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Dr Lin Skincare Daily Hydrating Gel (and price gouging in skincare)

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Dr Lin Hydrating Gel.JPG

Though I no longer include this moisturizer as part of my repertoire, I was reminded of it when scrolling through my old emails and subsequent past online purchases. It struck a nerve with me since one of my holy grail items (Jergens BB Body Skin Creme) was an unfortunate victim of price gouging and/or overall product price increase. I stopped purchasing Dr Lin’s Hydrating Gel after the price went from an average of $12, to an average of $24 ($30, looking at their website… yikes).

From a business ownership standpoint, I get it. You have a lot of demand for your product, you’re well within your rights to raise the price on it, to cover production costs, to make a better return on the product you’ve masterfully created. But I’m always curious what the risk is of alienating a customer base who was only willing to pay X amount for it. Perhaps that customer base is irrelevant — maybe the company wants to market toward a different demographic, rely on their diehard fans to keep buying, or expect the apparent popularity of an item to reach out to more new customers than they had old.

Still: it’s annoying. And this product, in my opinion, was lackluster enough to be dropped from my routine, and not really deserving of such a sharp price increase.

But I will say it was good to have around for the time I had cystic acne, and a product that would be well placed in a minimalist routine. It was oil free, clear, watery gel, and light weight. It didn’t aggravate my skin, and was refreshing to put on. No offensive smells, very fresh. It did apply a little tacky, but if you waited a couple minutes before touching or putting anything else on your skin, it would not interfere.

But it wasn’t really… moisturizing. It was usually the last step in my morning routine, and I viewed it more as an occlusive layer. Using it just as a moisturizer on it’s own lead to extremely dry skin after half of the day.

So, I’m conflicted. I felt a little bummed out by their decision to increase the price, and it really wasn’t life-changing enough to keep in my routine. For acne sufferers, this stuff will provide a bit of temporary relief from the more painful breakouts, but won’t do anything in the long-term, even beyond the course of four or five hours. ~A

For cystic acne sufferers, you might find that this product is worth the price. https://amzn.to/2CX7rD1

Perceived efficacy: 3.5/5

Longevity: 2/5

How much I actually like this product: 3/5

Recommended for sensitive skin: Yes

Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel (and Water Gel Extra Dry)

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Neutrogena Hydro Boost

This stuff has been part of my nightly regime for close to a year now, and I love it.

There’s really not too big of a difference between the two formulas except the color — in fact, I accidentally bought the extra dry formula online, and didn’t realize that it had even existed until I looked at the color and wondered what on earth I had bought (extra dry coloration is white, instead of the normal formula’s blue). Extra dry is a little heavier, and application is a bit tackier, so it might require a longer setting time but still won’t interfere with the rest of your process. I think I’m going to use extra dry a bit more in the winter.

I think the color is kind of neat for the original formula — light blue! It doesn’t apply that way, though. The stuff sinks in almost immediately, and it’s weightless. Your skin will be softer on touch. That moisture will persist for at least eight hours, and won’t pill off throughout the day. The fragrance is nice — very light, fresh, won’t drive you insane during the day. And, added bonus, the packaging is kind of cool in the light blue container, making it hard to miss in my vanity.

What I love love love about this stuff is that it does not conflict with anything else I put on for the day — be it extra layers of moisturizer, sunscreen or makeup. NO PILLING!! Ah, yes, and for all you acne-sufferers out there, this stuff is oil free, and was a mainstay during my hormonal acne.

The price point is a little annoying at $14-18 depending on where you buy from, but it should last between a month to three months, contingent on how much it gets used. ~A

To try the regular formula, click here: https://amzn.to/2GXTdFT For the extra dry formula, click here: https://amzn.to/2VvPEtP

Perceived efficacy: 5/5

Longevity: 5/5

How much I actually like this product: 5/5

Wet n Wild Megalast Salon Nail Color

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Wet N Wild Megalast Nail

I’m starting to think that maybe I should call this blog “Everything else sucks in comparison to Wet N Wild”. Seriously!! That seems like a joke, considering Wet n Wild was always notorious for being that low-end cheapo stuff you buy when you’re 12, but I honestly like a lot of their stuff better than their way more expensive competitors.

