Okay, I’m going to have to stop saying “I’ll never” because every time I do, something changes. I said I’d never stray from Boscia’s Restorative Night Moisture Cream after a fantastic track record—years of use. I still love it and it’s my absolute favorite, but I’ve found something else that comes close.
I had a sample of Clinique Moisture Surge Intense for Very Dry to Dry Combination Skin in my bathroom and threw it into my carry-on before a flight recently because it was so much smaller than the tub of the Boscia cream.
It’s a gel-cream hybrid, so it’s intensely moisturizing without feeling especially heavy despite being acceptable for very dry skin. You don’t need to use a lot at one time, so you won’t go through a tub too quickly.
It’s a pale, sheer pink tone, but I don’t think that really translates on the face at all; it might as well be clear. My skin looked refreshed each morning after I used it, and it seemed as if my skin had plumped up a little overnight.
I would probably not use this under makeup unless it was winter and I was experiencing especially dry, flaky skin. It’s slightly tacky on the skin—nothing uncomfortable, but I don’t see makeup gliding over the top of it with ease.
The effects should last for 24 hours (so the claim says), so if you put it on at night, rinse your face in the morning and then put on your regular daytime moisturizer, you’ll still be holding on to some extra moisture.
I had forgotten about this product, but I’d used it years earlier, too, when battling facial eczema. It did what it promised then, too, which is to help repair the skin barrier so moisture stays in and everything else stays out. I stopped using it once the eczema got under control and started branching out to try new things.
When I returned from my trip, I finished off every drop of the sample and intend to buy more soon. It’s $37.00, $11 cheaper than the Boscia cream, for almost twice as much product (1.0 oz versus 1.7 oz), and you can sometimes find it at the Cosmetics Company Outlet for even less than that.
The only con I can find with this, aside from that hint of tackiness on the skin, is that it comes in a tub that you have to dip your fingers into instead of pumping out just the right amount. That doesn’t really bother me with this type of product, but I know it’s annoying for some.
Photo credit: Sephora
