I Tried an $81 Face Cream to Fix My Oily Winter Skin—and It Worked

When you get a beauty recommendation from a celebrity with skin as beautiful as Cynthia Erivo’s, you tend to pay attention. In our interview with the actress, she revealed that one of her go-to products for glowing skin is Epionce’s Renewal Facial Cream.

The 38-year-old Wicked: For Good star said that the $81 cream is her secret to bouncy, glowing skin after a long flight. While Erivo exclusively pulls out this special-occasion cream for flights, as she finds it too rich and heavy for everyday use, I wondered whether these benefits might extend to my ongoing fight against the notoriously skin-dulling winter air.

My Usual Complexion

As someone with oily skin, the cream’s richness made me nervous. I love the ritual of applying a heavy moisturizer at night after a shower. Still, more often than not, I have to then wash with a harsh, almost barrier-stripping cleanser the following morning to return my skin to its happy hydration equilibrium.

Because of this, I’ve always stuck to gel-based moisturizers, like Belif’s Aqua Bomb Niacinamide Moisturizer ($23, Amazon), a lightweight hydrating lotion that doesn’t feel sticky or heavy, though I often find my cheeks get dry as the day goes on, especially now that it’s winter.

Honestly, the never-ending cycle of oily to dry, then back to oily, is exhausting. I’ve long sought a formula that moisturizes my skin in the evening through my nightly Adapalene (a prescription-strength retinol used to treat acne), yet keeps my skin hydrated and prepped for my morning makeup, and doesn’t break me out. A tall order, I know.

The good news: Epionce actually makes Erivo’s favorite moisturizer in a light formula, the Epionce Renewal Lite Facial Lotion ($81, Dermstore), which is perfect for oily skin types. It also comes in a pump bottle—a small detail that I sincerely appreciate, as I cannot find peace in my skincare routine so long as I am repeatedly dipping my fingers and nails into a tub of expensive cream and rubbing it on my face.

Renewed by Renewal Lite

Since swapping my regular gel cream for Renewal Lite, I’ve noticed I have to play catch-up with my skin much less often. I don’t have to double-cleanse in the morning to ensure my makeup doesn’t slide off my face by 11 a.m., and I also don’t need to slather on a heavier swath of cream at night in an attempt to combat the dryness from my cheeks.

Makeup sits on my face a lot better, too. I no longer have as much pilling or product settling into my lines throughout the day.

Miraculously, I’ve also avoided having a chin breakout since switching to this cream over the past two weeks. Only time will tell if that’s related, but given how finicky my skin is, I’d still be happy without it even if I broke out a little, given those breakouts tend to be more hormonal.

The quality of the Epionce cream really has me reassessing my own prejudices. As good as the actual formula seems, I would likely never have picked it up if it weren’t for Erivo’s recommendation, purely based on my preconceived notions about its packaging. I know, I know—you can’t judge a book by its cover. But it’s impossible to ignore the cover when you pick up the book, right?

As someone who handles beauty products for a living, something about the Epionce packaging and design felt reminiscent of ghost kitchens (restaurants that exclusively make food for delivery apps), but in a beauty way. The boxes aren’t matte-textured, like most expensive products come in these days; instead, they’re made of a shiny cardboard that feels almost squeaky in my hand.

Here’s the deal, though: regardless of what its packaging looks like, I can happily report that this moisturizer works. And while $81 is a lot to spend on a single beauty product, you’re paying for a high-quality formula, not the cardboard box it comes in.

The Bottom Line

Put aside any judgments you may have and try the formula, particularly if you have oily skin and find it hard to balance. Appearances aside, it *is* an undeniably good moisturizer, and you can pick up your own bottle of Epionce Renewal Lite Facial Lotion for $81 from Dermstore.

If you’re curious about the rest of Cynthia Erivo’s skincare routine, check out more of her interview with The Looker.