I almost didn't care what was inside. The black jar in transversing ovals that meta from one to the other was so Armani: all structure, flow, simplicity, and elegance. Then there's the label. Not one "anti"; no "age/aging/almost dead aren't you?" anywhere. What it says is "Georgio Armani CREMA NERA." From the man who gave us leather bomber jackets, an American Gigolo we actually preferred dressed, and red carpet walks by Cate Blanchett and Ziyi Zhang, we have a jar that's distinguished and so lacking in insults.
But I always care what is inside, and for $300 what Armani delivers a dense, luminous, white cream obtained by creating mineral salts from black obsidian, a volcanic silica glass loaded with potassium, sodium, and iron oxide.The buzz? It's supposed to reflect light back off the face, moisturize to die for, and transform into a matte in time to get your make-up done. As for techno-speak, the L'Oreal scientists tell us that the potassium/sodium combination hydrates the cells, the iron carries oxygen to the cells, and silicon strengthens the cell structure. Reporter Dawn Mello once wrote of Armani that "Somehow his clothes never seem to wrinkle." L'Oreal is telling us he wants to do the same with our faces.
My buzz? Without a solid sloughing off ingredient or more proof on skin barrier breakthrough, I doubt the product will do much as a Time Machine. But as a cream that you can slather on and use instead of a foundation, it's fantastic. All matte, all reflection, all moisturizer, with none of the greasy slick look. If it's in your price range, go for it. There are many who simply look better without foundation. Just don't expect a volcanic microdermabrasion with this stuff, or miracles.
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