Sunday Riley Review

really is someone’s name, but oh so much more. is a skincare line sold at , harnessing the power of effective, tried-and-true ingredients like retinol, lactic acid, sulfur and salicylic acid. Sunday Riley herself is a cosmetic chemist and product formulator who wanted to create skincare products that truly do what they say.

As she says, “if it doesn’t work right away, and it doesn’t work thoroughly, there’s no point.”

Keep reading to find out how some of Sunday Riley’s most popular skincare products fared on my skin. Please know that I am reviewing the following products as a consumer but I am not an esthetician or dermatologist.

First up is this dynamic duo, and . These can be used in conjunction and I’ve found I like using them best that way. I’ll review them individually but know that the results I’ve seen have been likely magnified by combining the two.

If you’re interested in trying them, your best bet would be purchasing them together in for $85

This hydrating acid contains lactic acid, an alpha hydroxy acid that dissolves dead skin cells on the surface, giving skin a brighter, more even appearance. This will also help to ensure your makeup looks it’s best, preventing it from clinging to any dry skin. Good Genes also contain brightening ingredient, licorice root extract.

I use after the and I’ve definitely noticed brighter, more even and smooth skin overall. I had several post blemish marks, because yes, like an idiot, I picked them, and this really lightened them faster than anything else I’ve tried lately.

Do I recommend it? Definitely. 1000%. I’ve seen a visible difference in my skin and I don’t want to be without it now. I’m sorry for that as it’s quite .

I’ve tried and reviewed this before, so I knew I loved it but I’ve reaffirmed that lately. contains trans-retinoic acid ester, a less-irritating form of retinol, as well as chia seed oil, German chamomile and blue tansy. It also contains a whole list of other natural oils including: avocado, grape, blackberry seed, blood orange, neroli, ylang ylang, vetiver, sunflower and rosemary oil.

I’ve been using every night after cleansing and before Good Genes. I use 3-4 drops. My skin responds well to retinol as I’ve used it before but I definitely experienced no redness or irritation with this. It hydrates while adding skin resurfacing retinol.

Do I recommend it? Definitely. I love this powerful oil and my skin looks better having used it faithfully over 3 weeks.

Next, I’ll tell you about a product that wasn’t suited to my skin type but could work well on others.

As the name says, this contains 10% sulfur, an ingredient that can help with significant breakouts. For my dry skin, this was too drying and when used as an overnight pot treatment, it left me a little red and inflamed in the morning.

For oily skin types or those with painful, inflamed acne, I think the sulfur, combined with Zinc PCA, anti-inflammatory turmeric and Niacinamide could help to reduce the inflammation.

While I do smell the nice tea tree scent in this, because of the sulfur, it does leave behind an egg-like scent. Oddly enough, I didn’t notice it at all while wearing it but once I rinsed, the scent seemed to linger, leaving my pillow and towels a little less than pleasant smelling.

Do I recommend it? For normal to dry skin types, no. This seems best suited to only truly oily types.

This is Sunday Riley’s newest product and it’s first eye cream. It helps to instantly brighten and reduce puffiness with ingredients like caffeine, ginseng, lutein and horse chestnut. It also has hydrators like shea butter, jojoba esters and watermelon extract.

I really love that it’s in a pump for hygienic purposes. I also love how it really does instantly brighten and smooth the eye area. I tried it on my husband, who never even wears moisturizer, and I saw instant improvement.

I love the effect on myself too. The texture is lightweight and quick-absorbing, making it great under makeup and it feels silky and lovely.

Do I recommend it? Definitely. I think it’s an excellent eye cream, with instant gratification at a decent price point too.

Vitamin C serums are great to use daily to brighten, lighten and tighten. Vitamin C is crucial in helping your skin make more collagen. This contains 15% ultra-stable vitamin C and tried and true glycolic acid too. I’ve used almost the entire 15mL up but haven’t really seen a huge difference in brightness. In all fairness, I think it will take longer to gauge results and I haven’t used it everyday.

Do I recommend it? No. At this time, I still like best and this one wasn’t impressive enough to switch over.

With a scent of cucumbers and a texture as lightweight, this would make for a nice, daily moisturizer in the summer. For me, I prefer heavier hydration but I like how it felt on my skin. With so many good brightening ingredients, I find the $65 price point very realistic. You can snag for $22 if you want to give it a little go before investing.

Do I recommend it? If you prefer a lightweight gel texture, sure. I won’t go out of my way to repurchase this but I didn’t dislike it either.

I took ceramics in college and OMG, it was the worst art class I’ve ever taken. I realized how not 3-dimenstional my brain is. I have very un-fond memories of ceramic slip, the mixture of clay and water you create to fuse edges and pieces of clay together. Being that this contains 2 kinds of clay: French green clay and Morrocan Rhassoul clay I worried it would be drying. I was pleasantly surprised because it cleans fully without a stripped feeling. I love it’s herbaceously green scent and slippery, smooth texture. The neroli helps to soothe and prevent dryness.

Do I recommend it? Yes. I really enjoy using this type of non-foaming cleanser and I think I’ll really love it in warmer months.

Overall Thoughts
I think is a truly excellent skincare line. It is cruelty-free, paraben-free and synthetic fragrance free. I feel confident about all of their products and I love that they come from a cosmetic chemist. I can’t wait to try more from the line because I know it’s going to be good.

Some products purchased by me, some provided by Sunday Riley for review purposes. No financial compensation was received in exchange for this review.

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