Hi Diddly Dee, an Actor's Life for Me
"Those who agree with us may not be right, but we admire their astuteness."
Cullen Hightower
For the past month I have been blind-trialling a new foaming moisturiser. I was reading Vogue the month before last and was sucked in by the promise of a free goodie-bag and the possibility of my words of wisdom *ahem* appearing in said glossy magazine, so decided to give it a go. I sent in my details and promptly forgot that I'd done so until the package arrived a few weeks later; however having just run out of moisturiser it arrived at a very opportune moment and I decided to give it a go. I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by it - it comes in a pump applicator like the ones that styling mousse come in, and my skin really did look and feel better after the first week. I was given a diary to fill in, crammed with leading questions which clearly indicated to me that this was a product for *coughs* older skin. Not that wrinkles are generally my problem - spots have been much more of an issue recently, which is depressing when you're nearly 30, but I digress. Still, it seemed to be doing good things so I carried on with the trial, always spurred on by the thought of getting my goodie bag at the end of the trial, and hoping that it might be a Clarins or Estee Lauder product. Imagine my disappointment, therefore, when the freebies arrived this morning and they turned out to be Olay products. Imagine also my utter horror when I read in the letter that the new moisturiser will retail at £24.99. Twenty-four bloody ninety-nine?! It's a nice moisturiser, but, to be frank, there's no way I'm paying that much for Olay. Clarins, yes, but Olay? Olay still has connotations of grandmothers for me, no matter how much they try to rebrand it with funky packaging. It would appear that I really am a brand snob. If anyone needs me I will be partaking of retail therapy at Chloé and Christian Louboutin and having an Elizabeth Arden facial before drowning my sorrows in Bombay Sapphire.
Brand Snobbery
8.7.06 17:23
|
Chintzynoooooodle / Website (8.7.06 17:29) *picks up Dior bag* Come on love, let's go out for frappuccinos. |
|
Katja / Website (8.7.06 17:30) Perfect. Let's go to the Ivy afterwards. *flicks Nicky Clarke-styled hair* |
|
Chintzynoooooodle / Website (8.7.06 17:34) Oh I fancy tea at the Ritz. Nothing nicer than £34 per head dainty sandwiches and tea. |
|
Katja / Website (8.7.06 17:39) Oh yes - brilliant idea. It's all in the name, don'tcha know. |
|
disgruntled / Website (8.7.06 17:40) Retail therapy at Chloe? That wouldn't be on the NHS then? |
|
Katja / Website (8.7.06 17:43) 'Twould be nice if it was. *sigh* |
|
sungirltan (8.7.06 18:36) is it that one with the petides ith that patronising 'im a beauty therapist' bitch on the advert then? |
|
knobber / Website (8.7.06 20:35) Ah, beautytherapists, a female cross between David Dickinson and Rawhide. |
|
Katja / Website (9.7.06 10:11) Tan: I haven't seen that ad, so I don't know. It's not going to be in the shops until September, so possibly not. They'll probably come up with some other equally patronising ad for it, though. |
|
Bobble / Website (9.7.06 10:59) *passes concilatory Manilos* |
|
amillionpieces / Website (9.7.06 15:31) Tan! I have seen this advert too and I wanted to throw things at the tele. Grrr. Katja, my Earls are getting old (like a month!), could we pick up a new pair on our trip? |
|
Katja / Website (9.7.06 17:45) Sure thing. I'm not going to TK to get them though - I'm a snob, after all... |
|
amillionpieces / Website (9.7.06 18:11) Good, lets go to Harveys instead dear. |
|
deanie / Website (9.7.06 18:40) Exactly when did Ulay become Olay and why did it? It just goes to show, it's what you believe about a product rather than what it actually does...but as a woman I agree....what a major disappointment !! :-( |
|
Katja / Website (9.7.06 18:51) It was quite a while ago that it became Olay, but I've no idea why. Probably to make the brand the same worldwide or summat - like marathon becoming snickers and Jif becoming Cif. |
|
Drunkenspaniel / Website (9.7.06 22:36) Don't get me started on the Jif to Cif thing. I'm still annoyed by that. For one POXY letter, you'd think we could agree to disagree with the Europeans, but OH NO...... As far as beauty products go (and I have very few. Not because I'm a radiant goddess, but because my life is far too busy to spend more than 5 minutes doing make-up - oh and I'm so bloody allergic to things that go on my skin) I am not a product snob. My moisturiser is E45 cream, and I use shop-own-brand makeup remover. Will I go to hell? |
|
Katja / Website (9.7.06 22:45) Spaniel, I only realised as I wrote that comment that Cif would actually be pronounced Jif in quite a few countries - Turkey and Italy for a start. Of course, we Brits have happily missed the point of the name change and pronounce it with a soft C hehehe. As far as going to hell goes, I think I'm far more likely to do that for refusing to use perfectly good products because of their brand - I bet that's classified as the sin of pride, dammit. Oh - and I'm betting too. Yep, I'm definitely going to hell...
