Combray

Product Review

   Two ingredients: grape seed oil and Oxofulleram®. So far, so good. Ok, I love the grape seed oil, but I’m very wary of any ingredient that’s trademarked. The grape seed oil is certainly a good start, high in antioxidants and a preferred ingredient for damaged skin because of its regenerative properties. Wikipedia’s got a nice little article on grape seed oil.
   Needless to say, I had my concerns about this product review. You may have noticed that Combray started advertising with OLM in our last issue. If you know OLM, you know that we are not going to give a product a good review just because they’ve advertised or are considering advertising with us. It’s just not our style. But David, co-owner of Solenne, co-inventor of Oxofulleram®, and co-creator of Combray assured us we would love this product.
   David and I spoke many times on the phone. While we didn’t get into too many debates, I know that we certainly could disagree and argue for hours about health. David’s a scientist, but he is also an environmentalist, my kind of guy. But like most scientists, David wants to see a study on something before he will decide whether or not it’s unhealthy. We look at health from very different perspectives. But, as I said, he really is my kind of guy over all, and I enjoyed many a long conversation with him. I learned a lot, too.
   So what is Oxofulleram? One blogger that goes by the name Marta wrote:
   “It is, in fact, fullerenes. Fullerenes are molecules made of carbon and they have an extraordinary ability to soak up free radicals. So much so, they were dubbed the “radical sponge”. Numerous studies, patents and papers have demonstrated the effectiveness of fullerenes, also known as C60, as the enemy of free radicals.”

   Now it's becoming clear what Combray is all about. It's an anti-aging serum. Antioxidants to the umpteenth power. But fullerenes are controversial. In fact, Marta goes on to write:
“One study that gives pause for thought showed that, if exposed to sunlight, fullerenes can actually cause oxidative stress. Friends of the Earth says, “Even low levels of exposure to fullerenes have been shown to damage human liver cells.”
   But David tells us that it’s a misnomer to say Oxofulleram is fullerenes. He says that while Oxofulleram is derived from the fullerene molecule, “…It’s no longer a fullerene; it is something called a fullerene-derived ketolactam.” He says the compound has been modified to eliminate oxidative response caused by UV light.
   David and I have spoken at great lengths about Oxofulleram and it takes some pretty complicated science to understand the whole issue. But if you do read Marta’s blog, be sure to see David’s comments underneath.
   I was, and to be completely honest, still am concerned about what happens when Oxofulleram is absorbed into the body. While David explained why there is no need to worry, I am not one to take a scientist’s word for something with regard to health any more than I would trust a conventional drug pushing

doctor. So I did what I normally do with product reviews; I used myself as a guinea pig. Of course I also used my staff and my girlfriend.
My girlfriend has a C section scar that’s very large and noticeable. She doesn’t take ideal care of herself, so she is slow to heal. Four years after childbirth, the scar had barely changed. But after four weeks of using Combray, the scar has diminished. It’s by no means gone, but I do believe with long term use, it may eventually disappear.
Another interesting quality of Combray is its effect on mosquito bites. I allowed my self to get bitten by mosquitos repeatedly. The image below is of two bites in close proximty, bitten one right after another, and both allowed to suck for 25 seconds. I applied combray to one (the smaller one) and not the other. As you can see from the image, swelling was drastically reduced and, more importantly, itching was eliminated completely. I eventually put Combray on all of

the bites I had accumulated and found the same results. I thought to myself, "at $156 a bottle, I'd rather spend my money on an all natural insect repellant."
On the other hand, it doesn’t take much. It’s a tiny drop. In fact, two to four drops on your face is all you need to moisturize and get all of the anti-aging benefits. As you can see from this image below, and the ladies go nuts over this, Combray dramatically shrinks pores (this effect lasts about 6 hours). The right side of the face (the left side of the image) is the side on which Combray was used. There is also considerably less blemishing on the side of the face to which Combray was applied over a one week period of time (click to see full size image).

In addition to this, my girlfriend was recently in a nasty bicycle wreck. We applied Combray to some of the wounds and not others to check healing time. After two weeks, the results speak for themselves.

Combray Product Review

Issue 9 | October 2009

pg ##

After the accident both of these patches of lost skin looked equally bad (image on Finally, the results are absolutely amazing with sunburn! I went on a 2 hour bike ride wearing a tank top shirt, doing laps on a road that would ensure sun exposure equally on both sides. When I got home both shoulders were just as red, but after three days, look at the difference! (below) My left arm turned a light tan color, while my right was blistering

like something out of a horror movie!
   Combray works and works very well. While there is certainly the sticker shock of $156, if you do the math on what most people pay for moisturizers they slather on 4 times a day, you’ll come out ahead with Combray. While I am not someone who believes that a healthy person needs moisturizers at all, I do believe we all could use more antioxidants.
   There is more to address with Combray. Oxofulleram is a synthetic ingredient. If you read OLM on a regular basis, you know how we feel about synthetic ingredients. There is some debate about Oxofulleram's, and we don't know the potential side effects. But as far as topical application, Combray does make the skin look good.
   Let it be known, OLM does not do favorable reviews for products because they have, or will advertise with us. In fact, we shy away from doing product reviews if there is likely to be an advertising deal. But I was very curious

about Combray and David was very confident. I really am grateful we got to review Combray. The results really are impressive. David asks only that you pay for shipping and handling.
Combray

Try a two week supply of Combray for free and see for yourself, go to solenne.eu You can also find Combray on Twitter

Combray Product Review

Issue 9 | October 2009

pg ##