I have oily and acne prone skin and I have since I was 8 years old, and I’m deep into my 30’s now. Finding the right oil-free gel moisturizer that plumps without clogging pores has been essential since I’ve been wise enough to know that moisturizing is every so important to keeping acne at bay. I’ve used Clinique Moisture Surge, Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel and Farmacy Daily Greens, and I’m here to provide my thoughts and review on all three gel moisturizers. They’re all a little similar, but they have some essential differences that we’ll go over in this review. I’m going to go over them in order of what I used first.
Clinique Moisture Surge – $39.50 (50ml/1.69oz)
Clinique.com (US) – Sephora.com (US, UK, Canada, Global) – Ulta Beauty (US, Canada, Puerto Rico) – Ulta Global – Amazon Prime (US)
When I was around 23 years old, I was so proud of myself for finally being able to afford the nice department store cosmetics. I went up to the Clinique counter and it felt so special to be recommended skincare and makeup from someone in a white lab coat. Of course now, I realized that was all a psychological play, and I fell right into it.
One of my first department store skincare discoveries was Clinique Moisture Surge. I put it on my face before makeup in the morning, and after my shower at night. The Clinique moisture gel absorbed nicely into my skin and made it feel so smooth. I could feel my skin plump up for the first time. I also have eczema with my acne, and it really seemed to help with that, and my acne even got a little better using a great moisturizer. I lived in Florida at the time, and the fact that it didn’t weigh heavy on my skin was really essential.
A few years later, I moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada and the intense cold and dry winters required more moisture. I started to rotate Clinique Moisture Surge Intense into my Winter skin routine. Problem solved. I only lived there for a couple years and moved back to the states.
Then, I saw the commercial for Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel with Kristen Bell as an Ambassador and I was immediately intrigued. Clinique was pink and Neutrogena looked blue, but it appeared to be a comparable product, and likely cheaper. Plus, I love Kristen Bell. I follow her on Instagram and even won a curated Christmas box of goodies from her and La-z-boy, another company she’s an Ambassador for. You can see my unboxing on Instagram here.
