Gel Moisturizer for Oily & Acne Skin: Clinique Moisture Surge, Neutrogena Hydro Boost, Farmacy Daily Greens
I have oily and acne prone skin and I have since I was 8 years old, and I’m deep into my 30’s now. Finding the right oil-free gel moisturizer that plumps without clogging pores has been essential since I’ve been wise enough to know that moisturizing is every so important to keeping acne at bay. I’ve used Clinique Moisture Surge, Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel and Farmacy Daily Greens, and I’m here to provide my thoughts and review on all three gel moisturizers. They’re all a little similar, but they have some essential differences that we’ll go over in this review. I’m going to go over them in order of what I used first.
Clinique Moisture Surge - $39.50 (50ml/1.69oz)
Clinique.com (US) - Sephora.com (US, UK, Canada, Global) - Ulta Beauty (US, Canada, Puerto Rico) - Ulta Global - Amazon Prime (US)
When I was around 23 years old, I was so proud of myself for finally being able to afford the nice department store cosmetics. I went up to the Clinique counter and it felt so special to be recommended skincare and makeup from someone in a white lab coat. Of course now, I realized that was all a psychological play, and I fell right into it.
One of my first department store skincare discoveries was Clinique Moisture Surge. I put it on my face before makeup in the morning, and after my shower at night. The Clinique moisture gel absorbed nicely into my skin and made it feel so smooth. I could feel my skin plump up for the first time. I also have eczema with my acne, and it really seemed to help with that, and my acne even got a little better using a great moisturizer. I lived in Florida at the time, and the fact that it didn’t weigh heavy on my skin was really essential.
A few years later, I moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada and the intense cold and dry winters required more moisture. I started to rotate Clinique Moisture Surge Intense into my Winter skin routine. Problem solved. I only lived there for a couple years and moved back to the states.
Then, I saw the commercial for Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel with Kristen Bell as an Ambassador and I was immediately intrigued. Clinique was pink and Neutrogena looked blue, but it appeared to be a comparable product, and likely cheaper. Plus, I love Kristen Bell. I follow her on Instagram and even won a curated Christmas box of goodies from her and La-z-boy, another company she’s an Ambassador for. You can see my unboxing on Instagram here.
Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel - $21 (1.7oz)
Neutrogena.com (US) - Ulta Beauty (US, Canada, Puerto Rico) - Ulta Global - Amazon Prime (US)
Now that my interest has been piqued via the commercial I saw, I went to my local Target to try the product out. This was back in 2015. I believe I tried Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel within the first month of its release. I even wrote to their corporate office to thank them for releasing a product that was half the price of Clinique Moisture Surge, but that offered the same quality and experience. I filled it out in an online forum, so I don’t have the message I wrote to them, but included here is the email response from their customer care team.
At the time, Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel was around $21 for the 1.7oz jar. You can often get it for $17-$20 on sale at the date this blog article was published.
I highly recommend Hydro Boost over Clinique, for price only. Before you decide that it’s the right moisturizer for you, keep reading a little more.
Farmacy Daily Greens Oil Free Gel Moisturizer - $38 (50ml/1.69oz)
Farmacybeauty.com (US, Puerto Rico) - Sephora.com (US, UK, Canada, Global) - Amazon Prime (US)
In 2019, I started to make some shifts in my life to more organic and natural products. Half the household cleaning products are now natural, I only burn quality candles and I’m no longer using lotions and soaps from places like Bath and Body Works with tons of bad-for-you stuff. I started to evaluate my face cream again and the hunt began for a replacement for the Neutrogena Gel I was using. I didn’t think it was particularly horrible, but it didn’t fit within my clean and green mission.
It took me a while, and I was actually lucky to stumble upon the Farmacy Daily Greens Gel Moisturizer. I received it in Fab-Fit-Fun Membership box. I’ve been a member for 5 years.
When I opened the jar of Farmacy Daily Greens Gel Moisturizer, it looked the same as Clinique Moisture Surge that’s pink, and Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel that’s blue… Daily Greens is, well, green. It has the same consistency, it rubs in the same and it plumps my skin up so well. I also LOVE the smell more than the other two. The smell is like a citronella, but not overwhelming.
Farmacy Daily Greens Oil Free Gel Moisturizer is Vegan and Cruelty Free, Paraben Free, Formaldehyde Donor Free (whatever craziness that means), Phthalate Free and Mineral Oil Free. The fragrance is also natural and not from synthetic fragrances.
My Husband has different skin needs and concerns than I do, and he really loves Farmacy products too, but he rotates between Farmacy Honey Drop for the lightweight moisture days and Farmacy Honey Halo for the heavy moisture days. This is another reason ordering from the Farmacy online shop is a regular occurrance in our home.
Final Thoughts…
All three moisturizers are fantastic, and all three have hyaluronic acid which is a naturally occurring substance found in the body and on the skin. When in moisturizers, it can help skin feel more supple because hyaluronic acid helps water retention in skin. Hyaluronic acid can also help wounds heal quicker. I also have eczema, and maybe this is TMI, but when I pop a pimple, a large scab followed by dry skin for days follows. It’s so frustrating, but I think the hyaluronic acid both helps moisturize without clogging pores, as well as helps heal the wound quicker. I believe this is what I was mainly drawn to, in addition to the oil free aspects of each one of these three products.
My number one recommendation of the three is Farmacy Daily Greens Oil Free Moisturizer because of the quality of the product and the values of the company. If Farmacy is a little out of budget for you, then Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel is a fantastic product as well. I even have a $10 OFF Referral for you when you spend $40 directly with Neutrogena. Farmacy often has sales as well. You just need to keep your eyes open and wait a month in-between sales sometimes.
Lastly, I do recommend Clinique Moisture Surge too, but Farmacy won for ingredients, and mission, and Neutrogena won for price. There were no other categories left. If the other two stopped making these moisturizers, I would happily go back to Clinique though. If one is not accessible due to where you’re located int he world, another one will do as well. I now live in the San Francisco Bay Area in Berkeley, and the weather is quite moderate year round. Any of these work great for that type of weather. Enjoy your healthy, moisturized, plump skin!
I even have a $10 OFF Referral for you when you spend $40 directly with Neutrogena
