Review: CeraVe Facial Moisturizing Lotion SPF 25

Wednesday, 07 October 2020

What brand says?

A lightweight, moisturising face lotion with broad-spectrum SPF 25, for all-day hydration for normal to dry skin. [….].

Price and where to buy

Price is around £12. You can buy in Superdrug, Boots, some online cosmetic stores and pharmacies.

INCI

Aqua/Water, Homosalate, Glycerin, Octocrylene, Ethylhexyl, Salicylate, Niacinamide, Silica, Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane, Dimethicone, Cetearyl Alcohol, PEG-100 Stearate, Glyceryl Stearate, Phenoxyethanol, Stearic Acid, Behentrimonium Methosulfate, Caprylyl Glycol, Palmitic Acid, Ammonium Polyacryloyldimethyl taurate, Xanthan Gum, Disodium Edta, Tocopherol, Sodium Lauroyl Lactylate, Myristic Acid, Sodium Hyaluronate, Ceramide NP, Ceramide AP, Phytosphingosine, Cholesterol, Cerbomer, Ethylhexyglycerin, Ceramide EOP.

How to use

Apply liberally to your face and neck in the morning.

Product Description

The product comes in a 52 mL plastic tube with a transparent cap and a pump to dispense for hygienic and easy delivery of the product. It comes with external cardboard packaging.

The product is a white, odourless thick gel-cream.

My review

I have been using the product every day during a month as part of my morning routine and now I use it only some days. I always use moisturizer and sun protector as two different products and I decided to try a product with both functions. I never used CeraVe before but I read good reviews about their products. CereaVe is a US company, which makes skincare products with dermatologists’ advice. They have developed a technology called MVE, Multivesicular Emulsion Technology, which releases the functional ingredient over 24 hours. Their products are enriched with a trio of ceramides to help the natural skin barrier. That sounds nice, but what happens when you apply the products? Are them as good as they are claiming?

This product feels good after application. I like the product in that sense. I am very particular with feeling my skin sticky. And this cream is not sticky and absorbs very fast on my skin, It doesn’t leave the skin white as most of the sun protectors do and another strong point is that it doesn’t smell to sun protector, actually is odourless.

I use it as part of my morning routine, after the serums, and I apply makeup on top of the cream. I don’t use that cream as a primer because I like illuminating primers, but this CeraVe product sits well underneath my makeup.

If we look into the ingredients, it is a very good point that the top 5 of the INCI (if we do not consider the water which is the solvent) are two excellent moisturisers (glycerine and niacinamide) and three sunscreens (homosalate, octocrylene and ethylhexyl salicylate). Preservatives are not paraben-based; though I don’t mind using paraben compounds, I prefer if the products I use are paraben-free. It has a derivative of hyaluronic acid as the brand claims but you need to keep in mind that the hyaluronic acid derivative is at the end of the INCI, what means that the percentage in the formula should be small.

The formula contains the essential ceramides claimed by the brand, which are their identity symbol and the delayed releasing compound (ceramide NP, ceramide AP and ceramide EOP), but they appear at the end of the INCI.

The brand claims that his product is non-comedogenic, but contains different products that are comedogenic as Cetearyl alcohol, glyceryl stearate, stearic acid, palmitic acid, tocopherol, myristic acid and carbomer. They are quite a lot of comedogenic ingredients and some of them have a quite high comedogenicity index. I don’t have problems with clogged pores, but keep in mind that if you have pore problems before buying.

After a couple of months using it, I don’t feel my skin much more hydrated than with other moisturizers. It is not fantastic for dry skin, I think it should be better for normal skin though the pack says for normal to dry skin. Regarding the delayed release of the moisturiser ingredients, I feel some hydration after applying the cream, but I don’t feel any product released furthermore. I tried with makeup on top, which can reduce the moisturising effect but I used also during the weekend leaving my skin bare after applying the cream. I feel my skin moisturised only for a few hours.

The SPF25 is not bad for winter, but for summer I like to use higher SPF. I have hyperpigmentation problems and I am trying to reduce with different treatments. Part of this treatment is the use of an SPF 50+ if I am going to be exposed to sun radiation. I use this product on its own if I am going to stay home or working as I work indoors. But when I am going to be outdoor I like to apply more sun protection, in the form of cream underneath my makeup or a solar mist on top.

In summary, as my skin is very dry, it is not a good product for winter when my skin suffers a lot neither for summer as the SPF is quite low for my hyperpigmentation areas. Otherwise, this product can be good to use during most of the year if you have normal skin without pigmentation problems. It can be used AM and PM but because of the SPF, it is more indicated for your AM routine. It has excellent moisturising and sun protection ingredients and doesn’t content parabens. However, you need to be careful as it contains comedogenic ingredients.