The Cosmetic Cop's Drugstore Doubles: Are they really substitutes

I am a huge fan of Paula Begoun. She runs a great website with a host of down to earth reviews and is not a person to push a product simply because it costs a fortune. If you are debating on whether to purchase a product, I would recommend visiting her site just to get her opinion.

www.cosmeticscop.com

She wrote an article entitled "Drugstore Doubles: The best in beauty". Today I will offer my thoughts on her review of tinted moisturizers.

The expensive tinted moisturizers she recommends are:

Tinted Moisturizer with SunscreenAveda Inner Light Tinted Moisture SPF 15 ($25) and Bobbi Brown SPF 15 Tinted Moisturizer ($36).

The drugstore doubles are Neutrogena Healthy Skin Enhancer SPF 20 ($10.99) and Revlon Age Defying Light Makeup SPF 30 ($12.99).

My previous tinted moisturizer was Estee Lauder daywear plus with broad spectrum SPF 15. Ladies, make sure your sunscreen is broad spectrum. This means it should block UVB (burning rays) and UVA (wrinkle maker) rays. To make sure it has UVA, look for titanium dioxide or avobenzone.

I ran out of my Estee Lauder (which I absolutely loved) and found no one had it because they are reformulating it. So I decided to try Neutrogena Healthy Skin Enhancer SPF 20. I purchased it for $8.

This is NOT a double of the more expensive products!!!!!

My face did not feel moisturized. In fact, it felt very dry and seemed to cling to some spots more than others. The product didn't do much in the way of tinting and if I had chosen a different color I would have looked even worse. While it does have SPF 20 (UVA and UVB), it doesn't offer the same moisture level or color as Estee Lauder or Aveda. It is simply not a comparable product.

My suggestion: don't use this stuff if you like tinted moisturizer to give you a bit of color and moisture. After using this, I felt like I needed more moisture!

While it didn't cost much, it didn't do much either.