As I mentioned before I’ve recently been trying to step up my nail polish game by buying slightly more expensive polishes than Sinful Colors, but I couldn’t help but grab this when I saw it at Five Below, in the colors Private Viewing and Sugar Coat. I’m a sucker for pink tones, nudes and neutrals so I figured throwing $2 a piece at them couldn’t hurt.

And.. my God they are amazing. Dries super fast. Dries matte. The brush is wider across so it spreads well, and gets most of your fingernail in one go. Color is phenomenal. A second coat will definitely help for the lighter colors, but the slightly darker Private Viewing didn’t require one. The colors are also pretty much true to what you see in the bottle. And for the price point, the longevity is phenomenal: four to five days without chipping.

I think I have to head back to Five Below (or literally any drugstore…) and stock up on these. They are amazing, and they are SO CHEAP. Unreal. Makes me constantly regret the $8 wasted on anything related to Orly. ~A

<em>To pick up this super cheap, super cute nail polish, click here: https://amzn.to/2D27VHQ</em&gt;

Perceived efficacy: 5/5

Longevity: 5/5

How much I actually like this product: 5/5

Avene Mineral Ultra-Light Hydrating Sunscreen Lotion 50 SPF+

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Avene Ultra Light Sunscreen

Euch. Nothing I dislike more than a product that doesn’t live up to it’s claims.

I made a year long switch to physical sunscreens only, whilst navigating my insane hormonal acne, to see if the ingredients typically used in chemical sunscreens were making my break outs worse. This was the third? I tried, I believe. Not good. First of all, it just doesn’t smell good — no expectations of fragrance and florals here, I just wanted it to smell like nothing. I can’t explain it — it smelled like a slightly-damp basement, almost. I know I really need to work on my adjectives and descriptors, but that’s the only thing I can come up with. Either way, smelling that smell on your face all day is just… eugh.

No amount of rubbing this product in or hybrid “let it sit then rub” or “rub it then let it sit” will fully get the product to go in, without leaving some type of residual white cast. And if you have tiny baby hairs growing on your skin, FORGET IT! White cast all over the place, and it goes without saying, this pills like crazy, with or without makeup. Again, physical sunscreens =/= absorbent, but this one was tougher than the others I’ve tried. So throw the whole, “Sheer, non-whitening” advertisement in the can.

Then, 3pm comes. My makeup and/or moisturizer show signs of starting to break down. And so does my sunscreen. Hello, pilly, white-cast-y, oily mess! Get ready for whiteness to cling like crazy to your dry spots, while you’re at it.

I know that physical sunscreens are supposed to be more effective than chemical ones, in general and particularly with long periods of exposure to the sun, but MAN, I am so happy to make the return to chemical sunscreens. I was stoked to throw this little bottle of Avene in the trash. Physical sunscreens are tough, either way you slice it, but there’s definitely much better out there that beat the $28 price mark here. ~A

Perceived efficacy: 2/5 (I mean, it probably works as a sunscreen, but the sheer/non-whitening part? Pschtt..)

Longevity: 2.5/5

How much I actually like this product: 1/5

 

Physicians Formula Powder Palette Mineral Glow Pearls

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Powder Palette Mineral Glow

This is technically a powder, of which there are four different shades. As far as using this as a powder, this is not great since my experience is that it doesn’t have phenomenal staying power (I tried both translucent, and beige when summer rolled around), and I did notice some oil breakthrough.

But as a bronzer? If you pick up a shade darker than you’re supposed to be, this is actually great. The coloration on light bronze is awesome — not TOO dark, but dark enough to create a good contour. No orange skewing, either! I love the extra “shiny” boost it gives you. Now granted, the longevity issue still remains — if you don’t use a setting spray, the color will begin to slide off around hour four, and disappear completely or shift, uh, downwards onto your skin where it wasn’t before.

This is a $12 grab at Ulta, true to Physicians Formula higher-than-usual drugstore pricepoint, but it’s well worth it as the product lasts quite a long time in the compact (the one I’m using now is going on a year. Is that bad?) I’ve seen some Ulta reviews citing that people use it as a highlighter. I personally can’t see it. It is glittery, but not THAT glittery, so even with translucent or beige, I didn’t feel like it really stood out. As for people complaining that the glitter is only on the top, well, I personally disagree – I feel that it lasts through the whole container.

