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The story began when Marina, a former sales director and Sassy girl gave up her job to become a Jan Marini consultant. I was offered a trial facial using Jan Marini products, which admittedly I had never heard of. During the course of the treatment, I learnt a few things: Jan Marini is an established brand in the US but not widely available in Hong Kong, it is formulated to tackle almost any skin problem, and the products smell like fruit cocktails. A passionate advocate of Jan Marini products, Marina described how she had searched for years for products that would tackle acne effectively, until she found her Holy Grail in this range.
A day after my trial, I returned to purchase the skincare management system for normal/combination skin. This included a glycolic acid cleaner, a hydrating serum, a glycolic gel, face cream and SPF30 sunscreen. During the trial period I stuck closely to Marina’s carefully prepared instructions; I rubbed, patted and smoothed when told, all the while measuring the changes to my skin.
Despite sounding rather intimidating, the glycolic cleanser absolutely amazed me. It never once irritated my grumpy skin. If you prefer chemical over mechanical exfoliation (scrubs, for example), I cannot recommend this highly enough. All that glycolic must have resulted in some serious peeling, right? Not quite. I did have some flakiness in the first week, but after I eased up on the glycolic gel things were tickety boo. By the second and third week, my skin was happily tolerating the cleanser, which I left on for a minute or two in the morning, and the gel at night, applied to my problematic areas.
The face cream drove me nuts. I loved how easily my skin absorbed it, how soothing it felt and the fact that it didn’t break me out. After a few weeks of inhaling that distinct fruity scent, though, all I could think each time I applied it was “Hello, I really fancy a cocktail now!”, even when I used it in the mornings. The antioxidant sunscreen is equally mad: no hint of chalkiness or greasiness, only the lingering papaya scent that makes me dream of Hawaii. I still can’t quite decide if the scent adds to the product, but it certainly does not detract from its efficacy.
