First Aid Beauty brings conflicting images to mind: Ace bandages superimposed over highlighter, or perhaps antibiotic ointment buddied up with lipstick. For Lilli Gordon, the founder of the company, First Aid Beauty (or FAB, if you will) means simplicity. Her line offers traditional cosmetic products, but it started as a line of products that each remedy a different uncomfortable skin problem. I dipped my toe in the FAB waters by testing two such items.
I started off with the 5 in 1 Restore Cream Age Delay cream ($36 at firstaidbeauty.com) The cream prevents wrinkles, evens tone, boosts radiance, soothes, and fights free radicals. That’s an impressive list, and it takes Homeostatine and retinyl palmitate (a wrinkle – reducer,) niacinamide (to fade hyper-pigmentation,) sunflower oil and dimethicone (which help support skin’s barrier function) and a special antioxidant booster made of licorice root, feverfew, and white tea (to stave off free radicals). It’s appropriate for dry, combination, and normal skin whose owners want to slow aging. Sadly, I have oily, sensitive skin, so in lieu of testing the cream on my face, I slathered it on my decollete and shoulders. Since I wear a hat in addition to industrial-strength SPF, most of my photo aging is on my chest and shoulders anyway. The cream had the luxurious texture of a body butter, so I imagine someone with thirsty skin who doesn’t battle acne would be happy to pat it on. At first I thought the cream would sit to heavily on my skin, but after about five minutes the cream settled in with a dewy finish, and all tight, dry skin vanished.
Secondly, the Smooth Shave Cream ($16.50 for 6.8 fl. oz. and $7.50 for 2.0 fl. oz.) promised a fragrance-free shave with less in the way of irritating nicks and cuts. It uses glycerin to moisturize, tea tree oil and bisabolol to soothe the skin, and that same FAB antioxidant booster as above, because legs and underarms need anti-aging love, too. I really liked that this shaving cream was, in fact, a cream – not foam, not a gel, and not a gel that turns into foam. Those formulas might smell great, but they’ve always left me a little razor-burned. This felt like shaving my legs with a face cream – very smooth, but slightly wasteful. I had to keep reminding myself that this was it’s purpose. Misplaced guilt aside, my legs looked soft and hairless with little pain and discomfort.
These products and others from the line retail at the company’s site previously mentioned, but are also at sephora.com and Sephora stores across the country.
We are giving away a bottle of the First Aid Beauty 5 in 1 Face Cream, valued at $38 to one lucky winner. Leave a comment below to let us know — what product is your “first aid” remedy when you need a beauty fix? The contest closes August 30th. Good luck, ladies! (US only please)
– Katharine McKenzie
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