In the end, this is good looking as a bronzer, not a powder. In fact, it might be a holy grail bronzer for me. I do recommend that it gets used with a setting spray for sure, and don’t be too heavy-handed when applying since the color comes out relatively heavy. The colors also shifts over time, and sets into your skin a little peculiarly.  ~A

Perceived efficacy: 4/5 (As a bronzer)

Longevity: 3.5/5

How much I actually like this product: 4/5

Clinique Dramatically Different Gel

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Clinique Dramatically Different

What I originally thought was an underwhelming moisturizer, Clinique’s Dramatically Different Gel became a must-have staple for me. I’m a sucker for good packaging or good marketing tactics, so, as you could imagine, I didn’t exactly feel “dramatically different” after using this product as the package may have suggested right away. And besides hyaluronic acid and caffeine, this moisturizer doesn’t boast any skin improving quality that falls out of the norm.

But for long-term use, this gel really does work! It’s medium weight (despite advertising as light), so it doesn’t quite sink into your skin fully but it doesn’t feel like it’s weighing you down, either (nor will it leave behind a sticky feeling!), and you won’t need to go the extra mile to rub it in. It also seems like this is doing a better job of controlling my oiliness throughout the day than the Cerave PM does. This moisturizer has a extremely faint vanilla smell, but will become odorless after application.

This product is oil and alcohol free, which makes it a great choice for anyone with acne-prone skin. I have never broken out from using this product.

I don’t have any issues with this product pilling with my makeup, particularly since this dries down quickly. I also didn’t feel that my skin dried out, or became tighter after a full day of wear.

For the price point of $25-28, it was difficult, at first, to justify the cost of such an initially underwhelming moisturizer. But as time passed, I learned that perhaps less is more. My skin quality has been phenomenal after using this prodycg long-term! ~A

Perceived efficacy: 4.5/5

Longevity: 4.5/5

How much I actually like this product: 5/5

Recommended for sensitive skin: Yes

Wet n Wild Megaglo Highlighting Powder

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Wet N Wild Highlighting

When the highlighting game really started to pick up steam, I grabbed both this product in Precious Petals and the MegaGlo Makeup Stick. This won out against the MegaGlo stick as far as my personal preferences go, and really changed my perception of Wet n Wild as a brand. The 10+ hour longevity of shine on this product, and the simplicity of application to get a full look, are both a 5/5 for me. This is now a permanent fixture in my makeup bag. I haven’t seen any signs of powder fall from my face.

I use a smaller angled contour brush and swipe it a little bit under my eyes and occasionally under my eyebrows. Considering I use this almost daily, I still have about half of the powder left, and it’s been close to a year. For $5… not too bad! I’ll be sad if they ever discontinue it (although, the highlighting trend is bound to die off at some point… right?)

There are several shades of this product. My favorite is Precious Petals, I think that has the best glow. I’ve also used Blossom Glow, but I didn’t think the coloration looked as good on my skin. Finally, I’ve tried White Raven, which I think was a limited edition. I’m not sure what I had in my head when I bought it in terms of what I was going to do with it, because it was really… white. Duh! It still did the job as well as Precious Petals in terms of holding up, just wasn’t a color I ever should have bought in the first place.

Without being too “loud”, this powder highlighter makes a long-lasting statement, and I recommend every makeup fan to pick up this $5 buy. ~A

Perceived efficacy: 5/5

Longevity: 5/5

How much I actually like this product: 5/5

Cerave Sunscreen, Broad Spectrum 30 SPF

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Cerave Sunscreen 30 SPF

I cut out chemical sunscreens during my cystic acne phase, and only used physical sunscreens, spending many days with white-cast nightmare skin. Now that that part of my life is over, I decided to tip-toe back into the world of chemical sunscreens. My holy grail sunscreen is Its Skin 2pm Sunblock 50spf+, but it ships from Korea, and at present, I can’t find it for cheaper than $25, which is more than I’m willing to spend. So I picked this up in the meantime. I know 30 spf isn’t terribly high by any means, but I don’t intend on using it for scenarios with intense sun.

I’ve been using this for two days straight, and layered it over different moisturizers each day. Goes on fine, no pilling at all, no white cast, felt pretty smooth to the touch. Doesn’t smell like anything, which is fine by me. So from the onset, I liked it! I checked out my face in the office mirror at noon, it looked okay at that point still.

