:: Review :: Cellcosmet Activator Gel
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free skin care · Fri Jun 02, 2006 2:31 am

Perhaps the best way to describe this product is to say that cleansing your face without following with Activator Gel is like eating cake without icing.
Except in this instance, the Activator Gel seems to provide far more benefits than just icing on the cake. If you have already guessed that I love it, then you are right.
The consistency is a pure gel form, applied to wet skin and then left to sit for 3 to 5 minutes before rinsing off with water and a soft cloth if preferred. If left for 5 minutes it does tend to dry but will still wash off very easily.
It is described as a skin activator and pre-treatment to stimulate the skin and make it more receptive to the application of following products. Does it do this? Most definitely yes. I can attest to this as I have applied the same product on my face both with and without the activator gel and I can say that after using the activator gel, any product I have applied which normally required massaging in, had actually fully absorbed by the time I had applied it to my whole face.
As I have not used the Cellcosmet Dual Action Exfoliate without following with this Activator Gel I can't really say which product is responsible for removing the blackheads and whiteheads but I do know that when I remove the Activator Gel after exfoliating, many blackheads and whiteheads are removed. This gel also seems to close up the pores as I don't see any open pores after the gel is washed off.
Once again, it can be used on sensitive skin but not on skin that is irritated, has dermatosis or is very reactive.
Please also see Tiger_Tim's review for another unbiased opinion :
http://www.essentialdayspa.com/forum/viewthread.php?p=99503&highlight=cellcosmet+activator+gel#99503

My rating is 5/5

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The above post is a review of the following product available at EDS:

Cellcosmet Activator Gel (200 ml)

Pre-treatment specifically designed to make the skin receptive to the CELLCOSMET cellular skin-care products.

free skin care · Fri Jun 02, 2006 3:49 am

bushy,
you're driving me mad! i feel like you should just draw up a list of everything so i can see what the damage will be and just be done with it! Laughing

free skin care · Fri Jun 02, 2006 7:15 am

I should be getting my EDS order any day now and I am getting the Cellcosmet sample pack which has this in it. After reading your review (and tiger_tim's) I am looking forward to trying this. This is one of the Cellcosmet products that I'm not sure will work with my sensitive skin but I will give it a try because it seems to have many benefits.

free skin care · Fri Jun 02, 2006 9:08 am

bushy - this sounds very beneficial to me. Would it work with the Photolagen-Tripeptinon combo? I love these at nite and any enhancement would be great!

Agree with la vie en rose, every time you do a review, I make a purchase. Laughing

If you just make a big list, I'll empty my wallet now!! Anxious

free skin care · Fri Jun 02, 2006 3:20 pm

So join the cue. Other reviews have caused me to splurge as well. I used to have a professional facial but, on so many occasions, I was less than impressed afterwards so now I can just do it myself. And that definitely includes the 3 Cellcosmet products, Photolagen and Tripeptinon. That combination alone is as good as any professional facial I have ever paid for.

free skin care · Sat Jun 03, 2006 7:26 am

bushy - I agree, my skin looks better now than it did 5 years ago, and have had facials that did nothing.

Please keep writing your great reviews as I always end up loving the products you rave about! Very Happy

free skin care · Sat Jun 03, 2006 9:48 am

Wow that sounds great. Can this be used with any other brand product or does it have to be Cellcomet products in order to work?

free skin care · Sat Jun 03, 2006 9:49 am

My list keeps getting longer and longer and longer, lol!! (I need to win the lottery, lol!).

free skin care · Sat Jun 03, 2006 9:57 am

puglove wrote:

Wow that sounds great. Can this be used with any other brand product or does it have to be Cellcomet products in order to work?

I think it would be most effective with Cellcosmet products, but I follow mine with IS Clincal Active Serum and my skin seems to be happier accepting Active when applied after the Activator Gel.

If I could just kick my * spam alert * to trying all these other products and stick with nice, simple Cellcosmet I think my skin would love me for it. Though expensive there are no special serums or anything like that... cleanse, activate, tone and then moisturize. For a treat they have collagen ampoules to put under the moisturizer.

free skin care · Mon Jun 05, 2006 10:25 am

I just tried the Activator Gel this morning and am undecided. I saw that bushy mentioned it could be used on sensitive skin but not irritated skin. For those of you who are wondering I have very sensitive skin but the past few days my skin has been feeling particularly good so I decided to give the Activator Gel a try.

