Olay essentials beauty fluid Review

Winter is close to disappearing. The biting cold has been replaced by cool gentle breezes, and the weather change is something that everyone is enjoying. However, the need to moisturize remains all year round, irrespective of the season of the year. On her recent trip to Dubai, along with my gorgeous CP Trendies palette, my sister also bought this Olay essentials daily moisturizer. Well, technically it was for my mom, but I couldn't pass up an opportunity to review it. The fragrance was so alluring, I was really anxious to try it out.

What Olay Claims: 
Why is essentials beauty fluid right for me?
Because it is a daily moisturizer that: 

• Provides you with essential moisture your skin needs for leaving it feeling soft and smooth.
• Its light non greasy formula is quickly absorbed making it an ideal base for make-up.
• Dermtologically tested
• pH Neutral

Visible Results: As soon as you try it you will notice the difference: intense moisturisation for softer, smoother, more youthful looking skin!

Price: Rs. 240 (converted from dirhams) for 100 ml

Shelf Life: 3 years

Ingredients: Aqua, Cetyl Palmitate, Glycerin, Paraffinum Liquidum, Petrolatum, Cetyl Alcohol, Glyceryl Hydroxystearate, Steareth-100, Stearic Acid, Myristic Acid, Carbomer, Dimethicone, Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Octyldodecyl Myristate, Tocopherol, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Tetrasodium EDTA, BHT, Potassium Hydroxide, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, DMDM Hydantoin, MDM Hydatoin, Parfum, Benzyl Benzoate, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Hexyl Cinnamal, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Benzyl Salicylate, Hydroxycitronellal, Linalool, Hydroxyisohexyl 3-Cyclohexene Carboxaldehyde, Limonene, Citronellol, Benzyl Alcohol, Benzyl Cinnamate, Cl 17200.

Whoa. I thought that list would never end. Let's see how I liked this product.

The moisturizer comes in a simple bottle, nothing fancy about it. The bottle is sturdy, and small enough to fit into a bag to carry it around. It is shaped like the Lacto Calamine bottles, and is even the same pinkish-peach colour. The black screw cap has the Olay outline lady embossed at the top of the cap, which I thought was a nice touch. The bottle's mouth has a tiny hole from which a little quantity of the product is dispensed every time the bottle is pressed.

The moisturizer has the consistency of a lotion. It's not too thick, nor is it runny. It spreads easily and only a small quantity is required for the entire face. After applying, it seeps into the skin in a matter of seconds leaving no greasy/oily layer! This really impressed me. I have combination to oily skin, so I hate using moisturizers for the simple reason that they leave my skin feeling like I have plastered oil all over it. And that is not a pleasant feeling. However Olay, as claimed, has managed to successfully produce an extremely light, non greasy formula, which leaves your skin feeling soft and smooth. 

The fluid has the signature gorgeous gentle fragrance of all Olay products. It is another thing that I absolutely love about this moisturizer. The fragrance lingers on for quite a while before disappearing completely. Had it not been for this gentle fragrance and the soft skin, you wouldn't even know you'd applied something on your face. That's how light this moisturizer is. It's also perfect for using before applying makeup, as it disappears leaving no oily layer, making makeup application very smooth.

So I've been singing a lot of praises of this product. But before you go rushing out in search of this product, let me list out its few but pretty significant flaws. Availability in India will be a huge headache. I was searching online for hours, and came across this product on a lot of UK, US and various other online stores. But not one of India's major online stores seemed to have this. Forget out of stock, it's not available at all. I even went to the Olay India website (which turned out to be extremely unhelpful) to see if they had any products that came close or belonged in the same range as this one. But turns out, Olay India has only 4 ranges of products. Each range consisting of about 3-4 products. Really Olay? I hunted as much as possible, and finally found the following (pretty exorbitantly priced) products on amazon.in which seemed to be similar in nature:

Olay Moisturizing Lotion for Sensitive Skin: Rs. 2056 for 6 oz

Olay Original Active Hydrating beauty fluid: Rs. 1695 for 4 oz

Olay Moisturizing Lotion: Rs. 199 for 75 ml

The last one is the only sensibly priced product. The rest seemed way too expensive for me, but then so are most products these days. Still, I'm not willing to pay a 1000 bucks for a regular daily moisturizer.

Another drawback is that this product is meant for the Normal/Combination skin type. And my skin tends to be more combination than oily during winters, so this product worked just fine for me through the winters. But I don't think it will provide enough moisturization for women with extremely dry skin. That said, it will probably work wonderfully for all normal to oily skinned women (and men too) throughout the year.

To Summarize:

Pros:

• Affordable (at the price my sister got it for)
• Good shelf life
• Dermatalogically tested
• pH neutral
• Sturdy packaging, easy and convenient to carry
• Bottle dispenses just enough amount of liquid each time, so no wastage
• Good consistency which spreads easily on skin
• Tiny quantity is required to cover entire face
• Absorbed into the skin extremely quickly
• No greasy layer is left behind
• Very light formula
• Skin feels soft and smooth after application
• Gorgeous gentle fragrance
• Perfect for using before applying makeup
• Will provide enough moisturization for normal to oily skinned ladies all year round

Cons:

• Not available in India (even if it is, it'll be ridiculously expensive)
• Loaded with chemicals
• Contains alcohol (responsible for the quick drying, non greasy feeling) which dries skin in the long run
• Does not contain SPF
• Will not provide enough moisture for dry skinned people, especially during the winters
• Good for use on a daily basis, does not provide any long term benefits
• I didn't notice my skin looking more youthful as claimed (but then, my skin does not have any major flaws to begin with)

 My Verdict: 8.5/10

Will I repurchase it? I feel my rating was a bit mean. I thoroughly enjoyed using this product. But considering how hard it is to come by in India (or extremely expensive if you do come across it), and all of the chemicals (including alcohol) that goes into making it, the 8.5 is justified. For now, I won't be repurchasing as I probably won't come across it at all. But if I ever have someone going to US or somewhere where this is available, I'll definitely ask for a bottle. It's a good product to have and I do recommend that you try it if you get a chance, but I wouldn't wanna use it as a staple because it contains alcohol which would eventually dry out my skin.