In a market known to be one of the most developed and discerning in the world - the French spend more per head on cosmetic products than any other country - the country's most revered consumer magazine has given the 'stretch-mark cream turned anti-wrinkle' treatment the highest votes in a comprehensive testing that involved a panel of 264 French women.
The women, aged from 30 - 70, were asked to test a total of 12 formulations. Most of the products were French, produced and marketed by names such as L'Oreal, Lancome, Chanel, ROS and Dior and costing as much as €142 per ounce.
According to the magazine report, which is the French equivalent of Which? magazine in the UK and Consumer Reports in the US, the panel of women said that the StriVectin treatment was the best and most effective treatment on facial wrinkles.
"We were taken by surprise," said Gina Gay, spokesperson for Klein-Becker, distributor of StriVectin. "because the testing was done without our knowledge, and in the same objective way as Consumer Reports judges products here in America. The testing was unbiased - although we assume French women are going to like French products best."
StriVectin was originally sold in maternity shops and high-end specialty stores as a superior anti-stretch mark cream. Indeed, the formula is still labelled as 'intensive repair for existing stretch marks', but became popular as an anti-wrinkle treatment after women started to report that it was equally effective for treating facial wrinkles
Today, the stretch mark reducer is popular in France, the UK, Italy, Spain, Poland, Portugal and the Czech Republic.