|
|
Daxy-babe / Website (10.7.06 15:43) What's a moisturiser? |
|
pan / Website (10.7.06 16:37) God, now I feel terrible! I started using an Olay day moisturiser about a month ago purely because I hadn't enough money on me to buy anything else. Anyway, I found I really really liked it so I bought some Olay night moisturiser this weekend... I'm going to go sit in the corner with a bag on my head! |
|
(10.7.06 17:10) Daxy: I'm sure you wouldn't need it, with your lovely soft skin. Pan: I have to say that this one I blind-trialled was really nice. I just have difficulty getting past the old lady image which was imprinted on my brain at a young age. I hadn't realised until now quite how shallow I really am *ahem*
|
|
Katja / Website (10.7.06 17:21) That was, of course, me in the above comment. I really must remember to check the boxes before hitting go. |
|
Drunkenspaniel / Website (10.7.06 19:14) Katja - I still call it Jif. I refuse to change my ways when it comes to bathroom cleansing products. I also still call those fruit sweets Opal Fruits, though the kids at the youth club I run think I'm a mad old woman. (I'm only 29!!) |
|
Katja / Website (10.7.06 20:00) Oh yes - they will always be Opal Fruits - made to make your mouth water! |
|
Moobs / Website (10.7.06 20:51) DAhling my life has been saved by pentapeptides. |
|
Katja / Website (10.7.06 21:06) Oh, so THAT's your secret, Moobs. |
|
Booger / Website (11.7.06 09:34) Re: changed names. Starburst can fuck right off, Opal Fruits for all time! Re: Brand snobbery, I know where you're coming from - if it's not Tesco Value then I don't want to know. |
|
Cheapy (11.7.06 12:46) Hey, if it works, it works. I use new products on one side of my face only for the first few days, to see if they really make a difference. Sod the branding. Many of the new Olay products are superb, and are still cheaper than similar formulations from other more expensive beauty houses. Double check them with CosmeticsCop.com, and make sure they contain at least SPF15 for daytime use. Bingo. |
|
Arty / Website (12.7.06 15:12) In the good old days I used Biotherm (smell lovely!) and Origins, good for my oily skin. Now I am an unemployed ex-student, I have to make do with Nivea and ... well (guilty moment) I am beginning to like l'Occident en Provence...damn the cost...*ahem* But still for my daytime use I have to stick to the matte products. |
| My home page |
| Tall Stories |
| The free-for-all |
| Appreciation of the male form |
| Animal Crackers |
| Reviews |
| Mr Lover Lover |
| Mike |
| Ciggie |
| Disgruntled |
| Dr T |
| Moobs |
| Go Fug Yourself |
| oneword |
| Arty |
| Cheeky Cheeky |
| Bored |
| Daxy Baby |
| Lilac |
| Huw |
| The Navy Lark |
| Katja |
Blinks
Totty
Blog Crush Customer Support
Bloglist
| Guestbook |
| Archives |
| Contacts |
| Subscribe |
| About |
 |