November 24, 2009

A trifecta of marvelous oil-free moisturizers from Marcelle, NeoStrata and Vichy


Moisturizing is tricky business for me.  My skin has multiple personalities; some days it has an oily t-zone and is pretty normal everywhere else, sometimes it enjoys a dry patch or two and then just to shake things up, it will break out.  So you can imagine how much fun it is to find a moisturizer which does the job, but doesn't overdo it.  It's a real tightrope act!  Since I do love a serum and we know those aren't oil free, I even things out with an oil free moisturizer that has an SPF.  My only complaint would be that I prefer an SPF of 30 or more but have yet to find an oil free moisturizer that I like with more then a 15.  So from extensive research, these are my top 3 picks.

Marcelle - Oil-Free Multi-Defense Lotion - SPF 15 - at less then $20, this is not only my favourite one, but also the most economical with 120ml (that's 4 fl oz for our American friends) of product.  The texture is light, it absorbs fast with no chalky sunscreen cast and the smell is almost non-existent.  I also love the pump bottle it comes in, which unscrews easily so you can get at the last of the lotion.  I have nothing bad to saw about this product, if you like an oil free moisturizer and you have skin then you will love this.  If it only came in an SPF 30 I would never look at another product (okay fine, we all know that's a lie given my product whoreness, but I would think about never looking at another product - and I would feel guilty when I did!)

Marcelle is available at most Canadian drugstores including Shopper's Drug Mart.  And now that I have inspired lust for this product in the hearts of all you Americans, you can go here to order by phone.  The minimum order is $30, so get yourself something else pretty while you are at it, and the shipping seems pretty reasonable.



 NeoStrata - Oil Free Daytime Smoothing Lotion Level 3 - SPF 15 - I've been on the NeoStrata love train a lot lately but I just can't help myself - their products are just all so good!  This lotion retails for around $38 and is 50ml.  Now to clarify, the Level 3 refers to the amount of glycolic acid in the product - so it's Level 1 - 4%, Level 2 - 8% and Level 3 - 10%.  A Level 3 would be only for those with combination-oily skin, so you normal-dry girls will want to steer clear of this one.  Unfortunately, NeoStrata doesn't offer the oil free lotion in anything but a Level 3 but if you have the right skin type for this one, you will love it!  Now I only use this one when I am having one of my combo-oily days and I recall when I first started using it that it felt a little bit tingly, which would be the AHA, so it you tingle don't worry, it could be that Brad Pitt is in the next room but more likely it is the lotion. 

NeoStrata is available at most of your local drugstores and Americans can find it here.


Vichy Normaderm Pro Mat Ultra-Mattifying Oil-Free Lotion - SPF15 - you'll notice that the link I've given you here is for the American website.  For some reason the Canadian one doesn't actually have the products on it which is kind of annoying, but never mind, you can buy it at the drugstore and keep an eye out at Shopper's Drug Mart, this goes on sale quite often there.

This lotion is nice and light and goes on very matte.  If you have dry areas you will want to add some richer moisturizer in those spots as well as this lotion won't be enough on its own.  The smell is nice and light and it soaks right in.  I am glad they didn't package this Normaderm product in the old pump bottle, those pumps were hard to open (I think I ended up taking pliers to it to get it off) in order to get at the last of the product.  They say you can even use this as your primer, I haven't tested that theory but from the texture I can see why that might work.

Now go forth and moisturize!




- Lisamarie -

2 comments:

  1. Do you think I should put on my wish list the Neo Strata?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes and I hope your wish list isn't as long as mine!

    Best, Lisamarie

    ReplyDelete

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