Winter Girlie Bits: Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream

I have the ultimate love/hate relationship with Elizabeth Arden's 8 Hour Cream Skin Protectant, I really do.  I love it so much because it really works on my dry lips like no other product in my collection.  In the winter I suffer with dry, cracked lips a lot, a really lot.  I can't abide feeling any kind of dry skin on my lips and make things so much worse by peeling it off (gross, I know, but I can't help it)!  This works wonderfully on my cracked lips, healing them up in no time (well, a day or so) and I use it to help blemishes on my face heal quickly.  I've repurchased it a couple of times over the years and Joanne even bought a set on her holidays earlier in the year.

But, here comes the hate part.  Oh holy moly I hate the smell so much.  It has a very medicinal scent that I can't put my finger on.  When I'm using it at work I'm very aware of the scent and hope others don't find it too off putting.  And because I use it on my lips the majority of the time, I hate the taste too.  Ugh.  I've seen the Pixiwoo sisters using it as a cheek highlight and brow highlight but you will never catch me doing that I assure you.  It'll never make it's way past my lips and blemishes and maybe cuticles now that I think of it.  But you know what?  I grin (well, grimace) and bear it because this stuff truly is fantastic.

I'm sure you've probably read about it all over the place because it has established itself as a cult classic and has won countless awards since it surfaced in 1930 when Ms. Arden decided she needed something to help soften and treat her horsie's legs.  And look at us, over 80 years later and it's still going strong but we're using it instead of her equine friends!

It has the consistency of a balm, not a cream and has an orange tint to it but when applied on the lips and skin, you can just see the barest touch of colour.  It's described has being one of those multi-use products and you can basically use it however you want from applying a thin layer on your face at night to applying it to feet and elbows.  Here's my thinking though.  The stuff is so thick and gloopy and doesn't actually absorb into my skin so I imagine that my sheets would be ruined if I wore it to bed like this.  If you've tried using it these ways let me know how you got on and I will stand corrected.

My tube lasts forever and I've given out sample pots of it to friends at work who also share my love of the effectiveness of the product and share my non-love of the scent and taste.  But we use it because it works.  Simple as that.  So just beware of the scent and don't say I didn't warn you, ok?  If you do like the scent, please leave a comment below so I can see if I'm in the minority or not.

A 50ml tube of Elizabeth Arden's Eight Hour Cream will set you back €31 in Arnotts (but as I said before, it lasts ages) or you can get it as part of a set like this one from Cloud 10 Beauty for €30.  You get a 50ml tube of the Eight Hour Cream, 50ml tube of the Intensive Moisturising Body Treatment and a 50ml tube of the Intensive Moisturising Hand Cream, pretty bargaintastic if you ask moi.

So am I alone in my love/hate feelings for this product?