BEAUTY REVIEW: Neutrogena Formula Moisture Wrap Body Lotion

SOURCE:  Drugstore.com

Yes, long time no blog.  I am obviously having a difficult time consistently blogging, which makes me wonder if I should keep this blog going, or just face reality and close it up.  Perhaps a blog month is needed for me to change my tune.  "Blog-tober" anyone?  How about "Blog-vember"?  But, I digress.

I was looking through my room the other day and realized that I have all these used products that I am ready to chuck, but have been holding onto because I wanted to blog about them.  In light of my growing "to chuck" pile and an urgent need to reduce the clutter, I decided that I better start blogging again.

I have been looking for a good body lotion.  Although I suffer from dry skin mostly on my hands and face, which I have great moisturizers for each, I would like to address my ashy legs.  I was a pretty consistent user of Victoria Secret body lotions, but stopped using them.  The scents were driving my olfactory senses batty and my favorite scent was discontinued.  Boo hiss.  I noticed the Neutrogena Formula Moisture Wrap Body Lotion in my local drugstore and decided to give it a try.

I am a fan of the Neutrogena sunblock line, so I was eager to try out the body lotion line.  Perhaps the hand cream and foot cream products are better, but the Moisture Wrap Body Lotion needs more work in my humble opinion.

THE CONS:

• The body lotion has a thin, almost watery, consistency.  I could shake the tube and hear the product bouncing vigorously around inside.
• Due to the lotion's thin consistency, it takes a while for the lotion to settle into your skin.  I found myself fanning my legs to speed up the drying process.
• The body lotion is not the best for extremely dry skin.  My legs are not extremely dry, but the lotion didn't do enough to moisturize my ashy legs.  Perhaps after continued use I would have seen more results, but I am impatient and didn't see much results after one week of continued daily twice-a-day use.
• The body lotion has a slight fragrance, so it is not "fragrance free" as advertised.  Perhaps my sense of smell is a little more sensitive, but this product does have a slight fragrance that reminds me of Keri Lotion a little bit.  I don't think that it is off putting at all and really don't mind it, but the tube says "fragrance free".
• The body lotion leaves a slight sticky feeling on your skin.  I prefer moisturizers that don't leave a greasy or sticky feeling.

THE PROS:

• The price.  The regular retail price for this product on Drugstore.com is $7.99.  I think this product costs more at my local drugstore in Hawaii since things tend to be a little more expensive here.  Still, that's super reasonable for body lotion, especially from a pretty reputable brand, such as Neutrogena.
• The size.  The body lotion comes in a generous 8.5 fl. oz. tube, which at $7.99 comes out to $0.94 per fl. oz.  Very reasonable, especially when you consider that body lotion from Bath & Body Works comes in an 8 fl. oz. bottle at a retail price of $11.
• The availability.  Neutrogena products are sold in every major drugstore chain.  The Nordstrom Rack I visit also has a large variety of Neutrogena products available at a discounted price.

After writing out the pros of this product, it's a shame that I didn't like this product more.  I just wished that it performed better because at the end of the day, that's what really matters in my book.  Since I don't have much use for it now, I am chucking this into the trash can.  What a pity.

BEAUTY REVIEW: Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch Sunblock with Helioplex in SPF 70

I am reaching the age where I need to be more conscientious about my skin care regimen and exercise more preventive measures.  Although I live in a predominately sunny climate, I wasn't in the daily habit of wear sunblock on my face.  Tsk, tsk, tsk....

When I started using the Clinique Even Better Clinical Dark Spot Corrector, the Clinique counter salesperson at Macy's reminded me to make sure that I wear sunblock with the product.  I figured that it was about time that I concentrated more on my skin care and bought the Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch Sunblock in SPF 70.  SPF 70...sounds like over kill, but the SPF 45 and SPF 70 were the same price, so why not get the higher SPF?  I realize that I am only kidding myself since I read that ultra high SPF levels do not necessarily mean more protection, but I wasn't losing money in the process.

I apply this product every day after applying my moisturizer (Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion) and the Clinique Even Better Clinical Dark Spot Corrector and before applying my concealer and foundation.  When applied without a moisturizer, my skin becomes really dry (probably due to the dry-touch formula).  Thankfully, my skin has adjusted well to this product and I haven't had any breakouts.  I find that some sunblocks have a strong scent, but this product's scent is very mild and hardly noticeable by me.  The application is pretty smooth and doesn't leave a greasy or chalky feel, and my foundation applies smooth on top of the sunblock.

Perhaps it is in conjunction with using the dark spot corrector, but I find that my face is brighter and more evenly toned.  My face does tend to get a little shiny sooner now that I have more product on my face, but nothing that a little blotting and powder can't rectify.  I recommend this product.