Review: IOPE Retinol TX Intensive Wrinkle Care

I am starting to see some fine lines on my forehead and have been trying to find something that will help. I read hope-inablog blog's post about IOPE Retinol Tx and how it sold like crazy when it was first released in 1997 and is still a best-seller today.

Description (from hope-inablog.com):

• Amore Potent Wrinkle Reduction Solution That Addresses Invisible Signs as well as Deep Wrinkles
• Since the first stabilization of Retinol in Korea in 1997, IOPE Retinol has evolved solely for wrinkle reduction purposes
• IOPE Retinol TX intensifies the effect of Retinol 4 times through Retinotox, a patented ingredient, to improve wrinkles caused by skin aging. 
• It is developed under Plant Aging Care Complex and Plant Biosome System, an advanced nano technology which absorbs deep into the skin.

My impression:

If you looked at the blog post, you will have realized that this Retinol Tx is the 2005 version. Since then, it transformed to Retinol Nx in 2009 and in 2012 transformed to Retinol Age Corrector. I found samples of 2012 version, but you had to buy 30 pieces and they were going for $18. Not exactly the price I wanted to pay for a sample that may or may not work for me. Retinol Tx was available for bidding so after a few weeks of bidding (I was surprised because more people than I expected were bidding on these) I got my sample mailed to me.

I've only been applying to my forehead at night as my last routine after using Etude House Wonder Pore Freshner toner and (if I remember) Sulwhasoo First Care Serum.

This cream is quite rich. I can imagine if I put it on my T-zone I would probably break out. But since my forehead is pretty dry (thus the fine lines), it did not break out and absorbed the cream nicely.

I've been using this for around 2-3 weeks now except for a weekend when I was out of town and I didn't bring it with me. Unfortunately, it hasn't done much for me! Since this was a sample, I didn't expect it to take away my fine lines. But for such a best selling product, I expected it to improve my fine lines slightly, or at least to a point where I can see it.

I would buy the sample to try out for yourself since it's only around $4 and it IS a best-selling product in Korea after all for so many years. But unfortunately it doesn't look like I will benefit from this.

Summary:

Rich as expected for anti-wrinkle care but it's fine if you have dry skin
No improvement on my fine lines
$4 for 5ml on eBay (auction, only samples for sale the last time I checked)

Grade: 1.5/5 because it didn't break me out but it didn't do anything to my fine lines

Value: 1.5/5 because it doesn't do what it's supposed to for my skin

Repurchase? Nope