Murad - A Substitute for Botox? Hmmm - Inconclusive!

You may remember that about a month ago I was given £61.45 worth of Murad goodies by my Mum, after she bought an airline bag at a car boot sale (she wanted the bag) for £1 – and they just happened to be inside.  I had 7ml of Intensive Wrinkle Reducer (worth £35), 6ml of Intensive Wrinkle Reducer For Eyes (worth £24) and 3.5g of Energizing Pomegranate Lip Protector SPF 15 (worth £2.45).  I’d never heard of this brand before, but after seeing the prices of full size products, I thought I’d trial them out – I was expecting great results.

According to the Murad website, the Intensive Wrinkle Reducer is:

            “... a scientific breakthrough that achieves intense resurfacing without the irritation normally associated with this process. Clinically proven to delivery consistent and cumulative results - the longer you use it, the better you will look.”

And the Intensive Wrinkle Reducer for Eyes is:

“Specifically formulated for the delicate eye area, reduces the appearance of crow's feet, improves skin firmness and illuminates the eye area for a more youthful appearance.”

The Murad website talks about The Water Secret, something to do with "Cellular Water".  Now, I'm not a scientist, but I am a failed biochemistry student (I lasted 2 years before dropping out), and I have some concept of basic scientific principles (I did, afterall, pass my exams in both years of study).  I'm not sure what "Cellular Water" is, but it sounds suspiciously like BS to me... but then I rarely believe the outlandish claims these products make, so I could be wrong.

So I’ve been using these two products for a month now, and I’ve just run out of the Intensive Wrinkle Reducer and I’m nearly out of the Intensive Wrinkle Reducer for Eyes – there wasn’t much there for the cost of the products.

My experience of using the Intensive Wrinkle Reducer has been mixed.  Firstly, you don’t need very much of it.  I first squirted 5  pumps of the little tube onto my fingers – it didn’t look like much, but a little goes a long way.  5 pumps was way too much.  I found that 2 pumps was enough to totally coat my face with the cream.  It’s quite a thin consistency, not like a cream at all. I’ve been using it as a serum before applying moisturiser.  I wasn’t hugely impressed with it.  For a start, I’m used to a more moisturising serum (my usual is No 7 Protect and Perfect Intense), and the Murad one certainly isn’t.  It sinks in quite quickly, with no moisturising properties that I could detect.  As the weather has got colder, it’s meant I’ve had to up the moisture level of my moisturisers, to properly protect my face from the cold.  It is also quite astringent and was slightly stingy on application, although not too uncomfortable.  My skin didn’t get used to the stinging, but I learned to expect it. 

The Intensive Wrinkle Reducer for Eyes was another matter however.  Again, a little goes a long way (although not quite so far as the serum).  But this was more of a cream formulation, more like a traditional eye cream, and it felt very moisturising.  It’s totally got me into using a daily eye cream (something that I’ve been a bit hit or miss at before).

Both products have a very faint smell, that could be described as slightly chemically.  This didn’t put me off at all – it was VERY faint, and didn’t linger on my skin.  I’m not going to review the lip balm here, as, well it’s a lip balm!  It balms your lips!  I’ve not really been using it very much anyway, so I’m not really in a good position to judge.

From the claims of various website, I could expect to see up to 33% reduction in lines in 4 weeks (with up to 45% reduction in 12 weeks).  So, here are the before and after pictures, with no makeup on. I apologise, as I seem to have some sort of mono-brow thing going on, especially in the 'Before' pictures.

Before

Before

After

After

Before

After - I think this looks worse, if anything!

Before

Before

After

After

I’m not sure if you can see a difference at all.  My issues with lines are in my brow furrows, minor crow’s feet and under my eyes.  I think there might be a difference with the crow’s feet, but I’m not sure about my brow furrow.  What you do think? Can you tell at all? 

At the prices of these products, I was hoping for dramatic results (or maybe not, as then I’d have been considering forking out £150 for not very much product).  They certainly haven’t done that.  I suppose, Botox is still on the cards then...

Thanks for reading!  xx