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THE DEFINITIVE UK MOISTURISER THREAD

 
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(@johnny_smith)

Posted : 05/22/2009 2:40 pm

 

Ok, it's time to put this issue to bed. What are the best moisturisers that are available in the UK either online or in the shops?

 

I've spent the last two weeks investigating this topic and have been bombarded with contradictory anecdotal evidence, bad ingredient lists, and overblown manufacturers claims.

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LET'S FIND THE BEST!

Ok, what I want everybody to do is post a moisturiser that you think has been working for you, or one you're looking to try out. Make sure to post the ingredients list and highlight any potential problem ingredients-

 

Check the ingredients against the ingredients lists at:

 

  • Paula Begoun's Ingredient Dictionary @ cosmeticscop.com
  • Becoming an Acne Detective Article @ zerozits.com
  • Search for the ingredient @ cosmeticsdatabase.com

Please:

 

  • Highlight bad ingredients in RED.

Make sure all three sources confirm the ingredient as either an irritant or comedogenic. Examples of bad ingredients include things like Alcohol Denat., Isopropyl Myristate, and Sodium Lauryl Sulphate.

 

  • Highlight questionable ingredients in ORANGE

Only highlight an ingredient as questionable where there are contradictory descriptions from the three sources, or where the ingredient is described as being low risk or only a possible irritant/pore clogger.

 

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I'll begin. I've been looking at a few recently so here goes:

 

Olay Classic Care Active Beauty Fluid (Sensitive)

Ingredients

Aqua, Glycerin, Sorbitan Stearate, Dimethicone, Paraffinum Liquidum, Petrolatum, Cetyl Ricinoleate, Sucrose Cocoate, Dimethiconol, Cetyl Alcohol, Phenoxyethanol, Methylparaben, Glyceryl Hydroxystearate, Stearic Acid, Steareth-100, Tetrasodium EDTA, Potassium Carbomer, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Propylparaben, Palmitic Acid, Myristyl Alcohol, Stearyl Alcohol, Myristic Acid

 

Brief review

This is probably the best moisturiser I've found in terms of the ingredients list. Note that most of the questionable ingredients are found at the bottom of the ingredient list meaning that they make up such a small percentage of the product that they probably won't cause any problems. Furthermore, this is the only moisturiser I've read about online that NOBODY has complained about. It's also worth noting that in the thread: 'Biggest Mistakes People Make to Treat Acne', The_Snow_Queen mentions a number of times that the Olay moisturisers and sunscreens are usually decent.

I'll be buying this in the next few days, so I'll report back on this is due course.

 

 

Nivea For Men Sensitive Moisturiser

 

Ingredients

Aqua, methylpropanediol, dicaprylyl ether, glycerin, hydrogenated coco-glycerides, trilsostearin, cyclomethicone, glyceryl stearate citrate, ethylhexyl, methoxycinnamate, cetyl alcohol, c12-15 alkyl benzoate, behenyl alcohol, myristyl myristate, panthenol, tocopheryl acetate, niacinamide, glycyrrhiza inflata (glycyrrhiza inflata root extract), bisabolol, chamomilla recutita (chamomile extract), glycine soja (soybean oil), butylene glycol, sodium carbomer, titanium dioxide, alumina, silica, sodium polyacrylate, tetrasodium iminodisuccinate, bht, phen-oxyethanol, methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben.

 

Brief review

Not just for the boys, just like the womens' moisturisers aren't just for the girls. Anyways, I believe this moisturiser has recently been renamed and repackaged from its original name of 'Extra Soothing Moisturiser'. If anybody spots any differences between the two ingredient lists, let me know. This product has a small amount of UVB & UVA protection, but Nivea don't state exactly how much - an American guy on youtube mentions SPF 4, but I've never found anything to back this up. Anyways, most of the questionable ingredients seem fairly benign. The only major irritants that popped up apart from the Myristyl Myristate, were the chamomile and soy bean extracts.

Overall, not the best I've seen, but certainly not the worst. The UVA/UVB protection may be enough for the gloomy British weather?

I have used this in the past and I remember it being quite thin. I might give it a miss this time around though, since I'll be using a completely seperate sunscreen to my moisturiser. The potential irritants are also a worry.

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(@wilson05)

Posted : 05/25/2009 4:17 am

Simple 'kind to skin' hydrating light moisturiser

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(@catty)

Posted : 05/25/2009 4:28 am

I've heard that Paraffinum is comogenic, is this true?

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(@johnny_smith)

Posted : 05/26/2009 6:24 am

Simple 'kind to skin' hydrating light moisturiser

 

Ingredients list?

 

 

I've heard that Paraffinum is comogenic, is this true?

 

Not according to those sources I listed in my original post. I think pure parafinnum is like Vaseline.

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(@thats_life)

Posted : 05/29/2009 4:10 am

Simple 'kind to skin' hydrating light moisturiser

 

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(@gdog)

Posted : 06/03/2009 4:08 am

I've noticed that UK stores don't sell exactly the same Olay brand that Dan recommends.. What's the closest match?

