May 31, 2016

Hype or Hit: La Mer

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la mer hype

Apparently everyone and their mom in Hollywood slathers on La Mer like it cost ninety nine scents. J-Lo swears by it and I can’t help but think to myself if I looked as good as her in that dubsmash video she did I’d be bathing in La Mer because she has incredible skin and looks so much younger than 46!

Whoa.

Is, La Mer all hype or a hit for you?

My answer might surprise you!

La Mer Moisturizer is pure hype as far as I’m concerned. The fragrance alone turns me over and I find the formula a little too slick. It actually creates unnecessarily oiliness around my T-Zone which is saying something considering how dry my skin is. There aren’t many ingredients in La Mer that are actually worth its high cost. Nivea is a cheaper option ha..!

There exceptions to this rule though! I’ll pay $200 any day of the week for La Mer the Eye Balm Intense or La Mer The Eye Concentrate. Several years ago while staying at Atlantis in Bermuda I treated myself to both (YAY duty free!) and was blown away by how well they treated puffiness and also, how supple and soft the area under my eye looked and felt.

Since that time I’ve purchased and re-purchased both eye creams several times. Typically I want for the Nordstrom Semi-Annual Sale as they have exclusive sets and GWPs which makes me feel a lot less guilty about spending $200 on eye cream!

What about you?

Is La Mer all hype or does the collection have any hits for you?

Do share!

I receive a small commission if you shop through my link.

About the Muse

Isabella MuseIsabella is just an average everyday geeky girl who doesn’t blend her eyeshadow correctly, wears too much blush, and hopes she never finds her holy grail products because she likes the thrill of the chase so much. Her mission is to bring you super honest reviews on makeup, skincare, fragrance and all things beauty. She’s in no way an expert on the topic and she sure as hell isn’t a super model. But she’s passionate about makeup and is seeking like-minded individuals that like pina coladas, getting caught in the rain, and ones that enjoy spending hundreds of dollars at Sephora without feeling buyer’s remorse. If you’re that person feel free to reach out and leave a comment or follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Bloglovin‘.

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Comments

  • Tina

    I feel like La Mer is super hype. There aren’t any ingredients in there that look super spectacular. I remember an aunt used a whole tube of it and I saw no noticable difference in her skin besides being moisturized. But you can use plain Nivea Creme and still have moisturized skin and still have $$$ in the bank. Although if I were to splurge on an item that is luxury it would be the Sulwhasoo First Care Serum XD.

  • Kimmwc03

    I’ve never tried the cream/creme but I think I’ll check out the eye concentrate during the next Nordstrom SAS. I love their concealer, though.

    • Isabella Muse

      Do it! You won’t regret it! or just ask for a sample, typically at Nordstrom they are good about giving a tiny sample pot! I don’t typically rave eye creams for their ability to depuff as normally they don’t work but La Mer’s formula does a great job with my puffiness!

  • Kelly

    Hit!!!! I love the moisturizer. I have very dry and very sensitive skin. I find it works wonders. Granted, I buy it on eBay so shelling out only 1/2 the Nordstrom price. I think it’s less about the ingredients and more about how they are combined and processed. A thing that is truly greater than the sum of its parts.
    I completely agree on the Eye concentrate. It’s the only product to ever remotely fade my dark under eye circles.

  • Alicia

    Have you tried the dr Denese md33 line? Many reviews say it is comparable to this cream but much better value. There is a new dr denese md33 eye emulsion that is awesome! Also for puffiness she has a baggage lost eye gel that works great. It goes on top of whatever eye cream you use. You can’t get that on QVC. You can order from her Facebook store.

    • Isabella Muse

      I tried the baggage loss eye gel but not her md33 line nor the eye emulsion! Sadly the baggage loss eye gel didn’t work for me but her hydroshield eyes is my favorite!!!!!!! Can’t live without that 😀

      • Alicia

        The new md33 eye emulsion recently came out and is in QVC only for now. It is her best eye cream yet imho. I love it and am using it on my ’11’ plus above my mouth for those lines.

