Spring Savings Event

[Michele0624]

Hi guys!

I’m wanting to find a good brand of skincare products to buy during the Spring Sale. I’ve been researching and I think I’ve decided on the #SundayRiley line. I want to know some opinions please.

I’m 46 years old and my main concerns are fine lines/wrinkles and large pores.

Thanks!!  

[WinglessOne]

Hi @Michele0624 ! I'm 50 with mostly-dry combo skin that's quite reactive/inflammation-prone and fairly sensitive. I cannot use 10 the 17 Sunday Riley products Sephora currently sells because they contain essential oils. My face throws red painful tantrums over nearly all essential oils. If your skin tolerates most essential oils, then you may have better luck with this skincare line. 

Of the 7 Sunday Riley products I could probably safely use, I know I can find effective, less expensive options. Examples: 

Spoiler

Sunday Riley A+ High-Dose Retinol Serum is more expensive than Avene RetrinAL 0.1 Intensive Cream. Both products are in the vitamin A family: SR A+ uses a "retinoid complex" of retinol, retinoid ester (HPR, aka granactive retinoid), and "botanical alt-retinol" (I assume it's the blue-green algae extract claimed to give results similar to retinoids with less irritation; I forget the extract's trade name). Avene RetriinAL 0.1 contains 0.1% retinaldehyde, the precursor to retinoic acid. I use the Avene product nightly, but I'll try not to be biased here. Both products contain good supporting ingredients, but I'd rather spend my money on an effective retinaldehyde than a retinol + HPR + "alt-retinol" product that may take longer to product results. 🤷‍♀️ 

Sunday Riley Juno Antioxidant + Superfood Face Oil is an impressive blend of mostly beneficial oils. If your skin's not sensitive to fragrance components, you could save money and buy Youth To The People Superberry Hydrate + Glow Dream Oil with Squalane and Antioxidants 1 oz / 30 ml instead, which also contains beneficial oils. Even less expensive (far less) are e.l.f. All The Feels Facial Oil and e.l.f. Nourishing Facial Oil: they don't contain the berry seed oils of the SR or YTTP products, but they do contain several good beneficial oils. 

Sunday Riley 5 Stars Retinol + Niacinamide Eye Serum 0.5 oz/ 15 mL looks decent to me. It contains a ceramide, niacinamide, and 3 components of centella asiatica (one of my skin's favorite ingredients). It also contains that "retinoid complex" of HPR and retinol. You know what else contains HPR + retinol? The far less expensive The INKEY List Retinol Anti-Aging Serum . The Inkey List's serum doesn't contain ceramides, niacinamide, or centella asiatica. It does contain soy extract and sodium ascorbate (a form of vitamin C) which are skin brighteners, plus a couple of peptides. Since my nightly moisturizer contains ceramides and niacinamide, and I have a separate centella asiatica serum, I don't worry about missing those ingredients. I use The Inkey List Retinol Serum on my undereyes and neck, and the Avene RetrinAL 0.1 serum on the rest of my face. 

I have a sample of Sunday Riley Light Hearted Broad Spectrum SPF 30 Daily Face Sunscreen 1.5 oz/ 45 mL and will test it against a couple other hybrid sunscreens soon. This might be the only SR product I don't think is overpriced. 

Also, I don't trust Sunday Riley as a brand. In 2019, they got in trouble with the FTC for instructing their own employees to post fake product reviews on Sephora, right down to explaining how to use a VPN to mask their IP addresses and create fake Sephora customer accounts. (The instructions came via email from Sunday Riley herself.) The FTC let them off waaay too easy: their 2020 settlement with SR included no fines or other punishment and was just a "don't do it again" slap on the wrist. 🙄 So, I don't bother reading any positive customer reviews on Sephora product pages for SR products, not even the verified purchase reviews. I'll read and trust reviews by folks here on BIC, especially if I know them or I've seen them post a lot. But SR has permanently broken any trust I might've had in them as a responsible company. 

Despite all of that: the upcoming sale is a good time to try this brand. If you do, I hope you end up liking what you buy! 

[Saradestin]

Hi @Michele0624! That brand is a great choice. It is quite pricey so taking advantage of the Sephora Spring Sale is a great idea. I have used two products of this brand only but I was amazed at the results:

Sunday Riley Good Genes All-In-One AHA Lactic Acid Treatment 1.7 oz / 50 ml 

Sunday Riley Luna Retinol Sleeping Night Oil 35 mL 

I saw immediate results, I had visibly more even skin the morning after using them. I am not using them now exclusively because of their price, which I cannot afford, but in my opinion they are well worth it if you can afford them.