Soap Opera Digest
May 9, 2000
Product Queen

Lately, I've been getting more mail than usual and it is so inspiring! I get e-mail from ladies aged 15 to 78 years young, and I've found that we all want the same thing, no matter what our age: to have a good laugh, get a good buy, feel better about ourselves and be loved up a little bit.

Many of you are mothers, many of you work full-time jobs in addition to the full-time job of mommy-ing, all of you love soaps, and best of all, you are dreamers and fabulous women. I love the ideas you share with me and I'm trying as many as I can so I can write about them for future columns. In short, babes, I love you back, and that's no bull.

Now, for my big announcement (remember?). Nine months ago, an entrepreneur from Florida (a middle-aged mom with two kids and skin concerns) contacted me wanting me to road-test a skin-care line she had developed with a dermatologist. She was anxious for an opinion and hoping that if I liked it, I would write about it. Frankly, I prefer to buy all the products that I write about, because if I don't like them, then I don't feel bad about giving something a bad review. I either want to feel ripped off (like you do), or I want the "thrill of the kill" when I love something. I warned her that it could go either way, and she agreed.

I decided to give Renaitre (pronounced re-NAY-tra) a six-week tryout to see what it could really do. It is, after all, a 15-percent glycolic acid line and considered serious skin care. I'd been using similar products from my dermatologist (staving off the inevitable), but at a much greater expense. I was curious to compare.

After two weeks of using Renaitre, our lighting director (magician Bob Bessoir) asked me what I had been doing different because he thought my skin looked much better than usual. (He usually tells me to go take a nap!) I was inspired and kept using the new product. It really did take the dead skin off! With each day, my skin tone became more smooth and even, not to mention that I have a nice little glow to my puss!

After two months, I wrote this woman and asked if there was a way I could help get these products out to the public. So, after months of quality control testing, I launched Renaitre Facial Cleanser on QVC in March--we sold out in 10 minutes!

Now babes, there is no amount of money that could make me sell something that I don't believe in. Having said that, I highly recommend this product for not only ladies, but teenagers (glycolic is known to help prevent acne) and men (who can shave with it--no razor burn!).

If you try it, let me hear from you (www.hickland.com). Heck, let me hear from you anyway.

Happy hunting!