Nicel Day + Night Facial Creams with AHA, Aloe, and Retinol.

          

    I've been very lucky to happen across these products while in a dollar general. I'm going to come out right now and say that I'm the first person to turn my nose up at any skincare product that I see at the dollar store (because I have ridiculously sensitive skin, and bad history with things like this), but I was in the market for a good aloe, HLA, AHA/ceramide moisturizer, and a retinol cream (since vitamin A apparently does not come in a pill..) Hear me out though: this is one of the better low end purchases that I've ever made; I was able to do quite a bit of reading before I went on my hunt for this product, so when I bought it and it performed just like many other patrons said it would, you guys know I felt compelled to come back and write about it!

Excerpts directly from the retailer:

• Nicel® daily repair

anti-wrinkle cream 2 oz
Vitamin A and retinol
Smoothes facial lines
Corrects uneven tone and
skin imperfections
Nourishes and softens skin

• Nicel® night renew

anti-wrinkle cream 2 oz
Reduces lines, poor texture
and dullness
Gently removes layers of
dead skin cells
Alpha hydroxy and aloe

Packaging.

     The day and night creams come in a one ounce jar. There is a little catchment on the inside of the jar that would make it appear to be less than an ounce; this happens often with blemish care product packaging. For some companies, it's a deceptive way of packing less product into container that appears to be bigger than it actually is. For others, this is done as a form for long distance insurance that the product won't get damaged in transit to the consumer's home.The latter seems to be true here; there is a lot of cream in both jars. They might seem small at first glance, but one jar really can and will last at least four months, given you use it exclusively on your face. Also, this is what is considered the 'sample' size, so if you're wondering why mine is so much smaller, that's why.

Application.

    Oh boy, are these creams thick! You really only need a pearl size amount, and even that much may be pushing it. The cream will cover your how face even if you only get enough to cover the tip of your pinkie finger, so be careful when you're using this stuff! The day cream is kind of lumpy too. I mix my day cream with an HLA moisturizer and thin it out before I put it on my face, and that has been working fine for me, I'm very pleased to report~

Smell.

     What smell? There's no unpleasant smell with these products! It's truly a blessing because there are more than a few AHA and retinol creams that smell like pill casing, only thirty times stronger. With these (especially the Night renew cream) there's basically no smell.

Results.

     I've been using these creams in conjunction with and HLA moist emulsion and my Ambi targeted mark minimizer and I'm pretty happy with the result. They keep my skin moisturized without making me into the neighborhood greaseball and eradicate my pre-existing post acne dark marks in about two weeks. For major breakouts, the duration of spotting has definitely visibly lessened by half; I'm really surprised because I usually have about nine or ten new spots right after my out of season breakout rears it's ugly head at the  start of the month, but with these products, I've been able to minimize their appearance to that of a few minor pimples, that dry out in about twenty-four hours.

Durability.

    These products act like a mask to free radicals but they can also trap some bad stuff in your skin if you don't exfoliate at least once a week and use a toner with them.. My my skin in particular gets quite oily at times, but only if I haven't been regularly moisturizing or I'm dehydrated, and then I apply the creams. The one thing that I'd like to point out is this: you absolutely must wear SPF if you wear a retinol or fade cream during the day. If not, then you're wasting your time because the sun's rays render the retinol in your creams useless after about fifteen minutes of exposure.
Price.
I paid a dollar apiece for two night and day creams each. The website states that they are 4.99MSRP, but you may be able to find them at a dollar general.

Ingredients.

• For the Day Repair:

PURIFIED WATER, CETEREARYL ALCOHOL, CETEARETH-20, GLYCERYL STEARATE, ISOPROPYL MYRISTATE, ORGANIC SOY BEAN OIL, MINERAL OIL, OLIVE OIL, RETINYL PALMITATE, RETINOL, TOCOPEHROL, WHITE PETROLATUM, FRAGRANCE, PROPYLENE GLYCOL, PHENOXYETHANOL MEHTYLISOTHIAZOLINONE.

• For Night Renew:

PURIFIED WATER, ALPHAHYDROXYETHANOIC ACID, ALOE, CETEREARYL ALCOHOL, CETEARETH-20, GLYCERYL STEARATE, ISOPROPYL MYRISTATE, ORGANIC SOY BEAN OIL, MINERAL OIL, OLIVE OIL, TOCOPEHROL, WHITE PETROLATUM, FRAGRANCE, PROPYLENE GLYCOL, PHENOXYETHANOL MEHTYLISOTHIAZOLINONE.

Tips.

     Again, don't wear these if you don't intend to wear sunscreen; you will be wasting your time and money. And don't forget to exfoliate with this product because there are some items in the ingredient label that are are known to cause breakouts if misused.

Overall.

    5/5 stars. While there are some cosmetic no-no's in these products, they’re just too effective not to try at least once. If you at least try it, you can say that you hated it and move on; if you don't then you could be missing out on the possibility of finding the one product that helps correct dark marks on your skin without breaking your bank account: your move, people. Happy hunting! Oh, actually, you can buy these directly from Nicel dot com, or you can try Amazon or Ebay, the sellers are constantly carrying these products in bulk!

Do you like this product? Drop a line on twitter and tell me why: @cloud9kollektiv