Alternative to this "Magic Cream"
February 8, 2018 8:15 AM Subscribe
I use Aveeno Positively Radiant Intensive Night Cream and it is crazy good. In my house, it is called "Magic Cream" because it magically heals dry skin, dry lips, small eczema, etc. However, it's expensive. Can you please tell me what about it makes it so effective, and what alternatives there might be for cheaper?
Here's my experience with this product. It is not oily and it is not a lotion. I rub it into the skin or lips and it is absorbed. When I have really dry lips or dry spots on my skin, multiple applications over the course of a day will soften and sooth the skin until it is lush and healthy again.
It is about $10 per ounce and, if I had my druthers, I'd use about half an ounce per day.
thanks!
Here's my experience with this product. It is not oily and it is not a lotion. I rub it into the skin or lips and it is absorbed. When I have really dry lips or dry spots on my skin, multiple applications over the course of a day will soften and sooth the skin until it is lush and healthy again.
It is about $10 per ounce and, if I had my druthers, I'd use about half an ounce per day.
thanks!
Ingredients:
Water, Octyldodecyl Neopentanoate, Dicaprylyl Carbonate, Glycerin, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Seed Extract, Mangifera Indica (Mango) Seed Butter, Behenyl Alcohol, Candelilla/Jojoba/Rice Bran Polyglyceryl-3 Esters, Glyceryl Stearate, Niacinamide, Potassium Cetyl Phosphate, Vinyl Dimethicone/Methicone, Silsesquioxane Crosspolymer, Phenoxyethanol, Cetearyl Alcohol, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Microcrystalline Cellulose, Caprylyl Glycol, Fragrance, Magnesium Aluminum Silicate, Chlorphenesin, Cetyl Hydroxyethylcellulose, Disodium EDTA, Sodium PCA, Urea, Tocopheryl Acetate, Ethylhexylglycerin, Cellulose Gum, Trehalose, Glyceryl Acrylate/Acrylic Acid Copolymer, Hexylene Glycol, Polyquaternium-51, Triacetin, Sodium Hyaluronate.
The box goes on and on and soy complexes and vitamin B3.
posted by pharm at 8:27 AM on February 8, 2018 [1 favorite]
Water, Octyldodecyl Neopentanoate, Dicaprylyl Carbonate, Glycerin, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Seed Extract, Mangifera Indica (Mango) Seed Butter, Behenyl Alcohol, Candelilla/Jojoba/Rice Bran Polyglyceryl-3 Esters, Glyceryl Stearate, Niacinamide, Potassium Cetyl Phosphate, Vinyl Dimethicone/Methicone, Silsesquioxane Crosspolymer, Phenoxyethanol, Cetearyl Alcohol, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Microcrystalline Cellulose, Caprylyl Glycol, Fragrance, Magnesium Aluminum Silicate, Chlorphenesin, Cetyl Hydroxyethylcellulose, Disodium EDTA, Sodium PCA, Urea, Tocopheryl Acetate, Ethylhexylglycerin, Cellulose Gum, Trehalose, Glyceryl Acrylate/Acrylic Acid Copolymer, Hexylene Glycol, Polyquaternium-51, Triacetin, Sodium Hyaluronate.
The box goes on and on and soy complexes and vitamin B3.
posted by pharm at 8:27 AM on February 8, 2018 [1 favorite]
The ingrediants are listed on this site as follows:
Water, Octyldodecyl Neopentanoate, Dicaprylyl Carbonate, Glycerin, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Seed Extract, Mangifera Indica (Mango) Seed Butter, Behenyl Alcohol, Candelilla/Jojoba/Rice Bran Polyglyceryl 3 Esters, Glyceryl Stearate, Niacinamide, Vinyl Dimethicone/Methicone Silsesquioxane Crosspolymer, Potassium Cetyl Phosphate, Phenoxyethanol, Cetearyl Alcohol, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Microcrystalline Cellulose, Caprylyl Glycol, Fragrance, Magnesium Aluminum Silicate, Chlorphenesin, Glyceryl Acrylate/Acrylic Acid Copolymer, Disodium EDTA, Cetyl Hydroxyethylcellulose, Sodium PCA, Urea, Tocopheryl Acetate, Ethylhexylglycerin, Cellulose Gum, Trehalose, Triacetin, Polyquaternium 51, Sodium Hyaluronate.
