On today’s episode of buyer beware and Fake Stuff on Amazon…

I purchased this several times as it’s older iteration, prior to the upgraded title of 72-hour hydrator. I loved that stuff. It made my skin very bouncy, it didn’t pill, and had a very subtle fresh fragrance to it. It was comparable to Clinique’s Dramatically Different, maybe just a bit heavier. I used it day and night, and felt like it truly made a difference in my skin texture. It was an absolute dream to apply.

When the product changed names to tack on five more words, I jumped on Amazon to repurchase the new product. Seemed like the moisturizer had the same intended effect after all, and checked off all my moisturizer needs: “bad” alcohol and oil free. A little pricier, sure, ($39, ugh) but so was it’s predecessor.

A week passes and my package shows up. The jar looks identical to what was shown on Amazon’s website — the seller’s name was listed as “Clinique”, after all, why would it be any different? I open up the jar and woof… a strong smell of paint thinner. And, the gel-cream was white. It’s not supposed to be white! It should be light pink, for both the old and the new versions.

But like the idiot I am, I pressed on. “Perhaps this is the smell of fragrance free?”, I thought. “Perhaps alongside changing the product’s name, they changed the color of the gel?” The end of this story ended in a breakout, two days after stupidly slapping this stuff onto my face. So my assumption is that a fake had slipped into whatever warehouse it was being shipped from. As I went to contact the seller, I noticed a few reviews had recently appeared on the listing with similar complaints. Not the first, and won’t be the last time that will happen to me on Amazon, I presume.

So the second time around I popped into Macy’s to pick this up, as that seemed slightly less risky. This time around, the gel-cream was actually pink and devoid of that… wonderful paint thinner smell. It seemed to me I was finally holding the real deal.

But it didn’t perform the same way the old version had. This moisturizer does not play well with any other moisturizer or foundation. It’s very tacky feeling, and it pills like crazy! For all that tackiness, you would think it was retaining more moisture, but my skin didn’t look or feel “bouncy” at any point while using this.

“Use it as a night cream”, I thought, but while the product is still oil and drying-alcohol free, I noticed it causes my pores to clog up and I’ve broken out from it. The ingredient list is a bit lengthier than the original, but I can’t seem to pinpoint the new addition that could be causing this.

It really stinks that this is no longer a super-great moisture. I love the texture of this stuff still; it’s really satisfying to apply. If only the results were still as satisfying… (oh, and if Amazon would stop shipping out fakes, that would be great, too 😉 ) ~A

Perceived efficacy: 1.5/5

Longevity: 4/5

How much I actually like this product: 2/5

Recommended for sensitive skin: Yes