Review: Bobbi Brown Extra Repair Moisture Cream

Happy Wednesday! I hope you guys are feeling extra cheery since Christmas is LESS THAN 10 DAYS AWAY. I celebrated my Christmas with Jason last night, and I can't wait to share with you guys what he got me, right before Christmas!

As you guys know, lately I've been trying to venture out of what I know and try some new things via skincare and makeup routines. I switched to all Kiehl's face products a few months ago and my skin has never felt better. I received a sample in the mail from Bobbi Brown of their Extra Repair Moisture Cream, so I figured it would okay to switch my routine for just a couple days to try out such a luxurious product. It had about 3 days worth of moisturizer in the pouch, since a little goes a long way with their products. I expected to completely fall in love with this product because of how fancy and unattainable this is. But, my reaction (in multiple ways), wasn't what I expected.

First thing's first. I was overwhelmed by the ingredients list. My Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream has about 5 ingredients in it and is fragrance free. Looking at the back of the Bobbi Brown packet, there were so many ingredients I didn't know where to begin. A lot of them were herb oil extracts and things that sounded good for me, rosemary oil, jojoba, shea butter, avocado, etc. I used it for the first time two nights ago and my skin looked good and moisturized when I woke, but nothing life-changing, and nothing worth $96 in my opinion. I used it again last night, and woke up...with a completely different reaction. My skin took a turn for the worse. I am itching like I have chickenpox, my face is bright red, my cheeks are swollen like a chipmunk, and my face feels heated like a bad allergic reaction. I threw my sample in the garbage immediately this morning. 4 hours after cleansing my face of the product and I still look the same, the swelling won't go down and the rash won't calm down. Weirdly enough, the cream didn't affect my forehead or my nose much, but the sensitive areas of my chin and all over my cheeks were heavily affected. You can see the redness in the first photo, and the all-over rash in the second. I'm just hoping it clears a bit before I go to work this evening!

I've always had remotely sensitive skin and a hard time finding products that really work on me, but my skin has never in my lifetime reacted to a product in this way. I racked my brain thinking what else could've caused this rash, but the only product I've changed in the past two days is the testing of this product. Obviously, my skin prefers a more simple, fewer ingredients, face cream! I still want to discuss the pros and cons of this product because I am not a girl who is going to hate or shame a good product just because it didn't work for me.

Pros:

1. Packaging // As most of Bobbi Brown's packaging, it is sleek, luxurious, and just downright beautiful. The $96 cream comes in a beautiful glass jar, with a simple black lid with 'Bobbi Brown' printed in slim white letters. This is probably part of the reason this product is so expensive.

2. Scent // This could be a pro or a con for some, but I love the smell of strong essential oils, and that is exactly what this cream smells like. I will say that the scent is very strong, so it may be a turn-off for some, but I found it really pleasant.

3. Consistency // This cream is very concentrated, so a little goes a long way, which is especially good when you're spending this much on something.

4. Hyrdation // When I woke up the first morning, my skin looked healthy and moisturized, like my skin sucked up all he moisture throughout the night, and all my dry patches were mostly aided. The hydration aspect of this cream is what most people rave about it for.

Cons:

1. Price // While this is almost a 5 star product, I personally would never ever spend even close to $100 for a product. They have a hydrating cream that is $56, that also has wonderful reviews if you just want to try something that Bobbi Brown has to offer. My Kiehl's facial cream was $25 and even that was steep for me for such a small amount (granted, I now know it's worth it because it has lasted me months on end). 

2. Ingredients list // First of all, I couldn't find the ingredients anywhere on the websites that sell this product, which I found kind of irritating. I ended up finding it on a girl's blog review in a photo, so thank you Chloe.Ash! It always makes me nervous seeing an ingredients list that is so long, and I like to know what the ingredients are when I'm reading, or be able to quickly research what they are and how they affect the skin if need be. That is a little difficult with such a long list of ingredients, whereas with my Kiehl's cream, the list is short, listed on their website, and I can research everything in a jiffy. 

3. Sensitive Skin // If you have sensitive skin like I do, I would suggest trying this on a small portion of your skin for a few days first before diving right in. Maybe I just have weird skin, but better safe than sorry!

Overall, from others reviews and for many reasons, I'm sure this is a great product that just didn't work for me specifically. I would definitely suggest choosing it as a sample in your cart if you're already buying makeup or another product from Bobbi Brown, so that you can test it out before dropping so much money on a small amount of product. 

What are your favorite face creams? Have you tried Bobbi Brown's Extra Repair?