I got out of a big meeting at 3pm and… there it was, the pilling disaster. The sunscreen was clinging to my dry areas, and those parts of my face became a nice, white-ish, peeling goop mess. I’m sure that was a sight to behold for everyone else in that meeting. I’ve always heard that you need to re-apply sunscreens halfway through the day anyway, but I suspect that reapplying would have made the pilling situation 10x worse!

So.. I don’t know what to think. I love the application, but the longevity doesn’t seem to stretch as long as I’d like. I’ll probably keep using it until I can get my hands on something else (and avoid those known dry spots like the plague). I’ve seen the price points range between $8-$14, but it likely won’t be something I’ll repurchase. ~A

(Update, a few weeks later: acne sufferers, SKIP THIS ONE!)

Perceived efficacy: 4.5/5

Longevity: 2/5

How much I actually like this product: 3/5

 

L’Oreal Lumi Glotion

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Loreal Lumi Glotion

I had oddly unrealistic expectations of this product. Like, the moment I put it on my face, I would sparkle and have flawless skin, Edward Cullen-style. And while that didn’t exactly happen, much to my dismay, I’m still oddly satisfied with this product.

I picked up the lightest shade, and noticed there is exactly zero tint (or, if there is, it is invisible to the human eye), thus firmly putting it into the category of a primer. The glow is subtle in my opinion, but it’s perfect to slap on for work just to brighten my natural skin a little bit. It seems to hold up pretty well for eight hours as well, and doesn’t slowly devolve into “looks slimy”. I’ve seen a lot of other reviewers mention that they use this as their under-eye highlighter, but I honestly don’t think it’s bright enough to replace powder or stick highlighters. One of the tags for this on another review was #minimalistic and I thought, yea, that’s exactly how to describe this! If you’re a glow-y minimalist, anyway.

As for working with foundations… well, it didn’t show up when I put it under my foundation (which is how most primers are supposed to work, right?), and it didn’t seem to play well with foundation when I put it on top. I feel like this is going to make or break a lot of people’s opinion on the product — but I’ll personally keep my high review because it works really well for me, using it as a standalone primer, without the addition of foundation.

Despite being termed as a lotion, this isn’t quite a moisturizer, but slapping some actual moisturizer under this product will do just fine without pilling. Price point is $10-$14 which seems a little steep for something that doesn’t do much except prime, but honestly this is fine if you want to make an Aldi run with a bit of glow to your face.

Also wanted to note — if your skin is acne-prone, you might want to skip this one. I’ve caught a small outbreak or two when I wear this that I don’t normally get, sadly. Still like it though, ugh! ~A

Perceived efficacy: 3.5/5

Longevity: 4/5

How much I actually like this product: 4/5

Orly Breathable vs. Orly (Standard Formulation)

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Orly BreathableOrly

Full disclosure, I didn’t really get into the nail polish game until recently. I thought buying a $2 of Sinful Colors from Big Lots was a Big Deal (ok, some of their colors ARE good, if you don’t mind reapplying every single day). I’ve been trying to step up the price point a little to see if it increased longevity: the results have, surprisingly, been mixed. What I should have called this article was “why would anyone buy the standard formulation and not the Breathable formulation?” I have three colors in each of the two formulations and they’re all variants of white/nude/pink. Here’s what Breathable gets right:

  • the color is easy to spread on application — I even had a few instances of “perfect on the first stroke”, a rare feat for someone who doesn’t consider themselves proficient at coloring in the lines;
  • the color itself is GREAT — it’s very vibrant, or very true to the actual color that you see in the bottle;
  • Lasts close to a week without chipping

The standard formulation does none of this. The color is blah, and it’s not even right. It’s impossible to spread. And, after all that work you’ve done to put it on, it lasts for… a day, if I’m being generous.

I usually only buy Orly colors when they go on sale or they’re on clearance, so I should have realized sooner than checking it five seconds ago on Google that Breathable has a higher price point ($10) than the standard ($8). But the standard is BAD, so if you’re going to pay full price, shill out the two extra bucks and go for the Breathable. ~A

 

Standard

Perceived efficacy: 2/5

Longevity: 1/5

How much I actually like this product: 1/5

 

Breathable

Perceived efficacy: 5/5

Longevity: 4.5/5

How much I actually like this product: 4.5/5