Category: Moisturizers

Clinique Dramatically Different Gel

thealtruisticface2 Comments

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

Stratia Liquid Gold

thealtruisticface

Stratia Liquid Gold

I really, REALLY wanted to like this. The gold color, promise of crazy hydration and the fact that it reminded me of a fabric paint tube really lured me into dropping $24 on this thing directly from Stratia’s website. It was not a $24 well spent.

It didn’t do anything.

This products gets a lot of hype on reddit for repairing destroyed moisture barriers, and having an optimal combination of ingredients to do so (ceramides and cholesterol).  I live in a city with harsh winters, and I also have combo skin with dry areas in the lower quadrant of my face, so moisture is definitely an issue for me — so I was excited to try this out.

And this just… this just didn’t do anything.

It’s cool that it’s yellow, but the runny-ness of the formula just isn’t effective at all. You may have well have just dripped some water onto the my face and called it a day. My skin felt neither protected by an additional layer, nor did it feel/look any softer. This, of course, infers that I couldn’t really “feel” that I had applied it after even 10 minutes or so. And even despite the thinness of it, the yellow would still show up if you’re not careful to rub it in hard enough. I really do think that, not only did it look and act like paint, but it also smelled like paint as well.

I speculated that this product aggravated my acne a little bit. I had a couple new spots after usage — I mean, this could have been from anything, but the timing was a little suspect.

It looks like they’ve changed the packaging recently, so I’m curious if the formulation was changed in that time, as well. But for now, my review will remain based on the product you see pictured above — totally not worth the purchase. I know there’s a huge cult following for Liquid Gold — if you love this stuff and want to let me know why, feel free to leave a comment! ~A

Perceived efficacy: 1/5

Longevity: 1/5 (I mean, how can there be longevity if you didn’t feel it working in the first place…?)

How much I actually like this product: 1/5

 

Cerave PM – Facial Moisturizing Lotion

thealtruisticface

Cerave PM

Welcome to my #firstpost! The whole point of this place is because I was sick of going on Youtube and watching makeup/skincare/beauty product reviews, only to find out that the video was sponsored, which made me question literally everything the creator was saying. Is it genuine if someone’s giving you a nudge one direction when you review their product? Making things worse, a lot of these videos — just to review one single product — are anywhere between eight and twenty-five minutes long. I really just wanted someone to tell me “yes” or “no”. So here I am, reviewing makeup, moisturizers, lotions, supplements — pretty much any beauty product that I’ve ever tried, I’ll post at some point.

Now, onto the review.

I stockpile Cerave PM just in case I run out, if that is any indication of how much I like this stuff. When I travel and I am forced to “pack light” (ha!) and choose one moisturizer, I will usually choose this. It’s ridiculously light weight and sinks into your skin immediately. Besides a few fatty alcohols, there aren’t any known “drying” alcohols contained in this product.

But is the niacinamide ingredient actually helping scar damage? I can’t really tell. I have plenty of scars from acne, and I can’t say that I’ve noticed any marked improvement by using this product specifically.

As for longevity, I apply this in the morning, and generally feel like my skin is moisturized all day. I’d recommend it to anyone just getting into the moisturizing game, or someone who is attempting to go back to basics. The price point is great at $9-$13. Oh, it doesn’t seem to break me out, either, and you can put three layers of the stuff on your face and it still won’t pill, even under makeup. ~A

A note from future A: This product recently reformulated, and has made my skin react poorly — buyer beware, in 2020! My new post on this change is here.

Perceived efficacy: 3/5

Longevity: 4.25/5

How much I actually like this product: 4.25/5