As Glycerin is so high up on the list (and is dirt cheap to buy) you could always trying adding some to a standard rich moisturiser and seeing what happens.
posted by freya_lamb at 8:30 AM on February 8, 2018
Water, Octyldodecyl Neopentanoate, Dicaprylyl Carbonate, Glycerin, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Seed Extract, Mangifera Indica (Mango) Seed Butter, Behenyl Alcohol, Candelilla/Jojoba/Rice Bran Polyglyceryl 3 Esters, Glyceryl Stearate, Niacinamide, Vinyl Dimethicone/Methicone Silsesquioxane Crosspolymer, Potassium Cetyl Phosphate, Phenoxyethanol, Cetearyl Alcohol, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Microcrystalline Cellulose, Caprylyl Glycol, Fragrance, Magnesium Aluminum Silicate, Chlorphenesin, Glyceryl Acrylate/Acrylic Acid Copolymer, Disodium EDTA, Cetyl Hydroxyethylcellulose, Sodium PCA, Urea, Tocopheryl Acetate, Ethylhexylglycerin, Cellulose Gum, Trehalose, Triacetin, Polyquaternium 51, Sodium Hyaluronate.
As Glycerin is so high up on the list (and is dirt cheap to buy) you could always trying adding some to a standard rich moisturiser and seeing what happens.
posted by freya_lamb at 8:30 AM on February 8, 2018
if you google the name of the product and "dupe" you might find some other options, that's a good way to find skincare products that are similar to expensive/discontinued products you love.
posted by cakelite at 8:33 AM on February 8, 2018
posted by cakelite at 8:33 AM on February 8, 2018
Urea cream does this. So does Salicylic Acid cream, I think. Your cream has urea in it.
posted by jbenben at 8:37 AM on February 8, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by jbenben at 8:37 AM on February 8, 2018 [1 favorite]
I hate to say it, but for this category of skincare products, this is a bargain-priced option. Even just looking on the drugstore shelf, I'm sure you see that this is comparable to other "intensive" type creams?
You can totally experiment with other creams that contain a bunch of the same ingredients, but the magic is that this particular product is just unusually compatible with your skin. It may not be worth your time and money to hunt down and try out a bunch of other products that you won't like as well.
You can perhaps reduce the expense by finding other cheaper products for things like dry lips, and "saving" your Aveeno for the skin issues that nothing else will fix as nicely as this does.
posted by desuetude at 10:00 AM on February 8, 2018 [19 favorites]
You can totally experiment with other creams that contain a bunch of the same ingredients, but the magic is that this particular product is just unusually compatible with your skin. It may not be worth your time and money to hunt down and try out a bunch of other products that you won't like as well.
You can perhaps reduce the expense by finding other cheaper products for things like dry lips, and "saving" your Aveeno for the skin issues that nothing else will fix as nicely as this does.
posted by desuetude at 10:00 AM on February 8, 2018 [19 favorites]
Urea is the secret ingredient you want. For just over $1/oz, you can buy Udderly Smooth cream with 20% Urea. They don't make a "face" cream, this is a body cream, so YMMV and there is a slight chance you may find it a bit too heavy for your facial skin's needs - in fact it may be inappropriate to use on your facial skin. But, given what you're describing about your skin and if you already like the Aveeno Intensive Night Cream, it may do the trick and is inexpensive enough to experiment with.
posted by nightrecordings at 11:05 AM on February 8, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by nightrecordings at 11:05 AM on February 8, 2018 [1 favorite]
*I should also note that Urea is not vegan, if that is something that is important to you.
posted by nightrecordings at 11:08 AM on February 8, 2018
posted by nightrecordings at 11:08 AM on February 8, 2018
*I should also note that Urea is not vegan, if that is something that is important to you.
