Dramatically Generic (Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturising Lotion)

Member Name: glitter_princess

Product:	Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturising Lotion
Date:	10/02/09 (270 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: I'm struggling here...

Disadvantages: Cheap formula, too oily for combination skin, doesn't moisturise well

Clinique's Dramatically Different Moisturiser is a consistent beauty editor's top choice in the beauty magazines I read, with numerous people listing it as a must have item. Sadly it's one that in my opinion is completely overrated, overhyped and a total waste of money.

It is used as step 3 of Clinique's 3-step skincare routine and is described by Clinique as a moisturiser suitable for Very Dry/Dry Combination and Combination Oily/Oily skin. It comes in a variety of packaging methods - the basic bottle being just that, a plastic bottle with a silver screw top lid, but for about £1.50 more you can buy a version with a pump. Why they don't just supply everyone with a pump is beyond me as the moisturizer itself is very runny and not easily extracted from the bottle. The best way for those without a pump is to simply put a finger over the lid and tip the bottle upside down, that way you minimize the wastage that is so easily made with this product.

The lotion is a bright yellow colour and a very runny consistency and the smell is typically Clinique - fairly inoffensive, but a little bit chemically. When applied it feels initially quite greasy and sticky but is absorbed fairly easily into the skin, although it seems to leave a thin veil of film or residue over my skin. But more importantly, the effect it had on my skin was not impressive at all. My skin is combination, with slight oily patches on my t-zone, and after applying this it felt quite tight and initially dry. However, it then made me break out across my t-zone in nasty spots - the big red bumpy kind of spots that take ages to go. I'm not a big spot sufferer and never have been, so in this sense I suppose the product's name is correct - my skin certainly looked dramatically different! Despite the breakout across my t-zone I also didn't find this any good at moisturizing the parts of my face that were more dry - by lunchtime I could see patches of dry skin beginning to appear and in the long term it didn't prevent flaking skin. This is definitely not a product that is suitable for combination skins as claimed as it is far too oily and just doesn't moisturize well enough to tackle dry patches.

After doing a bit of research into the formula, I was unimpressed to find that this contains a variety of very cheap oils - lanolin, sesame, mineral oils - not the quality of essential oils you would expect to see in a product of this price and not ones that have a great effect on the skin either. These are the kind of oils that for me, after a few weeks use, begin to clog up my pores. Essentially, when looking at the list of ingredients, this is a blend of water, petroleum (so Vaseline), some cheap oils and some Methylparaben thrown in as a preservative. I suspect that the reason this has so many rave reviews from people is that they use it in partnership with the 3 step routine, while I was only using step 1 and 3. The step 2 involves using a Clarifying Lotion which I have tried and found it very harsh, so I suspect that this strips the skin of its natural oils so that they can be replaced with the oils in the Dramatically Different Moisturiser. A good quality product should not rely on being used with others and should demonstrate its effects when used alone.

For a product that costs £14.68 for 50ml, this is a very poor quality and disappointing moisturizer. You're better off sticking to much cheaper moisturizers (I like the Oil of Olay range) rather than forking out your hard earned cash for this, under the impression you are getting a premium brand moisturizer.

Summary: Let me introduce you to another overhyped beauty product...