You emailed, we listened. This week I am thrilled to announce our new Reader's Survey for 2001! This is your chance to tell us what you think are the best products out there. For the entire month of June we will collect your entries, then compile them into a Top Five list in each category. Vote for your favorites!

As promised, this week I am pleased to bring you reviews of two body "improvement" creams from Terme di Saturnia, a fancy Italian spa brand, as well as Simone France skin care and her famous "sandwich" method of cleansing. Read on for all the details!

Terme di Saturnia Stretchmark Conditioning Complex ($84 for 4.2oz)
I am usually completely skeptical of creams like this that claim to miraculously rid your body of sags, bags, and cellulite, but when I discovered back in November that I am expecting my second child, I figured, what better time to put these creams to the ultimate test? If ever my body is going to be stretched to the limit, this is it! I started using this cream around the beginning of the year and have used the full tube, but I can't say it did anything but relieve some of the itchiness that comes with a growing belly. I have to back up and say that I never got stretchmarks with my first child, so to not get them this time is really no surprise. Do I owe it to this cream? I don't think so, and there's no way I would be $84 for basically a fancy body lotion. Ask any dermatologist and they'll tell you stretchmarks are hereditary and can't be prevented. A cream might make the skin feel soft or look a bit smoother, but it's all completely temporary and washes away as soon as the cream comes off.

Terme di Saturnia Spa Toning Cellulite Treatment ($80 for 5oz)
Let's just say that the process of having children definitely has an effect on your body. I am now living it for the second time, so I hoped this cream might come in handy as a preventative measure. Unfortunately, I had the same experience with this as I did with the stretchmark cream - I used up the entire tube and noticed no lasting difference. If it were labeled as a basic body lotion, it would have been fine, since it did make my skin feel softer and smoother like a body lotion would, but that's it. There was no change in the actual texture or appearance of my skin.

You can find a whole collection of spendy Italian Terme di Saturnia products at eluxury.com.

Simone France
Several months ago, after receiving dozens of email requests from readers like you for a review of Simone France products, I contacted the company and asked to learn more about them. They were kind enough to schedule a consultation for me with Simone herself, and subsequently send me samples of the products that would be best suited for my normal-to-dry and sensitive skin. While the line is small, Simone sets a regimen for each client based on her skin type and sensitivities, so, just like any other line, what I used may not be what you would use.

Simone's basic philosophy about what to use on the skin is, I feel, difficult to comprehend at first. Her cleansing routine includes old fashioned soap, something that just about every other line I can think of is against as being too drying. The only toner she makes contains water, alcohol, witch hazel, salicylic acid and menthol - and it's ironically named "gentle." Many of the products contain ingredients that other brands shun, like mineral oil, lanolin, and vegetable oil. So why is she getting so much attention and have such a following? I had to know. Here is the routine I followed:

AM - The Simone Sandwich
This is the core cleansing program of Simone France. The idea is that when you create a sandwich of layers of cream, scrub and soap, none of the products is too harsh, heavy or drying, and they all work together to soften, exfoliate and cleanse the skin. You have to use them all together in the exact order and method that Simone indicates, or it doesn't work. First, you apply a layer of cream, either the very rich French Formula ($55 for 2oz) (which I avoided for fear of major breakouts), or my choice, the lighter (and lanolin-free) Light Moisture Cream ($55 for 2oz). You don't massage it in, but instead add over it dabs of the Refining Scrub ($35 for 2oz), a fairly gritty cream scrub containing uneven bits of silica. You then dampen your fingertips, lightly massage the scrub in for just a few seconds, then add a layer of Soap ($12) and gently work it all in. To remove, you are supposed to use a warm, wet washcloth or one of Simone's disposable face cloths ($25 for 200) to very gently but thoroughly wipe all the layers off, then you have to splash 15 times with warm water and 15 times with cold water. Tired yet? I was! Doing all this in front of the sink either before or after my shower in the morning got to be a real drag, so I tried simplifying things by applying the cream and scrub at the sink, then doing the soap and rinse cycles in the shower. I was told this would not remove everything thoroughly enough, so there went that idea.

