Time for another round of Top 3. This time I picked Affordable Moisturizers. I couldn't pick three and ended up with four but that's fine you get the idea in general. I didn't pick them based on day or night as honestly you could really use these either depending on your skin type or season. I've been a long time fan of Stratia Liquid Gold. This lightweight lotion style moisturizer has a blend of ceramides, cholesterol and fatty acids perfect for barrier repair. I know some have said they felt this was to rich for them, for my drier skin it can actually be too light for me. So it really depends on your skin type. It's affordable and layers well. I can use this as a day moisturizer more in the summer and layer it under other moisturizers in the winter. Keep in mind that's for drier skin. I like it a lot as a barrier repair style moisturizer or layering product. Review HERE.
Indeed Labs 10balm is a new one for me last year. It has a light creamy texture that's not heavy or suffocating. It has honey, propolis, royal jelly, arnica, bisabolol, allantoin, vitamin E, baobab seed and buriti oil. It can be a winter day cream for me or a summer night cream as it's a little lighter. I think for the price it's well worth checking out. The texture is so smooth. Even though it's lighter it's pretty nourishing. Another cream I delved into last year was La Roche-Posay Cicaplast. This is easily the most rich of the bunch. It can be used on body, face & lips. This is a soothing, nourishing balm cream for irritated or stressed skin. While it's rich it's not extremely heavy or thick. It's actually thinner but it is pretty rich feeling on the skin. I can't see oily skin being able to use this. It's more for combo to dry skin (leaning more dry) at least on the face. You might get away with it on the body for more oily skin. It has panthenol, shea butter, glycerin and madecassoside (soothing bioactive compound from gotu kola). It's a nice soothing and repairing cream that doesn't break the bank.
The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA is one of my all time favorite creams ever. I have gone through countless tubes and it's easily my most used of the four. It's Ella's day/night cream and has been for years. It's under $8 for a 100mL tube. It's so nourishing and replenishing yet it's never heavy, greasy or occlusive. It has 11 amino acids, phospholipids, alpha/beta/gamma fatty acids, triglycerides, sterols and sterol esters, glycerin, ceramide precursors, urea, saccharides, sodium PCA and hyaluronic acid. I also use this on myself. I use it as a hand cream, I use it on my nose area when I'm sick and rub the area raw. It's so great at nourishing and replenishing. I honestly have five open tubes right now between my purse, office and home. I'm never without it. It is the one affordable cream I feel everyone should try. It could be too much on a really oily face but it is the lightest honestly of all four of these creams. I've never found anything that works as well on Ella's skin either. When I switch to something else I get irritated or dry areas. When I go back to this her skin is great. She uses it twice a day.
Overall I would say The Ordinary is the lightest followed by Indeed Labs. Stratia is close behind and richer feeling even though it's lighter in texture than Indeed Labs. Cicaplast is the heaviest of the bunch and it's quite heavy. It's for dry skin. The others will suit other skin types. All four of these creams are fragrance free so they're suitable for sensitive or rosacea prone skin.
*Indeed Labs & The Ordinary gifted but all thoughts are my own. I have also bought many tubes of NMF with my own money.
