This month, Lancôme is launching its biggest skin care product of the year. Génifique ($78) is a "youth activating concentrate" with ten years of research backing up its anti-aging claims. It promises to rouse genes, making them produce more proteins associated with young skin.

The whole "gene-awakening" thing sounded vague to me, which automatically made me a bit skeptical. (So many beauty products promise to transform skin into perfection, but — as you probably have experienced — that doesn't happen very often.) Lancôme gave me an advance sample of Génifique, and I have been using it for the past six weeks. To find out whether my lazy-ass genes are now up and at 'em, read more.

Lancôme insists that Génifique is not a serum, but that's a bit of a tomato-tomahto thing to me; the lightweight liquid comes out in a dropper and feels like most serums I've tried. (I'm just sayin'.) Using it is easy, which is great if you're busy/lazy like me. I spread two drops of Génifique on my face every morning and evening; it sinks into skin almost immediately, so then I follow with my normal moisturizer. There's no tingling or stinging or stickiness, which is nice.

About a week into my Génifique trial, I noticed that my skin tone was a little bit brighter. And then I plotzed because the little frown line in between my brows wasn't quite as deep as it had been. I kept an eye on that stinker for the following month, and while it hasn't disappeared completely, it's definitely not as noticeable as it used to be. I'm not a scientist, nor do I play one on TV, but whatever's in that bottle of Génifique has indeed had a positive effect on my skin. Color this skeptic pleasantly surprised.

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