As a general rule, the urea used in personal care products is made synthetically, not from animal products. Most companies will happily answer the question if you call their customer support line. Here's Aveeno's.
posted by zarq at 11:46 AM on February 8, 2018 [2 favorites]
As a general rule, the urea used in personal care products is made synthetically, not from animal products. Most companies will happily answer the question if you call their customer support line. Here's Aveeno's.
posted by zarq at 11:46 AM on February 8, 2018 [2 favorites]
Just a head's up on that Udderly Smooth cream: it used to be my GOAT moisturizer for everything, including my face, up until a few years ago when they changed the formula. It's now not as creamy as it used to be and wildly inconsistent in texture and effectiveness. I used to have it on my Subscribe and Save orders from Amazon, it came in a package of six, and suddenly, within that package four of the containers were so liquified, they poured out of the tub like cooking oil, while the other two were overly firm and super greasy, like cold coconut oil. The lotion just sat on top of my skin and barely absorbed at all. None of them were like the previous unused awesome ones I had left in my utility closet. They just didn't moisturize and heal my dry skin as well.
I thought it was just a bad shipment, so I re-ordered and the exact same thing happened. Amazon refunded my money and I haven't bought it there since.
Years later, I saw it at one of those Dollar Stores (sorry I can't remember which one) and bought a couple just to see if it still sucked. It did, but at least I only wasted two dollars, so if you want to try it, don't buy it at Amazon.
Also note, it contains lanolin and some people are allergic to that, so be careful.
posted by LuckySeven~ at 10:32 PM on February 8, 2018
I thought it was just a bad shipment, so I re-ordered and the exact same thing happened. Amazon refunded my money and I haven't bought it there since.
Years later, I saw it at one of those Dollar Stores (sorry I can't remember which one) and bought a couple just to see if it still sucked. It did, but at least I only wasted two dollars, so if you want to try it, don't buy it at Amazon.
Also note, it contains lanolin and some people are allergic to that, so be careful.
posted by LuckySeven~ at 10:32 PM on February 8, 2018
If you are trying to find similar lotions by comparing ingredients, I've read that if another product has the same first five ingredients, it's more likely to be a good substitute. That would be:Octyldodecyl Neopentanoate, Dicaprylyl Carbonate, Glycerin, Mangifera Indica (Mango) Seed Butter, and Behenyl Alcohol. I'm excluding water and Glycine soja (soybean) seed extract from the count of five. "Extract" probably is a tiny amount of the ingredient in water.
I'm also not sure that you should put much importance on ingredients below "fragrance" in the list: Fragrance, Magnesium Aluminum Silicate, Chlorphenesin, Glyceryl Acrylate/Acrylic Acid Copolymer, Disodium EDTA, Cetyl Hydroxyethylcellulose, Sodium PCA, Urea, Tocopheryl Acetate, Ethylhexylglycerin, Cellulose Gum, Trehalose, Triacetin, Polyquaternium 51, and Sodium Hyaluronate. They will be present in small amounts. I think that any ingredient under 2% of the total can be listed in any order on the label, so these ingredients low in the list might be less than 2% of the total. Disodium EDTA, for instance can be used at 0.2% in lotions. The urea is certainly not 20% at that position in the list, and most facial lotions that have urea have something closer to 3%. Here, it is probably less than that.
FWIW.
posted by SandiBeech at 12:34 PM on February 9, 2018 [1 favorite]
I'm also not sure that you should put much importance on ingredients below "fragrance" in the list: Fragrance, Magnesium Aluminum Silicate, Chlorphenesin, Glyceryl Acrylate/Acrylic Acid Copolymer, Disodium EDTA, Cetyl Hydroxyethylcellulose, Sodium PCA, Urea, Tocopheryl Acetate, Ethylhexylglycerin, Cellulose Gum, Trehalose, Triacetin, Polyquaternium 51, and Sodium Hyaluronate. They will be present in small amounts. I think that any ingredient under 2% of the total can be listed in any order on the label, so these ingredients low in the list might be less than 2% of the total. Disodium EDTA, for instance can be used at 0.2% in lotions. The urea is certainly not 20% at that position in the list, and most facial lotions that have urea have something closer to 3%. Here, it is probably less than that.
FWIW.
posted by SandiBeech at 12:34 PM on February 9, 2018 [1 favorite]
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posted by tel3path at 8:21 AM on February 8, 2018