drunk elephant protini dupe

[nayzi12]

Please can anyone help me on this, what could be better dupe for drunk elephant protini, i love that mosturizer but its kind of heavy on the pocket. Also, my skin is acne prone, so want to know anything else that’s gentle on skin, please.

[ParrotTulips]

I haven’t tried it myself, but I’ve heard that the The INKEY List Peptide Moisturizer 1.7 oz/ 50 mL is supposed to be a Protini dupe.

[WinglessOne]

@nayzi12  Since Protini’s best feature is all its peptides, consider using THE ORDINARY - Buffet + Copper Peptides 1% along with any less expensive cream moisturizer. Buffet + Copper Peptides and Protini don’t contain all the same peptides (they only have 2 in common), but the former is a great peptides serum at a very reasonable price. Buffet + Copper Peptides also contains many of the hydrators found in Protini, plus a few others not found in Protini. You could apply this serum anywhere in your skincare routine after toner and exfoliant (if you use either of those products) and before moisturizer. 

I copied/pasted the ingredients of both products and bolded most of the common ingredients. Since these are different products—one’s a liquid serum, the other’s a cream moisturizer—they obviously won’t have identical formulations. 

Buffet + Copper Peptides ingredients: 

Spoiler

Protini ingredients: 

Spoiler

Oh, and if you currently use a vitamin C serum: 

Spoiler

As for an inexpensive cream moisturizer, you could try one of The Inkey List’s options or a CeraVe moisturizer. 

EDIT: If that serum’s still too pricey for you, try THE ORDINARY - Buffet instead. It’s pretty much the same serum, minus the copper peptide. 

[MissPuff]

@WinglessOne  I adore the regular Buffet serum but have never tried the + copper peptides. What are you thoughts on the consistency/absorption? I'm assuming it's blue because of the dissolved copper, was curious to see if anyone really noticed a difference between the two formulas.

[WinglessOne]

@MissPuff  I’ve used the Copper version only a couple times so far. I keep automatically reaching for the regular Buffet bottle instead. 😄 I don’t notice a huge difference between them, aside from the copper’s color. They really do feel like the exact same formula. To me, they also seem to behave the same: I have go give the copper version 2-3 minutes to sink into my skin, just like the regular version, and it’s equally as hydrating since it contains the same hydrators/humectants. 

Since I love Buffet, I can’t help but love the copper version too—and while I do think the copper version’s a reasonable price compared to what else is on the market, I also think it’s a high price for The Ordinary compared to the regular Buffet serum. I called it out in my original post mostly because Protini also contains a copper peptide. 

[MissPuff]

@WinglessOne  Thank you! For some reason, the blue really throws me off, but maybe when I finish my current GIANT Buffet bottle, I will try out the copper 🙂 

[WinglessOne]

@MissPuff  Heh, first time I used the copper one, I worried it’d make me a smurf for a few minutes. 😄 But the color completely disappears when I rub the serum on my skin. It doesn't even smell as metallic as I thought it would. I can’t smell it at all a few seconds after application. 

Someday I’ll buy the bigger bottle of original Buffet. I always transfer Buffet to an airless vacuum pump bottle because I’m not a big fan of glass dropper bottles (especially when traveling) and my vacuum pump bottle always dispenses the perfect amount for me. But it’d be cheaper (only slightly, but still!) to buy the 2 oz bottle. Note to self!