Hydroquinone (which the Food and Drug Administration has said may not be safe in over-the-counter products), kojic acid and the extracts of cucumber, licorice or mulberry alleviate blotching and spotting, as does a new glucosamine compound in Olay Definity Intense Hydrating Cream ($27.99), a formula many women use at night because it is creamy.
Kanebo's Sensai Intensive Hand Treatment, which includes pink cotton gloves to be worn following each application ($85 at Bergdorf Goodman), is not to be outdone by Bliss's new "high intensity" hand cream (why are hand creams so intense?).
(clarins.com, $50) Burt's Bees Intense Hydration Night Cream Clary sage, a plant from the Mediterranean, is the star ingredient of this super-rich cream that's meant to impart softness and suppleness while you sleep.
(But if you are a malt addict, as I am, do not miss the intense malt ice cream).
The guava and the dulce de leche fillings are almost too intense, but the vanilla cream melds beautifully with a churro fresh from the oil.
If you like your ice cream flavors intense, walk two more blocks to La Maison du Chocolat, the French chocolaterie that doubles as a glacerie in the summer ($4 a scoop, with no discount for gluttons).
The rich ice creams and intense, ultra-smooth sorbets come in more than a dozen flavors, including Valrhona chocolate, Tahitian vanilla, rum raisin, pistachio, white peach, coconut, black currant and litchi ($4.50 a pint, $1 a scoop).
A bombe of intense chocolate mousse and coffee cream within a wash of hardened chocolate was also superb.
Other desserts were ambrosial, notably the poire Belle Helene, which sinfully combined vanilla bean ice cream, poached pear, intense dark chocolate sauce and whipped cream.
Desserts include cheesecake, a helping of mascarpone adding creamy moisture to the ricotta cake, and an intense, thickish, chocolate-red wine cream, served in a goblet whose rim had been dipped in crumbled amaretti, a nice touch.