        • Isabella Muse

          I ordered it! 🙂 thanks for the rec. I use hydroshield and love it not sure if MD33 will take its place but I’m willing to try 😀 I typically like all of her products!

  • melanie

    I feel outrageous priced skin care is all hype. Your paying for the name and advertising and the over-hype on Youtube paying for positive feedback. After about the $80 price point I will just see my dermatologist for medical grade skin care. I am more into reading ingredients than I ever have and find many of the main ingredients in other less expensive brands. Loreal, Oil of Olay, Origins, Kiehls and Dr. Dennis Gross are my main brands I stick to. Though I am a sucker for Sephora Favorites to try out brands. I just started using Dr Dennis Gross products 4 months ago and have never gotten so many compliments on how my skin looks. I find that the best answer before giving into the hype is to do research on ingredients and read reviews the good and bad. Always good to research the brand in whole as well. As with all skin care you need to use it for a few months to really see a difference…… Before and after photos are amazing. One need to take care of the inside to truly have good skin.

    • Garret

      LOVE Dr. Gross skin products.Also some Perricone.Now Peter T. Roth is designing jewelry. Said it is his FIRST LOVE. Wonder what effect this will have on his skin products?LOVE the MUSE. Keep up the great hard work. Many thanks

  • Ashley

    Love everything! The crème itself is a little heavy, the only time I ever use it is when I have severe chapping from cold weather, then La Mer Moisturizing cream is my best friend. I agree the eye balm concentrate( dark green, with silver lid) is amazing, the other 2 are great as well. I love the lip balm, the cleansing oil, the cleansing foam, and OMG the perfecting treatment- newest product is amazing, I’m saving for it, and I’m buying it during their anniversary sale! I guess you could say I love LA MER, especially the reparative body lotion and hand treatment.

  • Heidi

    I’ve never tried La Mer, mainly because it’s too pricey, but also I think it’s a lot of hype. I think the story around its origin has been questioned, so I don’t trust it for that. There’s being colorful, but I suspect the story borders on being a bald-faced lie. Plus I have long heard that the Germany-made Nivea (not the one made in Mexico … there is a difference in the texture between the two Niveas — not huge, but they’re not the same) is a good dupe, and I have that and like that well enough.

  • Na

    It is all hype in my opinion. I tried samples of La Mer face and eye creams years ago and got the worst dermatitis I’ve ever had on my face. So much so I wound up at the dermatologist office spending lots of money on prescription cream to help it. It seems like you can slap a French name on a product and people will think it is fabulous. It also has some convoluted backstory about the creation of the product that gave it some gravitas. La Mer translates from French to English as “The Sea”. I don’t think if a product called ‘The Sea’ came out that it would garner much attention. I wouldn’t use it if you gave me it for free. I much rather use CeraVe a million times over and save my money for products that actually have ingredients that work and not cause rashes.

  • Dinah

    Well thanks to the QVC beauty forum I tried La Mer’s Creme. It does moisturize nicely. Prefect for winter and my skin texture actually improves. My go-to from this line is the cleansing gel. I always keep my eye out for the kits, since you get more bang for your buck. The ones that are available now for $190 I couldn’t resist since it had my favorite treatment lotion and a .5oz of the creme. When I run out of The Creme, I do use Nivea and combine it with Reviva Labs Energizing Skin Gel by rubbing my hands together or putting the gel on first and then patting the Nivea after warming it up. I think this combo tricks my skin into thinking it’s La Mer lol. I agree that the Eye Concentrate is a good eye cream. I have a sample of the newer eye gel and I swear I see some shimmer but when I put it on it doesn’t show but feels nice and refreshing.

  • Linda M

    I think the LaMer moisturizer is simply meh. I’ll take my CeraVe cream any day and think of the savings! I haven’t tried the eye cream; but won’t spend the money to get it.

