Favourite Face Lotions/Moisturisers

Bit of background on my skin type - combination skin, greasy t-zone and occasional dry patches on cheeks and around nose. Prone to getting the odd spot. Also sensitive - have some redness around nose and cheeks. So yeah, mixed bag really. Like most people my skin gets dryer around winter and complete oil slick in the summer. I've got medium Asian skin (I use Mac Mineralise Skinfinish natural in Medium which is too dark for me at the moment, I've never been matched to Mac foundations but since most people compare to those shades I'll guess I'm around NC25/NC30). Last bit might not be relevant but since people ask, there it is.

I've tried a lot of new skincare items recently on a quest to banish the old scars and discolouration on my face. My skin isn't awful but it's not that great either - I'm at the stage where I at least use powder  and concealor around my eyes everyday (the old Mineralise skinfinish that is the wrong shade for me and Benefit's Boing in Medium which is also a little dark for me) but I can live without foundation.

My skin reacts okay to most cleansers and toners - those aren't the problem for me. I feel it's the moisturiser that can change the whole balance of my skin. Annoyingly, since my skin type seems to change with the weather and the weather itself in London is constantly changing, my skin never seems to settle into one category. I've also started getting wrinkles around my eyes and mouth and so I've started thinking about the anti ageing label on moisturisers too.

Here are a few moisturisers I've used:

Body Shop Vitamin E creams

I tried the Vitamin E Day Cream, Night Cream and Illuminating moisturiser. They were all awful. Gave me spots and made me greasy. They work fine on some people though, judging by the number of rave reviews found on their site.

I tried a few different ranges too (Tea Tree, Seaweed and Aloe). I gave them all a month trial to work but they didn't. So yeah, I'm not that great a fan of Body Shop skincare. I've only found moderate success with their mudmasks and that's it.

Origins A Perfect World White Tea Age Defense moisturiser (£30/50ml)

This is very pricey stuff but the moisturiser itself is so concentrated that it lasts forever (or a good year or so at the very least). I  was drawn to this brand because it's paraben, mineral oil etc free. It's very thick so you only need to use a little bit at a time and it worked well on my dry skin patches. I used it in the coldest winter months and it worked particularly well for me during snow season but now that it's warmed up just a tad it's a little too heavy for my combo skin so I gave it to my brother who has dry skin and he likes it. 

L'Occitane Rice Ultra Matte Face Fluid (£20/30ml)

This was the moisturiser of my dreams. I dislike anything that has the word "matte" in it 'cause it always ends up over drying my skin but this was perfect for me. It absorbed easily into the skin and gave the right balance of hydration without leaving my skin with any trace of shine. It's another one of those "paraben etc free" brands (most of their products are free of the stuff anyway) so that's a plus for me. I didn't get any spots whilst using this but I didn't use it long enough to judge if it really did keep spots at bay or if I was just having a spot-free fortnight as I sometimes do. It didn't banish my scars but again I didn't use it long enough to judge it on scar-fading power.

Major downside for me: the price. I received a small sample bottle of this (I think it was 10ml) and I used it up in a couple of weeks - and I am not the type of person that slathers on moisturiser like it's going out of business. I tried to make it last but I still used it up really quickly. Looking at the full size (£20 for only 30ml? What??!) I know that it wouldn't last me very long and is too expensive for me to purchase on a regular basis. One of the sales assistants in the store said I must have been using too much at a time but I use less than the average person on account of my greasy t-zone, so it really is that this disappears faster than the average moisturiser. It works amazingly though, so I'm guessing once I've finished all the moisturisers I have (which will take some time and give me a chance to save up) I'll go back and repurchase this.

L'Occitane Organic Olive Moisturising Face Lotion (£23/30ml)

This is another cream I tried a sample of. It lasted a lot longer than the Rice Matte Fluid (above) and was also very moisturising. It did leave a slightly greasy sheen to my skin though and I found my foundation got oilier a lot quicker when using this moisturiser. When I picked this up my skin was going through a "normal" phase and this is what the sale assistant suggested for me but I'm glad I got the matte fluid too because that ended up suiting me better despite the semblance of "normal" skin. I think this would be good for people with dryer skin who aren't prone to getting spots. Since it lasts quite a while I think it's reasonably priced.

Olay Beauty Fluid (£5.61/200ml)

A lot of people rave about this product because it absorbs quickly into the skin and doesn't leave a greasy residue whilst still providing hydration. It's available in the normal formula as well as sensitive. I think I tried sensitive since my skin was flaring up to everything at the time. It worked fine but it didn't do anything great - my skin didn't look smoother or completely matte. It just didn't do anything special. So it was another cream I gave away to a family member who loved it.


Simple Rich Moisturiser (£3/125ml)

I've tried the other Simple face creams but this one works for me best. Super affordable, lasts a long time and no reaction whilst using it. Yes, I still get the occasional spot even when using this cream but I do with every cream I use. It does nothing to reduce marks or unneveness though, so whilst I do go back to using this moisturiser a lot I'm still in pursuit of a better one.


Neal's Yard Orange Flower Daily Moisturiser (£22.50/100ml)

Pictured here is a 50ml sample I bought with 2 other 50ml Orange Flower samples for £20

Another Natural/Organic skincare range, yay! Yes, I know it says it's for DRY skin, but funnily enough it worked super well for me. It's not too heavy and doesn't leave the skin feeling greasy at all. It's easily absorbed and doesn't make me break out. IMO it's similar to the L'Occitance Rice Matte Fluid but I would still choose L'Occitane over Neal's Yard because this didn't smooth out my skin as much as L'Occitane did.

Olay Anti Wrinkle Deep Wrinkle Treatment (£10/30ml)

I received this as a gift from my sister who said she was bored of hearing me say I am developing wrinkles at the age of 22! Anyway I think it's more a cream targetting specific areas such as around the eyes and forehead but the first time I used this I was half asleep and used it like a night cream. I woke up in the morning with really peachy soft skin and was impressed. Not sure if it has had any effect on my wrinkles but I've only been using it for 2 months. I do really like it though and whilst it's thick in texture which I don't like it's quickly absorbed (pattern emerging here, I like the ones that vanish into the skin quickly) and makes a good base for makeup too. 

So here are my top 3 from this list:

3. Neal's Yard Orange Flower Daily Moisturiser

2. Olay Deep Wrinkle Treatment

1. L'Occitane Rice Matte Fluid.