Adrienne Arpel might just be the Ron Popeil of the cosmetics world: even if her products leave something to be desired, her sales pitch is irresistible. She's figured out that quantity is an excellent substitute for quality and seduced many of us into having Arpel salon facials by the promise of bonus goodies such as make-up kits. Once you're in that chair, beware! Caught up in the moment, I came home with $90 worth of silly ampoules and creams that turned out to be too oily for my skin. Yeah, there's one born every minute.

Apparently, Arpel is no longer associated with the department store line that bears her name and, for the last few years, has been selling her new line, "Signature A," on the Home Shopping Network. Although she doesn't come right out and say so, it's supposed to be simpler, cheaper and more effective than her previous line and is aimed at women over 35. And since she's always hawking kits - a master's lesson in make-up, a wrinkle prevention one, and those promising instant makeovers - there are a lot of opportunities to sample a wide range of products.

What some people may not know is that her kits and individual products are also sold on FirstAuction.com, a kind of clearance center/auction house for HSN's wares. On the right day, that goodie bag that looks so enticing at $89.95 can be had for about half that price. Frankly curious about her line, I rationalized buying her Head-to-Toe kit last November, thinking I could give it to my mother for her birthday. The mere mention of Arpel gave Mom a screaming fit, though, since she had recently pitched her own stash that some supersaleswoman had pressured her into buying years ago. So the kit was all mine, which didn't exactly distress me. Who could object to getting 10 or so products for $45?

It turned out to be not such a bad purchase after all. Okay, I'll say it - there were products I liked a lot, some I thought were just okay and nothing that I absolutely hated, save for the tres 70's mock alligator tote. One product I even re-ordered. Go figure.

Some general observations: if you have sensitive skin, pass this one up. Arpel's products tend to be heavily fragranced and her glycolic products are very, very potent. On the plus side, the sizes are generous and a good value. Also, her packaging is sleek and minimalist; some of it is downright clever. Her "Five Essentials" creme, which is a glycolic moisturizer, comes with a little tub of eyecream attached to the jar lid - a gentle reminder to use both at the same time. Her wonder wheel has concealer, crease fill, a frosty highlighter, a contour cream, blue and mauve undercoats - even if you just use one or two of these products, it's a very handy kit to take on trips.

My favorites:
The Conditioner/Shampoo for thin/fine hair
The scent, oddly reminiscent of Final Net hairspray, is offputting but this is an excellent product. It works very quickly and rinses out easily without build-up.

Vanilla Meltdown
This is a pleasantly-scented make-up remover that liquifies almost instantly and removes even waterpoof mascara very efficiently. A caveat: it's very rich and even though I have mature skin, I wouldn't use it every day.

Five Essentials Face Cream and Eye Cream
This is her workhorse, do-everything cream that has glycolic acid and retinol. This is unscented (yay!!) and quite strong; I felt stinging on a few occasions. It's not overly rich and is a nice base for make-up. Also, it does include an eye cream and is a great deal at $25 for 9 oz.

From the Wonder Wheel, Eyelid Crease Fill
This is a sticky orange cream that lights up the eye area and is about the best shadow base I've ever used. Fabulous powder-cream consistency. Was less thrilled with the Undereye Concealer and Face Flaw Concealer in the same kit: too dark.

Peach Bath Soap
My absolute favorite. A log of soap resembling Apricot-colored Velveeta. The deal is you slice of a sliver as you need it. Contains alpha hydroxy acids and is very strong. I've used it to remove latex-based paint from my hands. Nice fragrance and a great body exfoliator.

These three I was neutral about:
Five Essentials Body Treatment
A nice plain white cream that's loaded with glycolic acid. Not bad but should be reformulated as a lotion for ease of application.

Gleaming Skin Invisible Make-up
This is a peach-tinted frosted liquid in a great pump-type dispenser. Although it's billed as a base, it's really a highlighter. It's okay but has less staying power than Clinique's Zero foundation.

Soft Scrub with Vanilla Bean
A cream scrub with vanilla bean grains. Just personal preference here - I prefer chemical exfoliators to those that abrade mechanically. The fragrance is quite nice, as vanilla scents go.