Oh! I wish I never fell in love with Tom Ford Radiant Moisture Souffle! It’s $98 for a 1.7-oz. jar, which is relatively tame on the grand scale of Tom Ford prices (his Intensive Infusion Ultra Rich Moisturizer is $253 for a 1-oz. jar), but still, it’s CRAY.
I think it came out with the Summer 2016 collection, but Connor was an infant at the time, and I was overwhelmed and outta my mind…so even though I knew it was something special and loved the hell out of it, I stuck it on a shelf for months.
The more I use it, the more I realize that I need to be conservative about it and parse it out, because it’s hard to find. The only place I’m seeing it in stock now is Saks.
Basically, it’s THE BEST pre-makeup face cream for dry skin that I’ve ever found. It moisturizes, gives a soft pearly glow and smooths pores, so it does a bit of everything I like in a pre-makeup face cream, and it doesn’t feel like a heavy silicone face blanket. Everything I ever try to layer on top of it — foundation, tinted moisturizer, powder, blush, whatever — looks SO MUCH SMOOTHER.
Also, in my dream world, someone will have already made a $30 knockoff, because, I mean, if MAC can basically dupe Tom Ford’s heavenly brow pencil, there has to be somebody out there who could do that for this cream. I’m just sayin’… Keeping my fingers crossed! 🙂
What’s a pricey product you wish you never fell in love with?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. FIRE UPDATE: The situation is still fluid. Between 10-15 miles north of us is still in the cat’s maw. It’s very bad up there, and thousands of people are being evacuated every hour. San Rafael, which is the neighboring town to Novato, had the worst air quality in the nation yesterday because of the smoke from the nearby fires. It’s like fog all day long here, except that the fog is smoke. There are more than a dozen wildfires burning across Sonoma and Napa Counties, all over the small hills and towns around Wine Country, with very few of them contained, and a lot depends now on the weather. The forecast is saying that the winds are going to pick up again tonight, which makes the fires harder to contain in these dry hills and open space… We’re just hoping for the best.
La Mer. I keep hoping for a cheaper alternative. Reduces my pores, moisturizes, evens tone . . . I notice results after one use. I recently tried their micellar water. I’m sold.
For hair, Nanoworks shampoo. Thankfully a bottle lasts a year (can’t use it all the time). Once or twice per month does wonders. I had to style my hair every day before this. Now, my curls stay intact for up to 4 days!
Do you have naturally curly hair? How do you manage 4 days? I really struggle with next day hair!
Yes, curly hair. Just pin it up at night and wet (damp hands lightly rubbed over hair and air dry if I forget to pin it up).
Oh God, agreeing on the La Mer. Their hand lotion and their body lotion ($275 for 10.5 oz jar!) moisturizes my hands and legs like nothing else I’ve ever tried. My hands are smooth and don’t crack and bleed any more!
I am testing Weleda’s skin food on my body now. So far so good. Doesn’t even the tone like la mer (I go hog wild and use the creme on my body sometimes) but it moisturizes well-even my cuticles and is less than $20!
I’m very intrigued by the Nanoworks recommendation, I’ve never heard of the brand.
I second La Mer and I’ve come to love Tatcha lately too, though the prices aren’t as bad…
Design by Sydnee
Stay safe, Karen! I was just up in the wine country working this past weekend, so my heart and sympathies go out to everyone (and everything) up there!
I feel in love with a Japanese skincare line (Albion) when I visited a couple of years ago. It’s difficult to acquire here, so I wish I never discovered it. And it’s expensive! LOL!
My thoughts and prayers to all in Northern CA from all of us down here in Southern CA. We definitely know how you feel and what you are going through. I’ve had to evacuate from the wildfires down here in Northern Los Angeles County a couple of times. I love Sunday Riley’s Good Genes and now Biossance Squalene Vitamin C and Rose Oil. Along with Color Proof’s TruCurl Shampoo and Conditioner which tames my thick, kinky curly hair! I haven’t been able to find anything better!
Yes, the Biossance Squalene Vitamin C and Rose Oil! I was introduced to it during a Sephora mini makeover thing. I haven’t bought it yet, but it’s probably just a matter of time. It’s in my LOVES – easy to get to. 🙂
A Sephora Sales Associate gave me a sample of it last week when I told her I was looking for a new Vitamin C serum to purchase and recommended it to me. I’ve used it the past few days in the A.M and noticed my skin was really soft and my makeup applied more smoothly. My skin looked more radiant at the end of the day. It gave me a nice dewy J. Lo Glow! I am going to have to purchase a full sized bottle soon!
SKII Essence. I sprung for it several times…now I am using a substitute product I got on Amazon…of course, I also bought another SKII product to use that is just as costly as the Essence…the Power Essence.
I hope everyone in your family is safe Karen! It’s so scary 🙁
Dermadoctor’s Calm, Cool & Corrected. It’s $85 for 1.7 oz. I only buy it when I can get 20% off prestige at Ulta (points!) but once a year the Dermadoctor website has it for 30% off on Cyber Monday so I stock up then. Last year they participated in one of the weekly deals from The View and it was $40-something a jar so I went insane and bought 4-5 jars. It used to be on Hautelook every now and again too. I have rosacea and this is the only cream that actually does something for the redness.
I would like to buy May Lindstrom’s Problem solver mask, which is 134 dollars Canadian. I heard only good things about it. I am saving for it, and will let you know how it works.
Patricia Wexler MMPI. I don’ t think they make it in the $55 size any more so it’s only in the $150 size. On my budget, even $55 is a lot and $150 is a WHOLE lot.
