Review of Avon Anew Clinical ThermaFirm Face Lifting Cream

This product ranks a lemon due to misleading advertising and a sorry lack of philosophical truth and relevance.
Some weeks ago Avon sent me a tub labeled "Top Secret lab sample." No name, no instructions accompanied the goods, just a simple postcard imprinted with a black and gray zig-zag wave pattern and a few excited words. Firm! Tone! Lift! I did what any Avon Lady does. I untwisted the simple plastic canister and slathered the goop on clean, toned skin twice each day, let it sink into my pores, my fingers crossed behind my back for lifting luck.

One day passed. Then two. I stared in the bathroom mirror, my right cheek almost pressed against the cool glass, my eyes focused on the footprints of time. Crow's feet. Laugh lines. Old lady wrinkles. The indentations I earned, I grew each time I smiled, I watched my young boys cartwheel across the yard. They didn't look different, didn't seem elevated, tight, subdued.

One week passed. Then two. Three. I kept watch on my wrinkles. Then my "real" version of the product came bundled in a plastic pouch filled with samples and glossy cards. Avon Anew Clinical ThermaFirm Face Lifting Cream! Tighter, more lifted skin in just 3 days! An asterisk followed the word "days." My eyes scanned the page, found the referring small print. "Based on a consumer perception study." Ah. I see. Perception.

I stared at the literature a long, long time. I felt like the young Kung-fu student, my teacher a master of illusion.

"Be the lotion, Grasshopper. If you believe, the wrinkles shall cast themselves to the sea."

I continued applying the cream, let the sample pot empty, let myself open a fresh shiny dermatologist's white tub of Official ThermaFirm. It smelled the same - the vaguely chemical floral scent of labcoats and sleek shiny hair. I memorized the sales brochure, told my customers, one and all, that this product was considered an "at home answer to thermal face lifts - Anew Clinical TheraFirm Face Lifting Cream with Triple Sonic Technology." A little cross accented the word "technology." Once again I scanned for fine print, found the sorry curse. Results not comparable to professional products.

I even held the cream to my ear, tried to hear the sonic radio-frequency waves that were said to vibrate in the lotion. The cream didn't peep. My customers described the sexy television commercials that promised outrageous skin success. I smiled, tried to muster some personal excitement for this product. But my mind held the daily memory of cheek against glass. No laugh-line improvement.

Six weeks later I can say two good things about ThermaFirm: It doesn't give me horrible puss-filled zits. My skin is slightly softer.

But I haven't crossed that reality curtain, that cradle of perception. I still stand in the fight ring, unable to backflip like the Matrix crew. My laugh lines remain.

Comments

[Mike]

Keep it true, if it doesn't work, it's doesn't work.

[Mike Firesmith]

Maybe you could find other uses for it that still make it a winner.

Got any creaking doors?

[Betty]

Hey Birdie, I liked it! Maybe you don't need it yet? I think my face and neck are much firmer since I started using Thermafirm.

Betty

[cary]

I've had really good luck with my Thermafirm sample. A day or two before I received mine I had noticed the creases in my forehead were starting to get a little more prominent. I had slacked off using my Alternative for the last few weeks. I slathered a bit of Thermafirm on and honest to goodness the creases were less noticable.

Thankfully mine are that bad to begin with (unlike my husband's. A little side story, my son asks my husband to show him his rivers. My husband then scrunches up his forehead which causes 3 or 4 deep wrinkles to appear. My son just laughs and laughs. I don't think Thermafirm would help much with rivers however it seems to do pretty decent on my little creeks.

[Birdie]

Betty and Cary - please, please write up a review and I'll post it and link it to this review, too! It's great to have different opinions for folks to choose from. What doesn't work for me (at all I tell ya, at all!) might work for someone else. A lot of people read these reviews, so I want the fairest representation possible.

And Mike F, yeah, I am tempted to grease a few things around the house, ha ha!

[ruthie]

Just when I'm about to give up on lifting creams, another one comes out (I'm 55). Unfortunately, this one is another in a long line of lifting creams that hasn't worked for me. But I love the scent....it's not a sweet, flowery scent...thre's something about it that I like. And it hasn't really hurt me either. But I won't be buying it again.

