According to a press release from StriVectin, French consumers recently passed up some of the cosmetic industry’s most prestigious brands and voted StriVectin-SD as their favorite face cream at the 17th annual Advantage’s Grand Prix of Beauty in held Paris, France. Gina Gay, a company representative who accepted the award for StriVectin and its manufacturer, Klein-Becker, said that StriVectin was not the only one to be surprised with the honor. According to Gay, several executives from the major international brands appeared shocked and “the mostly French audience gasped when they realized an American product was voted the favorite cosmetic by French women.”

Maybe they shouldn’t have been so surprised — last September, France’s leading consumer magazine also named StriVectin as the best and most effective anti-wrinkle face cream as judged by a panel of 264 French women.

I think many like to give deference to French women when it comes to skin care, fashion, and diet. However, I just can’t help but suspect that our American fetishization of French brands like La Mer and and now the French preference for the American made Strivectin hints at a simple case of “the grass is always greener on the other side” mentality.

Interestingly enough, a study from the January 2007 issue of Consumer Reports found that no wrinkle cream — French, American, or otherwise — made significant long term improvements in wrinkles. Consumer Reports actually named the Olay Regenerist Collection as the most effective product out of all of those that they tested. For more information, check out my post on how Consumer Reports rated wrinkle creams.

So who’s got it right? Has anyone tried StriVectin? Love it, hate it? Let me know!