Moisture is important.

I've tried to write this post two other times and it's seriously gotten away from me. There is so much I could say about lotion, hydration and dry skin. Seriously I could talk your ear off- or write your eyes..off..okay nevermind. So I narrowed it down.  I'll just say this, I have dry skin, skin as dry as the desert, it's seriously dry and has been a constant struggle my whole life to find a moisturizer that I like- I've found some that work, but NONE of them are perfect.  So here's what I'm satisfied with/using right now. 

This was my favorite lotion of the summer/warmer/more humid months. I've used lots of different Vaseline products and this one and the Rescue are my favorites but I think I like this one better because it has a slight shea butter smell that I love.  It goes on very wet so you may worry that it wont get absorbed it'll just dry, but I find that it really soaks into the skin fast and works wonderfully.  I can put my clothes on within 3 minutes of application which is great and don't worry about it getting on my clothes or leaving grease stains.  I used this past year between April and October.  Some days I would need to reapply more than others, but usually a morning and evening application was all that was needed and it was great. This larger size bottle with pump lasts me about a month sometimes a little less. Vaseline Intensive Care you can get it anywhere for between $6 - $9

If I had to pick a Holy Grail lotion it would be this tub of white hydration.  I love this stuff.  And I hate this stuff.  This was the first over the counter cream my dermatologist recommended I use back in the 7th grade when we learned I had Ichthyosis.  This cream has no smell, is really thick and can be a little greasy. BUT I love it.  And still kinda hate it. As soon as I put this on my skin you can almost hear my skin sigh, it's so glad when I start using this again.  This is my cold month lotion I use it all winter long and anytime it's really dry out. This takes some time to really soak into your skin but it stays with you, the moisture lasts all day.  Now I still will apply it twice a day, but when I'm lazy I can usually get away with just a morning application.  This stuff is amazing and works fabulously and if it wasn't for the price tag I would love it.  But this tub which is slightly bigger than the normal size tub barely lasts me a month.  Usually I finish one of these after 3 weeks- 3 weeks! And the price tag makes that really upsetting.  Because you find this Cetaphil moisturizing cream for $10 - $15 depending where you buy it! So thank goodness I only have to use it a few months out of the year, but it stresses me out to spend that amount on a product I have to use multiple times a day.  But again it's what I always come back. I try other things and nothing compares.  I'm currently purchasing it from Amazon and it's a little cheaper but still...

Now I don't use either of these lotions on my face.  My face is kinda weird- sometimes it'll be super duper dry like the rest of my body and other times it's pretty normal and I don't have to worry too much about using a super heaving cream on it.  But because it's winter and because I'm wearing a lot more makeup than I used to do, I've noticed I need to be better about lotion-ing my face. 

I will always remember my 25th birthday when my facialist told me I needed to start thinking about wrinkle prevention and one of the things she stressed was night cream.  I basically said whatever woman I'm 25 leave me alone.  Well over the last year I started searching for a nigh cream I liked.  Around March I found this Neutrogena deep moisture night cream.  Done! This stuff works great and lasted me basically a year. I probably have enough to last me till the end of this month.  Now I didn't use it daily, I probably used it 2 - 3 times a week and just a teeny tiny amount.  But it's great, I love the way it makes my face feel and in the morning I feel hydrated and ready to put on my day cream.  This stuff costs $12.99 usually and I didn't really mind spending that amount on a product I was using on only a small part of my body.  Not sure if I'll repurchase this one or go with an Olay night cream, but if I don't like whatever I try next I'll come back to this one. 

Olay! Oh I love Olay.  This is just your most basic day cream that Olay offers in the Age Defying category.  My facialist's voice is still in my head.  It's light, absorbs instantly and I'm pretty sure it does not offer extra hydration but just kinda a base level.  I used to live by the original Beauty Fluid but decided I  needed something specialized for day and then night.  So the reason I can get away from a thinner day cream is because I only use tinted moisturizers, BB or CC creams on my face, so those have a lot of hydration in them. So I use this first let the first layer soak in, reapply and then add my BB cream on top.  That's perfect for me. I find my daily BB cream works just fine on top of this and I don't feel dry.  Now I'm probably going to try the Classic Renewal cream next to see if it's the Instant Hydration that makes it less cream like but for again $12.99 I'm totally fine with the price of the Olay Instant Hydration Age Defying Day Cream 

Now for something a little extra.  GlamGlow! This is the GlamGlow Thirsty Mud Hydrating Treatment for the low price of $69 it can be yours!  Well the full sized one, I bought a sample for $19.  This stuff is a treat. I use this when my face is tight and dry and I have active flaking.  You use the smallest amount of this stuff and in minutes your dryness is gone.  Now this is sold as a mask or treatment because you're meant to wipe it off afterwards or rub it in to leave on.  Well my skin doesn't really give me that option, I put this on and my skin absorbs all of it! It loves this stuff.  I use it mostly around my eyes, nose and eyebrows where I'm the driest and it's fabulous. It smells delicious too.  Now will I buy the full size? Probably not $69 is crazy.  But it was fun to try the smaller version to see what all the hype was about from the YouTubers pushing it.  

So as is hopefully evident I'm a little more picky about my body lotions  than my face lotions.  I feel like my face is less picky so it's fine.  My body however will instantly tell me when it doesn't like a lotion, it will start to itch, it will flake off, my Ichthyosis will get terribly painful and make me cry.  So while I love trying out new lotions and soaps (another story) I know that they could have disastrous results.  I know Cetaphil works so why do I keep trying other things, I know in the summer I can usually get away with using a lotion over a cream and something lighter and less expensive.  We will see if I ever find something to trump my Cetaphil. Or if I ever find something I can use year round.  Cetaphil is way too thick to use in the summer.  But for now this is my arsenal for my skin- if you have dry skin give it a try or if you have recommendations I'm always willing to mess my skin up and try something new.