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(@captain-charisma)

Posted : 06/04/2009 4:19 pm

Simple 'kind to skin' hydrating light moisturiser

 

This!

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(@oldbighead)

Posted : 06/06/2009 3:14 pm

Hello all, Can any experienced users tell me if any of these ingredients cause acne or irritation thankyou!

 

Simple Hydrating Light Moisturiser

 

Ingredients

Aqua, Glycerin, Paraffinum Liquidum, Polyglyceryl-3 Methylglucose Distearate, Cetyl Palmitate, Dimethicone, Cetyl Alcohol, Panthenol, Borago Officinalis Seed Oil, Carbomer, Potassium Hydroxide, Bisabolol, Methylparaben, Pentylene Glycol, Tocopheryl Acetate, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Disodium EDTA, Propylparaben, Lactic Acid, Sodium Lactate, Mica, 2-Bromo-2-Nitropropane-1,3-Diol, Serine, Sorbitol, Urea, Titanium Dioxide, Sodium Chloride, Allantoin

 

Here is the link to the product:

 

www.simple.co.uk/products/Hydrating_Light_Moisturiser_125ml_76.aspx

 

 

Also whilst im here can anyone recommend me a good uk Sunscreen that is non-comogenic. cheers.

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(@jl1992)

Posted : 06/07/2009 1:12 pm

Nivea Sensitive for men made my dry skin oily,

wouldn't reccommend.

 

I use Mooseturising Face Hydrator, it has an SPF, small amounts of AHA, but doesnt break me out.

 

I reccommend.

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(@jordan-4)

Posted : 08/01/2009 12:09 pm

Can someone check out Cuticura Vitamin E moisture cream for me

 

Average Price:A1 aa Aqua (Water), Parfum Liquidum, Cetearyl Alcohol, Glycerin, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E), Allantoin, Titanum Dioxide, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Benzyl Benzoate, Hexyl Cinnamal, Linalool, Benzyl Salicylate, Butylphenyl Methylpropinal, Limonene, Hydroxyisohexyl 3-Cyclohexene Carboxaldehyde, Hydroxycitronellal, Citronellol, Parfum (Fragrance), Propylpareben, Methylparaben, Imidazolilinyl Urea, CI 17200, CI 16035.

 

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(@nickb123)

Posted : 08/05/2009 6:42 pm

Clearly, Olay wins when it comes to moisturisers, cause they do the SPF thing well and it's like if you're gonna moisturise you might as well go the whole hog right

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(@missziddi)

Posted : 10/25/2009 11:39 am

Hello all, Can any experienced users tell me if any of these ingredients cause acne or irritation thankyou!

 

Somewhat helpful:

 

http://www.zerozits.com/Articles/acnedetect.htm

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(@someday)

Posted : 10/27/2009 5:33 pm

I have to highly recommend the Vaseline "Intensive Rescue" Relief and Repair balm. This is hands-down the best moisturizer I have ever used - and I've used an assload. Please also distinguish this from the other "moisture-locking lotion" one from the same range which I also tried but for some reason is much worse and balls up pretty badly. This is the exact one I'm referring to:

 

http://www.chemistdirect.co.uk/vaseline-in...lm_1_26203.html

 

I cba listing all the ingredients but they do include a few I would have considered potentially not great such as propyl and methyl parabens among others but the fact is - I have found this one of all the varieties I've tried to be A. actually effective B. much less greasy than other effective moisturizers and C. not at all irritating or resulting in comedones. I really recommend trying it. I'd say the full ingredients list is on drugstore.com or some such.

 

My acne is caused by flakiness pretty much so exfoliation and moisturizing have been my main focus over recent years and this is the best one I've tried so far.

 

 

 

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(@thin-lizzy)

Posted : 11/03/2009 10:56 pm

I'm not from the UK but this will in the Boots stores:

 

Botanics Sensitive Oil Free Moisturiser

 

Doesn't give me pimples or anything and it's good.

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(@purpleamethyst)

Posted : 11/12/2009 4:03 pm

Hey guys, I've found a moisturiser in the UK which is gentle, fragrance free, has NO nasty ingredients and is reasonably priced. It's just called 'moisturising cream' and you buy it in small jars or in bulk at www.naturallythinking.com. They sell other SLS and parabens free products too so this site is fantastic if you want to avoid horrible chemicals. All their fragrance free stuff is listed under aromatherapy/cosmetic bases.

 

I checked the ingredients and they are all non irritant:

 

Aqua, Caprylic / capric triglyceride, Glyceryl stearate & Peg-100 stearate, Vitis vinifera, Stearic acid, Glycerin, Cetearyl alcohol, Glyceryl stearate, Sodium bicarbonate, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexyglycerin

 

I started the regimen in August 09 so it's been almost 4 months of clear skin for the first time in my life. I use Naturally Thinking's liquid soap as my face wash so it performs double duty! I haven't tried their facewash yet. My BP is panoxyl gel 2.5%. At the beginning I used their jojoba oil as well but now I don't need to. Originally I was going to use the moisturiser made by Simple but I was horrified at the contents so decided not to.

