New Olay Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Cream Review

One of my all time favorite moisturizers is Olay Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Cream, so I was excited and nervous when Olay reformulated the product. It happens so often. . . a favorite product gets an update, and suddenly it’s just not as good. . . or at least not the same in a not good way! So, while I’m all for this cream making me look 10 years younger, I still want it to feel silky, moisturize just as well, and give the same baby smooth finish.

The Olay Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Cream packaging is exactly the same as the original

The marketing for the original cream was all about it moisturizing better than expensive luxury creams, which I think it did. I had gotten a sample of Creme de la Mer ($150 per ounce) and tried it against the Olay Micro-Sculpting Cream ($25 for 1.7 oz.) when it first came out. For me it was far superior to “la Mer” which smelled and was so greasy I could only use it at night. Thus started my love affair with Micro-Sculpting Cream. The new marketing goes way beyond moisturization into the realm of visible anti-aging results. It says you can expect to see noticeable improvement in fine lines and brightness with the first use, intense hydration, surface skin turnover, and wrinkle reduction in the first week, and reverse the look of up to 10 years of wrinkles in 4 weeks!!!

The new formula contains 2 new ingredients, Olivem and Lys’lastine, that make it penetrate 10 layers deep into skin, and accelerate surface cell turnover. Of the approximately 42 ingredients in the new formula, 39 were in the old formula too. Some things were dropped, and some were moved up or down on the list which indicates there’s more or less of it. So, it’s largely the same, but with the added ingredients it should do more than basic moisturization. It goes on feeling lighter than it looks, spreads very easily, absorbs quickly, and leaves a non-greasy, matte finish.

It looks, feels, spreads, absorbs, and smells just like the original so if you use this, you may not have even noticed that it’s been re-formulated. The big difference is that it lives up to it’s claim of surface skin turnover! This version of Micro-Sculpting Cream is much more “active” than the original, meaning it causes a change in your skin that you can see and feel. After the 1st use I noticed that my skin was soooo soft, it just felt great, but that there was also quite a bit of sloughing of the dead surface skin. The peeling could be misinterpreted as drying the skin, but it’s not. It’s removing the layers and layers of dead cells that can cause the skin to look dull. It basically does the same thing as a glycolic acid peel, but much more gently and without any irritation.

So, all in all, I give this cream a glowing review in spite of the fact that it doesn’t really micro-sculpt and lift my skin, and I probably don’t look 10 years younger. But my skin does look and feel better, and if I can drop my harsh glycolic acid and still have the same surface turnover, along with the same great moisturization it’s always delivered, then it’s a winner for me!