I washed first with the Purifying Gel (after using 3 days I am really loving this stuff!) then I applied the Activator Gel to slightly damp skin and massaged it in. I experienced some tingling but no burning, stinging, etc. I assume that tingling would be a normal reaction and not a sensitive skin reaction, let me know if I am wrong here. I left it on 2 minutes and removed with a wet washcloth. (Would it be okay to just splash my face to remove this stuff?) My skin was slightly pink afterwards but felt okay. I don't know if the pinkness was caused by the Activator Gel or by rubbing my face (gently of course) with a washcloth. I liked how my skin felt after using this, it felt softer than after just using the Purifying Gel alone.

Now here is the interesting part, bushy mentioned that this is supposed to make your skin more receptive to what you apply afterwards. I have been using the Proheal serum for 2 weeks and was surprised that my skin had no bad reactions to it. I didn't even experience any stinging after applying which I thought was odd because even people without sensitive skin ofter experience some stinging with vitamin c serums. I had also been sampling the HydraCool serum for the past few days and my face seemed to be tolerating that well (my neck was sensitive to it though). Today when I applied the Proheal after using the Activator it actually stung. Not bad but it was sort of how I expected to react to the Proheal. The HydraCool serum also caused some stinging. Now with the Proheal I would say that it is good that it stings a little since it has active ingredients and a low pH but the hydracool I am not sure about. I guess I will have to see if the Activator Gel is working right and allowing my skin to better absorb active ingredients or if it is making my skin more sensitive.

I will update after using it some more and opinions would be welcome. The Activator Gel is not necessarily one of the Cellsosmet products that I expected to be able to tolerate so I wouldn't be surprised if I can't use it but it sure would be nice if it worked for me.

bushy I am recalling what you said about my bad reactions to Remergent:

Quote:

bushy said:
Theresa, I think your case is very interesting. I wonder if your reaction to Remergent products is because they are really penetrating into the skin whereas other products only lie on top? I've always thought that to get a product to work, it has to get into the layers under the top skin so I am really curious if this is the case with Remergent.

You very well may be on to something.
BTW I am beginning to suspect certain ingredients (polysorbates of all things) may have been the cause of my Remergent reactions.

free skin care · Mon Jun 05, 2006 4:04 pm

TheresaL, you should only apply the Activator Gel by just smoothing it onto wet skin. DO NOT RUB IT IN. It is not meant to be rubbed in. You may just get a reaction because of the rubbing and if you do, leave it go for a couple of days and then try using it again but only smoothed on in a thin layer to wet skin.

free skin care · Mon Jun 05, 2006 4:40 pm

Thanks for the advice bushy! My skin was feeling a little irritated this morning for a few hours after using the Activator Gel but I guess I was using it incorrectly. I will try again in a few days and NOT rub it in and apply to WET skin not damp skin.

free skin care · Mon Jun 05, 2006 8:03 pm

yes, the right way to use Activator gel is to smooth over dry skin (well not bone dry as yo ujust washed with the cleansing gel) and then wet your hands and emulsify a bit. That application and emulsification process takes about 1min so after that leave it on for TWO MINUTES MAX. and then wipe over gently with a clean, wet cloth and then splash to ensure every last trace is removed.

Theresa, I would definately say this is NOT for you. I have the box here and it says "all skin types except over sensitive, irritated or sensitised skin". I am pretty sure your skin falls into that category given your past experiences with products reported here.

free skin care · Tue Jun 06, 2006 2:32 am

tiger_tim, my instructions say to apply the activator gel to wet skin, smooth on, leave for 3 to 5 minutes and rinse off with water and preferably a soft cloth. I just checked the website and it says the above except it does not state whether the skin is wet or dry, just to spread evenly over skin and leave etc etc.
So TheresaL hope you aren't confused but just don't rub it in.

free skin care · Tue Jun 06, 2006 5:02 am

Bushy - do you also use IS Clinical? Just curious how the Cellcosmet compares to the IS Clinical. Thanks for any help!

free skin care · Tue Jun 06, 2006 5:48 am

bushy wrote:

tiger_tim, my instructions say to apply the activator gel to wet skin, smooth on, leave for 3 to 5 minutes and rinse off with water and preferably a soft cloth. I just checked the website and it says the above except it does not state whether the skin is wet or dry, just to spread evenly over skin and leave etc etc.
So TheresaL hope you aren't confused but just don't rub it in.

