Merlot Moonlight Radiance Natural Grape Seed Night Cream

Sometime certain so-called "budget brands" confuse me: Although they are readily available at drugstore/mass-market store shelf without a nagging salesgirl following you around, their price range are significantly higher than their drugstore companions, sometime being only a few dollars cheaper than similar products from those high-ends. Being only a few bucks cheaper than moisturizer from brands like Clinique, Merlot Night Cream is one of those products.

Not that the price is stopping me from trying it out though, since I have read quite a few glowing reviews allover the beauty cyber world.
I picked up Merlot Moonlight Radiance Natural Grape Seed Night Cream (what a mouthful) not only for the hype that's going on, but also the fact that the ingredients are kept relatively simple:

Purified Water , Squalane , Cetyl Alcohol , Polyacrylamide , C13-14 Isoparaffin , Laureth-7 , Glyceryl Stearate , Peg-100 Stearate , Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride , Acetyl Hexapeptide (Argireline) , Palmitoyl Pentapeptide (Matrixyl 3000) , Glycerine , Propylene Glycol , Diazolidinyl Urea , Phenoxyethanol , Grapeseed Extract , Avocado Oil , Grapefruit Mask

Note that this is one of the very few night cream (at least it's the only one I have tried) that doesn't contain lanolin, mineral oil or dimeticone, commonly known as the pore-clogging agents. I personally care more about a good formulation (which can be only tested/verified on my own skin) than flashy ingredients so I won't bother with how this or that antioxidant should have this or that effect( I mean, you can always go for Wikipedia if you want to investigate further).

Merlot Grape Seed Night Cream has a light fresh fragrance, no color and a gel-cream texture, I would say it's like a 70% cream, 30% gel consistency (whereas their day cream looks more gel-like). Due to the absence of those thick emollients, this light-feeling moisturizer gets absorbed very quickly while at the same time, my face feels supple and moisturized without any oily residue. Not only it's a great night time moisturizer for people with normal skin (I am guessing people with dry skin might need something thicker/oilier) , a tiny dab also works well in the morning, to smooth things up before sunscreen and makeup.

Overall: Love this. (Although I can't say or feel anything about the skin-thickening, collagen-boosting, anti aging, line reducing properties claimed by the company).