Belvada Essential Day Cream Day Cream for Face and Neck

If I ever make a moisturizer that contains "pure 24k Gold flakes" as well as "pearl protein," I'm going to name it something way more interesting than   Essential Day Cream Day Cream for Face and Neck. But while this product might have a boring name, its ingredients and its results are anything but. Oh, and then there's the price. 

Let's start with that. A 60 ml container of this gel-like product retails for $199. Yep, that's $199. No, I didn’t pay that price for this item. Instead, I received it as part of my July 2013 Topbox (yes, I’m behind in my product testing but I’m okay with that; when it comes to things like anti-aging items, I want to give them as much time as possible to meet their claims).

The inclusion of real gold, along with the pearl protein and a few other nice ingredients such as Aloe extract and hyaluronic acid, is how Belvada justifies the price. The first two ingredients “stimulate blood flow, build up Amino Acids and add a healthy glow to the skin” while the latter two, “ensure complete skin nourishment and protection from harmful elements, while promoting cell regeneration and smoothing out the appearance of existing wrinkles.”

Having used this product almost nightly for over three weeks (a little goes a long way), I can now say that Belvada might be on to something.

While the company calls this product a cream, it’s really more like a creamy, non-sticky gel. There’s no real scent to it and like any good day cream, it plays nicely with makeup and didn’t leave my face shiny (though more on that in a moment). But most importantly, it brought the moisture.

I don’t think I experienced a single dry patch of any real consequence while using this cream and my forehead lines looked less visible. Overall, my skin looked happy and healthy. I also experienced no irritation or increase in blemishes while using this product (I was worried that it might clog my pores but nope, not an issue).

But while this item delivered hydration, it wasn’t a great day cream. That’s because the gold, which is supposed to “add a healthy glow,” does its job a little too well. After applying this cream I noticed that my face didn’t just glow, it sparkled. From a distance, this looked fine but up close it looked a bit weird, like maybe I thought a rave might break out at any moment and so I though best to be prepared with a face cream that gave my skin more than a hint of golden shimmer. Because of this issue, I took to wearing this cream at night.

So there's something else I would change about the name of this product, the "day" part to "night."

Would I buy this product: Did I mention that it’s $199? This item is way too pricey for me even though it is pretty effective.

Should you buy this product: This actually is one of the better anti-aging creams I’ve tried so if you’ve got the cash, check it out.