Worth It: A Moisturizer That Won't Freak Out Your Face

Much unlike many a magazine editor who recommends you buy all sorts of crap that they most likely got for free, your Jezebel staff doesn’t get jack shit (other than books, unsolicited). And that’s how it should be. But on our own time, in our personal lives, we still buy stuff. So this is Worth It, our daily recommendation of random things that we’ve actually spent our own money on. These are the things we buy regularly or really like, things we’d actually tell our friends about. And now we’re telling you.

Here’s a confession: I used to put lotion — body lotion — on my face when I was a teenager. My hair and skin both run dry, but I do get some oily spots in the infamous T-zone: Forehead, nose, chin. Anyway, my solution for this, in high school and college, was to put body lotion on most of my face — my cheeks, for sure, they are super dry — and kind of just skip moisturizing the rest. One day, I can’t remember exactly who, when or where, a friend saw me putting Vaseline Intensive Care body lotion on my face and exclaimed, “You put lotion on your face?!?!” I was shocked, confused, ashamed and embarrassed, and wondered if that was why I was getting evil cloggy zits on my chin and forehead. (It might have just been my age and hormones. Who knows.) I high-tailed it to the drug store for some “moisturizer,” which I discovered is like lotion, but lighter, and designed for your face. I think by this time some teen magazine had informed me that I have what’s known as “combination skin.” Both oily and dry (but mostly dry). I think I tried a few things before I bought Neutrogena Oil-Free moisture for combination skin, but once I discovered it, I stuck with it.

Basically, this stuff works. It leaves the dry parts of my face not-so-dry, and doesn’t gunk up the oilier parts. Sometimes, after getting out of the shower, I will put it on, and then get ready, and then put it on again, just on the cheeks, because my face is so damn dry. But it’s so light and sheer that I never feel as though my face can’t breathe, or like I’ve greased myself up with some pork fat. When it comes right down to it, I’m fairly low-maintenance with my skin, and when I see the weird, manipulative ads for anti-aging wrinkle serum cosmeceutical revitalift repair clarifying night creams, I shudder a little. The less crap I put on my face, the better it looks and feels. And Neutrogena moisturizer is so clean and easily absorbed, it’s like it’s not even there. For someone completely uninterested in spending a lot of time, money and energy on her face, this stuff feels quick, easy and simple, and to me, that’s worth it.

Neutrogena Oil-Free Moisture Combination Skin, $9.99, Neutrogena.com

Worth It only features things we paid for ourselves and actually like. Don’t send us stuff.