Could This Be The Gold Standard of Skincare?

By BR Kellie

You know when you see a beauty product and you just think ‘omg, want want want, gimme gimme gimme’? This happened to me recently. I was watching Tati on YouTube and she was doing a first impression on Guerlain L’Or Radiance Concentrate With Pure Gold Makeup Base. A primer that features pure 24 carat gold flakes, it claims to smooth fine lines, tighten your skin, help your skin retain moisture, all while providing a fab base for your makeup.

By the end of the video I was figuring out if I could give up my daily flat white for a whole month in order to afford it. First of all, a primer that firms? My slide-side-to-40 skin is all for that. Secondly, and most importantly, it had gold in it. Actual gold. Which I’m quite very incredibly fond of. And well, it sure sounds like there be gold in them thar Guerlain primer hills. Have I bought it? Nope. I love my coffee too much. But am now obsessed with finding skincare featuring gold? Yep. 

So what makes this ingredient in skincare good as gold? Well, it appears science has yet to find a definitive reason for gold being so purportedly amazing when applied directly on the skin (though I’m kind of hoping that’s because science is far too busy doing more important things, like discovering new ways to battle/eradicate cancer etc… although I did find two conflicting pieces of research one poo-pooing gold in nano-form, claiming it ages skin, the other saying the exact opposite. Who to believe? I’d love to have the opportunity to find out!). However… gold does have history on its side, with Cleopatra rumoured to have gone to sleep each night with a mask of gold upon her face in order to keep herself looking youthful. A practice still being done today with some salons offering the treatment, as well as DIY kits on offer too – and those who try it rave about its illuminating, skin softening and wrinkle-reducing properties.

So what’s out there for those who like to indulge themselves?

Ayurda 24 carat gold gel features gold leaf floating in Aloe Vera gel, along with Lodhra and Himalayan wild cherry. Once applied to the skin it claims to rejuvenate stressed skin whilst giving a radiant glow. 

Want to cover your face in gold? Check out Peter Thomas Roth’s 24k Gold Mask. For $180 you can slather yourself in 24k gold and colloidal gold, as well as caffeine, and the semi-precious gemstone peridot. Then lie back and let it get to work improving the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, leaving you with – you guessed it – a radiant glow. 

If you’ve a spare thousand or so to throw around then La Prairie Cellular Radiance Concentrate Pure Gold  could be the age defying product for you. One single drop of this serum is all that’s required to cover your face and neck, where it gets to work rejuvenating skin cells, improving elasticity and plumping the appearance of wrinkles (one website even says they’ll ‘fade away’!!), and providing your skin with a golden radiance. 

Oh how I wish I had a million dollars, or a thousand, because I’d be the first to give gold skincare a go. But like a window full of diamonds in a fancy jewellery store, a girl can still look. And dream. 

So do tell, have you ever had the opportunity to try a skincare product featuring actual gold? How did it go? Is gold skincare something that intrigues you or are you happy to do an Elsa and let it go? Chat away…