backed up with over 30 patented techologies too.
I took myself in on Saturday and had a chat with Robert, the man with the knowledge. He took me through the range, and then demonstrated its efficacy with what they call a Half Face Test. It's as the name states, a demo of the products on one side of the face, so you can see the effect they have. It starts with Neuropeptide Facial Serum Prep (€202), which 'prepares and enables the skin to maximize the benefits of topical neuropeptides' - i.e. the next steps. So, once that's been applied, Neuropeptide Eye Area Contour (€216) and Neuropeptide Facial Contour (€274) are used and massaged in. Then you get a look in the mirror - skin looks lifted and fresh. And that effect will last - and will of course last longer with prolonged use of the products. The effect can be more dramatic too, depending on the condition of your skin. Mine is doing grand, and as I'm in my early 30s, this is a range I'd spend money on to prevent the need to use injectibles like Botox in the future.
But it's not all wildly expensive products - the range actually starts at €26 for a lip balm. Lip Plumper with Alpha Lipoic Acid is €42.50; Ceramic Skin Smoother (an A-List product to literally deliver a porcelain finish to skin and makeup) is €85, and there's a face mask for 138.
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Those with unlimited budgets can drop €641.50 on the Neuropeptide Facial Conformer - a 'revolutionary daily lotion, which consists of 41 different neuropeptides and DMAE (Di Methyl Amino Ethanol), dramatically improves skin's resilience and tone essentially turning back the clock. Renewed texture and coloring as well as minimized fine lines and wrinkles' - essentially a facelift in a bottle, and a 10th of the price of one too, if you need a bit of rationalisation!
Any downsides besides price? Fancy packaging fans won't be pleased with the no-frills bottles, tubes and jars, and the products aren't scented - in fact some can be quite strong smelling, thanks to the comittment not to use fragrance, as well as the presence of so many active components.
Those are small things that have no effect on efficacy, and shouldn't detract from the fact that if serious skincare is called for, you could do very well to check out the N.V. Perricone range.
