I Spent $215 On A Clarins Eye Cream Because of One Ingredient's Name
Moonlight Flower Cryoextract. That is all.
Hello, Gorgeous!
I’ve been having a rough couple of weeks/months. So much so that I haven’t even been doing any retail therapy. I was researching some ingredient claims for an article I’m working on when I came upon one that enchanted me: Moonlight Flower cryoextract. I mean it sounds straight out of an Anthony Horowitz mystery, but I knew I had to try it out.
According to the Clarins website, Moonlight Flower is truly a magical ingredient…
“On the coast of Brittany, France, grows the elusive Moonlight Flower—the beating heart of our NEW Precious skincare collection. This plant blooms one night a year, and only for a few hours, bearing flowers so exceptionally rare, they are harvested by hand when they reach their full molecular richness.”
Clarins.com description of ingredients in Precious La Crème Yeux Age-Defying Eye Cream
…with a price tag to match. The eye cream is $215 for 0.5 oz (which is about 1/10th of the price of gold, so not the worst). Let’s look at some more analogies. At $430 an ounce, a 16-ounce Starbucks cup of this stuff would cost $6,880. A gallon would run about $55,000. I still wanted it. What can I say? Nobody does the per-ounce math on skincare, which is exactly why it's sold that way. I was weak. I looked through the copious teeny samples offered and the gift with purchase and bought it without thinking too much about it.
When my Clarins Precious La Crème Yeux Age-Defying Eye Cream arrived, I was pre-inclined to love it. It was packed lovingly with all the wee product samples and starter sizes laid out like a beauty charcuterie plate. I applied some immediately. Then I tried the sample of the Precious La Crème Age-Defying Moisturizer that was included with my purchase.
A few hours later, I noticed that my eyes were dry-ish and had the dreaded crepey look so popular with women of a certain age. I looked drawn and exhausted. And it was my own fault. Instead of being romanced by cool-sounding ingredients, I should have paid closer attention to the product claims. Whenever a product offers to target dark circles or promises de-puffing, it usually means that my super sensitive eye area will end up looking dried up, like a desiccated rose petal saved from days gone by.
The reason I didn’t post this yesterday as I originally intended was that I was my own guinea pig, fascinated by the product’s effects. They were no friend to my eye area.
Last week, Debbie Carlson shared her picks for products she used on vacation that she might actually splurge on.
Before splurging on the aforementioned eye cream, I should have tried to score a sample. To be honest, the face cream is the best I’ve used in years. My $215 splurge, on the other hand, will be returned.
So, why did I buy it without researching it first? First off, I love Clarins overall as a brand. The quality! The plant-based products! The consistency even as they reformulate products (Double Serum launched in 1985, is now on its ninth reformulation and keeps getting better). And so I took a chance. And I guess a silver lining is discovering an incredible face cream that at $400 a pop, I won’t be splurging on any time soon.
Clarins Precious La Crème Yeux Age-Defying Eye Cream is $215 on Clarins.com. Clarins Precious La Crème Age-Defying Moisturizer is $400 on Clarins.com.
Have you ever splurged only to regret it within hours? Let’s meet in the comments to discuss!
Rachel, your beauty concierge 💋
Quick note: I included some affiliate links and from time to time some sponsored products which means I might earn a small commission on sales made through these links, but I also throw in stuff I love just because. Prices are current at publish time.