 

By the way, I don't work for them or anything, I just know about them because I used to live near their shop in Carshalton!

 

Good luck everyone. I think this stuff rocks!

 

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(@souvenir)

Posted : 11/28/2009 7:44 am

Hey guys,

 

Been a while since I posted here but i was wondering if anyone has tried this:

 

http://www.boots.com/en/Boots-Expert-Anti-...15-50ml_335154/

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(@masp)

Posted : 11/30/2009 3:00 pm

Here Here to the chap who mentioned Boots Botanics Oil Free....

 

Its great, really refreshing and soothing... but, Very expensive, and I go through a tube a fortnight pretty much. Scared to use anything else in case i break out though!!

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(@brad1820)

Posted : 01/14/2010 7:55 pm

Hey .

Has anyone considerd Clean&clear dual action . It contains salyisic acid and islabeld *Oil free*; i combine this product with jojoba oil, i use it with 6drops in the morning and 12drops at night. It totally takes

care of flakiness from using BP . But if the BP is used corectly and ised slowly at the onset of the regimen it shouldnt dry the skin that much .

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(@mynamesdantoo)

Posted : 02/05/2010 8:05 am

I recently saw Simples 'Radiance Brightening Moisturiser SPF 10' and am thinking of trying it. I use their Hydrating Light Moisturiser at the moment, but am thinking of the summer coming up and it has the SPF.

 

The only comedogenic ingredients I can see are 'Cetyl Alcohol' and 'Sodium Chloride' and the Light Moisturiser has both of those too.

 

Has anyone else tried this yet?

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(@skinner05)

Posted : 02/23/2010 8:35 am

Think i'm in a decent position to comment having tried two of the moisturisers in this thread and just about to try a third.

 

Now i seem to be allergic to something in a lot of moisturisers but i don't know what. Therefore selecting a moisturiser is far harder for me than it is for others.

 

I have used Nivea for men sensitive for about 6 months. I'm not allergic to it and it does a good job of keeping away dry skin. However, on my forehead and around my mouth, it breaks me out quite badly.

 

I therefore switched to the Botanics Sensitive Oil Free Moisturiser which was recommended by two people in this thread. It is very good for my T-Zone where I am quite oily. However, on my cheeks and around my mouth where I suffer from dry skin, it is woeful. Makes my skin extremely dry and flakey. Therefore, i'd recommend this only to people who suffer from oily skin.

 

I have just received some of the moisturizer from www.naturalthinking.com as recommended by purpleamethyst. Its ingredients list is very promising. It doesn't really smell of anything which is good thing i suppose. Just trying it on my eye lid at the moment as it is a good test for finding out if i'm allergic as my eye lids are particularly sensitive for some reason. Will report back in a week or so when I have used it for a bit

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(@rom86)

Posted : 02/24/2010 6:55 pm

I've been doing the regimen for about 12 days now. In the first few days BP made my skin go horrible dry where I couldn't even open my mouth! And it still does but Simple light hydrating moisturizer and a bit of Jojoba oil really does the trick.. So far so good..

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(@dirtbomb)

Posted : 02/25/2010 4:16 pm

skinner05: Looking forward to hearing about that Natural Thinking moisturizer. Might get some if it's working out well for you as I experience pretty severe dryness still after a long time on the Regimen. Currently using Dan's moisturizer and it's so good but shipping is way expensive (I'm not from the UK but I get my Panoxyl from there).

 

I'm also thinking about trying that vaseline moisturizer at chemist direct someone recommended in this thread. Looks pretty promising, I've heard some great things about using vaseline for your face.

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(@skinner05)

Posted : 02/25/2010 5:03 pm

Been using the moisturiser for 3 days now. Not allergic to it which is a good start.

 

Seems to calm my naturally red skin down a bit. A little seems to go quite a long way and has completely got rid of any dry skin. If anything it makes me too shiny on my nose and forehead but i can live with that. It is a bit thick so does stick in my stumble a bit so need to be a bit more sparse in said areas

 

So far, definitely good. Have to wait and see if I break out over the next week

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(@mcjonas)

Posted : 06/19/2011 1:29 pm

Oilatum natural repair face cream

 

Aqua, olea europeae, glycerin, pentylene glycol, palm glycerides, olus, oleic triglycerides, hydrogenated lecithin, squalane, betaine, palmitamide MEA, acetamide MEA, sarcosine, hydroxyethlcellulose, sodium carbomer, carbomer, xanthan gum

 

even though it says its for dry sensitive skin i have combo skin and LOVE IT. only con is it's abit greasy/doesn't sink in quickly so I use it for pm :) no risky ingredients and they're natural! havn't heard of this breaking anyone out

 

 

seriously try it it's soooo good! only ‚£8 aswell which I think is pretty good

 

hope this helps!

 

ox

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(@kamran)

Posted : 06/19/2011 1:54 pm

hey mcJonas thanks for the suggestion i alsways see that moisturiser around but ive always been reluctant to try it. i think when all fails im going to give it a shot for my really dry skin

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