I’m reviewing Paula’s Choice Pro-Collagen Peptide Plumping Moisturizer. When it arrived, I was literally skincare product-less. For week I tried to force myself out to the few stores we have left here that sell good skincare. So it was fortuitous to receive it when I did - and, it had me at hello (or 1st pump).😊
No joke, immediately, my skin looked more awake, plumper, hydrated, glowy (not too glowy). My self-esteem rose! 📈
I’m a ‘mature’ woman (funny writing that), who’s kept a consistent home skincare routine for 40 years. But in the last six months, I stopped buying almost everything… well, almost. I still cleanse my face daily with a gentle, fragrance-free cleanser, and apply a basic hydrator from a well-known brand (moderately priced for today), then a combo CC crème / light foundation. Oh, and eye cream because… it’s the eyes! 🙄 But I haven’t replenished them.
I didn’t stop using my products from lack of self-care, but I had begun to seriously reconsider the overpriced “luxury” brands I’d used (since my teens) that were everything to me - even if it meant forsaking other things in my budget, I couldn’t forego my face cream and eye cream. I was attached. But because our skin goes through many changes in structure and needs as we enter different stages of so-called maturity 😉, those products began irritating my skin, causing redness, breakouts, and my eyes were tearing a lot more, as our skin becomes more sensitive to ingredients with age and hormonal changes. I’d convinced myself that was normal and that anything would irritate my skin, because it’s just ‘not the same as it was’, as I’d noticed 👉🪞😒 Relate?
Besides, how could I be without them?! But the thing is, skincare doesn’t have to aggravate your skin.
Meanwhile, prices skyrocketed for my brands and everything else now. So, what was I really paying for? Not rare ingredients, but over-the-top packaging, hype, and celebrity endorsements. And I decided to make a change.
I tried the fragrance-free ‘derm’ brands from the drugstore, which were okay, but started to get just as expensive as the ‘luxury’ brands, because I felt I had to use more product to get ‘more’ benefit. Plus I had to buy two products whereas my original one targeted all those things. Felt like a dog chasing its tail. So I stopped using them. And, at my age, the effect of neglect shows fast. You’ve got to take good care of the one face you’ve got! Plus working from home, means not showing my face to people like I would if were at the office, or just ‘out there.’ So you forget, get busy working, and days turn into months! But again, I had to get a new product, but which one? That's what this was so timely.
👉I’ve known of Paula’s Choice for years but it wasn’t available to buy in Canada until the last two years, when it launched exclusively at the black-and-white makeup store, where I guess it flew off the shelves.
The premise of the brand is the products use gentle and non-irritating to avoid potential adverse reactions, plus they’re fragrance-free, dye-free, and stripped of a lot of the extras that tend to cause skin sensitivities.
👉It’s a 50 ml pump, which is standard for most moisturizers. The pump keeps things clean and gives you a measured amount; one measured pump (which is how it comes out) is enough for the face. I promise you, more isn’t needed. So if you use it twice a day, morning and night, it should last 3 months – and more if you only use it in the morning. (📝, I’m giving you an approximation only). Like most pumps, there’s often a bit left at the bottom once it stops dispensing. I remove the top and use what’s left. I’m sure you do too
👉The formula itself makes sense. Water is the first ingredient, as expected in a lightweight moisturizer. It also includes squalane to soften and lock in moisture, and hyaluronic acid to draw water into the skin and hold it there. It’s got red algae to calm and support the skin barrier, and peptides to restore bounce and help with firmness.
And dimethicone smooths the surface of the skin and gives it that soft finish most well-made products rely on.
🌱I’ve gone back to basics: gentle cleanser, toner, vitamin C, eye cream, moisturizer, and SPF (which this product doesn’t have – and for me that’s good because it tends to make my eyes water a lot). I don’t get facials, I don’t do anything invasive, and yes, I eat too much sugar, which doesn’t help. But this lovely, plumping moisturizer which I love, gives me a reliable way back into skincare – no hope-in-a-jar promises, no glossy packaging, just a reputable, well-formulated product with hydrating and plumping effects. It’s these things that give us a bit more confidence. Thank you for providing the opportunity to review this product.
| Manufacturer | Paula's Choice |
|---|---|
| Place of Business | Paula's Choice Skincare |
| Parcel Dimensions | 9.4 x 4.9 x 4.9 cm; 100 g |
| ASIN | B0F7KB77TH |
