Every month I like to highlight one of our Panelists and the research and reviews she's been working on. This week I'm pleased to share Annie's review of the new line from Dr. N.V. Perricone, OutPatient Therapy. Enjoy!

Annie, 53, is a security administrator from the Pacific Northwest. She has medium brown hair, fair skin, and hazel eyes. Annie's combination skin is a little bit blotchy and benefits from concealer. She tends to avoid oil-free products since they often cause her skin to produce even more oil. Annie is constantly on the lookout for the perfect eye cream that will banish the "puffies" and for anti-aging serums and moisturizers to keep fine lines at bay. Because of her contact lenses, Annie hates powder shadows that drift into her eyes or oily eye makeup remover. Annie considers herself a computer geek and shopping fool who loves to combine the two pastimes :) Have a question for Annie? Email her here.

Take it away, Annie!

  As a teenager, I thought my very oily skin would shape up sometime in my 20's. Nope. And no relief in my 30's or 40's either. Now I'm approaching my mid-fifties and still have the oil slick of a 15 year old. Thankfully break outs stopped long ago! Now as I fight the beginning of crow's feet and a little less firmness, I search for anti-aging products that aren't created for the usually dry skin of mature women.

When Dr. Perricone, author of The Wrinkle Cure and The Perricone Prescription, and developer of the N.V. Perricone, M.D. "cosmeceuticals," came out with OutPatient Therapy products for oily (albeit acne-d) skin, I had to try them. OutPatient Therapy products claim to control oil while including DMAE and alpha lipoic acids to firm the skin's appearance. I used all the products in the OutPatient line for about 3 weeks.

OutPatient Therapy Pore Refining Cleanser ($30 for 6 fl oz)
A nice, light creamy cleanser that does a good job removing makeup without over-drying my skin, but the price is ridiculous! Although this product is supposed to help minimize pores and firm skin, I just cannot believe it's on my skin long enough to do much beyond cleansing. There are many good cleansers available at far lower prices including Cetaphil Daily Facial Cleanser for Normal and Oily Skin (just $6.99).

OutPatient Therapy Pore Refining Toner Pads ($35 for 60 pads)
These little toner pads are meant to be used after cleansing to get every last bit of oil and grime from your skin. Although I waffle back and forth on the merits and/or necessity of toner, I do like this toner mainly because of the textured pads which are mildly exfoliating. The toner feels good on my skin, but I wasn't thrilled to see one of the main ingredients is alcohol. "Better" ingredients include DMAE, glycolic acid, salicylic acid, alpha lipoic acid, and green tea extract. Still, in my opinion, the price is too high.

OutPatient Therapy Acne Treatment Gel Cream ($55 for 2 oz)
This product is designed to prevent breakouts (which I don't get) and control oil (which I DO get) while treating skin with the antioxidant alpha lipoic acid. I tried to use it several times - morning or night, thin or thinner application - but it's not for me. The thinnest coat of Gel Cream feels greasy and oily and seems to encourage my skin to pump out a few more gallons of its own. I would be surprised if anyone with oily skin could use it.

OutPatient Therapy Pore Refining Moisturizer ($50 for 2 oz)
I wanted to like this moisturizer. It's oil-free, but is supposed to moisturize with a "non-greasy emollient", and includes goodies for my aging skin – DMAE, and green tea extracts. What a disappointment! My skin just gushes oil when I use this product. I know my skin seems to need a little oil in at least one product in order not to over-produce its own oil, so I tried using this moisturizer in all kinds of combinations: with and without the other Outpatient products, with mattifiers, without mattifiers, without foundation, with oil-free foundation, with foundation containing some oil - it didn't matter. The result was always greasy skin in less than an hour. Pore Refining Moisturizer may work great for some skin: it's light and requires only a little for good coverage.

OutPatient Therapy Pore Refining Concealer ($35 for .5 oz)
A good basic concealer that works well on my light skin, which is lucky because it only comes in one shade! Containing the same DMAE and alpha lipoic acids as the other OutPatient products, this concealer does double-duty, covering imperfections while helping improve them. I frequently dab it where I need a little coverage and skip foundation altogether. Pore Refining Concealer isn't greasy on my skin, and really reduces the appearance of redness. And it stays put. I think it would work very well for any skin needing a bit of "even-ing".

Although OutPatient Therapy didn't work very well for me, I generally like the N.V. Perricone products. They are expensive, so I choose them carefully. If you decide to try any of the Outpatient Therapy products, I'd certainly recommend you get samples to try before purchase. Among other places, Outpatient Therapy is available directly from Dr. Perricone's website, Sephora stores, Sephora.com, and at Nordstrom stores.

Thank you, Annie! I hope you enjoyed this issue of The Cosmetic Report!