  • Jeremy

    Coincidentally, I just started using the original creme this past month after years of bad mouthing it thinking it was ridiculous. I have dehydrated yet oily skin and I struggled finding a moisturizer that hydrated without causing extra oiliness. The gels made for oily skin never provided enough moisture and always broke me out. The creams for dehydrated skin were too heavy. Recently my skin must have been inspired by the exorcist cos I was looking busted as all heck, huge under the skin pimples, dryness, clogged pores, oiler that usual,etc I was at my wits end so I gave in and bought la mer after researching every review I could find and honestly I’m so glad I did. My skin has never been happier with a product. No more dryness or excessive oiliness I find I’m genuinely balanced and my skin glows like it never has before. Absolutely love it. But of course different things work for different people, my best friend has super classically dry skin and won’t touch the stuff with a ten foot pole because her face hates mineral oil.

  • Justin

    The original irritates my skin but I like the soft creme. I’m using the eye serum right now. I don’t know if I like it the texture is slimy to me. Their lip balm tastes good lol

  • Diana

    I remember trying a gel cream version nearly a decade ago in my early 20s. It had a nice texture, but I don’t remember it doing anything miraculous for my skin…may have been hard to tell since I had more oiliness and acne issues at that point in time instead of aging skin issues. I don’t know if the gel cream still exists, but I really liked the texture. The regular cream was, and still is, too heavy for my liking. The ingredients didn’t seem super impressive either, so I’m using that money toward other brands that seem like they have better ingredients. I may try some of the eye products though if I hear that they work effectively.

  • Rebecca

    I don’t like the original or the soft cream, but the gel cream is very much a hit for me. I wish it weren’t – $310!! – but nothing else is nearly as effective at moisturizing my oily-but-dehydrated-sensitive-and-extremely-clog-prone skin without creating an oil slick or a pimple fest. It really helps with flakies from acne meds or picked pimples and it doesn’t irritate my eyes or cause redness. It sits nicely under sunscreen or primer and just makes my skin happy. Ironically, the oil-free lotion was irritating and drying and actually made me oilier. The lip balm is nice but not nice enough for the price tag.

  • Nina R.

    Hmmm…I don’t see how one can put straight-up Nivea cream on their face – it’s so heavily fragranced and never sinks in! Yikes! I really like the whole La Mer line and barely notice any fragrance at all – to each his/her own I guess! The original Creme de la Mer story is true. There was only the one product, developed by Max Huber as a burn treatment. I used to see it for sale in Neimans and Saks in the early ’80s, before Estee Lauder bought it. I think the line is both overpriced and wonderful.

  • Carol

    hype hype hype!! it�s pretty fun because I talked last night with my mom about this brand and today I read your post, you read or minds LOL!!!!!!!

  • joseph valenti

    A British Investigative journalist, did an article, where she had her skin scanned by a dermatologist, for a month she used La Mer on one side of her face, and Nivea on the other side! A month later, she had got better results from the Nivea side. I love Nivea for fall and winter, and my feet! I buy the German Nivea from Smallflower, it is more expensive, but better ingredients than the Mexican made Nivea! I buy the jar for my feet, and the tube for the dry parts of my face, which now at almost 63, are becoming drier!

    • Isabella Muse

      LOL I love that! I have to google this. It totally cracked me up 😀

  • joseph valenti

    They did a test in a British newspaper, a women in her 40’s used nivea on one side of her face, and la mer on the other for a month! They even used a dermatologist scan machine, and after one month, her skin looked better with nivea! The only thing about Nivea is you must get the German version! I buy mine from Smallflower.com!

    • Isabella Muse

      that’s where I get mine! I love smallflower 🙂 they have the most unique little finds! 😀 I’m laughing that cheap nivea did a better job than la mer haha!

  • Ave

    I tried La Mer years ago when it was only $100 and it made my face red – did not agree with me at all.