OK, my instructions (on the bottle) say:

"Morning and evening, apply to face and neck. Emulsify with fresh water. Allow to act 2 minutes. Remove with a fresh damp cloth. Not to be used on sensitive skin and eye countours"

They describe it as a "stimulating pre-treatment"

free skin care · Tue Jun 06, 2006 7:04 am

Thanks for your help bushy and tiger_tim, I am not really getting confused! It seems like either applying it to wet skin or applying it to dry skin then wetting your skin to emulsify would both work about the same. I am going to try this again in a day or two and see how it goes (I will NOT rub it in next time).

tiger_tim I really don't know if this product will work with my skin type or not like you said it is not for overly sensitive skin or irritated skin so I don't necessarily expect my skin to be able to tolerate it. I would like to be able to use it thought so I will see if I can get it to work. If I can use this I would think that it would be something that I would only use on days when my skin is feeling good and not having any issues!

bushy do you use this once or twice a day? I know tiger_tim only uses it in the evening.

free skin care · Tue Jun 06, 2006 9:45 am

I was just looking at the ingredients for this and it seems like it has a little bit of cleansing agents. Would it be possible to use just this in the morning in place of a cleanser or do you think it would be necessary to use a cleanser before the Activator Gel? I only ask this because until I started using the Proheal in the mornings I never used cleanser I would just rinse my skin with water, so I am wondering if I could get away with just the Activator Gel and no cleanser in the mornings.

free skin care · Tue Jun 06, 2006 10:15 am

you probably could if your skin did not have a lot of product on it overnight (and you did not sweat a lot during the night).

Do you think your skin could take it twice a day though?

free skin care · Tue Jun 06, 2006 10:22 am

Is it supposed to used only once a day or is twice recommended for those with non sensitive skin.BTW I thought ISC was expensive for a cleanser. Yeesh! I can't take all this temptation...cellcosmet is actually available at my dept store-but I don't get a discount Wink

free skin care · Tue Jun 06, 2006 10:55 am

tiger_tim wrote:

you probably could if your skin did not have a lot of product on it overnight (and you did not sweat a lot during the night).

Do you think your skin could take it twice a day though?

tiger_tim I am not sure yet if my skin can even take it once a day! If I find that I can tolerate it I would probably use it only in the morning or in the evening not both. If I can "substitute" it for my morning cleanser then mornings it would be!

marina it is supposed to be used mornings and evenings. BTW I have the cleanser and love it. I tried a sample of the ISC Cleanser and the Cellsosmet is much nicer!

free skin care · Tue Jun 06, 2006 2:28 pm

rileygirl, I only use the Cellcosmet cleanser, activator gel and dual action exfoliant so I can't really compare it to ISC. I have tried the ISC cleanser but much prefer the Cellcosmet. I don't currently use any ISC products except for an occasion morning use of Proheal and this is only because I have an opened bottle of Proheal which I would rather use up than throw out. It really stings when I apply it after the Activator Gel and only clams down when I apply moisturiser.

TheresaL, I only use the activator gel in the morning. I think this is a personal preference and suits my current skin regime better that way. Also, I would advise against using this as a cleanser in the morning as It seems to be a bit stronger than the gel cleanser. I think you would be better using the gel cleanser and try the activator again when your skin is calm. Also, you might be better trying the activator gel again when it will be followed by a relatively non active product (not ISC) until you get used to it.

free skin care · Tue Jun 06, 2006 2:30 pm

Thanks for your reply bushy!

free skin care · Tue Jun 06, 2006 3:07 pm

Thanks bushy. Glad to hear that I am not the only one who experienced stinging when I applied the Proheal after using the Activator Gel. It might be better for me to use the Activator in the evening since I apply the Proheal in the morning. I guess that using this as a cleanser might not be a good idea. I was thinking of just skipping cleansing and applying the activator as instructed but maybe that wouldn't work since my skin would have too much stuff on it for the activator to penetrate through.

It sounds like you are not very impressed with the Proheal. I have been using it for 2 weeks and have not noticed any changes in my skin for the better or for the worse. I did just buy a full size bottle because I plan on carrying out my half face test for another 4 to 6 weeks. I don't know how long it is supposed to take for the Proheal to work but I haven't been impressed yet.

free skin care · Tue Jun 06, 2006 4:19 pm

Actually TheresaL I used to be a real fan of Proheal but the last bottle that I purchased seems so different. The previous ones had a much more oilier texture and did not sting at all, nor did they break me out.

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