Lashes and Little Ones: Gold Rush?

I have been trying out a new, anti ageing skin care product for the last week, and thought it was about time to review it. The product in question is Alpha-H Liquid Gold, a Glycolic acid night time treatment, that claims to improve skin tone, texture and make your skin look decades younger and fresher. I heard about the product on one of my favourite beauty blogs, A Model Recommends, and given the rave review it was given I felt compelled to try it.

To use it, you gently cleanse your skin (no scrubbing, exfoliating etc) and wipe a cotton wool pad soaked in the liquid over your skin. It tingles a little, but stops quite quickly, and that's it. You don't need to use any other products, as they stop it from working (they can affect the pH levels, and render it ineffective). You only need to use it once every two or three nights. The science behind it (bear with me, I'll try my best) is that the acid lowers your natural pH levels, making your skin work a bit harder and basically get fitter. And fitness means they'll look better. Almost like a gym workout for your skin, in a bottle, this stuff seems to promise the world! It boosts collagen levels, gently exfoliates and even does the laundry while you sleep. Oh no, that last claim was in fact my wonderful dream last night, but it does promise everything else.

So, what did I think? I have fine lines on my forehead and temples, and some sun damage on my cheekbones, and these are the areas I use to judge the effectiveness of products. Using this form of measurement, I'd have to say this product does really work. My lines look less deep and fresher, and the skin feels smoother and has a bit of a glow to it. However, the downsides for me outweigh the good. I have moaned on about my temperamental skin a lot before, but in case you missed it, I randomly get patches of spots, which last for ages (small, red angry patches). I can also get a bit sensitive if I use overly harsh products. Nothing major, just a bit red and tender, and it's pretty rare. The Liquid Gold has made my spots much worse, red and angry, to the point where I'm a bit self conscious of going outside . It has also left my cheeks a bit flushed, in the overly sensitive sort of way. I have used the product three or four times, hoping that this was a first reaction and it would get better, but have found little improvement, especially on the spot front. However, this product is designed to help acne suffers, so if you have had success with acid based spot treatments, this may well be the product for you. I think that my spots are hormonal, rather than due to my skin being particularly spotty, and react easily to new products.

To be fair, the bottle clearly states not to use the product on sensitive skin, but I'd never have said my skin was particularly sensitive in the past. I have come to the conclusion that I will continue to use this product, but only on my forehead. I have struggled with harsher, acid based products. I tried Pro-Activ a while ago, and found this made my spots so much worse, whereas lots of friends swear by it. So, I guess the lesson to be learned is that everyone is different, and some products are just not great for everyone. I'd love to hear anyone else's reviews of Liquid Gold...!