Garnier Moisture Rescue Rave Review

I've recently become an addict to watching beauty channels on Youtube.  As a girl who rarely wore make-up in my 20s, it's been a bit of a transition for me to wear it (almost) everyday of my 30s.  I simply didn't know anything but the basics, so I've been experimenting with lots of different products.  Meanwhile, my face has been getting drier with lots of splotchy red spots.  So, I did my Youtube research and stumbled across some rave review for Garnier's Moisture Rescue Refreshing Gel Cream.  It was around $8 at CVS, so I gave it a whirl.  I bought the Dry Skin version because my skin was really suffering.

Of course, everyone's experience will be different, but I have never been more pleased with a beauty product's performance, especially compared to their claims.  If I knew it was going to work so well, I would have taken before and after shots, really!  After washing my face one night, I put it on and instantly felt like my skin was smoother and deeply moisturized.  The next morning, all of my cracked and flaky patches were gone!  After a week of using it twice a day (in the morning before my make-up ritual, and at night after my cleansing routine), my skin has developed a lovely texture and even a bit of a glow.  It's a bit of a miracle cream, in my opinion.

Just so no one thinks they've stumbled on a sponsored, fake review - I also bought Garnier's BB Cream at the same time.  I knew from several Youtube reviews that this was not really comparable to the Asian BB creams everyone raves about, or even the more expensive BB creams from companies like Smashbox and Bobbi Brown.  But they also said it was the best of the drugstore BB creams, so I thought I would give it a shot.

Not nearly as impressed.  It provides very little coverage and doesn't really even out my skin tone like it claims.  It's basically a tinted moisturizer, but I have been satisfied with it as a primer (especially when I compare its $12 price tag to the $30 I paid for my Too Faced Poreless Primer).  It does have a bit of a glow to it and doesn't leave my skin greasy, while also feeling light.  It seems to help my make-up last most of the day (and my skin loves to absorb make-up).  I like that it has SPF, although 15 is kind of low.  So I'd give it a B for performance/cost, although a C- if I was expecting the "Miracle Skin Perfector" the box claims.

Anyone have any miracle/loved beauty products they can recommend?  I only recently realized I can return make-up to CVS if I don't like it - which was such a revelation.  No more paralysis over trying new shades.