[Linda Giles]

Just a comment about Avon's Anew Thermafirm. I had
a very bad reaction to this. I put it on my face and
neck the first time 11/10/06 in the evening. I used
it twice a day Saturday and sunday. Got up Monday morning and discovered a really ugly bumpy rash with
what looked like a burn all over my face and neck.
It has taken until today for it to start looking and
feeling better (today being 11/17). I have never had
any kind of reaction to anything I've ever put on my
skin, and I'm 54 and have put lots of different things
on my skin. This stuff is really terrible!!!!

[Elizabeth]

I gave Thermafirm a true test. After seeing the advertisements and reading Avon's brochures, it just had to be remarkable, right? WRONG! I did notice when I applied it, my face turned bright red.... I am thinking, wow! Increased blood flow and circulation. It's working! Every time I applied it my face turned instantly bright red... and itched like crazy. But I kept on using it. What's a little discomfort when it will take years off of my face. It never happened. I didn't notice any difference at all at the end of two months, and I applied it faithfully, morning and night. I read other reviews. Several others had similar allergic reactions to Thermafirm as I did. If you have sensitive skin this cream is definitely not for you. To sum it up, Thermafirm does soften the skin, but it doesn't lift and firm as the literature boasts that it will. It does not eliminate wrinkles. It is just a rich face cream.... period. For $32.00 a jar it is a waste of money. There are better creams out there for half the cost.

[maria]

i too had a bad reaction to this cream,i have been using it for a few weeks now and although it didnt tighten my skin,it did make it feel softer-however suddenly after applying the cream last night i woke this morning to find my face red,swollen and very itchy ! my face looks like i have been burnt from a sun lamp or similar i have thrown the remainder away and will never use or recommend this product again.

[Elizabeth]

I wrote a previous review about my adverse reaction to this product. I wanted to post a follow up as I am sure Avon has not announced that it was "banned" from further promotions. It seems that after an outside (not by Avon) study was performed the advertising was viewed as false and misleading. Simply stated, the product was nothing more than a moisurizer and did NOT deliver the results as claimed in the TV advertising or product literature.

http://www.plasmetic.com/news/media/avons-face-lift-cream-promotions-banned.html

[Marie]

The experience I had with this cream was horrifying! On my first (and only) application I broke out with huge red bumps along with a bright red rash in between. It looked like someone had splashed acid on my face and it didn't stop there. For the next 3 days it continued to erupt with what appeared to be small burn-like blisters. It took a full 2 weeks for the effects of this disastrous product to subside. Seriously, Avon, you should, if nothing else, reimburse all those people who believed the lie and at the very least refund their money. My Avon lady went out of business shortly after that - just try and get a refund through the company if you can't locate the representative who sold it to you! If anyone has a way to do that, please let me know. In the meantime, the jar sits in my medicine cabinet as a constant reminder to NEVER, EVER purchase another Avon product as long as I live.

[Jen]

I got this free with the Christian Lacroix Perfume so decided to try it out.
I used it everyday twice a day, cant say i've noticed a difference but my skin is a little softer so if anything it has become my daily moisturiser!!
I wouldn't pay £18 for it though, i dont believe in anti-wrinkle creams, i think they're a money making scam, and like i said, the only reason i used it was becasue it was free!!

[Shelly Dawson]

I tried the Thermafirm face cream 2 days ago for the 1st time. I got a severe allergic reaction to it. My face is swollen and blotchy and itchy red all the way down my neck. My eyes are very swollen and red & I look like an itchy puffer fish right now. I reccommend trying a small sample of the cream 1st to your forearm before using this cream on your face. I'm currently taking Benadryl and have put Hydrocortizone cream on my face.

[Carol]

I guess I'm the only one who found Thermafirm a good product. I have noticed, and really noticed a good change in the slight sag of my neck and facial skin. I have used it for three days and truly, with a magnifying mirror, I honestly see and feel a difference. My face tingles a bit, but no rash and after I use the entire jar, I'll write another review, but so far, I really like the cream. I'm 65 and don't have many wrinkles (lucky I guess, but sagging is a bit of a problem)