Olay Luminous Tone Perfecting Cream Review

Luminous, dewy, glowy — these are all words I would very much like to associate with my own skin. It explains why my bathroom is stocked with rich creams, hydrating masks, sheet masks, face oils, shimmery highlighters, cream blushes, and tubes of Touche Éclat. (Yes. Tubes. Plural.)

Trying out Olay Luminous Tone Perfecting Cream was right up my alley. When I took my new jar out of the box, the first thing I noticed was that it felt heavy and luxe in my hand (surprising for a drugstore product). The next thing I noticed was the color of the cream. It's got a pretty peachy pink tint. And then I was surprised allover again. Because when I put on the cream, it was actually able to brighten up my fair skin without any of the shimmer or glitter some other luminizing creams rely on.

I thought maybe the whole brighter skin thing was in my mind, so I brought my pot into the office, and put the moisturizer on the back of one hand in front a colleague, which I can only imagine was super fun for her. But she perked up when she saw my skin get brighter and more even in front of our eyes, like a mini magic act. (It's also got antioxidant niacinamide to calm redness over time and amino peptides for sun spots, which are pluses for me.) We decided this cream was a keeper, but the instant brightening effects weren't as obvious on her deeper, olive skin tone.

I used it in the morning under sunscreen, since it doesn't have its own SPF, but is light enough to layer (and has antioxidants like vitamin E). And I wore it occasionally at night; it's got a sweet, somewhat chemically scent that I could notice as I was drifting off to sleep. It's been three weeks now and I'm still waiting for the sunspots on my cheekbones to fade — I've noticed a slight difference, but they're tricky to treat and definitely still around.

Still, after about a week of using the cream, I got compliments on my skin. Not one, but two people actually told me I was glowing in the same night. And I wasn't even wearing any of my highlighters or my many tubes of Touche Éclats.