Anything Gurelain. I won some products this summer and the lipsticks and bronzer completely blew my mind! I just want to try more and more from the range…
Hi. Sent you an email. Check out CCO for your cream (at a discount)!
I would have to go with Bobbi Brown Extra Repair Moisture Balm @ $95 f0r a one ounce jar (the price may have gone up since I last bought it). It was the best moisturizer for my very dry skin, especially in winter time when we turned up the heat. I just can’t justify the price anymore. I actually have been using No7 Beautiful Skin Night Cream for very dry skin every day. It costs $14.99 for the same amount as Bobbi’s and so far my skin feels hydrated. I don’t know how well it will work once the winter weather arrives.
Be safe out there! My thoughts are with you.
La Mer and Guerlain Meteorites.
Stay safe!
For me it would be Christophe Robin Crème Lavante au Citron. It’s a non-sudsing, cream shampoo and it leaves my fine, super dry, brittle hair soft and shiny. I only need to use it about once a week thank goodness because this stuff is $49 for 250 ml or about 8oz.
I had a tub of the TF Radiant Moisture and never used it, so I tossed it. Ugh. If I hadn’t done that I would have been happy to send it your way.
Walked to the gym this morning and everything was ok. Stepped outside after my workout and was walloped by the smell of acrid smoke and ash. The wind shifted and picked up and we’re smelling the fires for the first time down this way and the air is literally gray. I keep checking the CalFire website for updates and none of these fires is above 5% containment. I can’t even begin to imagine how exhausted these poor firefighters are.
Prayers for all in the path of the fire.
I hope y’all stay safe, Karen and family!
Skin wise, I really fell in love with Jurlique masks. I haven’t been able to buy a tube in a long while, but they are really wonderful. Dermalogica is another brand that is really lovely but so pricey.
Hair wise, Nioxin. It’s really one of the only brands that really helps keep my hair in. Having lupus, this is important!
I have a penchant for expensive skincare and perfume, Sunday Riley and Drunk Elephant are my current expensive vices. TF lipsticks and scents are another story. Hermes scents… Well pretty much any perfume is expensive!
Scary stuff. Praying that these fires get contained. Praying for safety for you and all affected.
Tom Ford, Hourglass, and Marc Jacobs anything. I live in Yountville and I am in the thick of these wild fires and my bags are packed with things I don’t want to lose. Of course first on my list are my kids, dog, cat and yes my luggage is full of pictures, video cameras, laptop with more pictures and videos, and my luxury make up products (Tom Ford, Hourglass and Marc Jacobs) that were limited edition. When all is said and done it’s just stuff and my kids and animals and human life are what counts the most. I hope everyone else in this is staying safe and well. It’s tragic.
Lizzie, best of luck to you and hope you will all be fine. Hoping and praying for rain! I’m in san Mateo so not directly affected except for smelling the smoke.
Thank you so much Carmen. It’s so strange I lived on Guam for over 8 years of my life and survived typhoons and earthquakes and this…this is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced in my life. Just total decimation. It is literally like an apocalypse. The sky is black and red and what looks like snow flakes are ashes and soot. It’s crazy that this smoke has traveled so far. Thank you for your well wishes!
I’m so sorry you guys are getting a turn with fires. That’s so close to your home, too. Stay safe!
I wish I’d never fallen in love with Eslor Firming Collagen Day Cream. But it’s the only firming cream I’ve tried that works. And works well!
Thank you Rachel for you well wishes. Yes Yountville is trapped and I’m just hoping the winds do not change directions. There is the Calistoga fire North of me and the Atlas fire on the East of me and the Glen Ellen fire on the West. Yountville is usually filled with tourists but it’s pretty much a ghost town right now. It’s been 4 days and I’m just hoping it will end.
Thinking of you! One of my clients today was working out of Reno and mentioned it… made me appreciate the pouring rain we had here in Michigan.
I don’t think I have any current favorites that are overly expensive! I used to be addicted to Chanel mascara but it started making my eyes itch. Still working to find “the one” but I’m rather picky about mascara (sensitive eyes, no smudging, not too difficult to remove, must be available in brown, prefer to not have to use a lash comb after).
One of the reasons I rarely try anything really expensive, is that I don’t want to get “addicted” to a product I really can’t afford. The late, great writer/TV personality Rod Serling is quoted as saying about his own life, “it’s amazing how quickly caviar becomes a necessity.” The only “expensive” skincare I buy regularly is the Paula’s Choice 2% BHA liquid and a couple of other items in her line. I recently bought the travel sampler of Drunk Elephant items when I could snag it for 25% off. I haven’t tried it enough to know yet whether I’ll repurchase any of the items in it.
I hate these wildfires! So much loss! I swear October is the month for disasters. The Firestorm in Oakland was in October. I lived in the hills, so my family had to evacuate. Our area was spared but for many I knew, they weren’t so lucky. The air in Contra Costa isn’t great, it’s very hazy. Some schools are actually closed. I can imagine it’s way way worse in your area!
Anyway, getting to products that cost too much. Lipstick Queen’s Let Them Eat Cake is a whopping $50! I actually got it when I had a Nordstrom Note to spend, so I asked myself, what is something that I want that is super expensive? I had my eye on that lipstick! I am glad it’s not something I will have to re-purchase… like your cream!
Sunday Riley’s Good Genes. It’s $105 for an ounce and even though it’s too strong for me to use daily, an ounce doesn’t last that long. And it smooths and brightens my skin like no other. If I was drinking a decent amount of water, my skin would be in good shape.
Also, what’s your evacuation plan?
Hugs and kisses to the coywolf and Tabs.