In terms of the products themselves, I think the Light Moisture Cream was fine for normal or slightly dry skin like mine. It is a strange mix of ingredients, though - lactic acid and tea tree oil that would suit someone with normal or slightly oily skin, but also vegetable oil, for someone with dry skin. If I had oily skin, I don't think I would rush to put vegetable oil on it. The alternative, French Formula, is very thick and rich and contains lanolin, soybean oil, emu oil, and beeswax. The texture and consistency remind me of softened butter; I think you'd have to have severely dry skin to appreciate it.

I would have liked the Refining Scrub better if it wasn't so incredibly gritty. I literally felt like I was grinding sandpaper particles into my face. Simone does not recommend the scrub for anyone with rosacea, eczema, severe active acne or extra sensitive skin, which is understandable, but it would be nice if there was a gentler alternative so someone with sensitive skin could still try the sandwich system.

The final step of a layer of Soap made me feel uneasy every time I did it. How many times have we been told not to wash our faces with soap? I suppose on top of all the other layers it was fine, but I still worried I was drying out my face, or depositing some sort of soapy film. I did often feel "filmy" even after rinsing everything off, but I was advised to simply rinse more thoroughly.

After the Sandwich, I applied the Light Moisture Cream as my moisturizer, then my regular sunscreen. For the most part my skin felt fine, which surprised me. Every now and again it would feel like I scrubbed to hard, so I would just adjust the next time. I didn't notice any kind of dramatic improvement, though, and actually suffered from some mild blackheads and clogged pores for the first week.

PM - The Softer Side of Simone
As aggressive as the morning routine is, the evening routine is rich and gentle. I started with the Cleansing Milk ($32 for 6oz) on a dry face, working it in to remove makeup (a cinch considering it's basically just mineral and vegetable oil), then removing it with another of Simone's disposable cloths moistened in warm water. It took several rounds of wiping to get all the cleanser, makeup and overall oiliness off, but the richness of the oils does feel very soothing on dry skin. The second step was another mental hurdle for me - the Gentle Toner ($32 for 6oz). Take one look at the ingredient list and tell me you aren't wondering how they could call it "gentle" - water, alcohol, witch hazel, salicylic acid and menthol. The trick is, just like the Sandwich method of cleansing makes it okay to use soap, the extremely oily Cleansing Milk creates the perfect buffer for the toner. My skin didn't feel at all dry after using it, but I was skeptical of the outcome every time I put it on my face. The final step of moisturizer was a choice between the Light Moisture Cream or a very rich Line Minimizer ($50 for 2oz), made only of kayala oil, which from my research seems to be another name for emu oil. On the nights when I felt dry, it was nice to have something really rich, but for the most part I stuck with the Light Moisture Cream.

The one product that I was recommended but only used once was Instant Radiance ($60 for 2oz). This rub-off cream exfoliator is similar in concept to the Green Tea Gommage I reviewed a few weeks ago from Renee Rouleau Skin Spa, but this one is much more abrasive. The texture is like a gummy clay mask, with large chunks of almond for the scrub action. You apply a thin layer, let it dry, then rub it off with your fingers. Between the rubbing and the gritty almonds, my face felt pretty raw and was red for at least an hour after. This is definitely not for sensitive types. The mask-scrub also contains salicylic acid and thyme extract, two more possible irritants for sensitive skin. This product was not for me.

I think I have a love-hate relationship with this line. I like the unique approach, but almost every product in some way goes against everything I've learned over the years about the best way to care for the skin. It's a philosophy that just doesn't seem to fit with my own. Simone's system does seem to work for her clients, but my skin often felt too oily, too filmy, or too beaten up. Also, the specificity of each routine, with the layers and repeated rinsing, is simply too complicated and time consuming. I like to cleanse, moisturize, treat if necessary and be done. I just didn't see amazing enough results in my skin to feel like the system was worth it.